The Ingersoll mine is located near Keystone, South Dakota. It’s on a small hidden path off of Old Keystone Road. This road also winds all the way around and heads into Custer, South Dakota. The 1880 train follows this same route. The oldest train in the Black Hills that is still functional. It’s a big tourist hot spot during the summer. The mine was originally called the “Bob Ingersoll Mine”. It was started in the early 1900’s and was one of the biggest producer of different type of crystals. It was said to have more variety than Heinz has pickles. This was very true up until it closed it’s doors. The trail leading up is roughly a mile or so of rocky road. It’s really quite amazing once you reach the actual mine. All you see on the way up is pine trees on either side. It’s not until about one hundred feet away when you come upon this massive building. A giant structure built right into the side of the mountain. The mine flourished for decades. Producing large crystals that went in to record books.

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The mine closed down in the late sixties when a group of men were down in a shaft and came upon something, well something they’d never seen before. They had been digging this particular shaft for a couple weeks now. Tid bits of crystals were popping up all over so they kept going deeper and deeper. After they were a few hundred yards into the mountain they struck through a rock wall. The wall crumbled and it opened up into an enormous opening. It looked like a giant cave. All of the men walked into the cave and looked around in awe. There were some beams of light that were shining in from the roof of the cave. The holes at the top must of been about four hundred feet high. At the back of the cave were some small tunnels that branched out to somewhere else. These tunnels weren’t made by them and certainly didn’t look man made. A couple of the workers took different tunnels and walked a few hundred feet and turned around. Nothing was back there or at least nothing that they could see. All of the men met back in the center of the cave and decided it would be best to walk back to the office and let the superintendent know what they had stumbled across. They could come back the next day with more people and better equipment to do some more looking.

The next day a group of ten men walked down the mine shaft and came upon the cave. The men who had not seen it yet were in amazement. They couldn’t believe this was located so deep in the mountain. They had extra lights and shovels incase something happened. There were five tunnels and two men took each tunnel. They walked further back then they had the day before. Curious as to what lied at the end of the tunnels, all of them kept pushing on further. The group that took the middle tunnel came upon something that would change the course of that mine. In fact it would shut the mine down.

They had been walking for about twenty minutes when the tunnel they were walking down came to a new opening. In this opening was a creature. A creature that had yellow eyes and foamed at the mouth. When the two men walked in the creature stood up on it’s hind legs and walked towards them. It’s eyes went from yellow to red in a matter of seconds. It let out a howl that echoed throughout the entire cave. All of the men in the other tunnels stopped in their tracks, turned around and began running to the opening of the cave. Everyone exited all four tunnels at the same time except for the two men in the middle tunnel. The creature walked towards the men on it’s hind legs and was slashing at the walls. The men looked down and saw that they were standing on a pile of bones and skulls. They both looked at each other with terror in their eyes and turned around and ran. The creature began chasing after them. He caught one and dug it’s claws into the mans back and slammed him against the wall. The other man, although worried about his friend, didn’t stop running. He reach the opening of the tunnel and saw everyone standing there. He yelled, “There’s something…”. The creature broke out into the daylight. He lunged at the man and sunk his fangs into his neck. This creature was a werewolf.

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The werewolf dragged the man back into the darkness of the tunnel. He let out another howl and the other eight men ran out of the cave. They went back to the mining building and told the owner what they had saw. The other two men were gone and we’re sure that they were dead. The owner looked at them with a bewilderment. He didn’t believe such a crazy story and told all of them to get back to work. All of them were upset and the rumors spread all over the mine that day. The owner went down to the shaft that led to the tunnel. His employees weren’t lying about the enormous cave that was down there. They also weren’t lying about the werewolf that killed two of his workers. When he walked into the cave the werewolf let out a howl. It shook him and he was terrified. He ran back to the mine building. A couple of the men laughed as he came running back. One of them said, “I thought we were lying?” The owner looked at them and said, “We need to blast that shaft and close it off for good. Whatever is down there can’t escape. There will be no more deaths around here.”

