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My column generally deals with historical figures, places and events. However, it has come to my attention that a rather compelling story is centered around Niles Canyon, which intrigued me.
Is it a ghost story? I suppose it could fall into that category, so here goes….
There are various accounts of this tale, which include the “Legend of the White Witch.” For this effort, we’ll simply call it the “Ghost of Niles Canyon.”
Something else of note is that each account has the event taking place on Feb. 28 in the late 1920s or early 30s.
It seems a woman named Mary was returning from a social gathering in Sunol. Her boyfriend accompanied her. They were traveling on Niles Canyon Road near the train bridge. It was late at night, and it was raining heavily. The winding road was quite dark.
The car got into an accident, which killed her boyfriend. Some say the woman was on horseback. In either case, here’s where the story gets rather macabre.
Mary was killed as well, or was she?
Another vehicle driven by a woman came upon Mary standing by the side of the road, trying to flag down passersby.
The driver pulled over, and Mary asked to be taken to San Francisco. The driver agreed, and they set out to the City by the Bay. However, not long after, and well before approaching San Francisco, Mary simply vanished into thin air.
Over the years, psychics have made several attempts to contact Mary without success. At one point, an investigative reporter brought a thermal camera to the site.
The reporter claimed to have heard footsteps nearby and turned her camera toward the sound. At that point, she claims to have seen an image of a female figure that appeared to be walking next to her.
Others have also claimed to traverse the same area and report hearing footsteps.
Some have claimed the footsteps were simultaneous to their own; however, when they stopped, the sound of the footsteps stopped as well.
Local prognosticators suggest the appearance of Mary is an annual event that coincides with the date of Feb. 28.
If you are adventurous and are on Niles Canyon Road on Feb. 28, this year or any year, you may consider looking around. If Mary surfaces, she may still need a ride to San Francisco!
Everything else is just history…
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