GHOSTS OF COMANCHE LOOKOUT

I am pleased to post this guest blog from my friend and paranormal investigator, Michael Varhola. This article is from his new book, Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country (Clerisy Press, 2015). Thanks, Mike!

Comanche Lookout Park (San Antonio, Texas)

Although one of San Antonio’s smaller municipal parks, 96-acre Comanche Lookout Park on Comanche Hill has the sense of being a microcosm and frequently seems more isolated than it really is despite being surrounded by major roads, shopping plazas, and housing developments. Those who visit it during normal business hours are likely to get an accentuated sense of this and, other than a few headphone-wearing people who jog by wraithlike and without acknowledgement, are likely to have the place pretty much to themselves. That, of course, can be the best way to explore and appreciate this profoundly historical site, to investigate the legends associated with it, and to possibly come into contact with some of the many ghosts who have long been believed to haunt it. And, as strange and haunting as it might feel on its face to the casual visitor or ghosthunter, an investigation of its history will reveal some genuinely strange things about it.

View from Comache Lookout.

View from Comache Lookout.

Like many places in Texas where people lived at the time of initial European contact, what became known as the Comanche Lookout was at least sporadically inhabited since prehistoric times, by Paleo-Indians from no later than about 9500 B.C. onward.

In the 1700s and 1800s, Apache and then Comanche Indians hunted along nearby waterways that included seasonal Cibolo Creek and used the hill both as a meeting place and a lookout from which they could scan the landscape for game. When Spanish colonists began traveling from Nacogdoches in east Texas for purposes of settling along the banks of the San Antonio River, the Comanches were able to spot them as well from the crest of the hill. This allowed the Indians to muster warbands in the hours before travelers arrived and to ambush them as they passed by the base of the hill along what was then known as the Camino Real — the “Royal Road” — and what is now known as Nacogdoches Road, a route that followed traditional Indian trails. The hill thus became a prominent landmark that told travelers not just that they were nearing their destination but possibly also that they might soon be exposed to mortal danger as they completed the last leg of their journey, between Bastrop and San Antonio. Significant bloodshed thus occurred in the vicinity of the hill (and continued to one extent or another into the 1870s).

The land surrounding and including Comanche Hill was part of 1,476-acre land grant that was surveyed for owner James Conn in April 1847, and over the following seventeen months the property was subsequently transferred to a number of other owners, including Peter W. Gray, a lawyer, legislator, and officer in the Texas Army; Alexander Patrick; and Ludovic Colquhoun, a surveyor and state senator. Frequent sale of land grants was not uncommon during the period of the Republic of Texas, so this is not overly exceptional in and of itself. This was also, however, the era of the bloody Indian Wars, and it bears asking whether either physical threat or the lingering spiritual energies of a site that had been used since time immemorial might not have played a role in these very short periods of ownership.

In February 1923, retired U.S. Army Colonel Edward H. Coppock came into ownership of the property. He was a 44-year veteran of the service who had fought in the wars against the Apache and Sioux, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and World War I. He was also a history aficionado and romantic who had spent time on Europe and who had decided that he was going to build a full-sized, U-shaped castle on the slopes and flat crown of Comanche Hill. With help from his two sons, Edward Jr. and E.S., and a Mexican laborer named Tarquino Cavazos about which little else is known, he began to lay the foundations for and construct what was clearly intended to be a sprawling complex.

Coppock's tower at Comanche Lookout.

Coppock’s tower at Comanche Lookout.

By 1928, they had completed the four-story, Norman-style stone tower that can be seen on the hill today and which was modeled after “a similar structure erected by William the Conqueror at the site of the Battle of Hastings in the 11th century,” according to a 1948 newspaper article. In addition to this, over the twenty-five years that Coppock developed the property they also built a stone lodge, several outbuildings, a 2,500-gallon water tower, a Spanish-style corral, picnic tables, a barbecue pit, a tennis court, and some smaller homes that have since been destroyed by fire. Both Coppock and Cavazos died in 1948, however, and, when they did, the colonel’s sons abandoned the project and in 1968 sold the land to a developer.