That evening a couple of employees walked down to the opening of the cave and lined it with dynamite. They went back to building and pushed the trigger. Nothing happened. They both had a little fear sinking in to their guts and a bewildered look on their faces. They walked down and checked all the leads. One of the wires had been torn. It almost look like it had been chewed on. They found a repair wire and fixed the problem. They were walking back to the building to try and detonate the charge again when one of them heard something behind him. He turned around and saw the werewolf walking up to them slowly. He tapped his coworker on the shoulder and told him to turn around. When he turned around he yelled and the werewolf lunged at both of them. Slashing with his long claws and ripping through their skin. Each of them fell to the ground and were bleeding everywhere.

The owner hadn’t heard any sort of explosion go off so he decided he’d walk down with a couple men to see what the hold up was. When he got down there he saw both of his employees laying on the ground, torn to shreds, in a pile of blood. He told the other two guys to get out and to sound the sirens in the mine. Everyone was getting out of here and this was the last day the mine was ever in working order. The boss came by once a week for a year and didn’t some routine mining with a couple men. It didn’t take long before he was spending more money then he was making and decided to shut all production down. He tried to sell the building and the land but no one wanted to buy something where four people had died. No one wanted to especially purchase property where an alleged werewolf was present. No one knew where it was and no one would take the time to look for it.

Ever since the mine shut down it became a hiking destination. People would park their vehicles and hike to explore a piece of history. They would explore the shafts and walk through the building. Looking to see where records were made and to see if they could dig up any crystals themselves. Some adventures would try to look for the werewolf. They’d walk down many tunnels and explore numerous shafts but no one ever spotted him. The werewolf stayed hidden for decades. The wolf went and hid back in his tunnel where the two men had originally found him. It wasn’t until just recently that a couple of hikers discovered the giant cave. They saw that there were five tunnels that sat at the back. They left the cave and went back up to the mine. They decided they were going to bring some friends with them tomorrow and go explore these tunnels. It was going to be best if they stocked up on weapons and supplies before starting their journey. No one was going in empty handed and unprepared on this exploration.

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The two hikers names were Todd and Fred. They both had been Black Hills explorers for nearly fifteen years. They knew old routes that people either didn’t know about or had been lost in the history books. Todd and Fred were high school friends. They ended up graduating and going to the same college. They studied the same subjects and graduated college together as well. Todd and Fred decided that they weren’t fit to work for anyone. It would be best if they tried to start up their own business. It was a good thing they tried, because it worked out. Their business was a outdoor sporting goods store. They sold everything from peewee soccer equipment to mountain climbing gear, along with hunting and fishing supplies. These two built the Walmart of sporting good stores.

They knew of the stories that came from the Ingersoll mine. They had heard of the workers that had died in their many years ago. No one had ever found the remains of the first two that went missing. The other two that died, the owner, had carried them out and gave both of them a proper burial. Todd and Fred decided to go up on Friday evening. Friday was going to be a full moon and if there was any chance of seeing this werewolf, Friday would be the day. It’s been said that werewolves are most powerful during the full moon and often is when they change forms and hunt. Fred and Todd didn’t know if this werewolf was actually a human or if it was in constant werewolf form. They got together Thursday evening and went over everything they were going to need. They were going to bring a tent just incase they weren’t able to make it out of their that night. They were bringing ultra bright LED lights, along with a couple knives and two guns. If they were going to be attacked it was going to be one hell of a battle.

Todd and Fred packed the car with their bags and headed up to the mine. They pulled into Keystone and turned on Old Keystone Road. The turnoff for the Ingersoll mine is easy to miss. If you blink there’s a good chance you’d drive right by it. Lucky for these two they knew exactly where they were headed. Once they pulled out on the turnoff they got out of the car and headed up the path. Both of them were in great shape. They had to be for all the adventures and endless hikes they went on each month. It only took them about thirteen minutes to reach the mine. All they had ever seen were pictures and even those didn’t do this amazing structure any justice. They came to the front of it and like any modern explorer they had to take their share of pictures. If this night was going to be anything like they envisioned, they wanted proof and memories.

