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The next article from the Lenoir News-Topic dated Wednesday, August 20, 1919, read:


Asheville woman gone!
Search of Wilson Gorge fruitless

MORTIMER – An Asheville woman staying in a rental house on Wilson Creek disappeared
Saturday. A subsequent search of Yellow Buck Mountain and the Wilson Creek Gorge turned
up nothing.

Sharon Hutchinson, 28, of Asheville, was reported missing on Saturday evening by friends
who she was staying with at the rental house of Randolph Walker. Other guests staying at the
house for the weekend reported to the Caldwell County Sheriff that they had not seen Ms.
Hutchinson since that morning.

Ms. Hutchinson was last seen reading a book in the living room of the house before her
companions went into nearby Mortimer in their automobile. When they returned around
lunchtime, there was no sign of her. Her fellow guests thought she had gone for a hike.

When she didn’t return by dark, they drove into Mortimer and telephoned police.

A search by Sheriff’s deputies and men from Mortimer and Edgemont Saturday night
found nothing in the woods of the Wilson Creek Gorge or Yellow Buck Mountain. The
search continued into the week and was only called off yesterday.

“She’s not up there,” Sheriff Jerome A. Triplette told this newspaper. “We scoured that
area and didn’t find anyone.”

Ms. Hutchinson’s luggage and possessions were still in her room in the house. The book
she had been reading was lying in a chair in the living room, still open as if she had merely
put it down for a moment.

The house, also known as the Campbell House, has been rented since 1915.


An article dated Monday, May 30, 1921, read:


Man killed by wild beasts
Sheriff warns of dangerous animals

MORTIMER – A Charlotte man was killed by what Sheriff Jerome A. Triplette calls
“wild beasts.”

Robert Shaw, 33, of Charlotte was found dead at a rental house on Wilson Creek Road
south of Mortimer Sunday afternoon. Shaw had rented a house in Wilson Gorge for the
weekend and was staying alone at the time. He was found by a friend who had come to
the house to pick him up.

According to Sheriff Triplette, Shaw was attacked by a wild dog of some kind. His chest
was mutilated and there was damage to major arteries.

There was no sign of a struggle.

“The body was not disturbed so he might have frightened it off,” Sheriff Triplette said.
“Shaw might have lived if he could have stopped the bleeding.”

According to an autopsy, Shaw died of blood loss.

“It’s a terrible shame,” said Mortimer resident Wilson Hardy. “I didn’t know there were
any really dangerous animals up here.”

Hardy had taken Shaw to the house and even met the man who had come to pick him up
Sunday. He said he was not going to venture outside of his own home without a gun.

“This is an isolated incident,” Sheriff Triplette said. “But we’ll try to make sure it
doesn’t happen again.”

There are plans for a hunt on Yellow Buck Mountain this week, with well-armed hunters
searching for the wild animal in the hopes of putting it down.

The house, also known as the Campbell House, has been rented since 1915. In 1919, a
woman disappeared from the house. Her remains were never found.


Yet another dated Monday, April 10, 1922, read:


Man dies in auto wreck
Machine plummets into creek

MORTIMER – A Raleigh man was killed when his automobile plummeted off the end
of Wilson Creek Road and into Craig Creek Saturday night.

John Talbridge, 38, of Raleigh, was southbound on Wilson Creek Road when his
automobile, thought to be going over 40 miles per hour, crashed through the barricade at
the end of Wilson Creek Road and plunged over a 20-foot drop into the shallow creek bed
below.

Talbridge died on impact. His 1920 LaFayette was destroyed in the crash.

“There was no sign that he tried to brake,” Sheriff Jerome A. Triplette said. “He was
going too fast. It was dark. He must not have known the road ended.”

Several signs at the end of the road warn drivers not to proceed. A heavy wooden barricade
also protects the road from the drop to the creek below.

Talmadge had business in Mortimer and had extended his stay to relax for the weekend,
according to his employers.

The house he was staying in, also known as the Campbell House, has been rented since
1915. A woman disappeared from the house in 1919 and a man was killed on the grounds,
apparently by a wild animal which was never found, last year.

