Watcher of the Stones

Browning Mountain looms over the ghost town of Elkinsville, a massive repository of old-growth woods, rare foliage, and Brown County history. At 930 feet tall, it is actually a hill, but a very steep hill, and the largest peak in the county. Browning Mountain is full of mysteries, most notably the odd circle of stones known as the Indiana Stonehenge, UFO and Bigfoot sightings, and a strange phantom known as the Watcher. At twilight, when the trees are bare, a giant human-like dark form has been seen roaming the mountain trails or on the edge of the summit looking out over the valley. He is believed to be an ancient Indian spirit, a watcher and protector of the curious stonehenge that crowns the mountain. Any attempts to quarry the stones have been meet with freak accidents and unexplained equipment failures. Stories of those who dared to deface the stones are filled with mysterious tragedies and death. If you must visit the stone circle, enter it with reverence, thank the Watcher for his service, and leave the sacred site undisturbed. For this show of respect, the curse will not follow you.

Who erected the stone circle and why, remains a mystery. It is believed that long before white men and the Miami Indians settled the area, an ancient tribe of people lived there and built the site. How they managed this feat, we do not know. The blocks are a non-native Keokuk limestone, weighing many tons, and apparently hand-hewed. The nearest source of Keokuk limestone is around Edwardsville, in Floyd County, approximately 85 miles away from Browning Mountain. Many scientists from all over the world have researched the site and have yet to come up with a plausible explanation on how the stones got there.

Ancient mysteries aside, there definitely is an odd aura around the stone circle, causing many spiritualists, dowers, and pseudosciencitists to believe that it is built on an intersection of ley lines, invisible lines of energy that are believed to crisscross all over the earth. The air within the circle is strangely still and silent. Animals and birds seem to fear and avoid this site as if driven away by some unknown energy. In addition to the Watcher, many anomalies have been seen in this area such as orbs, mysterious mists, and glowing lines. Those who have visited the site claim that the stones sing, for often a strange vibrating or ringing sound is heard echoing throughout the sacred area.

Here is just one of the many paranormal adventures reported at Browning Mountain:

Just off the dead-end of Elkinsville road, a young man and his friend followed an old unmarked sunken trail that wove up into Browning Mountain. After hiking the steep trail for nearly 25 minutes, they reached a flat summit. Here, they paused to peer through the dense, old-growth woods and marveled at the spectacular view of Brown County’s beautiful rolling hills, when suddenly they felt a strong presence around them, a presence that was not welcoming. With great apprehension, they resumed hiking over to the western edge of the summit, to the site of the mysterious stone circle.

The circle consists of many large light-colored square blocks. At one end, is an especially distinctive stone, known as the altar where many believe blood sacrifices may have occurred. Initially, the young men were disgusted by all the graffiti on the stones and surrounding trees, until they realized that it was a vast collection of graffiti, left by generations of hikers, some dating back to over 200 years ago! As they were musing over what appeared to be a stone grave marker with the etching “Here lies John Baurle, Born 7/31/47, Died 9/14/52,” they were suddenly hit by a strong cold blast of wind and an heard an eerie ringing in their ears. Shivering, they looked up and were startled to see an old Indian man sitting quietly at the base of a tree just outside the circle. They had not heard the old man hike up the trail and had no idea how long he had been sitting there. Tenatively, they called out hello. The old man didn’t reply, but shook his head and looked up at the sky. Thinking he didn’t hear them, they called out hello again. The old man continued staring at the sky without response. Feeling uneasy and intrusive, the young men muttered a nervous apology and quickly walked out of the circle. Turning away from the sky, the old Indian man watched them for a moment and then said, “Looks like rain.”

Startled, the young men stopped and automatically looked up. The sky was clear and sunny, just as forecasted. Puzzled, they both turned and stared at him. The old Indian man smirked and said again, “Looks like rain.”

At that moment, they heard a booming crash of thunder. Wide-eyed, the young men watched as seemly out of nowhere dark clouds rolled across the sky. Hastily, they turned to thank the old man, but he was gone, vanished into thin air. And, then it started to rain.