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I would go downstairs
and sit in a recliner
in the fetal position,
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00:00:19,889 --> 00:00:21,499
scared out of my mind.
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00:00:22,935 --> 00:00:25,329
That meant I was up
the rest of the night.
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00:00:26,896 --> 00:00:28,724
And this continued
and continued,
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00:00:28,898 --> 00:00:33,076
and I started noticing
my smile had left me.
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00:00:34,773 --> 00:00:38,299
I was depressed
for the first time in my life.
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00:00:39,343 --> 00:00:41,737
I don't live
in Eureka Springs anymore.
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00:00:41,911 --> 00:00:44,087
I don't work
at this hotel anymore.
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00:00:44,566 --> 00:00:46,307
And it's still happening to me.
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It's four years later,
and it's still happening.
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00:00:53,966 --> 00:00:56,099
I think Norman Baker
is haunting me.
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00:02:08,998 --> 00:02:11,957
Well, Eureka Springs
is a relatively small town.
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We have about 2000 people here.
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We're located
in northwest Arkansas,
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00:02:17,354 --> 00:02:19,182
not too far from
the Missouri border.
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That's kind of, sort of
in the middle of nowhere,
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which makes it even more unique
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00:02:25,319 --> 00:02:27,234
when you come into town
and you've driven
for a long time
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00:02:27,408 --> 00:02:28,800
not seeing a whole lot
of anything
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00:02:28,974 --> 00:02:30,715
and then come
to this beautiful little town.
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00:02:37,722 --> 00:02:40,377
Eureka Springs
is a really unique place,
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and the community is
super supportive of each other.
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00:02:43,032 --> 00:02:45,991
As early as the 1960s, 1970s,
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00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:48,907
they actually called
Eureka Springs
the Town Where Misfits Fit.
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00:02:49,821 --> 00:02:52,563
We have a long history
of artists, writers,
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00:02:52,737 --> 00:02:55,044
musicians, LGBT,
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00:02:56,176 --> 00:02:59,396
just lots of people
who maybe don't fit in
in the rest of Arkansas.
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00:02:59,570 --> 00:03:02,269
But in Eureka Springs,
we seem to get along
pretty well.
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Historically, you know,
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00:03:10,799 --> 00:03:12,453
it was the springs
that drew people here.
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00:03:13,671 --> 00:03:16,457
In 1879, we had the first person
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00:03:16,631 --> 00:03:18,676
that was allegedly
healed by the waters,
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00:03:18,850 --> 00:03:20,765
and word spread pretty fast.
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00:03:21,288 --> 00:03:23,594
But long before that,
the natives that were here
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00:03:23,768 --> 00:03:25,901
had their own legends
about the healing springs.
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00:03:26,075 --> 00:03:28,077
They had their own tales
that were passed down
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00:03:28,251 --> 00:03:29,731
from generation to generation.
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00:03:35,476 --> 00:03:36,955
Essentially,
the legend of the springs
went out all over this area.
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00:03:37,129 --> 00:03:38,609
People started searching for it.
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00:03:39,175 --> 00:03:40,916
The town quickly built up.
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00:03:41,090 --> 00:03:43,266
We had several thousand people
here just within the first year,
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00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,573
so kind of like
a boom town but for water
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00:03:45,747 --> 00:03:48,315
instead of gold or silver
or something like that.
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00:03:49,707 --> 00:03:52,449
Powell Clayton was
the ninth governor of Arkansas.
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00:03:52,623 --> 00:03:54,973
He saw this place,
being healing,
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00:03:55,147 --> 00:03:58,238
having potential
for a health-spa resort.
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00:03:58,412 --> 00:04:01,763
They'd had a lot of these
places on the East Coast
and in Europe at that time.
50
00:04:01,937 --> 00:04:04,722
They were super popular with
the wealthy class of people,
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00:04:04,896 --> 00:04:07,595
and that's who they
were trying to draw in
to build the town up.
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00:04:07,769 --> 00:04:09,684
And he had some
wealthy associates.
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00:04:09,858 --> 00:04:12,556
They called themselves
the Eureka Improvement Company.
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00:04:14,993 --> 00:04:17,692
One of the first things
they committed to
was bringing in the railroad,
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00:04:18,301 --> 00:04:19,998
and they did that by 1883.
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00:04:22,087 --> 00:04:24,133
And they
came into town,
they built nice roads,
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00:04:24,307 --> 00:04:27,441
they put in gas lighting
downtown and some
really nice buildings,
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00:04:27,615 --> 00:04:29,225
including the Crescent Hotel.
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00:04:31,575 --> 00:04:35,971
Powell Clayton built
the Crescent Hotel in 1886,
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00:04:36,145 --> 00:04:39,931
and it was an open house
and a gala affair
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00:04:40,105 --> 00:04:42,369
for probably ten years or more.
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00:04:43,195 --> 00:04:45,763
The Crescent was
a big deal when it was built.
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00:04:45,937 --> 00:04:47,896
It wasn't the first
big hotel in town,
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00:04:48,070 --> 00:04:50,246
but it was definitely
the first of its kind.
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00:04:50,420 --> 00:04:52,814
And it had amenities
that people hadn't seen at home.
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00:04:52,988 --> 00:04:55,425
You know,
Edison light bulbs,
electricity, steam heat,
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00:04:55,599 --> 00:04:57,297
you know,
so you were comfortable.
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00:04:57,471 --> 00:04:58,820
And of course,
the healing waters
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were being piped
into the hotel as well.
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00:05:01,344 --> 00:05:03,607
And they were running it
more like a country club.
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00:05:03,781 --> 00:05:05,174
You couldn't just
come stay here.
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00:05:05,348 --> 00:05:06,784
You had to be invited.
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00:05:06,958 --> 00:05:09,309
It was, you know,
first of the first class.
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00:05:09,483 --> 00:05:12,007
When it comes to
the promotion of the hotel,
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00:05:12,181 --> 00:05:14,705
they actually did what
they called "press excursions."
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00:05:15,184 --> 00:05:19,623
They would invite 100,
200 newspaper people
from the neighboring states
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00:05:19,797 --> 00:05:22,496
to come into town
and visit Eureka Springs.
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00:05:22,670 --> 00:05:23,845
They would take them
all through town,
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00:05:24,019 --> 00:05:25,673
and they would show them
all the sites,
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00:05:25,847 --> 00:05:28,197
and then they would put them up
at the Crescent Hotel,
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00:05:28,371 --> 00:05:32,244
you know, which was,
of course, the great
opulent castle in the sky.
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00:05:43,212 --> 00:05:45,257
What draws people
to the Crescent Hotel
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00:05:45,432 --> 00:05:48,696
is the atmosphere
and the uniqueness of it
and the beauty of it.
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It's such a gracious,
dignified building.
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00:05:52,526 --> 00:05:54,876
I've always
been intrigued
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00:05:55,050 --> 00:05:59,141
by that sort of Gothic aspect
of the Crescent Hotel,
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00:05:59,315 --> 00:06:00,838
how it's this structure
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00:06:01,012 --> 00:06:03,493
that sits at the highest
point of town
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00:06:03,667 --> 00:06:07,279
and just sort of looms
over the entire city.
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00:06:14,548 --> 00:06:17,812
There's something about
walking around this place
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00:06:17,986 --> 00:06:21,946
and the history
that you can't help but love.
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You walk in
and you just kind of
feel a sense of the past.
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It just kind of surrounds you,
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00:06:27,952 --> 00:06:30,955
and it's just something
very fascinating
about the place.
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Although, at times,
it can be a little scary.
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00:06:39,616 --> 00:06:41,618
Is the Crescent Hotel haunted?
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Is the Crescent Hotel haunted?
Umm...
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Yes, I believe that
the Crescent Hotel is haunted.
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Very much haunted.
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As a historian,
you know, we don't
really talk about ghosts,
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'cause we don't really have
factual data to refer to.
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On a personal level, you know,
I will say I had one slight
experience at the Crescent.
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00:07:01,943 --> 00:07:04,598
I'm not gonna say
there's, like, ghosts running
up and down the halls,
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00:07:04,772 --> 00:07:07,383
because I'm a little bit
of a skeptic in a way.
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00:07:07,557 --> 00:07:10,125
But I feel like
there's something here.
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I think that,
if any place is haunted,
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the Crescent Hotel
would certainly be a contender.
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Yes, the Crescent Hotel
is extremely haunted.
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I'm Danita Willhite.
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I've been coming to the Crescent
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00:07:32,190 --> 00:07:35,629
pretty much every year
since 2010.
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Can you tell me about
your experience in Room 205?
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The first couple of times
that we came,
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we didn't really have
a lot that happened.
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00:07:44,202 --> 00:07:47,771
But on one subsequent visit,
we stayed in that room.
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00:07:48,380 --> 00:07:52,950
And I happened to be sleeping
in the bed with Courtney.
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00:07:54,561 --> 00:07:56,476
I woke up in the middle
of the night,
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and I could feel the bed shift.
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00:08:00,349 --> 00:08:04,614
I thought Courtney
stood up from the bed.
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00:08:04,788 --> 00:08:07,095
And then I saw a shadow,
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00:08:07,269 --> 00:08:10,533
someone walk across
the foot of the bed.
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00:08:11,055 --> 00:08:12,492
And then it stopped.
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00:08:13,580 --> 00:08:18,193
It seemed like an actual person
was walking across the room.
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And I assumed
that it was Courtney
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00:08:22,197 --> 00:08:26,680
because I had felt the bed shift
down at the foot of the bed.
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I heard her make a noise
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00:08:30,118 --> 00:08:32,555
and realized it wasn't her.
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At that time,
I felt at peace with it.
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It didn't scare me
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00:08:39,736 --> 00:08:44,524
like the other incident
that we had scared me.
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So in the fall of 2013,
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it was our fall girls' trip
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to celebrate
Courtney's birthday.
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And by that time,
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00:08:55,317 --> 00:09:00,322
some of the front-desk people
kind of knew our names.
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00:09:00,496 --> 00:09:04,761
We were lucky enough
to get an upgrade
into the north penthouse,
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00:09:05,283 --> 00:09:07,024
which we were ecstatic to have.
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00:09:07,198 --> 00:09:08,504
We'd never been.
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00:09:10,114 --> 00:09:12,813
We didn't have anything
that happened the first night.
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00:09:13,378 --> 00:09:16,077
The second night, however,
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00:09:16,251 --> 00:09:20,081
is when we did have
some activity that occurred.
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00:09:24,825 --> 00:09:26,827
Courtney saw lights.
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I had my eyes closed,
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00:09:28,524 --> 00:09:32,963
but she saw lights
and made kind of a noise.
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00:09:33,442 --> 00:09:36,358
And right after
she saw the lights,
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00:09:36,532 --> 00:09:41,232
we heard someone walk
down the wooden staircase.
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We heard footsteps come
all the way down the staircase.
