SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) -- Despite being one of the newer states in the union, Utah has a wild and weird history with far too many urban legends than anyone could ever hope to cover in a single list.
From little people living in the heart of Salt Lake City, to ghostly nuns, to Aztec treasure hidden in the desert, we've picked ten of our favorites from around the state to highlight to get you in the mood for spooky season.
If you're interested in exploring more of the rich history of Utah's urban legends and folklore, Utah State University Special Collections Library has the Fife Folklore Collection, which is one of the largest archives of American folklore in the United States. Some collections have been digitized, whereas others you will have to go to the library to browse.
If you don't see your favorite Utah urban legend here, make sure to tell us about it on our social media pages!
The Dream Mine
The Dream Mine is located east of Salem, created by a man who was known to have prophetic abilities through his dreams. John Koyle created the dream mine after having a dream where he was visited by a figure from another world who showed him a mine with great riches.
Koyle was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the vision of the "Nephite" mine included specific instructions on how to develop the mine in order to access rich deposits of ore. He was instructed to construct a mine for the welfare of his people, and so he did, naming the project the Relief Mine. In 1909, the Koyle Mining Company was formed.
His mine got the attention of Church leaders, who came to investigate his claims. James E. Talmage, an apostle who was also a geologist, found no evidence of precious metals in the area, and so the Church spoke out against the Koyle mine. Despite that, Koyle continued to have supporters, and he was eventually ex-communicated from the Church in 1948, a year before his death.
The mine continued on for another 23 years after his death, but no great riches were ever found.
Old Tooele Hospital
The Old Tooele Hospital is thought to be one of the most haunted locations in Utah, and it is now the home of a haunted attraction, Asylum 49. The building was built in 1873 by Samuel F. Lee as a family home, but 40 years later, the family left the home and it became a care facility for the elderly, and eventually a hospital in 1953.
Apparently, the hospital was poorly funded, with poor care for residents. It was also missing a morgue, and instead staff would stack bodies inside a room until the coroner finally got there to fill out death certificates.
The TV show Ghost Adventures made a stop at the Old Tooele Hospital and documented their ghostly encounters. Samuel Lee is said to be one of the ghosts haunting the building, alongside his 7-year-old son who died there. A nurse in white named Maria has also been reported as haunting the halls, guarding a portal to the afterlife.
White Lady of Spring Canyon
Spring Canyon was once a booming mining area, but now it is filled with ghost towns and the remnants of the mines. Within the canyon, people have reported sightings of a ghostly white lady. Who the white lady is depends on who you ask, but her story is deeply connected to the mountains and the mines. She often can be seen at the entrances to the mines, beckoning people either to disaster or warning them to stay away.
Most of the stories involve her husband dying, usually in a mining accident, leaving her alone with an infant daughter. The daughter often also dies, either after being kidnapped, killed in an avalanche, or drowned by the lady herself, and all alone and destitute, the lady loses her mind.
In one story, after her husband is killed in a mining accident, she confronts mining officials after the company refuses to compensate her for her husband's death. In that version, she is left furious, and she drives too fast on the roads when she loses control and crashes.
Why she returns to the canyon is also dependent on who you talk to. In some, she is a vengeful spirit, seeking revenge against the mining company or the kidnappers who killed her daughter. In others, she is searching for her lost child in the canyon.
Montezuma's Treasure in Kanab
Montezuma's treasure, possibly the richest cache of gold in the world, might be hidden in southern Utah, according to historians. Some believe that it's hidden in Kanab, and people have been searching for it for over a century.
The legend traces back to the 16th century, when Aztec warriors carried King Montezuma's gold from Mexico City to what is now the U.S. in order to protect it from Hernan Cortes and other Spanish conquistadors. Some believe they buried it in the desert or in the caverns surrounding Kanab, while others believe it could be located in the pond of Three Lakes Ranch in Kanab. Everyone agrees: undoubtedly, the gold is cursed.
The craze of searching for the treasure began in the 1920s, when a prospector named Freddy Crystal arrived in town with a map covered in Aztec petroglyphs. They never found the treasure, but they did discover tunnel systems in Johnson Canyon.
Lonn Child's family bought the Three Lakes Ranch in 1989 to search for the treasure, even attempting to drain the pond at one point. Divers searching for the treasure saw ghosts and experienced the feeling of choking, and a well driller died from a heart attack after working on the pond.
Hobbitville in Salt Lake City
Hobbitville is officially known as Allen Park in Salt Lake City. It's located alongside Emigration Creek, and it is filled with artistic carvings and mosaics, unique small cabins, and bird residents. Because of the small buildings, it has become known for rumors of housing small, magical inhabitants-hence the name Hobbitville.
It was named for Dr. George Allen, who alongside his wife, created the park after they bought the land in the 1930s. He was an avid bird lover, and over 300 birds lived on the property. The tiny buildings on the property were added by Allen, who wanted to give his children and other people interested in the art a place to live. After he died in 1961, he left over 30 little apartments for his wife Ruth to manage.
