Spooky Cleveland – One of my favorite spooky Cleveland ghost stories involves, Sauk Indian Chief, Joc-O-Sot. He died in Cleveland in 1844 and is buried in Erie Street Cemetery.
But rumor has it that he had wished to be buried closer to his birthplace (probably somewhere in current Minnesota or Wisconsin). His burial in Cleveland angered his spirit so much, that he cracked the headstone (which is still in the cemetery today, along with a new one) He is known to haunt the cemetery and even disrupt Cleveland Indian Baseball games at Progressive Field, which is just across the street from the cemetery.
To take the story a step further, Chief Thunderwater, who led the fight to save Erie Street Cemetery from being moved to make way for new construction in the 1920’s warned if Joc-O-Sot’s body was ever moved a terrible disaster would befall Cleveland. So it looks like Joc-O-Sot’s spirit will remain haunting Cleveland.
Happy Halloween!
