One of Nebraska's Great Ghost Stories

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It seems the day before Halloween, it seems appropriate to
retell one of Nebraska's great ghost stories, the legend of
Nebraska City's Seven Sisters. Have you heard this one? It's
one of my favorites. At the dawn of the twentieth century,
a young farm boy and his seven sisters lived on
the rolling hills of what is now Oto County. Sadly,

(00:22):
his father and mother died young, leaving the farm but
the children. It rested on a small patch of land
off of what is now County Road El seems, the
young man and his sisters differed on a new government
policy that would allow keel and steamboat traffic from the
nearby Missouri River across their small farm. The government began

(00:43):
pressing the siblings to sell a slice of the land,
granting a transportation right of way. The son, remembering a
death bed promise to his late father to keep every
inch of that fought for land in the family name,
grew more enraged at his sisters who wanted to sell,
so he plotted to murder each of them. One October night,

(01:07):
he served them a meal laced with an untraceable poison,
and shortly each collapsed in death. The brother then carted
each of them up one of the seven foothills behind
their house and hung their lifeless bodies from the tree branches.
At dawn, a group of Sunday worshippers decided, on a
beautiful fall morning to take their service outdoors, take in

(01:32):
the autumn sunshine, and enjoy the fall colors by the river. Horrified,
their eyes were soon filled with the sight of those
seven bodies twisting in the breeze. The sun was hunted down,
taken into custody, didn't contest the charges, convicted, and sentenced
to death. Justice was done when he was hung from
a tree, not unlike any of those from where he

(01:54):
left his sisters. As Oto County grew through the years,
that lonesome row was graveled, plowing through three of the
seven hills and chopping down those notorious trees. It is
now known as Seven Sisters Road. Some of the locals
believe the sisters are still there today. Passers by visitors

(02:15):
swear the hills are haunted by spirits of the murdered seven.
As word of the road filtered out of Nebraska, visitors
from the world over would descend on Seven Sisters Road
and begin testifying of supernatural occurrences. They tell of screams
heard in the hills, specifically the cries of young women.
Cars seem particularly susceptible to paranormal activity in and around

(02:39):
Seven Sisters Road. Drivers tell of how they inexplicably stall there,
while others say their head lights mysteriously dim and then
suddenly brighten again after they've passed the hills. Other visitors
say they hear the sound of bells ringing from a
nearby cemetery, sometimes lasting thirty minutes. So far, nobody has
been able to explain that. One Nebraskan hunting near the

(03:03):
hills shares a creepy story, claims to have early one
foggy morning, seen a figure in the distance staring at him.
The hunter gave it a double take as it vanished
over a terrace. Young lovers traveling on Seven Sisters Road
claimed their new car suddenly breaks down. The man, knowing
his way around a car, engine popped the hood, found
nothing wrong, and then screams began to fill their ears

(03:25):
from across the hills. Startled and afraid, the young couple
felt trapped what to do as their eyes scanned the countryside,
and then when the screaming, stopped. Their car magically came
to life, and they fish tailed away. One traveler from
out of state admits he'd heard about the legend, drove
to the hills to explore for himself, and when he
arrived just then his car radio played this is the

(03:49):
end by the doors. Spooked to near death, he abandoned
his and jumped into the car and banded the hike.
Jumped into the car, threw it into gear, tore up
the road, sped through Nebraska City and out of the
state forever today. Yes, three of the Seven Hills are gone,
but it seems all seven of its residents might still
be there.