Initially, the new owner began to move ahead with plans to develop the land and started by removing all of the structures on the property except for the tower and some of the foundations. For whatever reasons, however, they did not move ahead with any new construction and nothing was ever again built on or right around the hill. The property continued to change hands over the following years until, in the 1980s, the owner became insolvent and had to liquidate its assets, which led to acquisition of the property by the U.S. government’s Resolution Trust Corporation in 1990.

Around this time a private group called Save Comanche Lookout led an effort to preserve the site that resulted in the Trust for Public Lands providing an interim loan to the city of San Antonio to purchase the site for a park. A 1994 bond issue provided the funds to repay this loan and develop the site.

During this time, the Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio released “An Archaeological Investigation of Comanche Lookout Park.” Suffice it to say that this report reveals some interesting things about the history and prehistory of the hill and the area surrounding it, including the presence of an ancient chert quarry, toolmaking area, and campsite. What it does not say, however, is perhaps even more interesting, but we may never know what that is, and it is here that we encounter one of those rare glimpses of officialdom coming into contact with things so strange that they cannot credibly deny or reveal their existence. Three pages of this report have, in fact — pages 2, 18, and 19 — been redacted because they contain what is described as “restricted information.” This sensitive information is being withheld not by a government agency but rather by a public research university, and is not about a site in some hellhole like North Korea but rather one right in the middle of an urban area in the United States. Whatever those pages they contain, whatever the investigators discovered at Comanche Lookout hill were, in short, deemed to be things of a nature that had to be withheld from the public at large.

Over the years visitors claim to have seen ghosts of many sorts in the area, in both the park itself and along adjacent Nacogdoches Road, including those of Indians, soldiers, and settlers. People have also reported seeing the specter of an old man pushing a rock-filled wheelbarrow and this spectre has been identified as old Colonel Coppock himself, trying in death to complete what he was so passionate about in life. His unquiet spirit is quite possibly also indignant about the people who have vandalized his tower, thrown rowdy parties in and around it, and even held rituals at it for purposes of calling up the shades of the dead. There are also vague and largely unsubstantiated rumors of gold having been buried on the hill and of Mormon settlers being massacred near it.

One of the more dramatic episodes that has reportedly occurred at Comanche Lookout Park is described by Lauren M. and James A. Swartz in their book Haunted History of Old San Antonio. A woman they interviewed took a walk with her dog up to the top of the hill each day and, in the course of it, often heard chanting or voices in the forest around her, but dismissed them as kids messing around. The last time she dared to go into the park, however, she had descended about halfway back down when it grew unnaturally dark and she spotted two strange-looking men with painted faces following her. When they screamed and charged her, she and her dog turned and fled, running as fast as they could back to the parking lot at the bottom of hill. She turned to face her attackers but, as quickly as they had appeared they were gone. She left as well and vowed to never again return to the park, believing that she had encountered the spirits of Native American warriors.

And with its strange little trails leading off through the dense fragrant woods, medieval tower and ruined walls, and concealed history, Comanche Lookout Park certainly does have an otherworldly feel to it and like the kind of place where something like this could happen. If there is anywhere one might expect an investigation to reveal evidence of paranormal activity it is certainly here.

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Author Michael Varhola at Comanche Lookout.

Author Michael Varhola at Comanche Lookout.

MICHAEL VARHOLA is the author of Ghosthunting Virginia and Ghosthunting Maryland (with his father, Michael H. Varhola). His new book is Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country.

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18 thoughts on “GHOSTS OF COMANCHE LOOKOUT

  1. I used to go up there when I was 11. The ground was always covered in animal carcasses. The stench of death constantly hung in the air. Something besides ghosts lives there. Something strong and demonic, and it’s not alone. I noticed after I had been going there for awhile there was a shadow following me. I first noticed it sitting in my living room after one of my trips up there . The temperature got hot and a saw a shadow on the wall, but it was like wavy lines and not solid. Whatever it is it is still with me.

    • Same! I caught a picture of something terrifying in the woods when I went there at night for this reason. For about a year after that night I kept seeing a hunched down, human like entity, pale skinned, always farting under my bed when I turned on my light. At first I thought it was my cat until I saw her in the living room one night, asleep, and right after saw the thing as I went in my room. That thing in the picture followed me home and you can see the picture on my Facebook. I’ll put my name so you can find it.

