Those who have a heightened sense of paranormal activity may be rewarded by exploring the Ray/Wheelock region. There’s something about an area that can claim two mass murders of families in one area, a jilted lover murder, and a robbery-murder.
Innocents, including children killed by deranged madmen, tend to make spooky stories.
Wheelock first showed up in eastern Williams County, North Dakota about 1901 and became a formal community a year later. Compared to the vacant prairie, Wheelock was large and affluent. It was named for a Minneapolis newspaper editor and it attracted settlers from Minnesota and South Dakota.
People who couldn’t afford or couldn’t find space in Wheelock moved down the road a couple of miles and established the town of Epping. It was said at the time that property was too expensive in Wheelock but 10 miles away, at Epping, people could find a place to put down roots.
First Murder
A couple years later, Epping became the site of the first murder in the neighborhood. In 1907, a frustrated lover killed the woman who had been his girlfriend one week after their baby was born
Meanwhile, back in Wheelock
From the Williston Graphic newspaper, May 1906. The Great Northern Railroad Hotel at Wheelock was one of several Great Northern Hotels scattered along the railway across the northern United States.
Wheelock’s population hovered around 115 in the mid-1930’s and by the 1950’s it reported as many as 400 people in town. Today, there is a handful of residents there.
We heard from one resident this week who told us she does not feel any creepiness in town. She’s there to stay. She said the only strange occurrences in town are the moose that wander through town once in a while.
It appears the property value has decreased from the days when there was a bustling main street with a bank, hotel, lumberyard and other commercial enterprises.
The town seems haunted by its past. The solid structures of town dissolved in the last 10 or 15 years, a few old farm shacks and barns remain, but no commercial buildings.
By the 1970’s fewer than 24 people lived in Wheelock. In 1994, the town died and was formally dissolved. (Meanwhile, that poor little town down the road, Epping continues and even has its own webpage.) http://www.epping.govoffice.com/
Wheelock’s banker murdered
Here’s why it seems haunted — murders: As happens with popular bustling towns, it attracted quite a bit of good and bad attention. Business was so robust that by the time it celebrated its 25th birthday, it was home to a hotel, general merchandise store, lumber yard, pool hall, drug store and a bank — and that’s where the first murder happened, at the bank. It’s that brick building in the center of the three buildings in the photo above.
The bank was profitable, and isolated, miles from any law enforcement. That could be why three bad men took over the bank in 1926. Before they ran off with all the money, they murdered the banker. They avoided capture until one man was caught in Kenmare, North Dakota. He died in prison.
Of course today, Main Street doesn’t look like it would attract a bank robbery. The railroad still runs past the town, but there are fewer hoboes than there were 100 years ago.
Newspaper accounts of crimes committed by railroad hoboes are scattered through the newspapers from 1907 to 1920. For example, in the spring of 1915, Bob Bend, a Minot wholesale liquor dealer was shot and killed in Montana when two hoboes broke into his living quarters, demanded money that he was counting, and killed him.
It does not yet appear what it will be — a hotel? A saloon? Someone’s brave attempt to bring life to Wheelock?
Murder on the Dillon farm north of Wheelock
So while Epping and Wheelock had their share of bloodshed — one apiece– rural murders were also reported. One just northeast of town a couple miles.
On October 20, 1913. Cleve Culbertson, 29-years-old, hopped a freight train at Plentywood, Montana and rode it east. He rode through Wheelock and got off in Ray 10 miles east. There he huddled down for the night. Apparently, he had spotted the Dillon farm from the train as he rode into Ray.
The next day, October 21, he walked back west to the farm and asked for work. Mr. Dillon wasn’t home, so Mrs. Dillon told Culbertson to stick around until Mr. Dillon returned. The family had supper with Culbertson and Dillon hired Culbertson to help build a barn. They went out to the farmyard and when Dillon had his back turned, Culbertson shot him four times. Dillon did not die, but was paralyzed and lay in the farmyard.
