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Haunted Fort Tejon


One of the army barracks at Fort Tejon near Lebec, CA
Photo from Flickr courtesy of tkksummers.



Near the small town of Lebec, which lies south of Bakersfield in Kern County, is an old military installation called Fort Tejon. Built in 1857 to protect the San Joaquin valley from Native American attacks from the south and east, it has seen it's share pain and suffering throughout the years.

More than 1,000 Native Americans were imprisoned under inhumane conditions at the fort and several hundred died there. It's said an entire village was forced into nearby Lake Castac and drowned. The area is said to be heavy in psychic energy, especially around the old hospital and officer's quarters. But the spot that seems to be the most haunted is the Le Beck Oak Tree.

The ghost of a French trapper, Peter Le Beck, has been seen many times near the tree. The grave of the Frenchman lies underneath the tree. No one really knows why he haunts his grave, or even how he died. There is one story stating that he died from a grizzly bear attack and another says he was killed by a Chief Black Bear (who coincidently was hanged from another oak tree a few hundred yards away).

Today Fort Tejon is on the National Register of Historical Places and is a state historical park. And it seems that Fort Tejon embraces it's paranormal history as they recently had their first annual ghost walk on Oct. 16, 2010. Which just happens to be the 173rd anniversary of Le Beck's death.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
I live in lebec I go there all the time at night to look for ghost but no ghost don't even bother
June 10, 2012 at 3:38 AM
Anonymous said…
Just recently visited. It's haunted for sure. When you walk into the buildings there is a weird energy that makes you feel tired or lethargic, as if your energy is being drained from you. This is typical of most haunted places.

Also most people don't have the ability to see ghosts, you'd have to be vibrating at the same high level frequency as a ghost in order to see them. So if you come looking to see a ghost, you're not likely going to see one unless you already have the ability to see them.
June 11, 2014 at 9:07 PM
Anonymous said…
That whole area in Lebec is "magical" for a lack of a better word. I have seen and heard so many things that I cannot explain with my rational mind. Chumash spirit is still alive and well and the mythology they embraced still exist in this area.
November 12, 2014 at 1:24 PM
Anonymous said…
I live in lebec to and its not haunted I've been a bunch of times
February 8, 2015 at 1:58 AM
Anonymous said…
My brother once went on a field trip to Fort Tejon, (He goes to El Tejon School not far from Fort Tejon) and my Mom had gone with him on the trip. Myself and my Mom are very into the whole paranormal stuff, and she said that it did feel very heavy. She can say for sure she knows it's haunted. It's not like she saw a million spirits roaming around, she just felt the energy. I've been there once, and I definitely felt that the living weren't the only ones there.
June 30, 2015 at 8:04 PM
Anonymous said…
I recently visited Fort Tejon and I had no idea that it was haunted but the energy I felt was so strong that I decided to to look on line for more history on the Fort, I wasn't surprised to find out that so many people had passed away there. I truly felt the negative energy and plan another visit very soon.
September 7, 2016 at 8:14 PM
Julie said…
I have felt a negative energy in a home in Frasier park, the male sprit was only In the upper part of the home And I could feel it's presents flying back And forth from one end of the house to the other. He made his presence know more than once. Once he tried to suffercate me as I slept.This particular home is now a ambulance location now I believe. My second experience was in Lebec when I spent the night at a friend's home she lived in a back house behind her Mom's. In the shadows of her kitchen I could feel the presents of both female and male spirits. With 2 children. I could feel them from their heads to their ankles I could feel them just standing there and staring.My friend said I know your right there are ghost present here. She said years ago In the late 1800's her parents house was the main house and the back house was sleep quarters for the workers. When I felt there presence , I turned on a light and they moved into the shadows. The family was of no threat.
February 6, 2017 at 9:38 PM
Unknown said…
Hello everyone, my Fort Tejon stories are at the end but I wanted to share some background first. Because of my long write up I have to seperate the posts in to 4 different posts. This is a long blog but I encourage you to read if you struggle with society not wanting to accept things we can't explain, I understand how that feels and it's not easy trying to go along with what society thinks when you know for a fact what you've seen and felt were absolutely 100% real. I have been trying to understand the unknown or spiritual energy my whole life becuase I have had real experiences that can be explained. First of all, I am not a religious person even though I went to my fair of church on Sunday's in the great city of Bakersfield, California where I spent most of my childhood and some of m young adulthood. I am 44 years on this coming January. My grandmother told me that her side of the family has had family memebers that all have had some intuitive type connection with energy most people do not, I believe at least one of my great grandmothers had psychic abilities. I don't know if we'll ever know if there is a scientific connection but based on what I've been told by my grandmother and the experiences I've encountered make me believe there is possibly some genetic connection, I don't know for sure obviously but I do believe I am an Empath. I feel other peoples pain and can see their energy from time to time almost as if I can understand them without them sharing anything with me. By the way I am not a ghost hunter nor do I believe 90% of the crap you see on Youtube but some of the stories on Youtube are too real to ignore unless you are one of those that likes to block out your feelings as a defense mechanism. I have an MBA and work in the robotics industry so by trade and my natural tendency to think logically first makes it even stranger for someone in my situatin to make things up. I have had to live with empathic senses of energy for a long time and sometimes to the point I have had to drink to cope for I have no one to talk to aobut it, this feels good writing this.Ok so I had to give a little background before I share what's happened to me in my life that has no explanation other than ENERGY NEVER DIES.

