February 02, 2012 - Page 3


‘The Ghost of Trapper’ Cont. from Page 2


When he could no longer afford the mortgage payments and taxes, he tried to sell it to wealthy people who would donate the land to the State of Florida, thereby saving it from development. He was still nego- tiating with the State in 1968 when he was found shot to death at his camp. Although the coroner ruled the death a sui- cide, many locals suspected foul play.


Nelson finally married in 1940 in an attempt to avoid the draft for World War II. His plan failed and he was drafted any- way. He joined the Military Police in Texas, but while train- ing, he tore a muscle in his leg and was transferred to Camp Murphy, which was very close to his land.


Upon his return to the Loxahatchee, Nelson discov- ered that his wife had a new lover. He divorced his wife, and after that Nelson would buy cars for the women he wooed, paying for them in installments to ensure they would stay for at least a while.


Focusing again on his zoo, he found that property values were


skyrocketing. Nelson got a sub- scription to the Wall Street Journal and added more and more land to his sprawling camp. Shortly after he began his forays into real estate, a health inspector declared his zoo unhygenic and demanded he install lavatories. Nelson did, but the Health Department found them "unsatisfactory," and in 1960 he was forced to close his zoo. With no income, the taxes on the land became too much for him, and he ended up borrowing $100,000 ($740,000 in today's dollars) to pay them.


Nelson already had a deep-seat- ed mistrust of the government, and the closing of his zoo was, to him, enough to confirm his paranoia. He became more and more closed off. He began to dam the river leading to his camp to keep boats away, and installed fences and padlocks to discourage land travelers. He put up signs around his land reading "Danger: Land Mines." As added discouragement, he kept a 12-gauge shotgun with him at all times.


He began to develop severe stomach pains, refused to see a doctor. He distrusted them because his brother-in-law had


died after having a pacemaker installed. It was speculated among friends that the pains were from cancer, but they could have been an acid condi- tion. By the 1960s Nelson had become so reclusive that he would not let even trusted friends visit him without first sending a postcard to ask his permission. He ventured into town once a week to check his mail at the post office, and would sometimes buy steaks, but for the most part he remained holed-up in his cabin. Years later, his nephew recalled his uncle's change in personali- ty: "During the last 10 years, his eyes seemed to lose their sparkle. He became a lonely man, and a rather sick one."


He wasn't the type to go to a hospital. So he diagnosed him- self with cancer.


On July 24, 1968, an acquain- tance found Trapper Nelson dead inside his cabin, with a shotgun hole in his belly.


The county coroner ruled it sui- cide, that Trapper had done himself in because he figured he was dying. To this day, howev- er, some locals maintain the killer was a jealous husband, or


a disgruntled landowner who believed Trapper had "stolen" his land.


Some people also swear that Trapper Nelson is still there. Cheryl Wells, park ranger at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, said during her first encounter with the ghost of Trapper Nelson in 1994 that he was looking for love. "If I weren't dead, I'd be asking you out," Wells said the ghost told her, according to Haunt Hunter's Guide to Florida, by Joyce Elson Moore.


"It was the first week of train- ing," Wells said. "All of the sud- den I heard him. He was flirting with me. (Later) I said, 'Was Trapper a ladies' man?' And (the instructing ranger) looked at me and said, 'How did you know that?'"


Another story has it that two men landed their canoe at Trapper Nelson's cabin. One was struck by something he couldn't see. Others claim to have seen Trapper waving from the dock, as if trying to get their attention. And some have been tapped on the shoulder inside the cabin.


‘The Ghost of Trapper’ Cont. on Page 5


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