Culbertson headed back to the house and met Mrs. Dillon won her way out to see what the shooting was about. Culbertson shot her through the heart, according to newspaper accounts.
The Williston Graphic newspaper covered the murder, the trail and the lynching that followed.
He then went into the house and shot their 12-year old daughter.
Culbertson caught and lynched
Dillon lay there until late that night when he heard a neighbor passing by with his horse and wagon. Dillon yelled for help. The neighbor came on the bloody scene and rescued Dillon.
However, Dillon died four days later. In those four days, he gave his account of the murders and identified Culbertson as the murderer.
Culbertson was caught, arrested, tried in Williston, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Before he could be shipped to the prison in Bismarck, a mob overpowered the sheriff. It was reported that he did not even draw his sidearm because of the many guns the mob had pointed at him.
The mob broke Culbertson out of jail and dragged him to the edge of town. They took him to the bridge crossing the Little Muddy River and hanged him. Then, they used his body for target practice.
Murder on the Hart Farm, “What a terrible thing I have done.”
About three years later, a man who went by the assumed name, “Guy Hall” jumped off the train at Ray. He had just escaped from the Washington State Penitentiary, then grabbed a ride on a freight train headed east through North Dakota. Ray is as far as he got. He walked back west three miles, halfway between Wheelock and Ray. There he hired on at the A.M. Hart ranch do to chores when Mr. Hart was not home.
The 22-year-old man must have been a charmer because he romanced the eldest Hart girl against the best wishes of her parents. The Harts were vocal about their opposition to Hall because he drank too much.
A few days after Christmas, December 1915, Hall drove to Ray to pick up his girlfriend and her sister from a relative’s home, the McFarlanes. He took them back to their farm between Wheelock and Ray.
Brutal murders
At gunpoint, he made them come with him into the farmhouse and up the stairs to a bedroom. There was the body of their mother whose head had been bashed in with a crowbar. He locked them in with their dead, bloody mother. The daughters testified Hall said, “There she is. See what a terrible thing I have done.”
What they did not know at the time was the bloody, bludgeoned bodies of their two brothers were outside. A coroners report wrote that Hart used the crowbar to beat them over the head from behind then hid their bodies in a haystack. Roy Hart was 13 years old, and Vahn Hart was 9.
Hart kept the two girls locked up in the bedroom with their dead mother until the next day when he came back with the revolver and forced them into a car to go back to the relative’s home in Ray.
The Williston Graphic wrote:
“He kept the girls prisoners in the ghastly death chamber nearly all night when he ordered them into a vehicle and began a wandering drive that ended at the McFarlane home in Ray.”
“Please forgive me, for I am insane”
Hall and Mrs. McFarlane struggled over the revolver. He broke free, ran upstairs and shot himself. Ray police officers were immediately on the scene. They ran upstairs and found Hall’s dead body — a bullet through his head.
The police jumped in their patrol cars, sped to the Hart Ranch. There they found two notes in the dead woman’s mouth.
One read:
“This is the beginning of my finished work of crime. Bruce Parkinson, alias Guy Hall, escaped prisoner of Washington State reformatory.”
The other read:
“Please forgive me, for I am insane. Guy Hall.”
Hall was buried in a Ray cemetery.
Today, it’s quiet in Epping, Wheelock, and Ray
One of few residences we could find in town.
Wheelock has been on a downhill slide ever since the 1950’s. A few attempts at cleaning up and building up the town never seem to get very far.
Epping, the little town built from those who could not afford Wheelock, is still functioning.
To the east, the towns of Ray and Tioga thrive in the new economy of oil.
Death has centered on Wheelock. Each time we return, it’s less and less of a residential collection of homes, and more of a ghost town. People from elsewhere who visit say they feel “creeped out” by the town.
Some write of their visits as being very quick because they felt an evil presence in town, they say.
What is your experience when you visit Wheelock?
Not been there yet? Drop a comment here after you have visited Wheelock to tell us what you think.
