Individuals Revealed The Creepiest, Cult-Like Cities In The USA, And It is A Shockingly Lengthy Listing

We lately asked members of the BuzzFeed Group to inform us in regards to the mysterious, cult-like, bad-vibes cities they got here throughout within the United States. And, PHEW, there are A LOT. Listed below are their chilling responses:

Word: A few of these tales comprise mentions of racism and sexual assault. Additionally, apologies in case your hometown is on this checklist…however everybody’s expertise is private, and, who is aware of, perhaps you agree with what these individuals skilled?

1.“Denton, North Carolina — By some means discovered myself relationship somebody from right here. I’m half Mexican and when she took me to her city it was very bizarre. She took me to the native BBQ restaurant and he or she later instructed me the one who mentioned hello within the type of, ‘I’m sorry y’all misplaced the Civil Warfare,’ was the spouse of the native KKK’s grand dragon. Everybody within the city stared at me and gave me that, ‘I’ll smile since you’re with an area, however don’t come again’ vibe. Driving round I noticed nooses in individuals’s yards. It was so bizarre and weird!”

2.“Mooseheart, Illinois — They disguise themselves as a city for kids, primarily orphans, however there have been horrible, terrible tales in regards to the therapy of these children, together with a sexual abuse case in .”

3.“Japanese Colorado — We have been tenting in a small city within the early ’70s. My husband and two youngsters, ages three and 4, have been on a cross-country summer time journey. We went right into a small city’s cafe for dinner and a big group of redneck cowboys went silent. Then they began to spit on the ground and swear in regards to the ‘goddamn hippies in every single place.’ The waitress came visiting to our desk and whispered to us to go away shortly and quietly. We grabbed the youngsters, bought within the automobile, and by no means appeared again!”

4.“Glenrio, New Mexico and Texas — It is a ghost city on the border of the 2 states alongside Route 66. I felt like I used to be being watched the entire time. There are nonetheless a number of homes there that I’m not solely positive are unoccupied. I usually don’t have ‘raised hair on the again of your neck’ moments. However I couldn’t even stand up the braveness to get out of my automobile to take some photographs of the derelict buildings left. It was very creepy.”

5.“Island Pont, Vermont — I do know somebody who has a second residence there, and my household and I visited them just a few years in the past. The city was simply very quiet and empty, which at all times creeps me out, nevertheless it wasn’t that dangerous till they determined to enter some cafe that I suppose was run by the identical individuals because the Yellow Deli (run by the Twelve Tribes cult). The individuals I used to be with who’ve the home there knew in regards to the cult and simply determined to go in out of curiosity.”

6.“Harrison, Arkansas — There was once a number of billboards on the primary freeway. A number of white satisfaction radio saying issues like, ‘Is it fallacious to like your sort?’ There is just one billboard now. It says, ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ by the Christian radio community. I feel it’s a KKK stronghold. There are YouTube movies of individuals protesting the outdated indicators. Native individuals warning the protesters to observe their backs, and so on.”

7.“Mack, Colorado — As soon as we needed to cease right here for gasoline…by no means do that! Actual The Hills Have Eyes vibes. We instantly rotated due to the dangerous vibes however bought caught by a passing practice. Once we returned a lady, rail-thin with lacking enamel, yelled, ‘Replenish, I’ll open up!’ So I begin getting gasoline and observed the Nineteen Eighties-style pump had a chunk of tape tripping the worth. I’m going previous the foul rubbish can with flies in every single place and open the door to a horror movie. To my proper, a boy consuming cereal at a desk stops and stares desperately at me, straight in entrance, up in a trailer, is a wolf growling. All the shop racks have been coated with plastic, and dolls have been hanging from the rafters additionally wrapped in dust-covered plastic.”

8.“Scotland, Indiana — Resulting from snow and an unintended detour, I drove by way of right here on my strategy to the Indianapolis airport. The very first thing we observed was an enormous banner stating that they’re residence to the annual Christmas pageant, however the banner was dated about 4 years prior and falling aside. As we drove by way of the little city round 7:00 p.m. there wasn’t a soul in sight or a light-weight in any window. There have been, nonetheless, statues of individuals and mannequins within the entrance of individuals’s houses. It was quiet and terrifying and we couldn’t get by way of that city quick sufficient.”