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And when they got
to the base of the staircase,
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00:09:50,764 --> 00:09:54,419
one of the girls had brought
some Tylenol in a bottle,
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00:09:54,594 --> 00:09:56,596
and we heard
the pill bottle shake.
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00:09:58,293 --> 00:10:00,512
It was as though someone
picked the bottle up
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00:10:00,687 --> 00:10:02,079
and shook it back and forth.
153
00:10:02,253 --> 00:10:05,082
It was very easily identifiable.
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00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,262
It got very cold.
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00:10:11,436 --> 00:10:13,525
I know that everyone
says it gets cold.
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00:10:13,700 --> 00:10:14,788
It got cold.
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00:10:16,485 --> 00:10:19,793
And so we grabbed our cameras
and started taking pictures
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00:10:19,967 --> 00:10:22,143
as fast as
we could take pictures.
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00:10:23,579 --> 00:10:25,668
Courtney got a photo that had
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00:10:25,842 --> 00:10:28,671
just hundreds of orbs,
it looked like, in it.
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00:10:29,324 --> 00:10:31,500
I took a picture with my camera,
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00:10:31,674 --> 00:10:34,590
and there looks to be a lady
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00:10:34,764 --> 00:10:38,507
sitting against the wall
in a long skirt and blouse.
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We got so scared.
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00:10:45,035 --> 00:10:48,952
I felt the overwhelming need
to leave that room
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00:10:49,126 --> 00:10:50,693
and leave it immediately.
167
00:10:55,350 --> 00:10:57,439
Is the
Crescent Hotel haunted?
168
00:10:58,048 --> 00:11:01,356
Well, that's not a yes-or-no
question, I'm afraid.
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00:11:05,708 --> 00:11:08,537
It has had the reputation
of being a haunted hotel
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00:11:08,711 --> 00:11:11,322
for pretty much as long
as it's been here.
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00:11:13,020 --> 00:11:14,804
And there have been
odd things that happen.
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00:11:16,501 --> 00:11:18,155
Things that are difficult
to explain.
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00:11:19,548 --> 00:11:22,029
There's a serious,
profound issue there,
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00:11:22,507 --> 00:11:24,771
which everybody in the world
is interested in.
175
00:11:25,423 --> 00:11:28,035
I've heard so many people
over the years
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00:11:28,209 --> 00:11:30,428
give their evidence
for what they've seen,
177
00:11:30,602 --> 00:11:33,562
and it's very often
something very fleeting.
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00:11:33,736 --> 00:11:35,520
There's a breath
on the side of their cheek,
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00:11:35,695 --> 00:11:37,653
or they think they heard their
name called somewhere far away.
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00:11:37,827 --> 00:11:40,482
And maybe they did.
And maybe that's a ghost.
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00:11:42,223 --> 00:11:44,529
I'm still waiting
to be convinced.
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00:11:45,182 --> 00:11:48,795
But I know it is haunted
by the stories of the people
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00:11:48,969 --> 00:11:51,406
who were here at one time
184
00:11:51,580 --> 00:11:53,713
and maybe still are.
185
00:12:02,809 --> 00:12:04,506
The Crescent Hotel
was not cheap to run.
186
00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:06,029
It was not cheap to operate.
187
00:12:06,508 --> 00:12:09,206
And by the early 1900s,
they started trying to come up
188
00:12:09,380 --> 00:12:11,208
with some other ideas
to bring in revenue.
189
00:12:11,382 --> 00:12:12,732
And one of the ideas that stuck
190
00:12:12,906 --> 00:12:14,734
was they could run
a women's college
191
00:12:14,908 --> 00:12:16,126
during the winter months.
192
00:12:16,736 --> 00:12:18,259
And in 1908,
they invited
193
00:12:18,433 --> 00:12:20,957
the Crescent College and
Conservatory for Young Ladies
194
00:12:21,131 --> 00:12:22,872
to join them,
making it a boarding school
195
00:12:23,046 --> 00:12:24,526
for wealthy young girls
in the winter
196
00:12:24,700 --> 00:12:26,833
and then still open
to the public in the summertime.
197
00:12:28,051 --> 00:12:30,358
And it was a really important
place for these ladies
198
00:12:30,532 --> 00:12:32,490
because this was
an accredited college.
199
00:12:34,797 --> 00:12:36,668
For its time,
it was quite groundbreaking
200
00:12:36,843 --> 00:12:40,803
for a college for women that
taught such a robust curriculum.
201
00:12:41,282 --> 00:12:42,718
At that point in time,
202
00:12:42,892 --> 00:12:45,112
most of the schools
for women were mostly--
203
00:12:45,286 --> 00:12:48,115
You know, they were interested
in just teaching women
how to be housewives.
204
00:12:48,289 --> 00:12:50,073
And the Crescent College
was different.
205
00:12:50,247 --> 00:12:52,293
A lot of the courses
they taught to women
at that time
206
00:12:52,467 --> 00:12:54,425
are still being taught
in colleges today.
207
00:12:58,081 --> 00:13:00,214
We had spirit activity
even then.
208
00:13:00,910 --> 00:13:03,217
We had students here that
had sent a postcard home
209
00:13:03,391 --> 00:13:05,610
asking for their family
Ouija board to be sent
210
00:13:05,785 --> 00:13:08,526
so they could figure out
who was connecting with them.
211
00:13:10,485 --> 00:13:13,140
The school went on
here until 1934.
212
00:13:13,314 --> 00:13:15,925
You know, at that time,
the Great Depression
had hit this area.
213
00:13:16,099 --> 00:13:18,710
Even the most wealthy families
couldn't afford to send
their young ladies
214
00:13:18,885 --> 00:13:20,451
to a college like that,
you know.
215
00:13:20,625 --> 00:13:23,237
And the entire hotel shut down
for about three years.
216
00:13:25,239 --> 00:13:26,980
And then the place
just went on the skids.
217
00:13:27,154 --> 00:13:28,503
There was nothing here.
218
00:13:28,982 --> 00:13:31,288
It was really tough times
for everybody.
219
00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:35,858
There are stories
about people going out
shooting squirrels for dinner
220
00:13:36,032 --> 00:13:37,817
until they ran out of squirrels.
221
00:13:40,036 --> 00:13:41,603
A lot of people
didn't have jobs,
222
00:13:41,777 --> 00:13:44,214
because we didn't have
other industries here in town
223
00:13:44,388 --> 00:13:46,913
to fall back on
when the tourism dried up.
224
00:13:48,915 --> 00:13:51,787
The hotel was closed
during the Depression,
225
00:13:52,788 --> 00:13:56,400
and Baker came up
and bought it in 1938.
226
00:13:59,229 --> 00:14:01,579
When Norman Baker
bought the hotel,
227
00:14:01,753 --> 00:14:04,974
he claimed he could cure
any kind of cancer
in six weeks' time.
228
00:14:05,148 --> 00:14:07,498
He was boasting
a 100 percent success rate.
229
00:14:08,282 --> 00:14:11,241
The medical field,
they just despised him.
230
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:14,810
I think he just wanted
to make money,
231
00:14:14,984 --> 00:14:16,812
and he made a lot of money.
232
00:14:17,378 --> 00:14:19,815
He lacked
compassion entirely.
233
00:14:19,989 --> 00:14:21,686
I don't think he had
a good intention in his body.
234
00:14:21,861 --> 00:14:24,167
He wasn't a doctor.
He was a quack.
235
00:14:24,341 --> 00:14:26,517
He was using
human beings as guinea pigs.
236
00:14:26,691 --> 00:14:29,564
He, in effect,
murdered those people.
237
00:14:53,805 --> 00:14:55,764
Norman Baker
was brilliant.
238
00:14:56,286 --> 00:14:57,592
He was very smart.
239
00:14:58,071 --> 00:14:59,463
He was an inventor.
240
00:15:00,421 --> 00:15:03,424
And during his life,
he divided people,
241
00:15:03,598 --> 00:15:04,904
and he still does.
242
00:15:06,557 --> 00:15:08,472
My name is Sean Fitzgibbon,
243
00:15:08,646 --> 00:15:11,258
and I've researched
the Crescent Hotel
for about 15 years.
244
00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:15,740
As a kid, I was always
fascinated by these stories
245
00:15:15,915 --> 00:15:19,135
that I heard of, like,
Norman Baker's cancer serum
246
00:15:19,309 --> 00:15:21,877
being poured directly
into patients' skulls
247
00:15:22,051 --> 00:15:26,012
and stories of calcium
found in the floor
248
00:15:26,186 --> 00:15:28,362
of the Crescent Hotel
and in the walls.
249
00:15:28,536 --> 00:15:32,061
In fact, I've even heard
stories of skeletal remains
250
00:15:32,235 --> 00:15:34,237
being found in the walls
of the Crescent.
251
00:15:35,935 --> 00:15:38,938
These were the type of stories
that sent me on this journey
252
00:15:39,112 --> 00:15:40,940
to figure out, like,
what the true story was,
253
00:15:41,114 --> 00:15:43,464
what really happened
in this place
254
00:15:43,638 --> 00:15:45,466
at that particular time.
255
00:15:57,652 --> 00:15:59,262
So who is Norman Baker?
256
00:15:59,436 --> 00:16:01,177
Well, that is a very
interesting question.
257
00:16:01,351 --> 00:16:02,744
He's an enigma.
258
00:16:06,878 --> 00:16:08,880
He was born in Muscatine, Iowa,
259
00:16:09,055 --> 00:16:11,535
which is a river city
on the Mississippi.
260
00:16:14,669 --> 00:16:16,192
His parents were
German immigrants.
261
00:16:16,366 --> 00:16:17,846
His father was an engineer.
262
00:16:18,020 --> 00:16:20,805
They had ten kids.
Only half of them grew up.
263
00:16:21,328 --> 00:16:23,765
And Norman Baker
was the youngest of them.
264
00:16:23,939 --> 00:16:26,898
And he was, by all accounts,
a brilliant kid,
265
00:16:27,073 --> 00:16:30,859
especially with technical stuff
and practical stuff.
266
00:16:31,033 --> 00:16:33,601
He was really good
at putting things together,
making things.
267
00:16:34,297 --> 00:16:36,256
His father
had a machine shop,
268
00:16:36,430 --> 00:16:38,475
and so he grew up
looking at the workings
269
00:16:38,649 --> 00:16:40,216
and the way the machines worked,
270
00:16:40,390 --> 00:16:42,349
and he worked in there
for a while as well.
271
00:16:44,394 --> 00:16:46,788
Right away, he walked in--
He was just a kid, 16.
272
00:16:46,962 --> 00:16:48,529
Walked in, saw how
they were doing things,
273
00:16:48,703 --> 00:16:50,226
and he said,
"Let me help you out here,"
274
00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,576
and rearranged
their factory floors
275
00:16:52,750 --> 00:16:55,536
so that they got better
production and stuff.
276
00:16:56,885 --> 00:16:58,495
And then he went
kind of itinerant.