Hi, My dad grew up in Wheelock, North Dakota in the 20’s and 30″s. He and his sister’s graduated from the Brooklyn School in Wheelock. His mom and dad and sisters moved to Monroe, Washington in 1930’s. He wrote a diary of all his days there. It is so interesting. Not much emotion but lots of weather and his comings and goings in the town and at home. They lived on a farm with a barn and were wheat farmers. I have never been there but heard all the stories and read his diary. He passed away in 1999 at the age of 81 but its so interesting to read about his life before I was born. Thank you for the history of this town and others in the area. It is very interesting. Its so sad that this little town is now a ghost town and reading about the murders is awful. He would be sad about that. There was only 115 people living there in the 30’s and him and his family was probably part of that population. He knew all the people in the area and they all seemed to move to the west coast also. His sisters married some of their classmates from there. Stepanek’s, and Siverson’s. Thank you, Debbie (Stepanek) Davis
That’s quite the story. I wish he were still alive because it would be fascinating to learn more. There’s not a whole lot of oral history or living history left from Wheelock. I’d love to get all I could.
Thanks, Debbie.
Hi, I lived on a farm southeast of Wheelock. My Mom graduated from the Wheelock school. This is also where we went to church and did our grocery shopping at Thue’s General Store. My Mom would take cream and eggs in to be sold and put on a tab so we could get a few things there. She put in a huge garden and did a lot of canning. My Grandmother’s best friend was a Siverson (or should I say was married to a Siverson), she just lived down the road from Grandma. I remember there was a bar also in Wheelock called Busters Bar, As my Dad and some of his friends and my Grandfather frequented there also. I go back home to Williston every now and then as I still have some family there. Have not been thru Wheelock for quite some time. Wanted to the last time was home but was told that since the last oil boom went thru there were some druggies living there and the town was not the same. Also since the oil boom, Epping has a huge (not sure what the correct teminology would be) train junction there for loading oil. Memories come flooding back as I remember the old days….
Those are great memories. I would love to step back in time to visit the days of busy commerce in Wheelock. Thanks for sharing!
By the way, do you have any photos of those days in Wheelock?
Connie …. I’m interested in who’s daughter you are? My older brothers (Vinger’s) were good friends with Huravitch boys & played a lot of music with them over the years. Wheelock was a great place to grow up!
Hi Gayle, My my mother was Ora Mae Ritter and my father was Billie Huravitch. Yes my dad played in bands and remember a few Vinger names, Orville and Larry. Wondering if you remember who stood up for my mom and dad’s wedding?
Plus I remember them playing for pie and cake socials.:)
I think Grandma’s friend was named “Aleda?” or something like that? Please refresh my memory if you can.
Hi Connie. My great aunt was Alida Siverson from Wheelock. I wonder if that’s who you mean. She passed away in 2007.
I live in wheelock… This is my home. I feel no creepiness here… No spooks or haunts. We see moose wander by… What wonderful creatures. I have to say I’m here to stay!!
It feels good to find a place where you are “here to stay.” Doesn’t it. Love to see a moose wander through town. Send us a pic and we’ll share it.
I was raised in Epping from birth until 1965 when I graduated from Epping High School. I had relatives (Aunt, Uncle, Cousins) who lived in Wheelock and owned the Bar (no mention of the Saloon in the article). After military and marriage, we lived in Epping for 15 years in a 1917 home the banker built. Then we moved to Ray for 20 years. I knew about the Ray murders, but the others were news to me. The former Catholic church in Epping, ST. Mary’s, was owned by me for a few years and used as a wood working shop, and was eventually sold and moved to Wheelock’s northwest corner. On the east side of Wheelock at present is the clubhouse for the Ray Ramblers motorcycle club, who hold regular meetings in the Spring, Summer and Fall. The old brick school in both Wheelock and Epping are now gone. Lots of good memories with cousins in Wheelock as well as growing up in Epping and the 20 years we spent in Ray until retirement and moving to Rugby. Thanks for the article.