9.“Pella, Iowa — Tremendous conservative, non secular culty vibes. individuals right here dwell in a bubble the place they suppose their views are the identical in every single place. They’re shocked when opposing views are expressed. A lot so, that those that don’t agree are afraid to talk out. Plus, there’s a small ‘members-only’ church with guards on the door to stop non-members from coming into.”

10.“Colorado Springs, Colorado — I don’t know if it’s nonetheless like this, however I grew up in Colorado Springs within the Nineteen Eighties and it was a totally fundamentalist, evangelical city (and navy, so additionally conservative). David Duke, a well-known white supremacist, was nonetheless headquartered there, and there have been at all times racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ+ crimes taking place that weren’t prosecuted. I grew up blended race and Jewish in that city. It was utter hell. Youngsters weren’t allowed to be my mates and folks have been at all times spray-painting swastikas on my locker and different belongings.”

11.“Adams, Tennesse — It is the house of the . I had a particularly creepy feeling the second we entered that city. We have been taking a stroll early within the morning and would see individuals standing at their home windows simply looking at us.”

12.“New Sq., New York — Solely ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jews dwell there. Nobody else. If somebody not from the neighborhood drives by way of the city they are going to be pelted with rocks. They’ve nearly no contact with anybody who just isn’t Hasidic. They’ve their very own faculties, shops, docs, police (unofficially), legal professionals, you identify it. Most households have a dozen youngsters or extra and because of this, they get public help. They not often vaccinate their youngsters and there have been measles and different preventable outbreaks. Persons are not allowed to observe TV or use the web. I grew up close by and as a (non-practicing) Jew myself I might by no means step foot in that city. It is vitally very similar to fundamentalist Mormon cities out west, however that is actually in the course of a reasonably prosperous suburban county.”

13.“Cinco Ranch, Texas — There are one thing like 8,000 houses on this neighborhood and we didn’t see A SINGLE PERSON outdoors. No joggers, no canine walkers, no children…nobody. The realtor mentioned they have to all be in church, however the ‘Mexican individuals must be again at work mowing lawns quickly.’ It was simply one other signal to remain the fuck out of Texas.”

14.“Hines, Oregon — Alongside the freeway there is a actually great place to cease with a public park and loos that is set again a bit from the freeway. Kitty nook to the park is an outdated church that has been empty for some time. The city itself does not have a creepy vibe…for people, however each single canine I’ve ever pushed by way of there with was completely frightened of the place and solely took the naked minimal period of time and area to do their enterprise. This was perhaps six or seven dogs owned by completely different individuals over a number of years, going by way of city at completely different instances of the 12 months. I’ve by no means found out precisely what spooked all these canine, however mates who’ve traveled by way of Hines have additionally observed this with their very own canine.”

15.“Coos Bay, Oregon — I spent one evening there on a visit up the west coast. Very bizarre. The girl on the motel desk wouldn’t hire my good friend and me a room with just one mattress as a result of we have been two ladies. The towels undoubtedly had blood stains. The one non-sketchy restaurant was Sizzler LOL. This was the early 2000s. We stayed in some random locations on that journey however that place stands out in my thoughts as simply feeling off.”

16.“Woodland Park, Colorado — Some dude began an unaccredited there. He’s a complete grifter and takes individuals’s cash and claims to have the ability to heal together with his fingers however you need to pay him a bunch first. Individuals come from all around the nation after which get caught there after gifting away their cash to this grasping, evil, piece of crap human. Similar to Moscow, Idaho — this dude is taking his followers to take over the city. From what I hear, they’re beginning to take action. Massive nope!!!”