277
00:16:58,669 --> 00:17:01,933
He wandered around a little bit
as a freelance engineer.
278
00:17:04,632 --> 00:17:08,549
And he got real sick
in St. Louis when
he was 19 years old.
279
00:17:08,723 --> 00:17:11,813
And he went to see the doctor.
Doctor told him he had TB.
280
00:17:11,987 --> 00:17:13,815
He said, "You got
three months to live."
281
00:17:15,773 --> 00:17:18,689
Baker, by then,
had been educating himself
282
00:17:18,863 --> 00:17:20,648
through correspondence courses.
283
00:17:21,127 --> 00:17:23,738
One course that he took
influenced the rest of his life.
284
00:17:23,912 --> 00:17:25,783
It was called
Mental Therapeutics.
285
00:17:25,957 --> 00:17:27,133
It's mind over matter.
286
00:17:29,570 --> 00:17:32,703
He had read that if a person
concentrated hard enough,
287
00:17:32,877 --> 00:17:35,315
they could cure themselves
of any sickness.
288
00:17:36,577 --> 00:17:39,362
He was far away from home,
he had no money,
289
00:17:39,536 --> 00:17:41,930
he was shivering
under a thin blanket
290
00:17:42,104 --> 00:17:44,454
and thought he was gonna die.
291
00:17:44,628 --> 00:17:48,502
But he applied what he'd learned
from Mental Therapeutics,
292
00:17:49,024 --> 00:17:51,200
and three months later,
293
00:17:51,374 --> 00:17:53,681
he was up and about
and he was walking.
294
00:17:53,855 --> 00:17:56,510
And after a while,
he got all his strength back
and he got all his weight back.
295
00:17:56,988 --> 00:18:01,080
And he considered
that he had defeated death.
296
00:18:02,211 --> 00:18:03,778
He came out of that sickness--
297
00:18:03,952 --> 00:18:05,301
It seemed like it was
a big turning point in his life.
298
00:18:05,475 --> 00:18:07,390
He came out
with a lot of determination.
299
00:18:07,564 --> 00:18:10,785
And one of his determinations
was that he was
gonna make money.
300
00:18:10,959 --> 00:18:13,483
And not just money,
but a lot of money.
301
00:18:18,706 --> 00:18:22,057
The thing
that really influenced Baker
more than anything else
302
00:18:22,231 --> 00:18:26,540
was one day when
a traveling vaudeville
group arrived in town.
303
00:18:26,714 --> 00:18:28,455
He was so taken
by this performance
304
00:18:28,629 --> 00:18:30,457
that he creates
his own vaudeville troupe.
305
00:18:34,983 --> 00:18:37,855
In vaudeville, he was
a sleight-of-hand magician,
306
00:18:38,029 --> 00:18:41,163
and he'd do the act where
you walk around the audience
307
00:18:41,337 --> 00:18:43,948
and tell people what
they got in their pockets,
that kind of stuff.
308
00:18:44,688 --> 00:18:46,864
Which meant he was
really good at reading people.
309
00:18:48,214 --> 00:18:49,737
And he did that for ten years.
310
00:18:50,477 --> 00:18:52,218
He was a mentalist,
you know,
311
00:18:52,392 --> 00:18:54,524
which is all show.
312
00:18:54,698 --> 00:18:56,352
It's all sleight of hand.
313
00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:58,746
He was a showman.
314
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:00,182
You see it through that lens,
315
00:19:00,356 --> 00:19:02,793
a lot of his actions
later in life
316
00:19:02,967 --> 00:19:04,534
start to actually make sense.
317
00:19:05,492 --> 00:19:07,798
With his background
in machinery,
318
00:19:07,972 --> 00:19:09,713
he makes his first
million dollars
319
00:19:09,887 --> 00:19:12,542
by inventing an air calliaphone,
is what he ends up calling it.
320
00:19:16,242 --> 00:19:18,983
The calliaphone
originally was for riverboats
321
00:19:19,158 --> 00:19:21,812
to make a lot of noise
to let people know they're
coming through the fog.
322
00:19:21,986 --> 00:19:23,771
It's really, really loud.
323
00:19:23,945 --> 00:19:26,469
But they ran on steam.
They blew up all the time.
324
00:19:26,643 --> 00:19:28,863
They were really
not user-friendly.
325
00:19:29,429 --> 00:19:33,389
But Baker found a way to produce
the same amount of sound
326
00:19:33,563 --> 00:19:35,435
using compressed air.
327
00:19:36,044 --> 00:19:38,916
So you could take these things,
you could put them
on the back of a truck,
328
00:19:39,090 --> 00:19:41,180
and you could drive them
around in neighborhoods
329
00:19:41,354 --> 00:19:44,748
and have them at funfairs
and circuses and things.
330
00:19:45,967 --> 00:19:48,926
And so he became extraordinarily
wealthy with that.
331
00:19:49,971 --> 00:19:51,364
But he wanted more.
332
00:19:55,281 --> 00:19:58,327
In 1925, radio came along.
333
00:19:58,501 --> 00:19:59,937
And he was one
of the first people
334
00:20:00,111 --> 00:20:01,896
to see the possibilities
of radio.
335
00:20:02,897 --> 00:20:06,379
So he tried to get the city to
build a radio station for him.
336
00:20:06,553 --> 00:20:09,382
They wouldn't do it,
so he said, "To hell with you.
I'll build it myself."
337
00:20:10,078 --> 00:20:12,428
Some pieces of equipment,
you could only get
from the government,
338
00:20:12,602 --> 00:20:14,256
and they wouldn't
give it to him.
339
00:20:14,430 --> 00:20:15,910
So he said, "Screw you.
I'll figure out how to do it,"
340
00:20:16,084 --> 00:20:18,434
and he did.
341
00:20:18,608 --> 00:20:20,915
And he built himself
a radio station on a hillside
just outside of Muscatine.
342
00:20:22,351 --> 00:20:24,310
He provides a voice
for the people of Iowa
343
00:20:24,484 --> 00:20:26,137
by starting
his own radio station.
344
00:20:26,312 --> 00:20:27,661
It's called KTNT,
345
00:20:28,575 --> 00:20:30,011
Know the Naked Truth.
346
00:20:31,665 --> 00:20:35,930
He taps into the sentiment
of rural Iowans
347
00:20:36,104 --> 00:20:37,627
and what was going on
at the time.
348
00:20:37,801 --> 00:20:39,760
You know, you had
a lot of people who,
349
00:20:39,934 --> 00:20:42,066
they were watching
as their kids are moving away.
350
00:20:42,241 --> 00:20:44,678
They're leaving the countryside,
they're moving into the cities,
351
00:20:44,852 --> 00:20:47,115
they're abandoning,
you know, the rural way of life,
352
00:20:47,289 --> 00:20:49,248
and they're feeling left behind.
353
00:20:50,901 --> 00:20:52,642
Any kind of authority
that was out there,
354
00:20:52,816 --> 00:20:54,078
he would attack.
355
00:20:54,253 --> 00:20:55,819
So he would get
on his radio station
356
00:20:55,993 --> 00:20:59,693
and rant, without a text,
for hours and hours sometimes.
357
00:21:00,171 --> 00:21:02,565
And he built himself up
a great base.
358
00:21:06,743 --> 00:21:09,746
While he's looking
just for material
for his radio program,
359
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,228
he heard about a guy
who was down in Kansas City
360
00:21:13,402 --> 00:21:17,363
named Dr. Ozias, who claimed
to have a cure for cancer.
361
00:21:23,020 --> 00:21:24,718
So just for entertainment,
362
00:21:24,892 --> 00:21:28,504
Baker bankrolled five
suffering cancer victims
363
00:21:28,678 --> 00:21:31,725
to go down to Dr. Ozias
and take his cure
364
00:21:31,899 --> 00:21:34,293
and see if it actually worked.
365
00:21:38,558 --> 00:21:39,863
By spring of that year,
366
00:21:40,037 --> 00:21:41,691
all five of the test
patients are dead.
367
00:21:46,435 --> 00:21:48,568
And so, what does
Norman Baker do?
368
00:21:49,046 --> 00:21:51,266
He reprints that magazine,
369
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,921
claiming to have the cure
for cancer and its effectiveness
370
00:21:54,095 --> 00:21:56,315
and that all these patients
are cured.
371
00:21:56,924 --> 00:21:59,709
He reprints it not once,
not twice,
372
00:21:59,883 --> 00:22:02,930
but three different times,
without changing a single word.
373
00:22:07,064 --> 00:22:10,416
Then he opened
a hospital in Muscatine
374
00:22:10,590 --> 00:22:13,810
and made promises that
it would cure people of cancer.
375
00:22:13,984 --> 00:22:17,118
And there was-- At the time,
there was nowhere to go.
376
00:22:17,292 --> 00:22:20,382
The only possible
treatments for cancer
377
00:22:20,556 --> 00:22:22,950
were X-ray, radium and surgery,
378
00:22:23,429 --> 00:22:25,953
and they didn't seem
to work for anybody either.
379
00:22:26,736 --> 00:22:30,305
They were the only treatment
sanctioned by the American
Medical Association.
380
00:22:31,306 --> 00:22:33,003
And so he had an alternative.
381
00:22:33,482 --> 00:22:35,615
A lot of people came to be cured
382
00:22:35,789 --> 00:22:38,966
and were claimed by Baker
that they were cured.
383
00:22:39,140 --> 00:22:40,489
Well, it was all very fishy,
384
00:22:40,663 --> 00:22:42,970
and the AMA was
against him right away.
385
00:22:43,579 --> 00:22:45,233
He was in Muscatine.
386
00:22:45,407 --> 00:22:47,191
It was awful. It was horrible.
387
00:22:47,366 --> 00:22:48,845
The conditions were abysmal.
388
00:22:50,978 --> 00:22:55,243
The hospital there was
actually an old skating rink
389
00:22:55,417 --> 00:22:57,376
converted into this hospital.
390
00:22:57,941 --> 00:23:01,031
It was very
unsanitary conditions.
391
00:23:01,205 --> 00:23:03,294
Dishes were not scalded,
392
00:23:03,991 --> 00:23:10,084
and people were using bedpans
to wash themselves.
393
00:23:10,258 --> 00:23:12,391
It was that disgusting.
394
00:23:14,523 --> 00:23:17,483
The American Medical Association
was after him from day one
395
00:23:17,657 --> 00:23:19,354
because, you know,
he was telling people
396
00:23:19,528 --> 00:23:23,532
that the traditional
cancer cures were no good.
397
00:23:24,054 --> 00:23:25,882
And the AMA started
applying pressure
398
00:23:26,056 --> 00:23:28,450
to the Federal Radio Commission
to shut him down.
399
00:23:30,844 --> 00:23:34,674
At that time,
radio was not supposed
to be a marketplace.
400
00:23:34,848 --> 00:23:37,546
And they yanked
his broadcasting license,
401
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,069
which just ruined him.