Bernie & Holly Arcand
You have a rich memory of those days. Thanks for sharing. Things have changed, haven’t they. Do you have photos of those days in Epping,Ray and Wheelock?
Congrats on your retirement & move to Rugby!! I heard about that awhile back from a lady friend of mine in Ray, take care & have a Great Holiday Season!!!!
Hi, Bernie and Holly. Nice to hear your memories.
Hello cousin, If you are one of the sons of Joe and Eva we are definitely related. You have a brother named Randy and a sister named JoAnn. Give me a shout and let me know how all are doing. Since having moved to Montana in 1973 have lost track of a lot of family.
P. S. Bernard
I’ve lived in this area for many years my grandpa and grandma lived in ray. I spent much time there growing up. I know a man from wheelock have been there and Epping many times never to have felt anything evil there on my many visits.
I lived a mile south of Wheelock and went to church for teen years and to grade school there in the Fifties. Many good memories. Thue’s General Store offered a variety of goods from groceries, shoes, clothes, (my dad would buy his bibbed overalls, work shirts, and boots from Kenny and Gladys.) We would also sell cream and eggs. Once in a while a candy bar too! Jarland’s had the Post Office until it closed. I remember the bar, but wasn’t old enough to frequent. There used to be a hotel, but never open during my lifetime. I remember the gas station and dad would treat me to a pop. Not sure who owned the garage, could it be Hodenfields who lived to the east of the church.
My mother (she & dad were born in 1911) in her teens lived in Wheelock, and she would tell me the story of the bank robbery and how her friend’s father, the banker was killed in the robbery! The family moved away after that.
I haven’t been in the town for some time maybe 20 years. I visit the area occasionally but I’ve heard the town is really a mess. But next time I’m in the area, I will visit!
Those are quite the memories. Do you have any photographs of those old days?
Hi Joanie, thats the name I remember you by from all the Haugen kids, Dirk, Gina, Raef, Kyle and Nyle. We grew up with all of them and I consider them part of my family as well. I remember where you and your folks used to live also. If I remember right the last time I saw you was at Jodi’s funeral. Such a sad time but got to see some people haven’t seen in years. Hope this finds you well.
The garage was owned by my uncle, Jake Hodnefield. I spent my summers in Wheelock, Epping, and Ray and have fond memories of playing with cousins there. My grandmother (Christine Hodnefield) lived there until she passed and as a kid, I carried water from the common well house to her little home on Main Street
Joan, you’ve got great memories of the region. Thanks for sharing. If you run across any photographs from those days, we’d love to see them!
My dad Harvey Haney grew up in Epping ND and when he was a young boy he, saw the lynching and I remember him telling us kids of the people that were murders thats about all I remember just that there were two families that were all killed.
I’ll bet your dad would have been a wealth of stories of good times and bad. Those were the days!
well i would like to say a few things about wheelock.. i was about a year old when my dad and mother came to wheelock.. i went to school there , so did my older sister and brother…both graduated from the wheelock school… there are many people my age and older that could tell you a lot of stories about the good times in wheelock… vingers , mellands, hodnefields , thues, shermans, mellangs,bradburys,amberrys,gronfurs,gilbertsons,johnson,hansons,rindalls,lindquists,moens,siversons.solbergs,arcands.dauers,garass,gilbertsons,halversons,huravitchs, and many many more. who all made this a great little town, i’m very proud to went to school and church and grew up so many stories that would take a book to fill. yes old wheelock has a past, but the good times are so many with hard working men and women that lived and died there. you could walk down to thues store and get a pop or some penny candy, and sit out side and watch the farmers coming and going from the hodnefields garage. getting there truck or car fixed and going home to spend time with there familys . yes this was a great town!!! regards bob h
That sounds like some very good memories. I know we sure miss those days.
Have you any photographs of those days? Would love to see them!
Don’t think I do, but I took some pictures about 35 years ago of hotel but not sure I still have them as I lost many in the Red River flood of 2009.