As a child at the age of 4 (Ive never shared this before), I had a man that used to sit at the end of my bed at night and he was a nice man that just wanted to spend time with a grandson is how it felt. He did not speak but smiled a lot and would make funny faces to make me laugh. Although I should have been scared, at that age I found it entertaining and fun I enjoyed his company. After a while I just didn't see him anymore. I still wish his sould his happy for he was a nice man.

At the age 11-15 is when my spiritual connection increased significantly. When I was 11 years old I went to visit my grandmother on my moms side in Detroit, Michigan where my other side of the family is from. I had an aunt "Linda" who died of a heroin overdose unfortunately and I never got to meet her because she died 3 months before I was born. While I stayed at my grandma's house she put me in the upstairs bedroom to sleep. I did not know that the room she put me in was Linda's room. During the first night I was there I felt a cold that I have never felt before instantly hit the room and I knew someone was with me. I couldn't see her but I could feel her uneaseness and at the same time this feeling that she wanted to introduce herself (weird I know) but it was so real I couldn't sleep all night. When I told my grandma she said Linda never left! This as a feeling and possibly some other reason for the extreme cold that came and went but the feeling I got from it was of love and introduction, mind you I did not know that was her room though so I didn't make those feelings up they just happened. (this is similar to Fort Tejon experience but darker). Continued...
January 2, 2020 at 3:50 AM
Unknown said…
When I was 12 years old my family bought one of those new track homes in Southwest Bakersfield. I was not very comfortable at home many times becuase my "dad" was not a good soul, he was a hardcore criminal at one time in his life and due to his poor decisions he made, he became institutionalized (he did some hard time in Levenworth for bank robbery) and had a drinking problem and a temper. Because of this my wonderful aunt Betty and uncle Gerry would let me stay at their house all the time becaues my cousin Andrew was 1 year younger and they had a fun pool and lots of fruit trees that made summers very fun, I basically lived there. When I was 12 years old, I woke up one morning on my own a little earlier than normal and for some reason felt the need to go make a ovaltine chocolate shake for breakfast. My aunts house was shaped like a horseshoe and I slept on the west side of the house in my cousins room. When I got up to go to the pantry (no one was awake but me becauase it was a weekend and my uncle was a public defender who liked to sleep in late and my aunt had 6 open heart surgeries so she was always a little slow to rise). As I turned the corner to make my way to the kitchen I looked straight ahead and about 30 feet away stood a woman in a beautiful blue dress with black trim and a large hat as if she was from the mid-1800's. She was looking down when I first saw her (I completely froze) but then as her head began to rise up to look at me I got so scared I ran back around the corner out of shear shock, her vibe was that of a intelligent articulate woman that wanted me to see her. About 6 months later my greatgrandmother died in my cousins room where I was sleeping that day it happened. I was very fortunate to say my goodbye's to great grandma who gave me advice that I'd like to share because it has helped me tremendously in life. "Never let your relationship with one individual get in the way of your relationship of another, treat them all with equal respect". It takes practice but I'm forever grateful for those last moments with her. The crazy part is that my aunt Betty (my great grandma's daughter) thinks it was my greatgrandma's mother making herself present as if she knew it was coming, my greatgma and her mother were very close. But why me?
January 2, 2020 at 3:52 AM
Unknown said…
The second encounter took place when I was 14 years old, I got hit by Toyota pickup on district boulevard out front of Dreyers Ice Cream plant and nearly died but luckily the car dragged my body and didnt crush me. The fire department showed up about 15 minutes later and I was unconscious the whole time until the FD got there, the truck that hit me was going approx 65 mph according to the skid marks left behind nearly 100ft long. When this happened my house was in a new housing area called Campus Park which was only about 1.5 miles from where I was hit. As I laid unconscious my soul began floating up and I could see the firemen lifting the truck off my body and I actually saw my mother drive up in our Astro van at the time and she collapsed as soon as she got out of the truck. During my spiritual experience I remember a sense of calm and ease but "something" was telling me to go back down becaue I'm not ready yet. The next thing I remember was waking up in shock and trying to move and my body was ripped up pretty bad but due to the shock/addrenaline I couldnt feel a thing. I was more or less tackled by fireman and rushed off toe Memorial Hospital where I laid in bed waiting for surgery. After my surgery I was put in a nice recovery room and only my close family was with me. I was getting some rest so my Mom, Dad, aunt, uncle and sisters were outside the room door for a while. During this time a nice man (older in his