402
00:23:41,332 --> 00:23:45,293
They were charging him
with practicing medicine
without a license.
403
00:23:45,772 --> 00:23:47,513
And so he quit. He left.
404
00:23:47,687 --> 00:23:49,079
He went down to Mexico.
405
00:23:54,345 --> 00:23:57,523
When he moves to Mexico,
he does it to, really,
avoid the law,
406
00:23:57,697 --> 00:24:00,047
avoid, you know,
being put in jail.
407
00:24:00,221 --> 00:24:03,267
And so he becomes what
they called a "border blaster."
408
00:24:03,442 --> 00:24:05,835
And he starts his station
right on the border of Mexico
409
00:24:06,009 --> 00:24:08,664
with the idea being
that he's no longer
under the jurisdiction
410
00:24:08,838 --> 00:24:10,840
of the United States
Federal Radio Commission,
411
00:24:11,014 --> 00:24:14,235
so he can broadcast for as far
and wide as he wants to.
412
00:24:14,409 --> 00:24:18,152
He doesn't have to adhere
to wattage limitations
or anything like that.
413
00:24:18,326 --> 00:24:21,242
And when
he was in Mexico,
he built a radio station
414
00:24:21,416 --> 00:24:26,856
that was 150 times the power of
the one he'd had in Muscatine.
415
00:24:29,990 --> 00:24:31,600
You could hear
the radio stations
416
00:24:31,774 --> 00:24:33,559
all the way from
Mexico to Alaska.
417
00:24:33,733 --> 00:24:35,517
He became very much
a household name.
418
00:24:36,779 --> 00:24:39,956
Pretty soon, he was
the most listened-to radio
station in the United States.
419
00:24:40,130 --> 00:24:41,697
...the
multiplicity of knowledge...
420
00:24:41,871 --> 00:24:43,090
He was on his radio station
all the time
421
00:24:43,264 --> 00:24:45,179
talking about
his cure for cancer.
422
00:24:45,353 --> 00:24:48,008
And he had a vision in his mind,
423
00:24:48,182 --> 00:24:52,491
which he was going to have
cancer-curable hospitals
424
00:24:52,665 --> 00:24:54,014
all over the world.
425
00:24:54,188 --> 00:24:55,624
He said, "When I'm done,
426
00:24:55,798 --> 00:24:58,105
the Mayo Clinic will look
like a corner drugstore."
427
00:24:58,758 --> 00:25:02,065
He implored people to write
to the Texas governor
428
00:25:02,239 --> 00:25:05,895
to allow him back
into the country,
where he could practice.
429
00:25:06,069 --> 00:25:09,246
It was stacks
and stacks of letters
written by people saying,
430
00:25:09,420 --> 00:25:11,640
"Please allow Norman Baker
back into the country.
431
00:25:11,814 --> 00:25:14,556
I'm suffering from cancer,
and only he can help me."
432
00:25:14,730 --> 00:25:18,081
They all sound the same,
so they're all kind of dictated
by him on the radio station.
433
00:25:19,169 --> 00:25:22,564
So eventually, there were
rumors of civil war in Mexico,
434
00:25:23,434 --> 00:25:26,786
and Baker was not doing
as well as he wanted.
435
00:25:27,743 --> 00:25:31,486
So he went back to Muscatine
to face the music there.
436
00:25:35,534 --> 00:25:37,405
There was a big trial,
and he claimed that,
437
00:25:37,579 --> 00:25:38,928
no, he wasn't doing any of the--
438
00:25:39,102 --> 00:25:40,843
You know,
the medical treatments himself.
439
00:25:41,017 --> 00:25:42,802
He had doctors,
real doctors, doing it.
440
00:25:45,021 --> 00:25:47,284
They fined him $1000,
441
00:25:47,458 --> 00:25:49,199
which he probably had
in his back pocket,
442
00:25:49,373 --> 00:25:51,593
and one day in jail.
443
00:25:51,767 --> 00:25:54,335
Then he decided to look
for somewhere else to live.
444
00:25:56,032 --> 00:25:58,818
A few states allowed
an eclectic degree.
445
00:25:58,992 --> 00:26:00,471
You had to go two terms
of medical school,
446
00:26:00,646 --> 00:26:02,604
and after that,
you could write prescriptions,
447
00:26:02,778 --> 00:26:05,564
you could write
death certificates,
and you could diagnose.
448
00:26:05,738 --> 00:26:08,741
And that's the kind of people
that Baker had working for him,
449
00:26:08,915 --> 00:26:11,265
and Arkansas was one
of the states that allowed that.
450
00:26:16,966 --> 00:26:20,883
He was actually
invited here to Eureka Springs
to be part of our town
451
00:26:21,057 --> 00:26:23,756
because he was making
so much money at that time.
452
00:26:25,627 --> 00:26:27,455
Eureka Springs was down.
453
00:26:27,629 --> 00:26:29,413
Most people in town,
even if they'd heard,
454
00:26:29,588 --> 00:26:32,329
you know, some of
the bad things about his past,
455
00:26:32,503 --> 00:26:34,680
initially, they were willing
to look the other way
456
00:26:34,854 --> 00:26:36,856
because he was bringing
some money into town.
457
00:26:37,944 --> 00:26:39,859
All the businesses in town,
"Welcome, Norman Baker.
458
00:26:40,033 --> 00:26:41,469
We're so glad you're here.
459
00:26:41,643 --> 00:26:43,384
Thank you for helping
bring the town back."
460
00:26:44,907 --> 00:26:49,042
So he moved to Eureka Springs,
bought the Crescent Hotel,
461
00:26:49,651 --> 00:26:51,566
took six months
to renovate the building,
462
00:26:51,740 --> 00:26:53,699
and opened his doors
for business.
463
00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,666
The first thing he did
was to bring in
464
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,887
all the patients from Muscatine
in boxcars overnight
465
00:27:08,061 --> 00:27:10,193
and installed them
into the Crescent Hotel,
466
00:27:10,367 --> 00:27:13,893
so the place was pretty much
full with those patients.
467
00:27:15,546 --> 00:27:17,636
It wasn't just the patients
that were coming in.
468
00:27:17,810 --> 00:27:19,638
Their relatives
would visit them,
469
00:27:19,812 --> 00:27:22,075
and they had people
coming in by the busload.
470
00:27:23,598 --> 00:27:25,992
The ground floor
was for visitors.
471
00:27:26,688 --> 00:27:30,561
Very brightly decorated
in these bizarre kind of
designs and colors.
472
00:27:31,606 --> 00:27:33,173
He had a fetish
for the color purple.
473
00:27:33,347 --> 00:27:35,262
He used to drive a purple car,
wear purple shirts,
474
00:27:35,436 --> 00:27:38,308
write on purple paper
in lavender ink.
475
00:27:38,482 --> 00:27:41,355
And he decorated the building up
with a lot of purple.
476
00:27:42,182 --> 00:27:45,664
And you can
still see paint on the side
of the chimneys
477
00:27:45,838 --> 00:27:49,232
that are purple
dating back to when
it was the Baker Hospital.
478
00:27:50,059 --> 00:27:52,322
They took all the doors
off all the rooms,
479
00:27:52,496 --> 00:27:54,411
and they were called wards.
480
00:27:54,585 --> 00:27:58,241
And that's where the patients
were confined to,
the upper floors.
481
00:27:59,808 --> 00:28:01,375
Oftentimes when
people came here,
482
00:28:01,549 --> 00:28:04,247
they didn't have cancer,
and they didn't know that.
483
00:28:04,421 --> 00:28:05,988
When they diagnosed
cancer back then,
484
00:28:06,162 --> 00:28:08,208
they were doing it
with surgery, x-rays.
485
00:28:08,382 --> 00:28:12,647
Norman Baker's hospital
boasted no X-rays, no surgery.
486
00:28:13,604 --> 00:28:15,868
They were basically just pushing
around on a stomach, saying,
487
00:28:16,042 --> 00:28:17,565
"Oh, if that hurts,
it's probably cancer.
488
00:28:17,739 --> 00:28:20,699
And if you have $5000,
we'd be glad to treat you."
489
00:28:23,005 --> 00:28:24,528
When he set up
his general hospital
490
00:28:24,703 --> 00:28:26,617
and he claimed
to cure almost anything
491
00:28:26,792 --> 00:28:29,969
with various numbers
on his recipes,
492
00:28:31,013 --> 00:28:32,928
Recipe Number 5 was the one
493
00:28:33,102 --> 00:28:35,278
that was supposedly
to cure cancer.
494
00:28:36,976 --> 00:28:38,455
There were five ingredients:
495
00:28:39,065 --> 00:28:41,720
glycerin, watermelon seeds,
496
00:28:41,894 --> 00:28:44,853
corn silk, carbolic acid,
497
00:28:45,375 --> 00:28:46,463
and spring water.
498
00:28:48,422 --> 00:28:52,905
Obviously, he was capitalizing
on the curative properties
499
00:28:53,079 --> 00:28:55,777
of the springs
in Eureka Springs.
500
00:28:57,213 --> 00:29:00,303
He would also have
his doctors, his staff,
501
00:29:00,477 --> 00:29:04,960
inject the serum,
oftentimes into their chest.
502
00:29:05,961 --> 00:29:08,398
From my research,
that was probably
503
00:29:08,572 --> 00:29:11,271
the most grueling part
of his procedures,
504
00:29:11,445 --> 00:29:13,099
was just these
painful injections
505
00:29:13,273 --> 00:29:16,058
that he would give
the patients each day.
506
00:29:18,017 --> 00:29:21,629
I've seen
different reports
on the amount of carbolic acid
507
00:29:21,803 --> 00:29:23,718
that was used in his recipe.
508
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,417
Some of them say it was,
like, 2%, and some say
it was more like 30%.
509
00:29:28,462 --> 00:29:30,986
That was the gas that was
used in the gas chambers,
510
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:32,814
was from carbolic acid.
511
00:29:33,772 --> 00:29:36,252
It was very dangerous stuff
he was messing around with.
512
00:29:37,297 --> 00:29:39,734
He didn't need to be
injecting it into the patients,
513
00:29:39,908 --> 00:29:43,520
but he was, you know,
and up to seven times a day.
514
00:29:43,694 --> 00:29:46,654
But also, he was not offering
any pain medication.
515
00:29:46,828 --> 00:29:49,396
He had very few people
with an actual medical degree
516
00:29:49,570 --> 00:29:51,354
to be able to prescribe it.
517
00:29:51,528 --> 00:29:54,314
So oftentimes, people suffered
through the end of their days
518
00:29:54,488 --> 00:29:57,230
with very little
to no pain medication.
519
00:30:05,716 --> 00:30:07,806
Hi, my name is Anne Soden,
520
00:30:07,980 --> 00:30:10,983
and I've been coming
to the Crescent Hotel
for about 16 years now.