Randolph Walker, the owner of the house, could not be reached for comment.


The last two articles were the most recent and dated only the year before. The first was from Thursday, May 19, 1927. It read:


Strangers stalk Mortimer
Men seen in woods around town

MORTIMER – Strangers have been seen more and more frequently in the woods around
Mortimer for the last two weeks. Locals claim that the men flee when approached and
rumors are flying that bandits or criminals of some kind have taken up residence somewhere
in the area.

According to residents of Mortimer, none of the men have been seen closely but are always
at a distance. One man said he was followed for a mile up Wilson Creek Road by someone in
the woods. He couldn’t see the fellow, but heard him, matching him step for step.

Several children at play in the late afternoon say they saw a small group of men huddled on
Yellow Buck Mountain overlooking Mortimer before it got dark.

Another man, who lives near Hutber School, said he spotted a group of half a dozen men
running across the road as he approached in his buggy after dark. He said the group stopped
just outside of his light and watched him pass.

“Someone is living out in those woods,” Josh Tailor of Mortimer said.

A woman who lives on Wilson Creek Road claims that someone looked into the kitchen
window of her house one night. Her screams and the barking of her dog frightened the man away.

“People are just being nervous,” said Caldwell County Sheriff F.T. Sherrill. “There is no cause
for alarm.”

Regardless, Sheriff Sherrill said he will be sending a deputy down to Mortimer every week to
“take a look around.”

He said police are taking the complaints seriously though he is sure that this is nothing more
than an incident of vagrants passing through the area.


The other was from the same newspaper dated Friday, June 3, 1927, and read:


Local man disappears
‘Strangers in woods’ are blamed

MORTIMER – An Edgemont man disappeared on his way home from Hutbur Thursday night.

William Chase, 45, of Edgemont did not return home Thursday night. His wife, Connie Chase
contacted police immediately and sheriff’s deputies and local men from Mortimer and Edgemont
scoured Yellow Buck Mountain and Wilson Creek for any sign of him.

Chase is a carpenter who has been doing work at Hutbur School for the last week.

No trace was found of the man, who usually finished up his day in the late afternoon and
walked home to Edgemont, some four miles, in the early evening, according to his wife. When
he didn’t return home Thursday night, she acted immediately.

Strangers have been seen in the Mortimer area for the last two weeks, people skulking about
in the woods and keeping their distance. Many in the area think they are responsible for Chase’s
mysterious disappearance.

“If I see anyone I don’t know, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later,” Edgemont resident John
Turner told this reporter.

Sheriff F.T. Sherrill cautions locals not to take the law into their own hands.

“Our efforts to find Chase are not over yet,” he said. “However, it was dark and Wilson Creek
is high. It is possible he stumbled into the creek and was washed downstream.”

Chase was a good swimmer according to his wife.

“He knows that road like the back of his hand,” she said. “He didn’t slip. Someone got him.”

Chase is well-known and well-liked in the area, having lived in Edgemont since he was born.
He often did work in the area and helped with rebuilding damaged homes and other buildings in
Mortimer and Edgemont after the flood in 1916. He was a large, very strong man, according to
his wife.

“After all this talk of strangers in the area, Will carried a gun,” his wife said. “He had a revolver
in his tool box. They wouldn’t have taken him without a fight.”

Chase is described as 6’ tall and weighing about 220 pounds. He has short brown hair and is
clean shaven.

Residents of Wilson Creek Township have been cautioned to keep their doors and windows
locked at night and not venture out alone. Parents are advised to make sure their children are in
well before dark.

Over the last two weeks, locals have claimed to have spotted strangers in the woods around
Mortimer. Claims of groups of people skulking about in the woods and even approaching houses
to peek into windows have become more and more common.

Though the strangers had not approached any resident of the area, and even seemed to be avoiding
them, the Sheriff has not discounted their presence in the case of the missing carpenter.

The search for Chase continues this weekend. Anyone with information about the missing man is
asked to contact the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office immediately. Anyone wishing to help search
should report to the Company Store in Mortimer by 7 a.m. Saturday.