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Todd told Fred they should walk around the building and do some exploring. See if there were any clues that might lead them to were the werewolf was at. They had heard about a cave that existed somewhere in the mountain. It was at the bottom of a mineshaft but that wasn’t much help. Hundreds of mineshafts existed and it would take weeks to figure out which one led to the cave. They knew the werewolf was in the cave somewhere and it was only a matter of time before they found out where it was. Both of the men explored the main building for a little over an hour. No clues were presenting themselves until they came to the last room in the building. It had notes that said something about a cave. The notes had been there for so long they were falling apart and were hard to read. Fred was able to read something that said, “creature and middle tunnel and forty-third shaft. This gave them almost all the information they needed to start their adventure. They left the building and moved off to the side where the a gate was blocking the entrance into the actual mines. The pulled open the gate and began counting down the mine shafts. Once they reached number forty-three, Todd went down the tunnel first and Fred followed closely behind him. They reached the opening of the cave and saw dynamite surrounding the opening but the wires were disconnected from them.

Todd and Fred knew a little about electricity and wiring but had no idea about explosives. They moved past the mouth of the cave and walked into the enormous opening that was in front of them. They were astonished. It wasn’t the first time they had ventured into a cave but it was the first time they had came across one like this. Fred told Todd, “You could fit a football field in here and stands.” Both men couldn’t believe what they were seeing. They walked around and looked up at the top of the cave where beams of light were shinning down. The roof of the cave must of been four or five hundred feet in the air. Neither one of them were sure how high it was but if it collapsed there would be nothing left.

They both brought out their high powered LED flashlights and shined them down the five tunnels that were in front of them. Two were off to the left and two off to the right. Then there was a larger tunnel that was right in the middle. Each of them took the farthest tunnels and walked down them. Eventually each tunnel came to an end and they turned around. Fred was smart and had brought walkie talkies so they

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could keep in contact with each other while exploring the tunnels. Each of them took another tunnel. They walked about two hundred yards down and came to a dead end also. Todd radioed to Fred, “Hey does your tunnel end like the first one did?” Fred replied, “Yup, it sure does.” The men walked back to the opening of the cave and both looked down the middle tunnel. They weren’t sure what was going to be down there but they had heard the rumors. They heard the tales of men being taken and murdered. Todd and Fred had their own weapons with them. When there were coming in before the entrance to the cave they had seen some shovels and pitch forks. Those were most likely used during the old mining days. In case they ran out bullets they knew there were more weapons they could have.

They pointed their lights down the middle tunnel and began walking, slowly. They each pulled their gun out and loaded the chamber with a bullet. Who knew what would be up ahead of them. As they were walking they noticed scratches against the side of the walls. Almost like claws had been dug in to them. A little fear came over each of the men. They continued on down the tunnel until the came to the end. This tunnel wasn’t a dead end. In fact there was a opening. It was about the size of a small house. Todd and Frank stepped in and shined their lights around. They didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. A couple small holes in the walls but nothing beyond that. The continued walked forward and heard some crunching underneath their feet. Both of the men looked down and saw that they were walking on a graveyard. There were bones all over the floor. Todd and Fred both jumped back. Startled would be an understatement to describe how they were feeling.

Todd led the way and he was kicking the bones out of their path. They came to the back of the room they were in and it was just a dirt wall. They looked at each other and decided to head back through the bone yard and to the beginning of the cave. As soon as they started walked and loud thud came crashing down. Dust and dirt flew up in to the air. Fred said to Todd, “Do you think the tunnel just collapsed?” He waited for all the debris to settle down and shined his light out in front of him. There stood the werewolf. He was about three feet taller then either of the men. It’s eye’s were as yellow as the sun and hair was black as the tunnel they were in. The werewolf had one stripe of white hair along it’s back. Probably showing signs of it’s age. That white hair didn’t make it any less aggressive or any less scary.

