Dead Woman’s Crossing at Weatherford, Oklahoma
If you head a couple of miles northeast of Weatherford, Oklahoma you’ll find a concrete bridge where late at night something not of this world is said to wander the area. Though the night may be clear and the road empty you might feel a sudden temperature drop and the sounds of a wagon creaking by.
Some have reported hearing the cries and screams of a woman echoing through the night. Others have even reported actually seeing a woman, wandering along the bridge alone, searching for her baby before disappearing.
Though the stories of the hauntings at Dead Woman’s Crossing are up for debate the origin of this spirit and the name of the crossing stem from an unsolved murder from over a hundred years ago that still haunts the area today.
Today we’re looking at the events surrounding the murder of Katie DeWitt James that has caused some to believe her spirit still wanders Dead Woman’s Crossing in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
Related Article: 5 Haunted Bridges Around The World
PART 1 - The Last Days of Katie DeWitt James
Katie DeWitt James was a 29-year-old schoolteacher from Lenora, Oklahoma who, in July of 1905, reached the last straw with her abusive husband of four years, Martin Luther James. Seeing no other way out from under his abuse, on July 6, 1905, she filed for divorce, though this information wouldn’t be public for a few months.
That day Katie took her 13-month-old daughter, Lulu, and went to visit her father, Henry DeWitt, where they made plans to have the two stay with some relatives in Ripley, Oklahoma. The following day the three arrived at the train station in Custer City where Henry bid his daughter and granddaughter farewell.
Though he never could have imagined it would be the last time he would see his daughter alive.
Meeting Franny Norton
On the train, Katie met Franny Norton (sometimes spelled Fannie, Fanny, or Frannie) and depending on what articles you read, was either a housekeeper or a prostitute. But what many articles do agree on is Franny Norton had been tried for murder and acquitted in the past.
Had Katie known this she might not have gotten off the train with Franny at Weatherford that same day but she didn’t know and she did get off. After getting off the train the two spent the evening with some of Franny’s family and set off on a carriage to the town of Hydro early the next morning.
An hour later the same carriage, now without Katie, came rushing out of some fields stopping at a nearby farm owned by the Bierschied family. Franny called over a boy tending to the farm and handed him a baby, unharmed, but bundled up in bloody clothing. She simply told him to get him home.
Franny then threw some bloody clothing in a nearby bush and sped off on the carriage. Several hours later she arrived home, gathered her kids, and disappeared.
PART 2 - The Search for Katie
“There is a ghost here. A lonely, heartbroken spirit. The ghost of everything that could’ve been and never was.”
Jennifer Donnely from The Tea Rose
On July 28th Henry DeWitt was at wit’s end, by now he had expected to hear from his daughter or relatives that she had arrived safely but no message ever came. Believing that something happened to her he reached out to the sheriff who referred him to Detective Sam Bartell.
At Weatherford, Sam was quickly able to find witnesses who saw Katie at the train station and her getting off with the infamous Franny Norton. Following their tracks, he found the bloody carriage the two used to set off to Hydro.
By the end of the day Sam Bartell had found Lulu at the Bierschied farm still being taken care of by the family and now knew Katie was either gravely injured or dead, his next task was finding the missing Franny Norton.
The Search and Capture of Franny Norton
Since Franny was well-known after having been acquitted of murder it didn’t take Sam long to find her. The very next day he found her in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and arrested her for the possible murder of Katie DeWitt.
Though she denied having done anything to Katie, Sam wouldn’t have the opportunity to question her further when Franny excused herself to the bathroom and ingested poison. Franny Norton died instantly.
Without any more leads and no suspect, the trail went cold and it seemed like we would never know what happened to Katie DeWitt. Henry DeWitt feared the worst and put up a seventy-five dollar bounty for any who could find his daughter’s body. Martin James took custody of Lulu and moved to a new home.
Finding Katie
On August 31, 1905, a man named George Cornell was out planning to go on a fishing trip when he stumbled upon a badly decomposed body hidden by bushes near the wagon crossing by the creek. He immediately returned to town and within the hour the authorities including Sam Bartell and Henry DeWitt were on the scene.
There they found a body with its head a few feet away. Based on her clothing and wedding ring Henry identified Katie’s body. She had been shot in the back of the head.