17.“Interlachen, Florida — Years in the past, I used to be driving in north-central Florida alongside Route 20 close to Interlachen taking my daughter to Lady Scout camp. Means outdoors of city the place there may be completely nothing, I see on Google Maps that there are streets laid out like a metropolis of 100,000 individuals, however there are simply timber so far as I can see. So I slowed all the way down to see if any of those streets existed, and so they did — however they have been filth roads. I spent an hour simply driving round on all these filth roads, and there may be at most one home or trailer per block and every part else is simply empty filth roads. To at the present time, I do not know why all these filth roads are there and why Google is aware of about them. Possibly a real-estate developer went out of enterprise throughout a giant challenge? This was just a few years after the 2008 actual property disaster, so perhaps the market simply disappeared. Regardless of the cause, driving round a complete city with principally no one dwelling there was creepy.”

18.“Laytonville, California — It’s a weed-growing city with two motels, two eating places, a retailer, and one gasoline station. It was a hippie city for a very long time. Now, it’s a hostile setting with bikers, cartels, Wiccans, and wannabe drug lords. It is a creepy feeling going by way of there…looks like what I think about a gold rush boomtown felt like, stuffed with worth gouging and hazard.”

19.“Rhyolite, Nevada — Pulled into this ghost city within the early ’90s with a good friend to test it out. Somebody who apparently had taken up residence instantly began taking pictures at us. We left as quick as we may.”

20.“Pulaski, Tennesse — It is a fairly creepy place. The KKK was based there in and has at all times had some management over the city ever since. It’s a tiny, rundown city with not rather a lot occurring. I’ve heard it’s nonetheless a sunset city. The one ‘outsiders’ who dwell there are members of the Twelve Tribes cult who run a Yellow Deli on the sq.. Although I’m white, I used to drive by way of the city typically on my manner again to go to household and was instructed by my mom to by no means beneath any circumstances cease there for something, not even gasoline. My grandpa was an FBI agent stationed out of the closest discipline workplace and apparently had heard some tales, too, so it’s a spot we don’t go.”

21.“Bullhead Metropolis, Arizona — It is throughout the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, a desperately poor man’s model of Las Vegas. We could not discover a restaurant on our telephones that was open after darkish and ended up shopping for salad bar meals on the solely grocery retailer on the town. I feel this place was an early impression zone of fentanyl as a result of there have been unconscious individuals slumped over in lots of darkish corners and the sound of EMS sirens in every single place. We bought up at daybreak to clean our rental automobile, and there was an unconscious girl on the AstroTurf island between the abandoned lanes. Simply as I bought out to examine on her, a man in a pickup pulled up, threw her IN THE BACK, and screeched away. Utter desolation.”

22.“Monticello, Mississippi — Dated a woman from there, and apart from the inbreeding that went on, the entire city appeared ‘too blissful.’ I am unable to describe it. False cheeriness, just like the townspeople had one thing to cover. It felt very surreal. Years later I discovered it was close to the place they’d , the place the chief and his son have been sexually abusing minor-age members of the congregation.”

23.“Guffy, Colorado — My dad and mom purchased land there and dreamed sometime of constructing a log cabin and retiring there. On the time it was an enthralling little city with a inhabitants of 14 and a cute little common retailer. My mother handed away at a younger age and so they have been by no means capable of retire there as was their dream. Whereas on a visit throughout the nation with my husband, we stopped to see it once more as a consequence of nostalgia for my mother’s dream about retiring within the little city. We arrived on the city and it was not the identical cute city. There have been cow skulls and bones in every single place. There was even a horse-drawn carriage with the skeletal stays of horses pulling it. We have been freaked out and bought out of there. If you search for Guffy, Colorado on-line, you will note these creepy pictures.”

24.“Kemerer, Wyoming — I performed bluegrass and nation music within the ’70s and ’80s. Did a gig in Kemerer. It exists as a result of there may be an open pit mine there. You haven’t skilled ugly till you’ve seen an open pit mine. We went into the native ‘music retailer’ to get some guitar strings (4 white guys with a Black drummer) and after we walked within the woman behind the counter moved her children behind her and mentioned, ‘I’m married.'”

25.“Heritage USA — The theme park based by televangelist Jim Bakker and his spouse Tammy Faye. Additionally, it was not me, however my youthful brother (now not with us). Within the mid-’80s my brother returned to highschool as a journalism main on the College of South Carolina. Considered one of his assignments was to put in writing a narrative in regards to the newly opened theme park. So, one weekend, off he went. He later instructed me that the entire time he was there he felt like he needed to preserve wanting over his shoulder as a result of he felt like a few guys have been going to return up behind him, seize him, and say, ‘You do not belong right here.’ Want he was nonetheless right here to inform you himself.’