521
00:30:11,679 --> 00:30:13,420
I'm a breast-cancer survivor.
522
00:30:13,594 --> 00:30:17,728
I had stage 3 triple-negative
breast cancer back in 2011.
523
00:30:18,860 --> 00:30:24,170
I was pregnant at the time,
and I found a lump in my breast.
524
00:30:25,432 --> 00:30:27,608
After I had my son,
525
00:30:27,782 --> 00:30:31,220
I still had the lump,
and that's when we went in
and had my mammogram.
526
00:30:31,394 --> 00:30:36,922
And I found out after a biopsy
that I had stage 3
triple-negative breast cancer.
527
00:30:38,445 --> 00:30:42,101
When I found out, I remember
Declan was, you know, newborn.
528
00:30:42,275 --> 00:30:44,538
My mom went with me
to the biopsy.
529
00:30:44,712 --> 00:30:48,498
And I got in the car after I'd
had the biopsy, started crying.
530
00:30:48,672 --> 00:30:50,849
And I said,
"I just got everything I want.
531
00:30:51,023 --> 00:30:52,676
I don't want to die."
532
00:30:52,851 --> 00:30:54,809
And so that was-- You know,
we sat there and we cried.
533
00:30:54,983 --> 00:30:56,332
My mom and I both did.
534
00:30:56,506 --> 00:31:00,119
So from there, it was,
boom, fast acting.
535
00:31:00,293 --> 00:31:01,947
This was in September.
536
00:31:02,121 --> 00:31:05,951
And by October,
I was having chemo.
537
00:31:07,474 --> 00:31:08,954
We went trick-or-treating.
538
00:31:09,128 --> 00:31:10,999
We all went trick-or-treating
as a family,
539
00:31:11,173 --> 00:31:15,177
thinking, "Is this the last time
I'm gonna go trick-or-treating?"
540
00:31:17,571 --> 00:31:19,486
I still think of that night.
I can remember it
like it was yesterday.
541
00:31:41,334 --> 00:31:43,249
We always go on the ghost tour.
542
00:31:43,423 --> 00:31:46,600
And after we went
on the ghost tour,
we learned about Theodora.
543
00:31:47,383 --> 00:31:50,038
Theodora, as far as I know,
was a nurse.
544
00:31:50,212 --> 00:31:53,215
We learned that she will
straighten up things
in your room
545
00:31:53,389 --> 00:31:55,435
and has been known
to stack your change.
546
00:31:55,609 --> 00:31:58,394
So that morning
after we'd been
on the ghost tour,
547
00:31:58,568 --> 00:32:01,049
my husband woke up
and he was like,
"Why did you do this?"
548
00:32:01,223 --> 00:32:03,225
And I'm like, "I don't know
what you're talking about."
549
00:32:03,399 --> 00:32:05,575
So on his nightstand,
all of our--
550
00:32:05,749 --> 00:32:08,448
His change was stacked,
from quarters to pennies.
551
00:32:09,492 --> 00:32:12,365
I mean, it was pristine,
of how it had been stacked.
552
00:32:12,539 --> 00:32:14,671
And I'm like,
"You know I wouldn't do that
553
00:32:14,845 --> 00:32:18,937
because I'm not gonna joke
with you about spirits
doing something to you."
554
00:32:19,850 --> 00:32:23,463
So we like to think of it as
Theodora was taking care of us
555
00:32:23,637 --> 00:32:25,552
by straightening up our change.
556
00:32:26,205 --> 00:32:29,295
It was a comforting feeling
in a way. I didn't feel scared.
557
00:32:29,469 --> 00:32:31,906
And that was the first
experience that we had with her.
558
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,389
And we've had several
other experiences too,
as we've stayed.
559
00:32:37,651 --> 00:32:41,698
I think Theodora
does seek me out
because I am a cancer patient.
560
00:32:41,872 --> 00:32:44,527
Because having gone through,
you know, chemo
561
00:32:44,701 --> 00:32:48,009
and all the treatments
that you go through
that they didn't have back then,
562
00:32:48,183 --> 00:32:54,320
I wonder if she is intrigued
by someone that has survived.
563
00:33:01,283 --> 00:33:04,069
There was a lot of souls here
that lost their lives.
564
00:33:05,853 --> 00:33:09,161
If I had been a patient here
under Norman Baker's care,
565
00:33:09,335 --> 00:33:11,119
you know, I just can't imagine.
566
00:33:11,859 --> 00:33:14,253
That could have been me
80 years ago.
567
00:33:21,651 --> 00:33:24,176
When people
did die of cancer,
568
00:33:24,915 --> 00:33:29,007
he had this list
of exercises that people
were supposed to go through,
569
00:33:29,181 --> 00:33:31,096
and that was sort of
his fail-safe.
570
00:33:32,575 --> 00:33:34,751
He would blame it
on the patients.
571
00:33:34,925 --> 00:33:37,711
They weren't doing their
mental therapeutics properly.
572
00:33:37,885 --> 00:33:40,931
It wasn't his Formula Number 5
that was failing, of course.
573
00:33:41,889 --> 00:33:43,369
He didn't care
if he cured anybody.
574
00:33:43,543 --> 00:33:45,632
His MO would be,
he'd bring them in,
575
00:33:45,806 --> 00:33:49,114
convince them they were sick,
give them his treatment,
576
00:33:49,897 --> 00:33:53,509
declare they were cured,
and send them home.
And that's when they would die.
577
00:33:54,380 --> 00:33:57,035
It wasn't uncommon
for people to just leave
578
00:33:57,209 --> 00:34:00,516
and they would die on the trains
leaving Eureka Springs.
579
00:34:02,431 --> 00:34:06,218
We do know
that 42 people were
picked up from the hotel here
580
00:34:06,392 --> 00:34:08,829
during the time that he was here
by the local mortuary.
581
00:34:09,003 --> 00:34:11,701
So there is records of people
being taken to be processed.
582
00:34:11,875 --> 00:34:15,009
But all of his hospital records
were either nonexistent
583
00:34:15,183 --> 00:34:17,577
or they were burned up
in a small fire.
584
00:34:19,970 --> 00:34:22,321
How was he able to avoid
long-term imprisonment,
585
00:34:22,495 --> 00:34:25,150
especially when patients
died under his care?
586
00:34:25,672 --> 00:34:28,066
I've asked myself
that same question
587
00:34:28,240 --> 00:34:30,546
because you would think
someone like that,
588
00:34:31,069 --> 00:34:33,245
you just lock him up
and throw away the key, right?
589
00:34:33,419 --> 00:34:34,898
I mean, this is serious stuff.
590
00:34:35,073 --> 00:34:37,640
But he was brilliant
at deceiving people.
591
00:34:39,294 --> 00:34:41,992
It's a miracle
he lasted as long as he did,
592
00:34:42,167 --> 00:34:44,734
but I don't think he would have
lasted much longer.
593
00:34:46,301 --> 00:34:48,042
It's a lot like the gangsters.
594
00:34:48,216 --> 00:34:50,131
You know, you never get them for
what they actually were doing.
595
00:34:50,305 --> 00:34:52,699
It's always mail fraud
or tax evasion
or something like that.
596
00:34:54,396 --> 00:34:58,792
He started to exercise
his influence over,
you know, local government,
597
00:34:58,966 --> 00:35:02,230
and that was where he really
started to step on some toes.
598
00:35:03,318 --> 00:35:05,973
He also crossed Claude Fuller.
599
00:35:08,018 --> 00:35:09,629
He said something
at some point about,
600
00:35:09,803 --> 00:35:12,588
"You don't need Claude Fuller
anymore. You've got me."
601
00:35:13,633 --> 00:35:14,982
Here's why it was important
602
00:35:15,156 --> 00:35:18,333
for Claude Fuller
to shut down Norman Baker.
603
00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:21,771
Claude Fuller was mayor
of Eureka Springs.
604
00:35:22,424 --> 00:35:25,340
He was also
an Arkansas congressman.
605
00:35:26,254 --> 00:35:30,432
So he spent his time
between Eureka Springs
and Washington, D.C.
606
00:35:31,303 --> 00:35:35,394
Norman Baker was always
trying to push his cancer cures
607
00:35:35,568 --> 00:35:38,179
and all his things
onto Claude Fuller,
608
00:35:38,353 --> 00:35:41,400
trying to get his ideas
pushed through Washington.
609
00:35:42,270 --> 00:35:45,578
So Claude Fuller is kind of
seeing through all of this.
610
00:35:52,324 --> 00:35:56,284
My name is John Fuller Cross,
and I grew up in Eureka Springs.
611
00:35:59,679 --> 00:36:02,725
My grandfather
came here in 1885,
612
00:36:02,899 --> 00:36:04,466
and it was a poor family.
613
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:06,947
He and his brother picked
chickens for Powell Clayton,
614
00:36:07,121 --> 00:36:09,471
who had the Crescent Hotel
at the time.
615
00:36:10,211 --> 00:36:13,519
He wanted to better himself.
He didn't wanna be
poor all his life.
616
00:36:14,433 --> 00:36:16,348
So he became a lawyer,
617
00:36:17,653 --> 00:36:21,396
and he had almost all
of the big cases in town.
618
00:36:23,833 --> 00:36:27,489
In 1906, he was elected
mayor of the town.
619
00:36:32,059 --> 00:36:34,931
When Dr. Baker made that remark
about my grandfather
620
00:36:35,105 --> 00:36:37,760
and said the town
wasn't big enough
for him and Claude Fuller,
621
00:36:37,934 --> 00:36:41,634
why, that's when
my grandfather decided
it was time for Baker to go.
622
00:36:42,809 --> 00:36:45,768
Claude Fuller
set up a sting,
623
00:36:46,378 --> 00:36:49,511
which probably
would not fly today 'cause
it's a bit like entrapment.
624
00:36:50,643 --> 00:36:53,254
His brother, Harvey,
ran the post office.
625
00:36:53,428 --> 00:36:57,824
And so seven fictitious people
from Little Rock
626
00:36:57,998 --> 00:37:04,047
reported to have written letters
to Norman Baker
just inquiring about his cure.
627
00:37:04,222 --> 00:37:06,311
They'd written letters
from Little Rock,
628
00:37:06,485 --> 00:37:09,270
so the case would be
dealt with in Little Rock,
not in Eureka Springs.
629
00:37:09,923 --> 00:37:13,622
So anybody who wrote a letter,
they were on the hook,
and he wouldn't let them off.
630
00:37:13,796 --> 00:37:15,798
Then they would get letter
after letter saying,
631
00:37:15,972 --> 00:37:18,453
"Come and see me now.
Come and see me now,
before it's too late."
632
00:37:19,585 --> 00:37:22,370
He made promises
that he was gonna cure them.
633
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:26,722
Well, that amounted
to mail fraud,
634
00:37:26,896 --> 00:37:28,985
which is a federal crime.
635
00:37:29,159 --> 00:37:33,163
Claude Fuller and his brother
then brought the action
against him.