Sam then found a .38 caliber revolver with one cartridge missing in a nearby bush. Interestingly the area where her body was found had been searched previously but no bodies had been found there.
Despite having found her body and because the last person to see her alive, Franny Norton, was now dead the police were no closer to finding out what events led to her untimely death. But in the weeks and years that followed multiple theories and one official ruling would mar the truth.
PART 3 - The Theories
Robbery
Authorities quickly assumed robbery was the motive for the murder and Franny was the murderer given her past history.
They surmised Franny Norton tricked Katie into believing someone at the train station was asking about her, making Katie nervous enough to trust Franny. Using this trust Franny brought Katie to her brother-in-law’s home where she lulled her into a false sense of security and the following day she brought her to the field to kill her and rob her.
The problem with this theory is although Katie had $25 on her, which is equivalent to $800 in today’s money, she had a much more expensive wedding ring. If the motive was robbery why didn’t Franny take her wedding ring and reportedly expensive hat as well?
Despite this, in September the coroner ruled that Franny had killed Katie during the course of a robbery. Though the lack of investigation further may have been due to Martin James testifying that Katie James and Franny Norton worked together to kill him.
Tarnished Legacy
According to an article from September 5th, 1905 Martin James testified that several days before Katie was killed she had tricked him into believing she was ill and needed him to carry her to and from bed. Despite this, he would still find her in different places in the home whenever he returned.
The night before she left town he claimed he heard her say “there he is, let’s kill him” and in front of him, Franny and Katie appeared each holding a weapon. Franny with a shotgun and Katie with a butcher’s knife.
In the struggle, Franny hit him over the head with the shotgun and Katie sliced his hand but in the end, he was able to escape. According to him, that was the last time he saw Katie. The paper that printed this story reflected the thoughts of those at the time, ending the article by calling Katie a quote, jezebel.
It’s hard to believe this rumor floating around wouldn’t have influenced the coroner’s decision or the authorities' decision to stop investigating the case. Yet with the case now closed many still believed Martin had something to do with the murder, rumors floated around that Martin had hired Franny to kill Katie.
Martin Luther James
Other rumors said Martin killed Katie and threatened Franny he would kill her and her kids if she said anything. For those that believe Martin was behind the murder, they point to his lack of sympathy shown when he was told of Katie’s murder. After taking custody of Lulu he refused to allow Henry to see his granddaughter and let Lulu believe that Katie was still alive.
Tragically Lulu died at the age of 8 from spinal meningitis.
Unnamed Boy
One final theory popped up years later based on a rumor of an unnamed man who told authorities he saw two men on horses chasing after Katie and Franny on the day Katie was murdered.
At the time a child, the man told authorities he went to investigate finding them having already shot Katie. He was then forced at gunpoint to chop off her head. Unfortunately, records of this event are hard to come by and many articles seem to not even mention it, calling into question its authenticity.
The Ghosts of Katie DeWitt James
Though whatever the actual details around her death were it turns out, it wouldn’t be the last time people saw Katie DeWitt. Decades after death many motorists driving past the area at night would reportedly see a woman holding a baby wandering the area by the creek.
Those who stopped, believing she was stranded or had been in an accident, would discover she disappeared just moments later. If they went back into town and spoke of the sighting the people in Weatherford would simply tell them they saw the spirit of Katie DeWitt James.
Sightings of Katie became so common that in the 1980s when the wagon crossing was demolished and a bridge was built it was given the name “Dead Woman’s Crossing”.
Many have claimed to see Katie with Lulu and without wandering the area by the creek, others have heard wagons or heard the scream of a dying Katie. Others still claim to see a blue light floating above the bridge or trees coming from an unknown source and believe it to be Katie. Of course, none of these are substantiated claims.
In the end, Dead Woman’s Crossing might not actually be haunted but in 1905 Katie DeWitt was murdered and we may never know what happened, though Henry DeWitt may have hinted at a suspect when on her gravestone he inscribed, “How many hopes he has ended here”.
But how about you, what do you think happened to Katie DeWitt? And what about Dead Woman’s Crossing? Is it actually haunted or do the stories around it influence those who visit hoping to see a spirit?