mid-60's came to talk to me and I remembered a sense of calm and love that I can't explain. He told me that I had good things to do still and that it wasn't my time. He put his hand on my hand and gave a prayer and slowly walked out with a smile like everythings going to be ok. When I asked my family that were right outside the door who that nice man was that gave me great comfort, their eyes were as big as Tehachapi apples in utter disbelief and confusion for they had been at the door the whole time and no one entered that room. I can't explain it but it happened. The same feeling I had floating over my body was the same feeling this kind gentelmen gave me, "its not your time" is what I remember most. The floating above my body and seeing what happened to this day freaks my mother out because she said there is no way possible that I could have seen her collapse as she exited the Astro van, impossible. Continued...
January 2, 2020 at 3:54 AM
Unknown said…
In 2005 I had an aunt Emma on my Mom's side of the family die uexpectedly of pneumonia who I was very close to, I named my daughter after her so I can be reminded of her everyday, I love her that much. My aunt lived in Spring Lake, Michigan (where I lived with her for a while she treated me like a son). The night before I got the call from my cousin that Emma had passed I had several sleep paralization experiences that woke my girlfriend and I told her Emma was talking to me. We didn't think much of it at the time and just thought it was a weird dream. When I got the call though we realized what had happened the night before, she came to say goodbye and tears me up thinking about it. I of course flew to Michian the next day after she died to help with the funeral arrangements and be by my family. The first night I was there a good friend of Emma's said that she had to call the fire department twice the night before because the fire alarms went off for no reason and would not shut off. This is totally random but I think not. There was no explanation as to why it happened. My aunt always told me that if she died too soon (which she did) that she would visit me. Could be a total coincidence or my "subconscious". Doctors can give some brain explanation for it I'm sure, but they are full of crap. Her birthday was on Christmas and I never ever forget to say my hapy birthdays she hated when people forgot her birthday. :)

In 2009 I was on a buisness trip to Livermore, California and rather than fly I drove up I5. On the drive back which was at night around 9PM as I approached the lost hills exit, I had a serious tingling sensation go over my whole body out of nowhere and I had this sense that someone was in the back seat telling me goodbye and I could recognize the voice in my head, it was my older cousin John who I looked up to a great deal when I was a young boy. He was really good to me and I loved him like a big brother. What's eerie is that the next day I got a call from my Mom letting me know that John had been stabbed and killed. I used to spend a lot of my summers in Lost Hills at my cousin John's house with my aunt Royce and uncle Alton. Definitely could be a coincidence but it was like he was talking to me in my head and I had no doubt it was him. It was nice having that last goodbye. Continued...
January 2, 2020 at 3:56 AM
Unknown said…
NOW FINALLY THE FOR TEJON EXPERIENCE. Because I drive up to Central Valley for business like 3-4 days every two months I try to stop by Fort Tejon and relive memories of being a kid and participating in the civil war reenactments plus I love history and am fascinated with the story. What was different about this occassion was I was by myself and there was nobody at the Fort that day including the rangers. I of course donated my $4 entry fee in the front mailbox and went on my way. The barracks were my first stop and I've always had a heavy feeling there so the normal heavy feeling was fine I show my respect and enjoy the reading materials on the plaques at each exhibit. After the barracks I walked over to the Generals Quarters I believe it is. It's the small house on top of the hill with 2 stories and glass covered rooms so you can only see inside, very close to the jail cells outside. Anyways on this day I have never felt a sense of fear that I felt that day and I had to get out of that house. As soon as I entered I felt as if someone was behind me or watching me. Again heavy feeling kind of the norm (for me anyways). Here's where things changed dramatically. Remember I'm all alone and it's a beautiful sunny day. I began to walk up the steps to see the second story and by the time I got half way up the steps I felt a sense of fear in my belly that I can't explain. I felt like if I made went up one more step I was either going to be pushed down the steps or throw up from fear. I immediately turned aroudn and followed my instincts something didn't want me there and they were not playing games. I'll never forget that feeling of someone more powerful than me was going to do some serious harm if I made one more move. I will revisit alone again one day to see if I get that same feeling but trust me, there is something in that house watching, I recommend going in groups of two. I have been going to Fort Tejon for many years and that one exprience stands out by far. I don't know if I believe the story about the trapper haunting because I have not felt it or seen it, I have to see or feel to believe.