Losing photos like that is sure heartbreaking, isn’t it.
When I think of the good old days, I would think of my many brother’s friends, and among them, Bobby Holman, and would wonder if he were still alive? I hear a few stories now and then, one source was Larry Vinger. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. Love to hear a few more!!!!
I really liked your comments about the hard working and good people of Wheelock and farmers that would come and go through Wheelock. Those were the best times, with good, honest people. ND nice!!!
Dad would bring me along to the Hodenfield garage sometimes, and when I’d look around, I remember the ‘girl’pictures that still frequent grain elevators and garages today. I was little and a little embarrassed. But I remember the pop slide machine, the old fuel/gas dispensors and the colorful pictures, everything else was less colorful to a child in a garage. Great memories though. It’s almost clear as a bell!
I hope you are passing on those memories of history to other generations. It’s good to remind them of where their roots are.
Hello Bob, Iver and Hanna Gronfur my great grandparents, Arcands (Joe and Eva) were my dad’s aunt and uncle, Ritters Woodrow and Bergny my grandparents, Huravitches all were my dad’s family. Yup, I was raised a NoDak girl.
As a kid we fished off the little muddy bridge nearly everyday in the summer, I believe it’s the same one they hanged Culbertson from. We called it the broken bridge though because just the near post supports remained and the rest was in the river in a mess of concrete and rebar. lost lots of fishin hooks down there but we caught a life time supply of bullheads. didn’t know it had a creepy history back then or I wouldn’t have fished into the darkness like I did. we walked down that old trail back up to the highway, or rode our bikes by moonlight sometimes. cool, thanks for the memories.
I’d forgotten the name of the hotel, but this article referred to it as the Great Northern Hotel, the manager was a woman named Thompson. Don’t know if it was the same family, but the folks bought a quarter of land on Section 2 where we owned the North half. My folk’s always referred to it as Thompson’s. Likewise, when they bought a quarter from the Jarlands, who ran the P.O., they would refer to that as the Jarlands.
The hotel was frequented by train travelers, and G N train workers. Joe Dauer was the depot agent for some time. My folks and Joe and Lucille Dauer were friends and would often play whist with the folks. One of their sons, (not Richard) who was about 5 or so years older than my brother worked several years on the farm. Don’t know, but it seemed to me, that WW II was during that period, and farm workers were difficult to find. Even though my dad was very fussy and didn’t have a lot of patience. Not many would work for him. But I loved him anyway.
There are some innocent stories I can tell about one of the older (65+) workers named Billy Graham but I’ll refrain.
My mom as a young teen was boyfriend/girlfriend with the banker’s son. The banker who was murdered in the robbery that they speak of. Grandma Dixon had a restaurant across the street and my mom’s family lived above the restaurant. The banker’s family moved away but the young man kept writing to my mom. She didn’t pursue him or the relationship as she didn’t feel good enough to be part of their family. She also said after dad died, she heard from him again. But didn’t do anything about it!
Funny how things come back to a person, when something reminds you of a time & place and stories told to you. My mom used to tell a story about a young man who liked her and he’d climb those long stairs. She’d play tricks and really didn’t like him so she’d turn off the lights on him. One time she heard him fall down the steps (not nice, Mother). She never said whether he came back after that. But there weren’t any more stories of him.
A fine job of “Historic Recollection”. My family has been in White Earth seven generations now and my Grandmother and others recounted these things to me over 50 years ago. Thank you so much.
You’re welcome. History, as told by our elders is a very good thing to pass on. I’m glad your grandmother and others shared those stories with you. Do you have any photographs? We’re planning on telling the rich history of White Earth and its rodeo.