It became a hub for Utah's counterculture scene, and then, as the Lord of the Rings books gained popularity, there were rumors about the residents of the park, of small people living in the tiny cabins. In 2019, the property went up for sale, and Salt Lake City quickly bought it to turn into a park.
Emo's Grave
Emo's grave is located in the Jewish section of the Salt Lake City cemetery, and it is a columbarium (similar to a mausoleum, used to house cremated remains) that can be seen from 400 South. The grave belongs to Jacob Moritz, a German immigrant who founded Salt Lake Brewing Company.
In the most common version of the legend, if you stand in front of the grave and chant "Emo, Emo, Emo," you will either see a face through the window or red, glowing eyes. Another retelling says that the grave becomes warm when you chant "Emo" three times.
The legend seemingly has no real connection to Moritz. "Emo" does not appear anywhere on the grave. "Moritz" is carved in large letters above the door, and there is an "M" on the bottom of the door. Interestingly, his remains are no longer located in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, but it is unknown where they are now. They were retrieved by his family at some point after he was interred.
St. Anne's Retreat in Logan Canyon
St. Anne's Retreat is known to be haunted by the ghosts of nuns, who may have been murdered, depending on the version of the legend. It was donated to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City in the 1950s, and it was used as a vacation location for Catholic nuns in the area. St. Anne's Retreat is the name it has come to be known by in legends, but it's true name is Pine Glenn Cove, though it is also known as Hatch's Camp or St. Ann's Retreat (without the e).
It was empty for long periods of time, so it became a target for vandals, even when the sisters were there, so the nuns got watch dogs to alert them of intruders. Eventually, they started to feel unsafe and stopped using the retreat.
That didn't stop the legends, or people coming to visit, "generated by the long-standing cultural gap between local Mormons and Catholics, and how fear, belief, prejudice would interfere with their hopes of vacationing peacefully in the beautiful mountains of Logan Canyon," according to a digital exhibit from USU.
Many of the legends tell stories of nuns being murdered. In one version, a convict with a hook hand escaped prison and was wandering through Logan Canyon when he came across the nuns at the retreat. One went missing, and the next night, the sisters found her dead and floating in the swimming pool. In another story, a nun is the murderer, giving birth at the retreat and drowned the baby in the swimming pool.
The dogs fed into the legends, becoming a part of some first-hand accounts. They accompany the ghostly nuns in the woods with red glowing eyes, and they continue to guard the retreat, even after the nuns are gone.
Hood's Wind Generator
Hood's wind generator is one of those urban legends that starts because people are trying to explain something strange that an eccentric person built. Hood's wind generator is located on top of Pahvant Butte in Millard County, and you can still visit "Utah's Stonehenge" today.
It was built by A.H. Hood, who was an early advocate for renewable energy. He began the project in 1922 with the goal of creating a wind-powered electric generator on Pahvant Butte, in the form of a gigantic turbine on a circular track, harnessing the wind's power. He was able to get investors in on the project, but according to local legend, the project went bankrupt, and Hood was sent to prison for mail fraud.
Hood's vision for a massive wind generator was never completed, but the concrete pillars and generator house for the project are still there on top of Pahvant Butte. People in the area have given the ruins the nickname of Utah's Stonehenge, with 40 obelisks arranged in concentric circles, all aligned at the same elevation.
Monster of Bear Lake
Bear Lake has its own version of the Loch Ness Monster, a giant beast living in the waters of the lake in Utah and Idaho. This legend dates more that 150 years. In 1868, Joseph C. Rich wrote a story about the legend that was published in the Deseret News. He claimed that the Native American tribes in the area also had stories about a "water devil" in the lake, and a number of white settlers had seen it too.
The appearance of the monster has changed depending on the sighting. Some said it looked like an alligator or like a walrus without the tusks, while others said it had the head of a cow. Some said it had short legs to help it climb on the shore, and it swam through the water like a serpent. Almost everyone agreed that it was very long and moved very fast in the water.
Sightings have continued to the present day, and the Bear Lake Monster has become Utah's own celebrity cryptid like Mothman or Bigfoot. You may or may not catch a sight of it if you visit Bear Lake, but you will certainly see it in art and souvenirs at shops in the area.
Legend of Flo
Flo is one of Ogden's most enduring legends. She is a ghost who is said to haunt Ogden City Cemetery once the sun sets. As with many ghost stories, there are multiple stories about how she died. One story says that she was waiting for her prom date to pick her up when she was hit and killed by a car. Another story says that she choked to death on a piece of candy, whereas another says that she died from an illness.
The grave belongs to Florence Louise Grange, a young woman born in 1903 who died tragically in 1918, at the age of 15. History buffs may recognize 1918 as the year of the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed millions of people around the world, and Flo was one of them. Her entire family got the flu, but she got it the worst, dying on December 29.
The legend is that if you park near her grave and flash your headlights three times, her ghostly figure will appear, getting closer and closer to your car before suddenly vanishing. She was not hit by a car like some legends claim, but interestingly, her father was one of Utah's first auto mechanics.
You can read more about Ogden's other spooky myths and legends here on the Visit Utah website.