It was all a bit overwhelming and unnerved McAfee.

“Are there any more specifics about the animal attacks?” Fuller asked May. “Just ‘wild beasts?’”

“It’s got to be either bear or ... there’s some coyote,” May replied. “Nothing bigger than that. And they searched the mountain after that one man got killed. They didn’t find anything.”

Fuller thanked him and they left the office. They soon found a general store and purchased some equipment. Fuller got some rat poison, a half-dozen rat traps, and even a couple larger traps. He also purchased a pair of kerosene lanterns, two electric torches, a tin of kerosene, and a pry bar for the nailed doors. McAfee reminded him that he was armed and when Fuller asked, told him he also had a box of 24 extra bullets. When Fuller started talking about buying a gun, McAfee asked him what kind of training he’d had. Fuller had fired guns and was comfortable with them, which relieved McAfee. In the end, Fuller purchased a .38 revolver and a box of bullets.

They returned to Atkinson’s office. Fuller asked him when the locks had been broken and the lawyer told him he’d found them broken after the group had been up at the house late June the year before. He assumed they had done it. He thanked the man and they took their leave.

After lunch at the diner, they checked in at the sheriff’s office again but found that the sheriff was not there. Then they caught the 4 p.m. train to Mortimer.

The tracks followed paved road for only a few miles before passing into the deeper woods. Then, only a dirt road was visible aside from occasional houses and small towns that the railroad passed through. The train stopped in Collettsville and passed through Adako before it reached an area of devastation.

Fire had ravaged that part of the state. The tracks followed what the conductor told them was Wilson Creek, through an area that had been destroyed by fire, though it appeared that it had been logged almost completely before the fire swept through. There was, however, new growth in the area. Everywhere, green bushes or the tiniest sprigs of trees were pushing through the wreckage as the land healed itself.

They rode for several miles before spotting another dirt road, houses scattered along it, some intact and some destroyed. Soon after, the train passed into an area where the few trees left by the loggers still stood and evidence of the fire was gone. They saw a couple of small buildings across the creek and then the remains of a toppled wooden church. The train passed a mill before it stopped.

“Mortimer,” the conductor called. “Mortimer.”

Mortimer wasn’t much of a town. A small depot stood across from a company store, a few houses scattered around on that side of the river. They could see make out the train trestle and what appeared to be the stone supports of another bridge that had long since washed away. A dirt road ran through the town, fording Wilson Creek, though a footbridge crossed just upstream.

An older, bald gentleman with a thick mustache helped them take their baggage off the train.

“Can I help you folks?” he asked. “You sure you’re not wanting to go up to Edgemont?”

“No,” Fuller said. “I’m here on behalf of William Abington to check on the Campbell House.”

“Oh,” the man said. “The Campbell House. Well, that’s haunted.”

“I haven’t heard it put that way but I’ve heard some strange things about it,” Fuller said.

The man pointed to the south, across Wilson Creek.

“It’s about a mile and a half down that way,” he said. “When you see the broken-down church, there’s a lane that goes right up to it. Do you need a ride or something?”

“Yeah. That would be great.”

“Well, you see that farm, there, across the river, there. That’s Wilson Hardy’s farm. He’s got a wagon and a team. He should be able to take you up there. He took them up there ... three years ago. He might have two years ago too, but I don’t think so. There seems to be a lot people coming up here every year, looking into that house.”

“I gathered.”

“But you can see his house right there, across the footbridge.”

“Thank you very much.”

Fuller and McAfee crossed the footbridge to the Hardy farm. It was rough-looking and run down. A man was on the roof of the house, nailing in some shingles. He wore rough clothing and a plaid shirt.

“Excuse me!” Fuller called to the man.

“Ayuh?” he replied.

“Wilson Hardy?”

“Yeah, I’m Wilson Hardy.” He spoke slowly with a thick accent.

“My name is Daniel Fuller and the man at the train station said to ask you about possible transportation for my companion and I and our bags up to the Campbell house.”