Folklore Profile: The Fond du Lac County Night Rider

July 03, 2020 / adam benedict

“Wisconsin contains, if the yarns are an indication, more ghosts per square mile than any state in the nation.” - Robert E. Gard & L.G. Sorden / Wisconsin Lore (1962)

Situated off the southern end of Lake Winnebago, Fond du Lac County is located roughly 40 miles from Wisconsin’s eastern border alongside Lake Michigan and roughly 25+ miles from Elkhart Lake. Originally founded in 1836 (12yrs before Wisconsin was granted statehood), the county contains the cities of Fond du Lac, Ripon, and Waupun (which shares a border with Dodge County). Along with these three “major” cities, the county also contains twenty-one towns, ten villages, over fifty unincorporated communities, and three ghost towns.

Within its 766 sq mi, there also sits a small portion of the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. Designated in 1927, the 21,400+ acre marsh is believed to be the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the entire United States and allows for the undisturbed nesting and resting of both waterfowl and migratory birds within the area. Along with being a protected habitat for a variety of species such as fish, frogs, snakes, and turtles, the area is also known (to those who know where to look) for a unique and interesting history involving both unexplained crop circle discoveries and unique “Bigfoot” sightings. But these topics are not why we are here today.

What we are going to be looking at is something even more mysterious than your standard visitors from space or hairy forest monsters. This is something that is honestly quite difficult to categorize and even more difficult to imagine. Something that exists without recognized shape, form, or body. Something that causes fear in those who encounter it. Something that appears to fit in right at home within the world of the supernatural. What we are looking at is a “thing” known only as, The Night Rider.

First brought into existence through the stories collected by Robert E. Gard and L.G. Sorden in their 1962 book, Wisconsin Lore, the thing known as The Night Rider, appears within only 4 total pages out of the 368 present within the book. On top of that, out of those 4 pages, the Night Rider is only really described within the last paragraph of that story. Everything else written is to help set up the mood of the overall story and provide some background information on those telling it. While the tale is quite intriguing, it is honestly not the best at helping you figure out what this thing is.

But that is not a fault of the authors at all, far from it actually. You see, Wisconsin Lore is a book of collected folk tales direct from the source, and that source just so happens to be the people of Wisconsin. If the speaker had a lot of information to provide, that’s what was written down and recorded. If they only had scant pieces of information to give, well, that was also written down, missing facts and all. The purpose of the book was not to find a good basis for future stories to be written, edited, and shared with the world. No, the purpose of the book was to collect these folk tales so they wouldn’t be lost to history and never heard again.

Gard and Sorden recognized that this book may not be for everyone because of how differently each story was told. Some were wrapped up nicely, while others weren’t. They knew that as writers, they wouldn’t be able to please everyone, it was an impossible task. What they were able to do though was essentially put a disclaimer in their opening pages, and while we could attempt to paraphrase what it said, we feel it is best to just present it as is and let them speak for themselves.

“…We hope that you will enjoy them [the yarns in this book], and that you will accept them for what they are; stories told by people about people and places; stories that have been told not just once, but many, many times; stories that are history in a sense, but in a very special sense, arising more out of the imagination than out of chronology, more out of the individual memory than out of recorded fact. Anyway, here they are. Take them, enjoy them or not; treasure the book, or toss it over your shoulder. All we can say is: The people spoke, and we put down what they said.”

Now, with that said, let’s tell the tale of, The Night Rider.

The story begins with a woman named Norma E. Buehner while driving her car through Fond du Lac County sometime in the 1920s-1940s (exact date unknown). While she was passing through, her vehicle stalled and she was unable to continue on. Recognizing that her Uncle John and Aunt Em lived not far away, Norma made her way to their home to spend the night and deal with her vehicle in the morning. After finishing with their hellos and getting situated within the old farmhouse, Aunt Em made a comment in passing that made mention of The Night Rider. Intrigued, Norma asked to know more.

Even though Aunt Em was the one who made the comment, she advised Norma that it was not the type of story she should hear on such a night as it would cause nothing but fear. She even told John that he should avoid telling her the story as she hadn’t ever known about it before, so there was no reason to tell her now. But still, Norma persisted that John tell her the story, and after some time, he agreed.

Somewhat upset, Aunt Em made it known that while the decision to hear the story was entirely Norma’s, she would have no part in either its telling or hearing. So after giving her husband a dirty look and reminding him to give Norma a filled oil lamp in which to take to bed when the story was over (because she knew Norma would be scared), the disapproving woman retired to her room for the night. Once he was certain that his wife was asleep, he began to tell his niece the story she begged to hear.

