Spook, Crank, or Masker
Apparition on North Side Hill Causes Great Stir Last Night. Ghostly Object Seemed to Some Like Man Dressed as a Woman.
Eau Claire Weekly Telegram | July 31, 1902

Reports came to Sergt. Elliot of the Eau Claire police force at a late hour last night that attention of the police was required in the residence district of the North-side hill, where it was a number of women had been scared by a person in the garb of a woman who was parading around residence streets and acting in a particular manner. The party was described as of large build and carrying a fan. The supposition of some was that “it” was a man or boy dressed as a woman, and either crazy or bent on mischievous pranks. When Sergt. Elliot arrived in the locality where the supposed masquerader had been seen “it” had disappeared from the scene. Another account shows that the mysterious masquerader if he or she was such, was seen by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart school dodging around the church and school house between 9 and 10 o’clock last night; that the Sisters were very much alarmed; that a knot of people gathered near the school to watch the gyrations of the mysterious “critter” who, when an attempt was made to approach him, her, or it, the capture was impossible. Some of the youngsters who believe in spooks think that “it” is the real thing in the line of ghosts.

Chad’s Take: A Ghost or Eau Claire’s First Cross Dresser?

Okay, where do I even start with this particular story? Was this mysterious “it” a ghost, some crazed lunatic, or simply one of Eau Claire’s first cross dressing citizens? I think it is important to remember that during this time period the north side of Eau Claire was rife with ghost stories, as evidenced by several of my previous articles. The fact that many of the citizens believed that the being was impossible to catch certainly ties it into other traditional ghost stories, as it was a common belief that spirits of the time were beyond capture or restraining. The late night appearances and abnormally odd behavior also are consistent with historical ghost legends.

Yet after reading the article numerous times I am not convinced that this is a cut and dry haunted legend. Too many other bizarre variables seem to stand out from traditional ghost stories. Even the newspaper itself leaned towards the idea that the being was some deranged man masquerading around in women’s clothes. During the turn of the century bizarre behaving individuals were just as prevalent in Eau Claire as ghost stories. Perhaps this really was a case of some gentleman needing to fulfill his urge to wear women’s clothing in public. Back then, this action would have landed the man a first rate room in the insane asylum, while today it would just be considered another Saturday night. Unfortunately, I was unable to recover any follow up articles that solved this strange mystery, and over 100 years later the event remains as another unsolved anomaly in Eau Claire’s extremely colorful past.

Keep an eye out…