636
00:37:34,295 --> 00:37:38,125
And on the day
that Hitler invaded Poland,
637
00:37:38,908 --> 00:37:40,823
September 1st, 1939,
638
00:37:41,476 --> 00:37:42,477
Baker was arrested
639
00:37:43,652 --> 00:37:45,219
when the FBI rolled up,
640
00:37:45,828 --> 00:37:48,440
took him down to Little Rock,
and charged him.
641
00:37:52,748 --> 00:37:57,536
In January of '40,
supposedly the longest case
ever tried in that courthouse,
642
00:37:58,406 --> 00:38:02,802
at the end of it,
he was given four years
in jail and a $4000 fine.
643
00:38:06,588 --> 00:38:08,938
Once Norman Baker
was convicted of mail fraud,
644
00:38:09,112 --> 00:38:12,464
he ends up at Leavenworth,
you know, federal penitentiary.
645
00:38:12,942 --> 00:38:14,770
And it's pretty fascinating,
646
00:38:14,944 --> 00:38:17,686
'cause even while
he's in Leavenworth,
he's filing patents.
647
00:38:19,035 --> 00:38:22,778
And of course, the country's
at war, and so even
while he's in prison,
648
00:38:22,952 --> 00:38:25,041
he's trying to get in
on the war games.
649
00:38:25,215 --> 00:38:27,957
You know, he wants to get in
on the defense contracts.
650
00:38:28,697 --> 00:38:32,092
He would have got out
in three years, but he had
some bad behavior,
651
00:38:32,266 --> 00:38:36,662
which, as you might expect,
was an altercation
with a doctor in prison.
652
00:38:36,836 --> 00:38:38,968
So he got out in three years
and three months.
653
00:38:39,142 --> 00:38:41,144
He ends up trying
to go back to Iowa
654
00:38:41,319 --> 00:38:43,059
and opening up another clinic,
655
00:38:43,233 --> 00:38:45,148
and they weren't having it.
656
00:38:45,323 --> 00:38:50,328
And so he ends up
moving to Florida,
and he retires in Florida.
657
00:38:50,502 --> 00:38:54,984
He buys a large yacht
and lives the rest
of his days on a yacht.
658
00:39:34,241 --> 00:39:35,851
After
Norman Baker died,
659
00:39:36,025 --> 00:39:39,594
his gravestone was destroyed
just after his death.
660
00:39:40,203 --> 00:39:43,511
And then shortly after that,
it was reconstructed.
661
00:39:43,685 --> 00:39:46,427
And on the anniversary
of his death, every year,
662
00:39:46,601 --> 00:39:50,213
someone lays purple flowers
mysteriously at his grave.
663
00:39:50,692 --> 00:39:55,741
And to me, that really sums up
Norman Baker and the way
that he divides people.
664
00:39:57,220 --> 00:40:00,833
The repercussions
of his chicanery,
665
00:40:01,007 --> 00:40:04,576
his demagoguery,
his fake cures,
666
00:40:04,750 --> 00:40:07,883
it was long-lasting
not only while he was there
667
00:40:08,057 --> 00:40:09,972
but long after he was gone.
668
00:40:10,756 --> 00:40:13,062
Many people still
suffer from that.
669
00:40:15,761 --> 00:40:18,328
The Crescent Hotel
was another stage.
670
00:40:18,503 --> 00:40:21,593
It was a theater
by a sideshow magician
671
00:40:21,767 --> 00:40:23,769
whose performance had ended.
672
00:40:30,079 --> 00:40:31,994
The Crescent Hotel
is still standing.
673
00:40:32,168 --> 00:40:33,822
It's still there.
674
00:40:34,606 --> 00:40:40,220
And Norman Baker
was a chapter of that history,
and that's the darkest chapter.
675
00:40:40,394 --> 00:40:43,441
And that's where so many
of the legends come from.
676
00:40:43,615 --> 00:40:47,270
We definitely
had things that were tragic
that happened here.
677
00:40:47,445 --> 00:40:50,535
That can hang around,
and so it's not surprising
678
00:40:50,709 --> 00:40:52,885
that some of
these negative energies
are still around here.
679
00:40:53,059 --> 00:40:56,976
Some of these tragedies
that still get refelt
and rehashed and...
680
00:40:57,150 --> 00:40:59,239
Even the patients
at the hospital,
681
00:40:59,413 --> 00:41:02,721
their sadness is felt
by some people
that are more sensitive to it.
682
00:41:04,897 --> 00:41:07,334
And it can be very
overwhelming for people.
683
00:41:12,470 --> 00:41:14,472
My name is Bonnie McCarty,
684
00:41:14,646 --> 00:41:17,605
and I've been coming
to the Crescent Hotel
for about 17 years.
685
00:41:19,085 --> 00:41:21,043
When it comes to believing
in the paranormal,
686
00:41:21,217 --> 00:41:23,829
I watch the programs
on TV and stuff,
687
00:41:24,003 --> 00:41:27,093
and I'm somewhat of a skeptic,
688
00:41:27,267 --> 00:41:29,008
but I think there is something.
689
00:41:29,182 --> 00:41:31,663
You know, we go
somewhere after we die.
690
00:41:31,837 --> 00:41:33,360
There's something
that happens to us.
691
00:41:35,580 --> 00:41:39,235
But what happened to me
at the Crescent Hotel is
692
00:41:39,409 --> 00:41:43,370
there was a weekend
where myself and three
of the ladies I work with,
693
00:41:43,544 --> 00:41:46,329
we decided we were gonna come
spend the weekend over here.
694
00:41:46,504 --> 00:41:49,985
And the second night, we decided
to go on the ghost tour.
695
00:41:50,943 --> 00:41:55,251
Back then, there was a gentleman
named Carroll Heath that
conducted the ghost tour.
696
00:41:55,425 --> 00:41:59,125
And as we got ready to start,
there were two ladies
that joined us.
697
00:41:59,299 --> 00:42:02,258
He said that they were
mediums from Kansas City.
698
00:42:02,432 --> 00:42:04,522
He never really gave us
their names or anything,
699
00:42:04,696 --> 00:42:07,046
just that they were gonna
join us on the tour.
700
00:42:08,047 --> 00:42:11,311
So we went through
the ghost tour.
701
00:42:11,485 --> 00:42:16,751
It basically was kind of
uneventful as far as anything
mysterious happening.
702
00:42:17,447 --> 00:42:19,624
But after the tour,
703
00:42:19,798 --> 00:42:23,323
these two women
that were the mediums from
Kansas City walk up to us.
704
00:42:24,106 --> 00:42:27,153
And the one lady,
she didn't tell me her name,
she didn't do anything.
705
00:42:27,327 --> 00:42:30,069
She just asked me, she says,
"Do you want to feel him?"
706
00:42:30,243 --> 00:42:32,637
I had really no clue
what she was talking about.
707
00:42:32,811 --> 00:42:36,902
But before I could even answer,
she took her hand
and put it on my chest
708
00:42:37,076 --> 00:42:39,469
like this, and took
my other hand
and put it on her chest
709
00:42:39,644 --> 00:42:42,864
and put her hand over it, so
we were standing fairly close.
710
00:42:43,430 --> 00:42:47,042
And she doesn't say anything.
She just closes her eyes.
711
00:42:48,130 --> 00:42:50,263
We're standing there like this,
and all of a sudden,
712
00:42:50,437 --> 00:42:53,962
starting at the very top of
my head, working its way down,
713
00:42:54,136 --> 00:42:58,445
I felt this real hot, burning
heat coming down my body.
714
00:42:58,619 --> 00:43:00,229
And as it slowly worked down,
715
00:43:00,403 --> 00:43:02,754
I started feeling
all kinds of emotions,
716
00:43:02,928 --> 00:43:06,888
like hate and disdain
and anger and pain,
717
00:43:07,062 --> 00:43:10,631
and just every bad thing
you could think of
718
00:43:10,805 --> 00:43:15,070
just kind of started working
its way slowly down my body,
719
00:43:15,244 --> 00:43:18,030
and I could feel it, like,
even in my heart and stuff.
720
00:43:18,204 --> 00:43:21,337
It almost felt like
I was gonna have
a heart attack or something.
721
00:43:21,511 --> 00:43:24,297
But I could feel it slowly
working down my body.
722
00:43:24,471 --> 00:43:27,909
I couldn't hear anything,
and I kind of saw some lights
under my eyelids
723
00:43:28,083 --> 00:43:29,781
flashing around sort of dimly.
724
00:43:32,087 --> 00:43:34,612
And I guess all those terrible
feelings that I was feeling,
725
00:43:34,786 --> 00:43:39,181
I guess I was picking up
on everything that had
happened in this place
726
00:43:39,355 --> 00:43:44,056
because there had to be a lot
of bad feelings and pain
and misery going on.
727
00:43:48,234 --> 00:43:50,628
The feeling of all those things
going through me,
728
00:43:50,802 --> 00:43:55,371
it was almost to the point
that it made my body hurt
and my heart hurt.
729
00:43:56,068 --> 00:43:57,156
It was...
730
00:43:58,766 --> 00:44:00,855
It was just terrifying.
731
00:44:02,248 --> 00:44:04,119
And at that point, I mean,
I opened my eyes,
732
00:44:04,293 --> 00:44:06,469
and I had tears running
down my cheeks and stuff.
733
00:44:06,644 --> 00:44:09,777
I mean, I was just, like,
shaking and everything else.
734
00:44:09,951 --> 00:44:11,997
And it seemed like--
When I opened my eyes,
735
00:44:12,171 --> 00:44:15,130
it seemed like
the whole thing just kind of
stopped at that point,
736
00:44:15,304 --> 00:44:19,395
as far as feeling the heat
and the feelings and stuff.
737
00:44:21,354 --> 00:44:24,226
She takes my hand,
and she starts going like this.
738
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:29,536
She starts going, "Let him go.
Let it go. Let it all go."
739
00:44:29,710 --> 00:44:31,407
Like this down my hands.
740
00:44:31,581 --> 00:44:34,236
And she told me that
that was Doc Baker.
741
00:44:38,893 --> 00:44:41,417
And she said that he had
been with us the whole time.
742
00:44:42,201 --> 00:44:47,075
That was, I have to say, one
of the most terrifying things.
743
00:44:47,249 --> 00:44:50,644
See, to this day, it still
kind of gets me choked up
when I think about it.
744
00:44:52,211 --> 00:44:56,519
But it truly was the most
terrifying thing that's ever
happened to me in my whole life.
745
00:44:58,652 --> 00:45:02,656
I feel like I was picking up on
residual energy in the building.
746
00:45:02,830 --> 00:45:05,964
And, you know, these walls
have seen a lot of things.
747
00:45:07,226 --> 00:45:10,882
All the energy that is
in this building, it stays.
