Horses, war cries, and an arrowhead in a tree near Pipestone, Minnesota
A caller from Janesville, Wisconsin, tells Art Bell that at 15 they lived in southwestern Minnesota near Pipestone. The caller and friends were camping by a small lake when they heard horses and war cries at night but saw nothing. The caller says they heard something strike next to them and later pulled an arrowhead from the tree beside which they had heard it. The caller says the group found tomahawk heads and arrowheads, and that a Dakota tribal man told them a battle in which many Native Americans were killed had happened there. Bell calls it a time flash. The caller says it frightened them all and that the only explanation they can think of is what the shaman said as well.
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 1996.mp3”, starting at 17:05). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller who gives their location as Janesville, Wisconsin, tells Art Bell they were about 15 when they lived in southwestern Minnesota near Pipestone, near an Indian reservation. The caller says they and a group of friends were camping by a small lake. During the night, the caller says, they began hearing horses and war cries. They got up and looked around but, the caller says, did not see anything. The caller says they stopped to lean against a tree and heard something right next to their ear. The caller says they all took off, scared. The next morning, the caller says, they went back to the same tree and pulled an arrowhead out of it, at the spot where they had heard the impact. The caller says that while searching the area they also found a couple of tomahawk heads, more arrowheads, and part of an arrow. The caller says they went to see a man of the Dakota tribe, who told them there had been a battle there and that many Native Americans had been slaughtered. Bell calls it a time flash and asks what that says about death. The caller says it scared the heck out of all of them. The caller says the only thing they can think of is what the shaman said also, and that the shaman took a couple of the tomahawks they had found. Bell thanks the caller and moves on.
Reported events, in order
- 0:13
The caller says that when they were about 15 they lived in southwestern Minnesota near Pipestone.
- 0:24
The caller says they and a group of friends were camping by a small lake near an Indian reservation.
- 0:33
During the night they began hearing horses and war cries.
- 0:42
They got up and looked around but saw nothing.
- 0:48
The caller leaned against a tree and heard something right next to their ear.
- 0:58
They ran, scared.
- 1:04
The next morning the caller returned to the same tree and pulled an arrowhead out of it, where they had heard the impact.
- 1:30
They found a couple of tomahawk heads, more arrowheads, and part of an arrow in the area.
- 1:42
They spoke to a man of the Dakota tribe, who said there had been a battle there and many Native Americans were slaughtered.
- 1:55
Bell calls the experience a time flash.
- 2:11
The caller says it scared the heck out of all of them.
- 2:46
The caller says the only thing they can think of is what the shaman said, and that the shaman took a couple of the tomahawks they had found.
- 2:59
Bell thanks the caller for the story and ends the call.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 0:33
The caller says sounds began during the night while they were camping.
- observation· 0:39
The caller says the sounds were horses and war cries.
- observation· 0:44
The caller says they got up and looked around but saw nothing.
- observation· 0:53
The caller says they heard something right next to their ear.
- observation· 1:04
The caller says they pulled an arrowhead from the same tree the next morning, where they heard it hit.
- observation· 1:30
The caller says they found tomahawk heads, more arrowheads, and part of an arrow in the area.
- hearsay· 1:48
The caller reports that a man of the Dakota tribe said there had been a battle there and many Native Americans were slaughtered.
- host statement· 1:55
Bell states that the experience was a time flash.
- interpretation· 2:46
The caller says the only explanation they can think of is what the shaman said.
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
This is a firsthand story with concrete but limited detail (age 15, the Pipestone area, a lake, an arrowhead in a tree) and a coherent order of events. The caller does not address the easy ordinary explanations of an old embedded arrowhead and ordinary night noises.
Evidence for and against
- The caller took part personally.
- Concrete anchors: age 15, southwestern Minnesota near Pipestone, a small lake, a tree, an arrowhead, tomahawk heads, the Dakota tribe.
- The events are in a consistent order: sounds at night, a search, something by the caller's ear, flight, a find the next morning, and a consultation.
