Sim Smith Bridge - Montezuma, Indiana

Built in 1883, this 84-foot covered bridge spans Leatherwood Creek along 40N, south of Route 36, about six miles west of Rockville. The bridge used to lay on the path of Pikes Peak Highway, which ran from New York to Los Angeles. According to legend, in 1890 a young mother was carrying her baby home to Montezuma. She reached Sim Smith Bridge at dusk and hurried across. Unfortunately, a rider was driving a horse and buggy quickly in the opposite direction. It was too late to stop when he finally saw the woman, and both her infant and she were brutally crushed beneath horse hooves and buggy wheels. From then on, riders heard the sound of a buggy coming across the bridge, but none would emerge. Local fishermen sometimes saw a horse and buggy enter the covered bridge, but never come out the other side. Still others have seen the figure of a young woman and her baby in the shadows.