748
00:45:14,189 --> 00:45:18,803
As if tales of ghosts and
hauntings at the famous
Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs
749
00:45:18,977 --> 00:45:20,761
aren't disturbing enough,
750
00:45:20,935 --> 00:45:24,460
well, they have dug up bottles
filled with human body parts.
751
00:45:24,634 --> 00:45:30,031
Archaeologists say they can tell
a lot of thought went into
the disposal of these bottles.
752
00:45:30,205 --> 00:45:34,819
I really didn't have any idea
what was going on until I
picked up the first bottle
753
00:45:34,993 --> 00:45:38,866
that had a clear fluid in it
with something in it.
754
00:45:40,607 --> 00:45:42,609
When we made
the discovery in 2019,
755
00:45:42,783 --> 00:45:45,046
the very first people we called
was the police department.
756
00:45:45,220 --> 00:45:47,222
'Cause we didn't know
if it would be a crime scene.
757
00:45:48,093 --> 00:45:50,791
I get a call,
I think it was about
7:00 in the morning,
758
00:45:50,965 --> 00:45:53,011
from Susan, the head gardener,
759
00:45:53,185 --> 00:45:56,666
said, "I found something
I think you should come
and take a look at."
760
00:46:04,631 --> 00:46:06,764
My name is Susan Benson.
761
00:46:06,938 --> 00:46:10,506
I was the grounds manager
of the Crescent Hotel
all of 2018 and 2019.
762
00:46:11,551 --> 00:46:13,596
I've been coming here
my entire life.
763
00:46:13,771 --> 00:46:16,686
And when I applied
for the job here, it was...
764
00:46:16,861 --> 00:46:18,950
It meant a lot to me.
It really did.
765
00:46:20,821 --> 00:46:25,521
My first year here, I won best
landscape in Eureka Springs.
766
00:46:26,784 --> 00:46:31,092
And then the second year,
I won best commercial landscape
in Eureka Springs.
767
00:46:34,792 --> 00:46:37,925
When guests are here,
they walk every inch
of this place.
768
00:46:40,623 --> 00:46:43,235
So that back area
that's asphalt--
769
00:46:43,409 --> 00:46:44,497
Got asphalt on it.
770
00:46:44,671 --> 00:46:47,065
I wanted that area cleaned up.
771
00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:51,591
And I had one of the guys
on the tractor scraping the dirt
that had come off that slope,
772
00:46:51,765 --> 00:46:53,854
scraping that dirt back.
773
00:46:54,028 --> 00:46:57,945
And right before he left,
he did one more scoop,
and then he drove off.
774
00:46:58,685 --> 00:47:02,863
Well, something hit the corner
of my eye, like something shiny.
775
00:47:03,821 --> 00:47:07,215
So I looked over,
and I could see that there
was a jar in the ground,
776
00:47:07,389 --> 00:47:09,391
and I pried that jar out.
777
00:47:10,697 --> 00:47:14,048
And when I held it up,
I could see that there
was a clear fluid,
778
00:47:14,222 --> 00:47:19,532
and what was in it was tissue,
human tissue.
779
00:47:20,054 --> 00:47:21,969
When I pulled that jar out,
780
00:47:22,143 --> 00:47:25,146
the earth behind it, down below,
kind of gave way.
781
00:47:26,234 --> 00:47:28,976
And in less than one hour,
I'd pulled out a hundred jars.
782
00:47:31,370 --> 00:47:34,242
And I thought,
"You know what? I need
to stop what I'm doing here."
783
00:47:34,416 --> 00:47:37,550
And I called Keith Scales,
who was in charge
of the ghost tours.
784
00:47:38,333 --> 00:47:42,120
And things changed
from that moment on.
785
00:47:42,294 --> 00:47:43,904
Got very interesting.
786
00:47:47,212 --> 00:47:49,083
And when the police
got here, of course,
787
00:47:49,257 --> 00:47:51,303
all the guests that were here
and all the staff
788
00:47:51,477 --> 00:47:53,435
were just kind of wondering
what was going on.
789
00:47:53,609 --> 00:47:55,829
'Cause we were wanting
to keep it quiet.
790
00:47:57,309 --> 00:48:00,529
When the police were there,
I just saw them all huddled
791
00:48:01,313 --> 00:48:02,488
around the bottles,
792
00:48:03,881 --> 00:48:09,016
and they had decided
that it was not a recent
active crime scene.
793
00:48:09,930 --> 00:48:11,584
And they signed off on it.
794
00:48:12,846 --> 00:48:15,370
And then we waited
for the archaeologists to come.
795
00:48:21,159 --> 00:48:25,250
Right off the bat,
we did get the old rolled film.
796
00:48:25,946 --> 00:48:29,819
And it said "Dr. Norman Baker's
cure for cancer" on it.
797
00:48:29,994 --> 00:48:31,821
It just verified what we had.
798
00:48:33,388 --> 00:48:37,871
And we were really
starting to get just layer
upon layer of bottles.
799
00:48:38,045 --> 00:48:40,352
And we just kept that up
for an entire week.
800
00:48:41,048 --> 00:48:43,833
Many were broken.
It was acres of broken
glass, of course.
801
00:48:44,008 --> 00:48:46,619
It might be there's hundreds
more bottles, or it might be
surgical instruments.
802
00:48:46,793 --> 00:48:49,056
I mean, who knows
what's back in there?
803
00:48:49,709 --> 00:48:51,885
But then, when
the archaeologist came,
804
00:48:52,494 --> 00:48:54,235
I pulled back some dirt,
805
00:48:54,409 --> 00:48:59,980
and half-exposed jar
was a man's scrotum in a jar.
806
00:49:01,025 --> 00:49:03,897
And I called one of
the archaeologists
over there and looked,
807
00:49:04,071 --> 00:49:06,508
and, I mean,
it was obvious what it was.
808
00:49:08,336 --> 00:49:10,948
They've discovered
500 bottles altogether
809
00:49:11,122 --> 00:49:13,080
that point to the stories
of Norman Baker
810
00:49:13,254 --> 00:49:17,302
using the hotel back in the late
1930s to treat cancer patients.
811
00:49:17,476 --> 00:49:20,914
Now, they also found
an old bone saw
that they believe
812
00:49:21,088 --> 00:49:23,525
Baker may have used
to cut the patients.
813
00:49:24,091 --> 00:49:26,398
The University of Arkansas
was able to confirm for us
814
00:49:26,572 --> 00:49:31,446
that it was organic material
that was packed in alcohol
and not formaldehyde.
815
00:49:31,620 --> 00:49:35,189
And that usually indicates
a collection, a display,
816
00:49:35,363 --> 00:49:38,497
and not necessarily
something that you're saving
for medical treatment.
817
00:49:39,933 --> 00:49:44,720
What Baker did was
to take organs, supposedly
removed from his patients,
818
00:49:44,894 --> 00:49:48,289
put in alcohol,
not formaldehyde, even,
but in alcohol,
819
00:49:48,463 --> 00:49:51,510
in bottles on display
in the lobby.
820
00:49:55,993 --> 00:50:00,780
He did use it as promotion
in his TNT Magazine.
821
00:50:00,954 --> 00:50:05,959
He basically says,
"We have proof of our success,
and it's those jars."
822
00:50:07,352 --> 00:50:09,876
Baker also claimed
he didn't do surgery.
823
00:50:10,050 --> 00:50:13,793
And his big advertising thing
that he had in his magazine
824
00:50:13,967 --> 00:50:17,536
said "No radium,
no X-ray, no knives."
825
00:50:18,189 --> 00:50:22,584
So how did he get these tumors
and whatnot out of people?
826
00:50:25,979 --> 00:50:27,981
When we were
pulling the jars out,
827
00:50:29,330 --> 00:50:31,767
it bothered me as a human being
828
00:50:32,333 --> 00:50:36,033
because all I could keep
thinking every time I would look
at one of those jars is,
829
00:50:36,207 --> 00:50:41,429
"This was maybe
somebody's grandmother
or grandfather or child."
830
00:50:43,127 --> 00:50:44,954
It just did something to me.
831
00:50:45,129 --> 00:50:47,392
It changed who I was
at that point
832
00:50:47,566 --> 00:50:51,309
because I'd never been exposed
to anything like this
before in my life.
833
00:50:51,483 --> 00:50:52,658
And it was horrible.
834
00:50:52,832 --> 00:50:53,876
It was horrible.
835
00:51:03,060 --> 00:51:06,541
People want to know,
was he really this bad guy?
836
00:51:06,715 --> 00:51:09,457
You know, 'cause you hear
people's opinions of him,
and they kind of--
837
00:51:09,631 --> 00:51:13,287
They run the gamut from,
you know, he's this murderer,
838
00:51:13,461 --> 00:51:15,594
to, you know, well, no,
he was just somebody
839
00:51:15,768 --> 00:51:18,771
that was advocating
alternative medicine.
840
00:51:18,945 --> 00:51:22,209
Do you think that he ever
had good intentions,
841
00:51:22,383 --> 00:51:26,561
or do you think that he knew
exactly what he was doing
the entire time?
842
00:51:26,735 --> 00:51:29,695
Um, I do not think he ever
had good intentions.
843
00:51:29,869 --> 00:51:32,001
I think he was an evil bastard.
844
00:51:32,176 --> 00:51:34,352
I mean, he let
people lay and die,
845
00:51:34,526 --> 00:51:39,139
and then he took their organs
and put them in jars
and buried them out back.
846
00:51:39,313 --> 00:51:41,315
So, yeah, I think
he's a murderer.
847
00:51:42,490 --> 00:51:45,102
It makes me feel sad
for the people
that come up here
848
00:51:45,276 --> 00:51:47,321
'cause they wanted
a cure for cancer.
849
00:51:47,495 --> 00:51:50,759
They wanted to live,
and he took advantage
of them, and they died.
850
00:51:52,544 --> 00:51:57,636
When he was doing this,
you know, we didn't know as much
about cancer as we do now.
851
00:51:57,810 --> 00:52:01,596
And he was able to take
advantage of people, you know,
852
00:52:01,770 --> 00:52:05,078
telling them these stories
about how he could
cure them and stuff,
853
00:52:05,252 --> 00:52:06,906
and them really not
knowing any better.
854
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:08,603
They truly believed him.
855
00:52:09,735 --> 00:52:11,650
He deserved to go to prison.
856
00:52:11,824 --> 00:52:15,306
He deserved to be hung,
actually, you know,
857
00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:18,744
and bury his body parts
out there somewhere.
858
00:52:20,528 --> 00:52:23,531
What Norman Baker
did to his patients
859
00:52:23,705 --> 00:52:26,708
goes against everything
in me as a nurse.
860
00:52:26,882 --> 00:52:29,407
You protect your patients,
you take care of your patients,
861
00:52:29,581 --> 00:52:31,148
you try to heal your patients,
862
00:52:31,322 --> 00:52:34,499
and Norman Baker
did none of that.
