unknown PK (psychokinesis) ability—the ability to move things with the mind. In a poltergeist case, the agent tends to be a child going through puberty or stressful conditions, or a woman going through menopause, who will unknowingly cause physical disturbance in their environment.
8. What is a residual haunting?
It is reported that 80 percent of hauntings are residual energy, where energy will repeat itself over and over like a trapped memory or a repeating movie sequence. This “energy” is not intelligent, so it will not react to the living or their environment. In cases where people see apparitions walk through walls, we often find after research there was formerly a door in that location. In some cases, even the living can leave residual energy behind.
9. Can you get rid of ghosts?
Yes and no. In most cases dealing with residual activity, the answer is no unless you can find the source that feeds the energy and remove it. Otherwise, these energies will continue to play themselves out. When it comes to an intelligent haunting, it may be possible to get rid of the ghost. The best way to banish an unwanted spirit is to make contact. If contact is made, then you might be able to convince the ghost to move on. But remember, you are dealing with something that has free will, and if it chooses to stay, you may have a bigger challenge ahead of you.
10. Who ya gonna call?
At a time when ghost hunting is becoming more popular, you may find many ghost hunting groups in your area willing to assist. You tend to find different types of groups and people involved. There are the thrill seekers, those who want to experience what they see on popular ghost hunting shows and don’t really follow through with the research needed. Then you have the groups that are really not educated in the field; their intent is true, but they may not be able to offer you the service you seek.
When choosing a group to help identify your encounters, first research the groups you have to choose from, asking: How long have they been in service? Is there training involved? Do they charge a fee? What services do they provide? How much experience do they have? You can always ask for references as well. It is always good to get a second opinion.
SEATTLE’S Top 10 MOST HAUNTED
This list is based on research and personal encounters and consists of what could very well be Seattle’s most haunted hot spots. When it comes to ghosts and ghost hunting, you’ll find it really is all about being at the right place at the right time. So there is no guarantee that you will encounter a ghost or any paranormal activity. When people report their encounters, they tend to be on the location at least eight hours a day. So their chances of running into a ghost are much higher. This also applies to ghost hunting. Ghost hunters find that only one out of ten cases provides evidence of a possible haunting. So keep this in mind as you visit the locations in this book.
1. SEATTLE HISTORY
It seems all major cities have their share of death, murder, and mayhem. And with these events slowly unfold the stories of the strange, the bizarre, and—my personal favorite—the haunting tales of ghosts that roam within the city’s gates. So it doesn’t surprise me that Seattle, the Emerald City, has its fair share of ghosts, just like any other city in the United States.
Okay, so Seattle isn’t riddled with tons of history, due to its late birth in 1851, when the first white party took settlement in what we call Alki Point (or better known as West Seattle) across the Elliot Bay. This was to be called “New York, Alki,” but this land was too exposed to the elements, and so after the first winter, the settlers packed up and tried their luck across the bay at what is now known as Seattle. But its first name was Duwamps, meaning “tide flats” among the natives. Since Seattle got such a late start, there wasn’t much opportunity for too many tragic events to occur as in older cities across the country. However, Seattle was inhabited by others before the white people took over the land. For 10,000 years, the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes walked these lands, fished the waters, and hunted the woods. There were wars among tribes, destructive fires, and death among their people. So it’s clearly their history that haunts Seattle’s past. The Native Americans strongly believed in the Great Spirit. In fact, it was their belief in all spirits that guided them to a better life and understanding of all things around them, leaving us with a history we still need to learn from.
FIRST SETTLEMENT OF SEATTLE
BATTLE OF SEATTLE
The morning of January 26, 1856, Seattle was attacked by the Native Americans. At the time, Seattle was a settlement in the Washington Territory that had recently named itself after Chief Seattle. The Decatur, a U.S. Navy ship, was docked in Elliot Bay in anticipation of trouble with local Indians, but also as a deterrent against Native Americans from Vancouver Island who regularly raided both Native American and white settlements. In addition, warnings and inside information from Chief Seattle; his daughter, Princess Angeline; and Curly Jim, another local Native American, allowed Seattle’s fifty or so white residents to prepare for the attack. When the battle broke out it only lasted a single day and was reported to have only two causalities among the settlers. One was a man remembered only by the name of Wilson, who was watching the battle from the Felker Hotel’s verandah long enough to be hit and killed by a bullet fired from the forest. The other was an imprudent spectator who looked out from the temporarily opened door of one of the blockhouses. This is a pretty amazing count when it was reported that 160 men were dodging bullets for over ten hours that day. Plus the range of the Decatur’s guns kept the Native Americans at a distance. However the loss for the Native Americans was estimated at twenty-eight dead and eighty wounded among the one thousand fighting. At first the loss to the Native American’s side wasn’t known, due to the belief that the Native women were in charge of collecting the dead and wounded so none would be found. Afterwards, Snoqualmie Chief Pat Kanim offered a bounty for the heads of those who attacked Seattle ($80 for a chief and $20 for a warrior), and historian Clarence Bagley states, “During the month of February 1856, several invoices of these ghastly trophies were received and sent to Olympia.” The cause of the battle was land. As more and more settlers came to Seattle, more Native Americans were made to move to other ground, taking them away from their waters and hunting grounds.