I have great respect for Fort Tejon's history; native indians, our US military men and women, and all the other people that made Fort Tejon a special place. If you are wondering if there are spirits at Fort Tejon, I guess you have to see or feel to believe. If you are ont open to spirits they will not be open to you. No different in real life really. We all are unique souls with a purpose, cherish that purpose and make it count like our Fort Tejon ancestors did.

For those that think I'm a nut job I get it, I've been dealing with close minded "logical explanations" my whole life and I respect your views or opinions. Regardless if I am crazy or not, I am telling the truth and that will hopefully allow me to pay back as a nice spirit when my time is up. The physical body is vehicle only, your soul never dies. That's my belief. I wish you all well and feel free to contact me anytime in my email if you wish to share a similar story. I know they are so hard to talk about people are afraid of the unknown and rightfully so, but you got to follow your gut if it tells you something.

January 2, 2020 at 3:58 AM
Unknown said…
My husband and I recently visited Fort Tejon, it is very haunted. My husband who is a non believer told me he felt it too. When we went to the Fort we had no idea it was haunted, we just enjoy exploring new places, I didn't want to tell my husband what I felt, I googled the fort and that's when I found out. I ended up telling my husband and he said he felt the same thing. The energy we felt was very oppressive, a heaviness in our chest. I believe only certain people have the ability to see and feel these energies. Can't wait to go back.
August 3, 2021 at 1:35 AM
Anonymous said…
I totally got the same feeling as you did upstairs in the captian's quarters, except I explored further and saw blood everywhere. I was so scared, I immiedately ran out of the house. I tried looking up the history of that particular house and got nothing, so I'm hypothesizing that whoever was killed up on the second floor was someone that was indigenous and not that important at the time. I would like to go back and visit, but like you said, with a bunch of people. I made the mistake of exploring by myself. Fort Tejon is definitely haunted...the barracks, the captain's quarters, the tree, the jail house where they locked up the indigenous people are all haunted.
February 28, 2022 at 7:15 PM
Anonymous said…
I visited the Tejon Fort in 2019 and the place is definitely haunted. I felt the same as you did going up those stairs in the captain's quarters. However, instead of following my instincts, I made the mistake of exploring the 2nd level all by myself. Never again. I never want to go back up to the second floor again. Unlike you, I'm scared of seeing spirits, and I chose the wrong time to face my fears of embracing my gift. What I saw and felt was beyond scary. Like you I felt a sense of fear that envoloped my entire being. I wanted to run, but I didn't. Someone didn't want me to see what was up there, and it got even worse as I approached the middle of the 2nd floor landing and the Captain's bedroom. What I saw next made me bolt out of the house. There was lots of blood up there from some kind of fight, but I didn't stay long enough to see between who. I felt that same exact feeling where they jailed the indigenous people. After what I felt in the house, I didn't feel that adventurous to go inside the small jail. I tried scoring the Tejon pass archives to see if I can find something about what I saw, but I didn't find anything. I'm theorizing that whatever happened in the Captain's quarters was a cover up to something they wanted to hide or it was just another killing of another indigenous person and wasn't that important to them record it down.
April 8, 2022 at 6:33 AM
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