A curse is generally defined as some form of misfortune that attaches itself to one or more persons, a place, or an object. Curses date back thousands of years with many civilizations such as Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia. These include the famous curses belonging to the violation of the tombs of ancient Pharaohs. Although many ancient curses exist, curses have persisted throughout human history, and many exist today throughout the world. In the United States, Robert the Doll, is said to be a haunted doll on display in the East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. Many claim that disrespecting the doll leads to misfortune. There have been several instances of individuals failing to show respect, and experiencing things like horrific auto accidents, unemployment and divorce.
As many curses exist throughout the world today, there is one in Utah that many people are unfamiliar with. Simply stated, the Escalante Petrified Forest has a curse that says any individual who steals petrified wood from the forest will be cursed.
The Escalante Petrified Forest is a state park in Utah, located a half-mile north of the town of Escalante. The park features trails with marine fossils, petrified wood and fossilized dinosaur bones over 150 million years. As such, much of the petrified wood is stunningly beautiful with many colors like red, yellow, white, and black. Due to its beauty, the petrified wood has long been sought after by not only collectors and hobbyists, but also tourists visiting the area.
The curse of the Petrified Forest dates back to the 1930s. Then visitors who came to the area began reporting that after taking a piece of petrified wood from the park, they were cursed with bad luck.
Throughout the decades this trend would continue. Many travelers visited the park aware of the curse. Surprisingly, they decided to sneak out some of the petrified wood. Sometime later, their life would take a turn for the worse and in many cases, stories are downright tragic. Due to the trouble, many of these people sent letters to the Petrified Forest staff apologizing and shipped back the wood taken.
For example, in one scenario a man wrote.
“Believe me, if I would have known the curse went with any of the rocks, I never would have taken these. My life has been totally destroyed since we’ve been back from vacation. Please take these so my life will get back to normal. Let me start over again. Forgive me for ever taking these.”
Over the decades, the Petrified Forest National Park has received many of these confessions, as well as tales of tragedy, and returned petrified wood from those who lived to regret it. At the visitor center at Petrified Forest National Park, there is a room dedicated to these hundreds of cursed thieves. Ironically though, many who have seen the room, still decide to take pieces of petrified wood.
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