Hiking near the Courtois section of the Ozark Trail? Watch out for "The Palmer Ghost!" Quietly resting in the woods not far from the trail are a few grave markers including Rose Wingo who died March 16, 1872 at the age of 14 years of fever. This small slave cemetery also known as The Wingo Cemetery is just outside of what use to be Palmer, Missouri, now part of the Mark Twain National Forest and deep in Civil War history. The Palmer Ghost is said to belong to a woman who died in 1850.
If you are brave enough here is how to get to the few remaining stones according to Robert Smith:
Head north from Hazel Creek campground. There is an unnamed creek that feeds into Snapps Branch. As the trail takes a right turn to cross this tributary, there are two ORV trails going left, leading up the same hill that you just came down. Take either of these trails up the hill approximately 1/8 mile. The gravestone would be very hard to find, but the tacky plastic flowers around it is a dead giveaway (pun intended). I didn't notice any other gravestones, but I wasn't looking for any.
Head north from Hazel Creek campground. There is an unnamed creek that feeds into Snapps Branch. As the trail takes a right turn to cross this tributary, there are two ORV trails going left, leading up the same hill that you just came down. Take either of these trails up the hill approximately 1/8 mile. The gravestone would be very hard to find, but the tacky plastic flowers around it is a dead giveaway (pun intended). I didn't notice any other gravestones, but I wasn't looking for any.
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