Theorosa's Bridge

Infobox_protected_area | name = Theorosa's Bridge
location = Sedgwick County, Kansas
nearest_city = Valley Center, Kansas
lat_degrees = 37
lat_minutes = 52
lat_seconds = 59.18
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 97
long_minutes = 22
long_seconds = 26.55
long_direction = W

Theorosa's Bridge is located just outside the town of Valley Center, Kansas, United States. Over the years, it has burned down and been rebuilt. There are several versions of the tale.

The first and oldest version is set in the late 1800s when settlers were traveling through the area. According to this story, a wagon train was passing through when a group of Native Americans, then called Indians, attacked and a settler's baby, named Theorosa, was stolen. Her mother, grief-stricken and sick with worry, left the wagon train to search for her daughter. Legend has it that her ghost still roams the creek near the site of the bridge, her mournful voice still crying out "Theorosa", forever searching for her lost child, never to be seen by her again.

Another version goes like this: Theorosa is a young Indian woman who has an illegitimate baby with a white settler and to hide her shame, she throws the baby into a nearby river and drowns it. Then, overwhelmed by grief, she also hurls herself into the water. In another close version, Theorosa is standing on the banks of the creek when she is stabbed in the back by the baby's father. The baby falls into the water and is carried away and Theorosa dies a short time later, only to haunt the creek, searching for the lost child. If you say "Theorosa, Theorosa, I have your child" Her ghost will come and get mad at you.

A more modern version of the story has Theorosa as a local farm wife who has an illegitimate child with a hired hand. To hide her guilt, she throws the baby from the bridge. She jumps in after the child into the river and then returns to haunt the place. The story also maintains that those who stand on the bridge and speak aloud that they are Theorosa's child will be attacked by the ghost as she rushes up from the river and tries to throw the person into the water below.

Another modern version of the story goes like this: The mother and her family lived near the creek. Their next door neighbors lived three miles east from them. The mother had three children, two sons and one daughter named Theorosa. She, her husband, and sons all had blonde hair, but her daughter had brown hair. Her husband suspects her of cheating with their neighbor and drowns Theorosa in the creek. When she asked her husband where Theorosa was, he confessed that he killed her and the mother ended up searching day after day for her baby. While searching for her baby, her husband takes the two sons and abandon her. She ended up farming and living on her own until she died of natural death, but everyday, she would go back to the very same spot her husband described, "down the creek at the end of the bridge." To this day, she still visits the very same spot. If you recite a chant about having her child, she will try to hurt you.

The bridge and all the signs by it are covered in graffiti. The bridge is located at 109th street N. and Meridian.