As Uncle John was making hot drinks for the pair to enjoy while hearing the story, he stated that while the story was going to sound quite unbelievable at times, it was the God’s honest truth. He even went so far to state that if he was the only one who had ever experienced this thing, he more than likely wouldn’t even believe it himself. But because others in the area had both heard and experienced the same thing over the course of many years, he had no other choice than to recognize it as being real. Still though, even after explaining to Norma how bizarre the thing was, he did not want her to think of him as a liar. He simply wanted her to understand that it was going to be extremely difficult for someone who had never experienced this phenomenon, to ever truly believe it. Norma reassured him that she understood and asked for him to continue.

Uncle John started his story by stating that the events which took place so many years prior happened on a night almost identical to the one they were currently in. It was after a winter storm had rolled through and the entire area was covered in snow and ice. The moon that hung in the sky that night was so full and bright that the entire forest appeared to be stuck in everlasting twilight. John, a young man at the time, was tasked with bringing cream back to his father’s farm which was located in the area. So with cream can in one hand and lantern in the other, he made his way through the frozen forest.

The man stated that at the time, he had heard the tale of The Night Rider from his father, but had never given it much credence. He viewed it as nothing more than a scary story which the locals put too much stock in. He believed that they were all old and foolish and easily taken in by such an outlandish story. He on the other hand was young and smart and not afraid of such ridiculous things designed to scare children. He believed that he knew everything there was to know, and because of this belief, he was not afraid of anyone or anything. But as he would soon find out, there was much in this world that he knew absolutely nothing about.

As John walked through the woods back to his father’s house, he took his time to enjoy that which surrounded him. Typically he would move as quickly as he could in order to complete his task sooner, but this night he decided to slow down and enjoy it. The ice covered tree branches shined under the moonlight and the freshly fallen snow crunched under his feet as he strolled along. When he eventually came to a small bridge that lay across a flowing stream, he stood upon it and surveyed the area below.

Under the moonlight John could see a multitude of tracks that had been made by a variety of creatures coming and going from under the bridge. While he could not see them at that moment, he could faintly hear them. Along with these nocturnal residents of the forest, he also listened to the sound of the water flowing over the frozen stones and scattered woodland debris. But then John heard a sound that he didn’t recognize, one that sounded strange and out of place. He described it as resembling a low rumbling thunder, but this couldn’t have been what it was as the sky was clear at the time and no wind was present.

Originally thinking the sound was coming from the sky above, John looked all around for the source but was unable to find one. As the noise continued to grow louder, the young man stood motionless and focused his hearing on the direction in which he believed it was coming from. Not long after doing so, he discovered that the sound appeared to be moving up the very path he had just walked down. In an instant after that realization, everything he had ever heard about The Night Rider flooded back into his head.

The unknown sound, which had continued to grow louder, had now changed from a low rumbling into a loud hollow rolling sound, much like the kind made by large wagon wheels on a wooden bridge. Determined not to be scared away, John stood his ground and focused his attention down to path to see once and for all what was making the noise. But before he could see anything, the sound changed again. Only this time, it transformed from something harmless like a wagon wheel, into something menacing and ultimately bone chilling.

Uncle John said that the sound, which had originally just been mysterious, had morphed into a terrifying “woeful wailing like unnumbered souls in agonizing torment; faint at first, but rapidly becoming louder and closer along with the other noise, now roaring and crashing”. Along with this change, the noise was now able to be felt all around him as if made by an unseen force. The pressure and volume of it caused his eardrums to throb and his body to ache. Feeling as if he was under attack, the young man tried to flee, but quickly realized that escaping this unseen thing was not going to be easy.

The forceful noise continued to make itself known to John by pushing against his chest and physically knocking him down. Every time the young man would attempt to rise and run for safety, the feeling of a heavy weight would overtake him and pull him back down to the ground. The only way he could even attempt to escape the invisible grip of the unknown thing was by crawling on his hands and knees through the ice and snow covering the forest floor. But just when he thought he was finally able to escape, the unseen force came at him one more time.

John told Norma that when he was fully enveloped by the sound of what seemed like hundreds of screaming voices, it began to slowly press in against his body. The shapeless thing applied so much pressure on his chest and throat that it became difficult to breath. The young man felt as if he was only minutes away from being strangled to death, but his desire to survive and escape the grip of the phantom hand was so strong, that he continued to crawl towards his fathers home. The Night Rider though, was not going to just let him go that easy, and continued to assault him the entire way.

Because of how loud and horrible the noise actually was, John’s father had taken notice of it while in the comfort of his home. Recognizing what it was and knowing that his son was somewhere outside in the forest, the old man ran out of his house to help guide his son back home. But even though he was preparing to enter the frozen woods, he didn’t have to venture far, because as soon as he stepped foot outside he caught sight of his child in the distance crawling through the snow and begging for help.