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The werewolf stared at the two men, directly in the eyes. It let out a howl that shook the entire tunnel. Todd pulled his gun out and shot two bullets at the werewolf. One missed and hit the wall. The other bullet grazed the arm of the wolf. The werewolf growled in pain and lunged at both of the men. Todd pushed Fred out of the way and the wolf hit Todd right in the chest with his claws. It ripped Todd’s shirt open and blood started coming out of the three gouges. Fred stood up and pulled out his gun. He shot the werewolf, who was standing over Todd, right in the back shoulder. These men brought hollow point bullets. Which means when a bullet hits something or goes inside it breaks apart into a million pieces. The werewolf fell down and Todd stood up. Both men ran like hell out of that tunnel and straight for the entrance. They didn’t have a plan yet but they knew there was dynamite up there. Hopefully they could collapse the entire mine shaft down on the werewolf.

They had almost reached the entrance to the cave when they heard a loud thumping noise coming from behind them. Fred turned around and saw the werewolf jumping through the air and right at them. Fred tackled Todd, with his wound probably wasn’t the smartest but saved his life, and they rolled off to the side. The werewolf came flying out of the tunnel and landed on all four legs. It was looking and sniffing around the cave, trying to find them.

Todd and Fred stood up, turned their flashlights off and slowly walked against the wall of the cave, back towards the entrance. They made sure to not make any sounds. Fred had just rounded the corner of the entrance and stepped out when they heard a howl. The werewolf had spotted them and was running at full speed. This ruined their dynamite plan so they booked it up the tunnels and back to the main mine building. Todd grabbed a stick of dynamite and some wire that was attached to it. Fred reached the building first and stood at the door with his gun drawn. He saw Todd not far behind him holding something. He couldn’t make out what it was until he was closer. He saw that it was a stick of dynamite. He didn’t know what Todd had planed with it and he wasn’t sure that Todd knew either. In Todd’s mind it was a, “if all else fails” weapon. Todd ran through the door and stood behind Fred. Everything was silent and then a growl came and the werewolf was almost up to the door. Fred grabbed Todd’s gun and went, two gun wielding, old western saloon shooting at the wolf.

Bullets were whizzing around everywhere. It probably wasn’t the safest thing to do with enough dynamite down below to level everything they were standing on. That was the least of their concerns right now though. Staying alive was number one. The shooting stopped and the werewolf was no where in sight. There was one bullet left in each gun and the stick of dynamite that Todd had. Each of the men turned around and ran up the stairs to the second floor of the building. The inside of this mine building was far from sturdy. It was old and run down. Hadn’t been taken care of in decades which made watching where you walked a necessity. Once they got to the second floor Todd took one side of the room and Fred stayed by the other. Fred was right by the door that led in. With each of them only having one bullet left they had to be dead on with their shots.

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Todd heard a scratching on the outside of the building. It was the werewolf. He was scaling up the side and came barreling in through one of the windows. It stood up on it’s hind legs and howled again. All of the old wood began to shake. They heard a piece of the tin roof slide off and crash down on the ground. Todd pulled up his gun and shot the werewolf in the leg. Fred grabbed his and pulled the trigger. The bullet sailed across the room and hit the wolf square in it’s jaw. Teeth flew out of it’s mouth and landed on the floor. The werewolf fell down, reeling in pain. Fred ran towards the wolf and speared him in the chest. Todd jumped up, grabbed his knife and threw it down right into the werewolf’s heart. The wolf landed on the floor and the wood broke apart. He fell through the floor, and then through the first floor and down into a mine shaft that was underneath the building. Todd stood up and looked down the hole. He grabbed the stick of dynamite and struck a match on the wire. He dropped the stick down the hole and both the men ran out of the building. They made it fifty feet away from the building when an explosion ripped through the forest. The Ingersoll Mine exploded and dropped down into the mine shafts that were underneath it. A pile of smoke came up and covered the trees…..

The End