The Unburied At The Beaver Bridge

Long ago the areas around today’s Beaver Lake were the hunting grounds of the Osage. The cool waters of the White River flowed thru the fertile valley and offered fresh water to the villagers and the prey they would hunt.

Over the years, white settlers gradually displaced the Osage presence and eventually a man named Wilson Ashbury Beaver would acquire the land in 1857 and start what is now known as the town of Beaver. However, it was not until 1954 that Congress passed a flood control act authorizing the development of the Beaver Dam and Beaver Lake.

Beaver established several businesses on his land, including a 350-acre farm, a grist mill, a trading post, a ferry across the White River, and an inn, all of which bore the Beaver name.

Following the Civil War, Beaver’s ferry was part of a regular stagecoach route that also made a regular stop at his inn. Beaver established a post office on his property in 1879, first named Beaver Ferry and later shortened to Beaver.

Wilson Ashbury Beaver would eventually pass and per legend, is burred on his beloved property along side his wife. Reports of a ghostly figure surfaced in the late 1950’s as the Army Corps of Engineers began to flood the lands after completing the dam.

Many homestead were flooded including many of the dead who were buried in their family cemeteries. Most remains were relocated before the flooding of the valley but it is said that the wife of Wilson Ashbury Beaver was never located on the family farm.

Many who have reported seeing the Ghostly figure walking the bridge on a full moon night. Some seem to think that it’s Wilson’s wife, searching for her home and the love of her life.

The Unburied At The Beaver Bridge

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