Without wasting any time, the old man ran to his son and grabbed him tightly with both hands. The loud wailing and screaming continued to emanate from an unseen host and spread throughout the area. Still being forced to the ground and unable to stand on his own, the father dragged his son towards the house. His mother stood in the doorway encouraging them to move faster. Finally, when the two men were safely inside the old home, John’s mother slammed the door behind them and the room went quiet. The Night Rider, it seemed, was gone.

The next day, John and his father returned to the area where the event started. The can of cream and lantern he was carrying that night had been dropped into the snow when The Night Rider began its assault, but when they had returned to retrieve them, they were nowhere to be found. No tracks were present at the area besides John’s, and no evidence existed that anything out of the ordinary had taken place the previous night. It was exactly as John had said to Norma before telling his tale, if he didn’t know that others had experienced the same thing has him before, he never would have believed it even happened.

So what was the thing known as The Night Rider? A few explanations have been made over the years for what it could have been, but none really provide a definite answer. What it essentially boils down to is what theory you personally choose to invest the most stock in. Since the event itself is considered to be paranormal/supernatural in nature, the theories are typically that as well. Although some are more scientific than others.

Theory number one claims that The Night Rider was truly some sort of unknown spirit. Not so much a single ghost, but rather a collection of spirits which chose to “haunt” that particular section of Fond du Lac County. Believers in this theory point out how John states that the noise appeared to sound like multiple voices moaning or wailing in pain and torment. Because of this, many believe a terrible tragedy must have taken place in the area an unknown number of years ago which ended with a great loss of life. Since that day, the spirits which make up The Night Rider have been caught in a perpetual state of unrest ever since.

Theory number two claims that the resulting noise and effects associated with The Night Rider were actually created and caused by a UFO hovering overhead. Believers in this theory claim that it is possible that the technology needed to power the unknown craft produced both a noise and force that people at the time deemed as both unrecognizable and unnatural. Not knowing that such technology could even exist, those who experienced it were only able to describe and compare it to things they were already familiar with or had read about taking place in other locations. These comparisons included anything from spectres, phantoms, and ghosts, to the more religiously conscious demons, devils, and ghouls.

Theory number three is more cryptozoological in nature and deals with a creature that many may not have even guessed could be responsible, the Thunderbird. Written about in his 2004 book, Thunderbirds: America’s Living Legends, author and researcher Mark A. Hall presents the theory that a passing Thunderbird may have been responsible for the strange noises and feelings that so many in the area had experienced over the years. One reason for this belief is that John stated how he originally thought the noise sounded like a strange kind of thunder and how it seemed like it was coming from the sky above him. But as it got closer, the sound changed and began to fill the area around him. Could this strange noise and sensory effect have been the result of an unseen Thunderbird passing high overhead?

While sounding outlandish at first, one must remember that Wisconsin has had quite a long and storied history involving Thunderbird’s. A vast majority of Native American tribes found throughout the state have highly detailed legends involving these massive avians, and there are many modern reports of people witnessing what appear to be absolutely gigantic birds flying high above the Badger State. Are these stories just coincidences, or is there possibly more going on here that people have yet to unravel?

Finally, theory number four presents a more scientific explanation for what may have occurred to John during his encounter with The Night Rider. Believers in this theory feel that infrasound is the culprit behind what many in the area at the time felt they encountered. The reason for this belief is that sometimes, when experienced under the right conditions, infrasound can cause an unexplained sense of both fear and awe in those who “hear” it. Along with these feelings, some other individuals may experience episodes of incapacitation, nausea, and disorientation. This has lead many researchers to believe that infrasound may actually be directly responsible for ones personal belief that they had been present during a paranormal or supernatural event. Psychologist Richard Wiseman even goes so far as to claim that some ghost sightings might actually be the result of infrasonic vibrations affecting the individual who is witnessing the supposed apparition.

Could one of these four theories listed above be the true cause of The Night Rider, or could the “thing” itself be the result of something we as humans cannot even begin to imagine? While the jury is still out what it could be, it is pretty much accepted that something odd was encountered that night by Uncle John while in the woods of Fond du Lac County all those years ago. Whether or not it will ever be encountered again, that we cannot say. But if you ever happen to find yourself strolling through the woods of Wisconsin and you begin to take notice of what sounds like a multitude of wailing faceless voices, it may be in your best interest to just vacate the area as quickly as possible instead of sticking around to see what it is.

-The Pine Barrens Institute

Image Credit: Creative Commons Photo

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