I grew up in Wheelock when it was a beautiful little town with neighbors by the name of Holman’s, Haugen’s, Thue’s, Solberg’s, Melland’s, Thoreson, Dauer’s, Kindel’s, Halverson’s, Hodnefield’s, Arcand’s & others that Bob Holman named. We were known for our great basketball teams! I only remember hearing about the bank robbery & murder, not the others. My sister reminded me that the bank was made into our canteen which I do remember going to once or twice. But mostly, I remember playing in the bank and using it’s vault when we played cowboys with our friends & we brought in the bad guys & put them in jail. Ha! Fun memories. I don’t believe I have any old pictures, but would love to see some. We do drive through each time we are home and I’m very saddened by the unkept way it looks now. I keep praying some rich oil barron will resurrect it, clean it up & give it back it’s pride. Thanks for the article!!
Those family names are etched in history, and some are still around Williams and Ward Counties. I’ll bet it was a great place to play as a child.
The early part of my life I grew up one mile west of Wheelock. Moved away when I was 10 but Wheelock will always be home. I spent many hours playing in my Grandpa Hodnefield’s garage when my dad and uncle were in there working. My dad would give me .50 to to walk over to Thue’s and get a candy bar and pop, always getting a Charleston Chew. My Great Grandma lived across the street from the garage and loved the church. So many Sunday School memories. Getting stuck on the bus on the way home from school and stopping at Bradbury’s to warm up as it was a long ride on the snowmobile. Wheelock has a very special place in many people’s heart and holds very wonderful memories bringing us back to a younger simpler life. Even though Wheelock has changed throughout the years and I still go home to see the farm I will always remember Wheelock as the heart of my childhood.
Those are warm memories…even if it was a cold ride on the school bus! We forgot about Charleston Chew. Ha! Wheelock was quite the homey community, wasn’t it! Do you have photos of the old town?
I have vague memories of Wheelock; mostly from stories heard throughout the years. I had three sets of grandparents that lived in Wheelock; Gunda and Otto Melland, Olaf and Olive Vinger, and Francis and Olive Arcand. Grandma and grandpa Arcand owned the Wheelock bar. Both my parents, Janice (Arcand) and Dennis Vinger, and siblings attended the Wheelock school. They still have their class annuals that we enjoy looking through.
Mom remembers having to use the outhouse behind the bar. She also remembers charging groceries at the Thue General Merchandise store. They would pay the bill monthly. I have an old postcard from the store to post. The postcard says McGee and Thue General Merchandise Store. She also remembers that Jake Hodnafield owned the gas station and mechanic shop.
Dad remembers the town was too small for a town drunk so he and his brother Myron had to take turns. (I’m not sure if this is true, as dad still has his humor and thought this was funny). At Halloween the kids would roll tires on the road to block Main Street. They would also tip over the out houses.
Carole Haug, Dennis Melland and a couple others would practice singing and playing their guitars at the fire hall on Main Street.
Winters were severe, so dads folks would put the kids up at the hotel on Main Street, owned by Mrs. Willand. This way the kids would make it to school.
Mom and dad both recall attending canteen dances at the old bank building. They would play the old 78 records and dance to country western music. Elvis was just gettin popular.
There are so many more stories of Wheelock. Mom or dad can’t recall anything erie or evil about Wheelock or Epping.
Wow. That’s great stuff! We love it when our readers share their personal stories. That’s what makes history alive! Thank you for sharing. Would love to see those postcards and photos!
Mike, I have tried to add photos to this sight, but can’t seem to be able to. Any suggestions?
That’s great, Christy. Yeah, only the webmaster can add images to the site, but that’s a great idea. I love it! I’ll see what I can come up with for that function. One way we can share photos is through our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/beautifulbadlandsnd or email to mike@beautifulbadlandsnd.com. Thank you for trying, Christy!!
From my dad, Dennis Vinger…..”My fondest memory of Wheelock were how we stood every morning in school with our hands over our hearts reciting the Pledge of Aligance to our Flag. And at the basketball games we did the same as we sang the National Anthem. And attended church every Sunday. Because that’s how we were all raised in Wheelock.”
That’s a great memory. Don’t you wish we still did that, the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, and church every Sunday? I sure do.