  2. I have been through this park several times, busniss hour and otherwise. Through trails and the waterways, up and around the tower. I have seen nothing but bunnies and beautiful sites. The inly strange things i have found are a ouiji board on two occasions.

  3. I live in San Antonio in 1983 you’re not far from Comanche Hill we used to get drunk on a Comanche that used to be a brick Circle in the middle of a circle if you stood there and talk you would hear echoes is absolutely something different about Comanche this was way before fences walkways or anything to keep people out of certain things the towers you can climb by yourself there was three if I remember right but this place the middle of that Circle was definitely something spiritual

  4. Just to clarify the ‘redacted pages’ of the archaeological document – when you actually review the missing pages, they are all within sections that have multiple maps. I assume that these missing pages contain maps with areas of high levels of artifacts or artifacts of value (yes, to include objects made of gold, etc.), and thus have been kept private to discourage amateurs from digging up and stealing these items. I think it was done for preservation, not because of some mysterious agenda. Anyone who lives in San Antonio knows that the whole city is covered with artifacts. There are signs in every major park warning about stealing these items.

  5. I went and hiked at Comanche Park around 7 pm. I saw lights flickering in the tower but there is no electricity lines connecting the tower. I saw about three shadows dancing inside and around the tower. I also heard drum beats and songs in the area. I knew something was not right so I stayed around too see if things changed. The longer I stayed the louder the beats were and the colder it got. My whole body started to shiver, shake and tremble and so I ran from the tower. The further I got the warmer it became and the less sounds I heard. When I got to my car the air was still and silent. No sounds , no cars, no people. Another time I went All I could see was lights flickering in the tower and I heard loud drumbeats. Something haunts that tower.

  6. I am a full practicing witch that has 27% Native American DNA in my bloodline. Comanche Look Out Park has a special place in my heart and I am drawn to the area from the first time I laid my eyes on this Sacred Place.

    I know this area has some violent moments from it’s past but it was also a very sacred area. The Western top of the Hill was thought to be the doorway to the soul of the elders who crossed over to the happy hunting grounds.

    These are the visions I see when I walk in the area, there are spiritual entities that may follow behind you from time to time but they are more curious who you are as opposed to trying to do you harm. Walk in peace and you will be protected.

    Since I am a Shaman and a witch that specializes in Healings you may see me practicing several Rituals in the area. I practice in peace, try to release love and positive energy back to an area that needs it and welcome any who pass by that needs blessings, hope, or restoration to the Natural Forces of life that we forgot about.

    There are Forces of Nature that are all around us, from Physical to Spiritual, we come from Mother Earth we will return to her one day. It gives me great joy when people acknowledge the Spiritual side of Earth perhaps their eyes are slowly opening to the hidden world that is around them, but this amazing World is not meant for everyone to see though. You have to let go, be humble and understand what you bring in this world will be given back to you times 3.

    If you have a good heart, are spiritually mature and accepting of all the Spiritual forces that are around you and within you, peace will be found in your Being at Look Out Park. Enjoy the area, respect the history have fun and bring some love and healing to the area and the rest of Mother Earth. She needs us and we need her if we are going to continue on as a people!

  7. I just went tonight from around 10:45 PM to 12:08 AM. I took the long walk up to the tower, rested at the top for a bit, and made my way back down. On my way up I heard a kind of hammering noise but I figured that was just someone making noise at one of the nearby buildings. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw a video when I got home tonight where other people heard hammering. Other than that, I didn’t really see or feel anything. I did run into a couple of teenagers but they were just taking pics and having fun. The most interesting thing I found though, was off the trail into a patch of woods. Someone had built a shelter that consisted of large tree branches leaning against a twisted tree trunk. It was very roomy inside. Enough space for two people. I have pics.

  8. This was first time trailing I could of sworn I heard briefly like native American chanting but I blew it off I did not know any of the history until now that I’m reading article

  9. My boyfriend was with me past 3am and he doesn’t know if he was tired. But this happened today october 18th 2023 at 3:08 am in the morning.
    He drive down my street and his headlights saw this creature in the fox creek neighborhood.
    He told me it started running but it wasn’t running with its knees and had no face. And when it looked at him he started crying and he couldn’t stop until he got home.
    I feel like this had something to do with the history in Comanche park.

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