863
00:52:35,935 --> 00:52:38,807
The nurse part of me
wants to heal them
864
00:52:38,981 --> 00:52:42,159
so that they can go on
and be at rest.
865
00:52:47,294 --> 00:52:49,340
When I found
those bottles in 2019,
866
00:52:49,514 --> 00:52:52,865
it's been the worst thing
that's ever happened
to me in my entire life.
867
00:52:53,474 --> 00:52:57,391
Three days after I found
the bottles, I was at home,
868
00:52:57,565 --> 00:53:01,613
and I went upstairs to watch TV.
869
00:53:01,787 --> 00:53:05,486
I got into bed, and I had
the remote, just going to town,
870
00:53:07,009 --> 00:53:08,837
and had no idea
that I had fallen asleep.
871
00:53:09,011 --> 00:53:11,100
I wasn't tired. I wasn't sleepy.
872
00:53:11,275 --> 00:53:12,928
I had slept the night before.
873
00:53:14,582 --> 00:53:18,717
But in my dream, this hand
came up out of my mattress
874
00:53:18,891 --> 00:53:20,501
and went right over my mouth.
875
00:53:23,635 --> 00:53:25,202
And all of a sudden,
876
00:53:25,376 --> 00:53:28,161
all these other hands come out
through my mattress,
877
00:53:28,335 --> 00:53:31,686
grab my body, and they're
pulling me into my mattress.
878
00:53:34,385 --> 00:53:38,693
I don't ever remember even
having a bad dream before this.
879
00:53:38,867 --> 00:53:41,348
It's four years later,
and it's still happening.
880
00:53:42,349 --> 00:53:45,831
When that hand
comes up out of that bed,
I instantly panic.
881
00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:56,320
And when I would have one,
which was four nights a week,
882
00:53:56,494 --> 00:53:58,147
three nights a week,
two nights a week,
883
00:53:58,322 --> 00:54:00,149
I never knew when
they were gonna happen.
884
00:54:01,368 --> 00:54:03,283
And this continued
and continued,
885
00:54:03,457 --> 00:54:07,244
and I started noticing
my smile had left me.
886
00:54:07,418 --> 00:54:10,334
I was depressed
for the first time in my life.
887
00:54:12,727 --> 00:54:16,253
I was miserable,
and I couldn't tell anybody.
888
00:54:17,428 --> 00:54:18,603
I was afraid to.
889
00:54:18,777 --> 00:54:22,563
What people would think,
890
00:54:22,737 --> 00:54:24,826
that, "Oh, my God,
she's lost her mind."
891
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:28,874
And that wasn't the case
because this was so real to me.
892
00:54:29,527 --> 00:54:32,399
Because in my dreams, I didn't
even know I'd fallen asleep.
893
00:54:34,575 --> 00:54:37,926
Are those dreams
the reason you had to stop
working at the Crescent Hotel?
894
00:54:38,100 --> 00:54:40,886
Yes. I can tell you that
right away. Yes, it was.
895
00:54:42,017 --> 00:54:44,585
I haven't talked about
the Crescent a lot.
896
00:54:44,759 --> 00:54:46,631
I miss it like crazy.
897
00:54:46,805 --> 00:54:48,807
And I had planned
on retiring here.
898
00:54:49,938 --> 00:54:51,766
And I couldn't take it anymore.
899
00:54:52,637 --> 00:54:56,467
I was miserable,
completely miserable.
900
00:54:56,641 --> 00:54:59,470
I don't live
in Eureka Springs anymore.
901
00:54:59,644 --> 00:55:01,907
I don't work
at this hotel anymore.
902
00:55:02,081 --> 00:55:04,039
And it's still happening to me.
903
00:55:05,867 --> 00:55:09,131
Do you think that those hands
are the victims
904
00:55:09,306 --> 00:55:11,264
that were patients
at the Crescent Hotel
905
00:55:11,438 --> 00:55:13,745
trying to reach out
to you for something?
906
00:55:14,311 --> 00:55:15,355
Possibly.
907
00:55:16,182 --> 00:55:18,967
It could be the patients
because I've thought that.
908
00:55:19,533 --> 00:55:23,407
They went through hell
when they were here
until the day they died.
909
00:55:24,364 --> 00:55:30,022
And even if it's just
a body part or a tumor,
I don't know what,
910
00:55:30,588 --> 00:55:35,897
but it left this hotel,
and it finally got placed
in the ground as a burial.
911
00:55:37,116 --> 00:55:39,074
And are these people mad at me
912
00:55:39,248 --> 00:55:42,948
for disturbing their
final resting place,
their peace?
913
00:55:45,516 --> 00:55:47,344
If they wanted me
to find those bottles,
914
00:55:48,649 --> 00:55:50,738
they were asking
to be remembered.
915
00:55:54,089 --> 00:55:57,266
I would put a memorial
out there listing their names
916
00:55:57,441 --> 00:55:59,530
and what happened to them here
917
00:56:00,444 --> 00:56:02,271
because they are so forgotten.
918
00:56:03,011 --> 00:56:04,622
They are forgotten people.
919
00:56:14,327 --> 00:56:17,852
Haunted is
one of those things
where I think a place's history
920
00:56:18,026 --> 00:56:19,724
can sort of permeate.
921
00:56:19,898 --> 00:56:22,291
I'm pretty skeptical
about so many things
922
00:56:22,466 --> 00:56:24,076
when it comes to that.
923
00:56:24,859 --> 00:56:28,863
But there are stories
that I've heard that I'm like,
"Well, who am I to say?"
924
00:56:30,125 --> 00:56:33,912
I definitely believe
in paranormal experiences
925
00:56:34,086 --> 00:56:35,566
and in ghosts.
926
00:56:35,740 --> 00:56:38,743
And I'm a believer
that they're all people too.
927
00:56:38,917 --> 00:56:41,354
The spirits are people
that have lived before,
928
00:56:41,528 --> 00:56:43,356
and that some are
more negative than others,
929
00:56:43,530 --> 00:56:45,619
and some are more
positive than others,
930
00:56:45,793 --> 00:56:48,927
but definitely all have
a reason to be here
and connecting with us.
931
00:56:50,276 --> 00:56:51,843
Something like 60%
of the population
932
00:56:52,017 --> 00:56:53,932
will claim they've had
a supernatural experience,
933
00:56:54,106 --> 00:56:56,587
which I think is a wonderful
facet of human nature.
934
00:56:56,761 --> 00:56:59,372
I don't know if it proves
the existence of life
after death,
935
00:56:59,546 --> 00:57:03,332
but having an emotional
connection to the ghosts
936
00:57:03,507 --> 00:57:05,639
as if the ghosts
were real people,
937
00:57:05,813 --> 00:57:08,512
and they have empathy
for those people,
938
00:57:09,469 --> 00:57:12,298
that's when I think the stories
are the most powerful.
939
00:57:13,604 --> 00:57:15,736
I feel like
there's something here.
940
00:57:15,910 --> 00:57:19,610
There's got to be for
people to get drawn back
so many times to this place.
941
00:57:20,654 --> 00:57:23,962
It's just the unknown
of what can happen
here at the Crescent
942
00:57:24,136 --> 00:57:25,790
that draws people in.
943
00:57:26,834 --> 00:57:29,184
Strange things
keep happening
here over and over again.
944
00:57:29,358 --> 00:57:31,491
Every time I come here,
something always happens.
945
00:57:31,665 --> 00:57:33,754
I'm just waiting,
what happens today.
946
00:57:36,278 --> 00:57:40,631
What sticks with us
over the years is the questions.
947
00:57:40,805 --> 00:57:44,330
If all the mysteries
of Norman Baker's time
948
00:57:44,504 --> 00:57:47,376
at the Crescent Hotel
and the Crescent Hotel itself,
949
00:57:48,421 --> 00:57:50,641
like, if we knew
all the answers,
950
00:57:50,815 --> 00:57:54,296
I think then it would be
like a package wrapped up
in a nice little neat bow,
951
00:57:54,471 --> 00:57:57,517
and then we'd kind of
put that aside, and we'd
move on, you know?
952
00:57:57,691 --> 00:58:01,434
But because we still have
something to kind of
wrestle with to this day,
953
00:58:01,608 --> 00:58:05,830
and the fact that
the Crescent Hotel,
slowly, over the years,
954
00:58:06,004 --> 00:58:09,790
keeps unraveling little bits
of the mysteries,
955
00:58:11,096 --> 00:58:13,272
that's what keeps
bringing us back.
956
00:58:14,229 --> 00:58:17,624
You know, it's known
today as the most haunted
hotel in America,
957
00:58:18,712 --> 00:58:23,195
and it's impossible to gauge
how many stories
958
00:58:23,369 --> 00:58:26,154
are encapsulated
in this one building.
959
00:58:28,853 --> 00:58:31,072
For years, the Crescent Hotel
in Eureka Springs
960
00:58:31,246 --> 00:58:34,249
has been touted as the most
haunted hotel in America,
961
00:58:34,423 --> 00:58:37,209
home to some of the most
prominent ghostly activity.
962
00:58:37,383 --> 00:58:41,082
The Crescent
Hotel is known not only for
its historic Victorian beauty
963
00:58:41,256 --> 00:58:44,825
but for its active array of
spirits who reportedly roam
the halls and grounds
964
00:58:44,999 --> 00:58:48,307
of this hotel and spa
built in 1886.
965
00:58:48,481 --> 00:58:49,526
It's recording now.
966
00:58:49,700 --> 00:58:51,179
- It's recording?
- Yes.
967
00:58:51,353 --> 00:58:52,746
Can you tell me
about your experience?
968
00:58:52,920 --> 00:58:53,878
I do. I want to talk
to somebody.
969
00:58:54,052 --> 00:58:54,792
Please don't do that.
970
00:58:58,360 --> 00:58:59,710
Oh, my God.
971
00:58:59,884 --> 00:59:01,668
Do you want us to leave?
972
00:59:01,842 --> 00:59:03,540
Do you want us to stay?
973
00:59:05,193 --> 00:59:06,543
What the actual f
974
00:59:06,717 --> 00:59:07,805
It could be dust, though, too.
975
00:59:07,979 --> 00:59:09,241
I think it's dust.
976
00:59:09,415 --> 00:59:11,199
Oh, no, no, no, no.
977
00:59:11,765 --> 00:59:13,593
If you're--
Those are coming at us.
978
00:59:13,767 --> 00:59:15,552
I don't think he wants
to talk anymore.
979
00:59:19,425 --> 00:59:22,820
...2019,
sightings recorded
on a shocking discovery.
980
00:59:23,429 --> 00:59:25,126
- Oh, my--
- Oh, my God!
981
00:59:26,780 --> 00:59:29,348
The camera in
my phone's cracked.
I can't take any pictures here.
982
00:59:29,522 --> 00:59:31,089
Everything's gonna
look like an orb.
983
00:59:35,180 --> 00:59:36,311
What was that?
984
00:59:38,792 --> 00:59:40,011
What room is this?