The Legend of Mount Lookout
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 01.839 W 097° 36.409
14S E 623913 N 4099179
Quick Description: Yep, you can still see the depression, and they say, I didn't, you can still see the gossamer lady walking the bluff.
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 7/12/2010 9:46:06 AM
Waymark Code: WM985H
Views: 7
Long Description:Marker Erected by: The Caldwell Historical Society
Marker Sponsors: Donations of Linn, Barbara, Mickey & Scott Shaffer
and the Historical Marker Committee
County of Marker: Sumner County
Date Marker Erected: 1996
Location of Marker: 124 S. Main St., Caldwell
Marker Text:
Just south of town is the red sandstone bluff first known as Manning's Peak following the killing of a cowboy by that name in a gunfight in town in 1872. Manning's brothers refused to bury him in Kansas and mistakenly believed that they were across the state line when they buried the departed cowpoke. Discovering their error, they returned from Texas, exhumed the body and returned home. The depression of the open grave is still visible.
The Santa Fe Railway built a spur line and cattle pens on the hill's eastern slope when Kansas closed its settled lands to Texas cattle and their dangerous "fever" disease. By 1885 the bluff became known as Mount Lookout after local saloon girls kept vigil at the highest point to watch for approaching Texas cattle herds. It was important to be ready for the customers of Caldwell's well - known vices and a few moments notice allowed the businessmen to better display their wares, be they whiskey, dice or feminine charm.
In the years since, locals and travelers alike have reported on moonlit nights seeing a mysterious woman in white standing motionless atop the hill, her dress waving in the breeze. Apparently looking southward, she seems to again be awaiting the dust cloud of the longhorn cattle, a sure sign of profitable and lively days to come.