Temp = 34 degrees F
Wind Chill = 26 degrees F
Moon = 27%
Humidity = 82%
Dew Point = 29 degrees F
Wind = 12 mph NW
Barometric Pressure = 30.06 inches
Investigation Details:
Stated activity is as follows:
CAPT contacted the Squirrel
Cage Jail in Council Bluffs Iowa to inquire about conducting an investigation there. Permission was granted and CAPT was very
excited about conducting the investigation at this historic site as well as the addition of two new members in the ranks,
James from Burlington and Niki from Missouri. James was unable to attend due to the distance and short notice of the investigation,
but Niki was able to come.
History
of this building is long and very colorful. I will not put everything in that is listed but I will note the highlights. Squirrel
Cage Rotary Jail served as Pottawattamie County Jail from September 1885 until December 1969. It was America's largest rotary
jail. The purpose of the new jail was “to produce a jail in which prisoners can be controlled without the necessity
of personal contact between them and the jailer.” The outside walls of the jail were three layers of brick thick while
all interior walls were two layers. The first guests of the Squirrel Cage included a murderer, horse thief, forger, a confidence
man, and a husband and wife larceny team.
The cylinder has three floors with ten pie shaped cells on each floor designed to hold 2 prisoners each. Since
this was the only entrance or exit the entire cylinder had to be turned with a hand crank until the cell was lined up with
the opening to the cage. Although no lynch mobs were able to penetrate the security of Squirrel Cage, there were a few close
calls. In 1894 a crooked foot-racer and gambler was accused of molesting a five year old neighbor girl at a duplex. Apparently
a black man named John forced his way to the front of the crowd and shouted that if the suspect had been black they would
have already lynched him. “Give me the rope, I will lead the
crowd” he was reported saying at the jail in 1894. In 1932 as the price of produce sank to new lows, many desperate
Iowa farmers gathered to form the Farmer's Holiday Association under the leadership of Milo Reno. Some of the farmers blocked
the roads into Council Bluffs to make the price of produce rise and after violence broke out on Hwy 275, 84 farmers were arrested
and taken to the Squirrel Cage Jail. Out of fear that the angry farmers would storm the jail and set the prisoners free, the
police department used machine guns to turn the grounds of the courthouse and jail into a “no mans land”. One
officer died during the confusion after he shot himself inside the jail.
The site for additional information of the historic Squirrel Cage Jail and how to help with donations to save this
historic site can be found here..http://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/Jail%20extended.htm
CAPT members met at our founder's
home to discuss the historic jail investigation at approximately 1500 hours. Due to the limited information we had, it was
decided to go and discuss the set-up on site rather that at the home. The team members were anxious to get to the site and
to put the drive behind them to Council Bluffs. Upon arriving the team conducted a walk through of the jail and found the
site to be breathtaking with history and beauty not seen in todays structures. The claims of activity were discussed and the
'hot spots' were shown to the team members. The main activity was of a full body apparition on the fourth floor who is reputed
to be one time jailer Otto Gufath. Many voices and other noises have been heard as well as the feeling of being watched and
or followed on the third and fourth floors.
CAPT
members then unpacked equipment and began the process of setting up in the places most likely to have activity. The team then
sat and discussed the investigation and how they were going to conduct it. The plan was to have the team split into two groups
and cover the jail from top to bottom to include the basement so the jail could get the just attention it deserved for the
historical value the site gives. On a personal note I can not say enough about this site. I loved investigating it, being
the history buff that I am I could spend days just going through it. The actual investigation started at approximately 1915
hours.
The
jail was a large and beautiful building with the original graffiti still on the walls. The team took an incredible amount
of pictures to document the building and its history for future use. A considerable amount of time was spent in each section
of the jail. The first team went to the “bull pen” and isolation area and the second team went to the juvenile
lock-up area. Chris being an Ex-Police Officer and a Correctional Officer had the expectation of the prior inmates to 'act
out' while he was there because of his occupation. Chris did all he could to drive this thought out of mind but it lingered
still. CAPT tries everything it can to de-bunk the claims but this thought was persistent and soon was overcome and the investigation
continued.
The first team in the “bull pen” area which is where the inmates came out for exercise and recreation
time was large and had the normal echo to it. The isolation or solitary
confinement area was just off the bull pen and consisted of a narrow hallway to a 2 ½ by 2 ½ foot cell where the inmates could
be housed for up to 10 days at a time. There was no room in the cell to lie down or turn around but just stand facing forward
and it was, to the team, unimaginable to understand how that cell would be for a real inmate. With the building being constructed
of brick and limestone we felt that if any residual energy was around this was the place for it, due to the elements used
in construction. The team conducted a vigorous question and answer session in the area due to its size and claims that the
jailer walks from one side of the bull pen to the other. No apparition was seen but a presence was felt by a few of the team
members which might be contributed to matrixing from the stories told of the place.
The
second team was in the juvenile area and spent a fair amount of time in the cells there. They were small cells with one window
in each and housed 4 inmates at a time. It is reported that a child looks out of the windows on the parking lot from this
area. The team conducted a question and answer session here and experienced battery loss and other 'sounds' we could not explain.
But since the entire jail is made of brick and steel the sounds could have been generated by most anything and not paranormal
in nature so they were dismissed for that reason.
The
two teams then consolidated and went to the jail's infirmary to conduct more EVP and video work. Lisa walked into the infirmary
and saw a light in the corner move slowly from one side to another, Ann and Niki felt this was from the outside because there
was a window near and traffic outside. The traffic was not the cause of the light due to the fact that the next car going
by did not re-create the light Lisa saw. We spent more time in this area to determine the cause of the light and no explanation
was found, but this activity was noted and not tagged as paranormal at the time because over charged particles in the air
can at times produce this event.
The
last place the team investigated was the fourth floor area. This is where the jailer and his or her family resided while an
employee of the jail. The claims here are the full body apparition and the feelings of being followed and or watched, certain
noises have also been reported. CAPT members had a few personal experiences on the forth floor to validate, to a point, the
claims of the historical society's staff. Lisa and Ann were doing evp work when a book was pushed towards Ann, Niki felt watched
and followed and Lisa was chased down the hallway by something that growled at her by her description. Many other things were
experienced by CAPT while at the Squirrel Cage Jail on almost every floor. This investigation was very informative for the
group and allowed us to re-live some history and to gain some more personal experiences. The team felt this investigation
was a success and well worth the time and drive, we are attempting to return. The investigation concluded at 0030 at the request
of the historical society and things were packed up.
The historical society has invited CAPT to return when we can and was very impressed with the way the investigation was handled. We had a lot of fun and all, including the historical
society staff members, learned a lot about the history and paranormal aspects of the Squirrel Cage Jail in Council Bluffs
Iowa.