- Common ordinary explanations fit. An arrowhead could have been in the tree for years, and night sounds could come from animals, riders, or people nearby.
- The caller does not address any alternative explanation.
- No date or exact location is given, so the story cannot easily be checked.
- The labels showing who is speaking switch between what appear to be two speakers on the caller's side, so it is unclear who said some lines.
- Parts of the transcript are garbled, for example [quote withheld]
- 0:24
- 1:04
- 1:22
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component judgments: closeness to the source about 22 (firsthand), specificity about 13, internal consistency about 16, alternative explanations about 6 (the ordinary reading fits easily and is not addressed), calibration of claims about 7. The sum is 64.
Only the caller's word is on air. Place names and a tribe are given but not checked, and physical objects (an arrowhead, tomahawk heads, an arrow fragment) are claimed but not produced or examined.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could in principle be checked: Pipestone, southwestern Minnesota, and the Dakota tribe.
- Claimed physical objects: an arrowhead pulled from a tree, tomahawk heads, and part of an arrow.
- No object is presented to the host or described as examined on air.
- The friends and the Dakota tribal man do not speak on air.
- No photograph, recording, or document is mentioned.
- It is not stated whether the caller still has any of the objects.
- Problems with the speaker labels make it unclear which lines are the caller's.
- 1:30
- 1:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed in the range of 11 to 25, which fits checkable details and claimed artifacts that were never checked, rather than 26 to 40, because no physical evidence is described as being in the host's hands or examined.
Night sounds of horses and war cries at an isolated camp, an unseen noise right beside the ear, and a frightened flight are unsettling. There is no threat, contact, or harm, however, and the story ends on a reflective note.
Evidence for and against
- Unseen horses and war cries at night while camping.
- An unexplained sound right next to the caller's ear.
- The group fleeing in fear.
- Nothing is seen, and nothing is reported to touch or harm anyone.
- The call closes with the host's thanks and a change of topic.
- Tone and delivery are not treated as evidence and are not assessed.
- 0:53
- 0:58
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated as eerie rather than frightening. The reported events are sounds, heard at a distance, with no intrusion into a home and no physical contact.
The frame, the sounds of a past battle heard where a battle reportedly happened, is familiar. The arrowhead found the next morning in the same tree, at the spot where the impact was heard, is distinctive. So is the follow-up with a tribal man and a shaman.
Evidence for and against
- A physical object reportedly found at the exact spot of a heard impact.
- A follow-up visit with a Dakota tribal man and a shaman, who reportedly took tomahawks.
- Echoes of battle at a historic site are a recurring ghost-story motif.
- No unusual figure, ghost, or physical oddity is described.
- The score compared with the rest of the archive is provisional. This is an assessment of a single story.
- Garbled lines make some details, such as the passage about the tree, unclear.
- 1:11
- 1:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): Model judgment: a familiar frame with a distinctive detail that seems to back it up, provisionally in the upper 50s.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.62 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story; Claimed physical objects (an arrowhead, tomahawk heads, part of an arrow), not examined; Claimed secondhand information from a Dakota tribal man and a shaman. The originality score blends the model's score (58) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- The arrowhead had been stuck in the tree for a long time and was found by chance. The host himself notes that the arrow had apparently broken off over the years. · The host says [quote withheld] after the caller describes pulling the arrowhead from the tree.
- The night sounds, which the caller took for horses and war cries, could have come from real animals, riders, or people nearby, since the group reports hearing but not seeing anything. · The caller says they heard the sounds during the night, got up and looked around, and [quote withheld]
- The sound beside the caller's ear could have had a small local source, such as an insect, a branch, or an animal, rather than an arrow. · The caller describes only a sound beside their ear, and they find the arrowhead only the next morning.
What stands out
The story pairs reported night sounds with something solid found the next morning: an arrowhead in the same tree, at the spot where the caller says they heard the impact. It also includes a visit to a Dakota tribal man and a shaman, who reportedly took some of the tomahawks.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.