Located about 36 miles south of Dodge City in the Big Basin Prairie Reserve, St. Jacob’s Well is a deceptively quiet pool of water about 30 yards across and 18 feet deep. It is a sinkhole formed by centuries of eroding rock, and in the past, it was believed to be near bottomless. It is said that dozens of visitors have lowered weighted rope into its depths to try and find the bottom. According to Lisa Hefner Heitz, author of Haunted Kansas, its depth may have changed over the years, due to geological shifts. There are several legends attached to the well, including a spectral cowboy that was seen in the 1890s. The cowboy and his horse emitted “the most blood-curdlingest sound ever made on this here earth.” More than one body is believed to lie at the bottom of St. Jacob’s Well, including that of an Irishman named John Jordan, who disappeared in 1889. An old house, located near St. Jacob’s Well on the north rim of Big Basin, was also rumored to be haunted. Though abandoned, lights flashed in its windows on a nightly basis.
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