26.“Newburg, Missouri — My good friend dated a lady from there. Noticed her just a few instances every week. Received pulled over by the native cop and was instructed to STOP seeing that girl. The cop mentioned his life was at risk, and that he, the cop, couldn’t do something to stop violence in direction of him by different males wanting so far her.”

27.Pecos, Texas — Was touring solo from Florida to Colorado and went by way of this West Texas city. It was like being in a Mad Max film. I drive a Honda CRV and I’m positive I had the smallest automobile within the city. A number of large vans — it’s a giant oil and gasoline spot. Sadly, I’d been on the street awhile and needed to pee so dangerous. I discovered a gasoline station and ran in quick. The ladies’s rest room had a Phrase doc printed signal that learn there was completely zero cause a person ought to want to make use of the ladies’s. I want I’d have taken an image of it however I used to be so centered on getting out of there I simply went and left! Bizarre freaking city.”

28.Las Vegas, New Mexico — My husband and I have been 19 years outdated, touring with our 6-month-old son. We stopped for gasoline and a carload of drunk males adopted us, then tried to run us off the street. My husband waved a giant knife at them. Additionally, it was midnight, New Yr’s Eve! The cops have been firing their weapons within the air. The automobile wasn’t operating proper. It wouldn’t go over 40 mph. This occurred in 1980. I’ll always remember it.”

29.“Vidor, Texas — Went there for a funeral for my good friend’s spouse. She was T-boned by a drunken cowboy in Houston. Stopped at a bar for a drink. Arduous stares from everybody. One of many patrons went to the jukebox and deposited a number of quarters. Performed the identical tune again and again: ‘My spouse ran off with a n-word.'”

30.“Mount Ida, Arkansas — Publicly claims to be ‘The Quartz Crystal Capital of the World,’ but in addition ranks tenth on the ’10 Most Traditionally Racist Locations In Arkansas’ checklist curated by . There may be an lively KKK Klavern there. Happy with being a ‘sunset city.’ Do not be fooled by the crystals! These people are tousled.”

31.“Adams, Tennesse — In 1994 my ex-wife (then-girlfriend) and I have been touring by way of Adams again to Nashville and stopped at an area restaurant. Like others have talked about in different cities the place fell useless silent. Everybody stared and mentioned nothing. We have been each spooked, so we left and determined to remain at an area motel as we have been each drained. The motel was proper out of the film Emptiness and lots of passing automobiles slowed down so the locals may stare at us. It was proper out of a Stephen King novel or movie….we determined to get again on the street and get the hell out of there as a substitute. We didn’t care how drained we have been we have been out of there!”

32.“McCarthy, Alaska — My household took a street journey by way of Alaska once I was 15 and my siblings have been 12 and eight. We went to this city in the course of nowhere that you may solely entry by pedestrian footbridge and it appeared filth poor, like a ghost city out of a western film. My dad and mom stopped on the solely retailer that appeared half open to see if they might get meals and my sisters and I walked round exploring. Two miserable-looking children adopted the three of us round and pelted us with pebbles. They would not speak to us. I felt so dangerous for them trapped there. In line with Wikipedia, in 2010 the inhabitants was 28 individuals and within the Nineteen Eighties they’d ‘the worst mass shooting within the historical past of Alaska,’ so I’ve to say the chills I bought from that city as a child weren’t fallacious. This was a very long time in the past although, I hope it is doing higher now.”

33.Vermillion, Ohio — Throughout a youth group journey again in 2009 — 100 teenagers on a long-haul street journey from Atlanta to Niagara Falls — considered one of our stops was in Vermillion, proper on the coast of Lake Erie. In the course of the day, it was so charming and cute, it nearly felt like a film set. Nevertheless it was nearly too excellent… lots of us began feeling just a little unsettled, however figured it was simply because we have been all drained and had been on the street for days. Then the solar went down.”

34.“Leith, North Dakota — It was principally overtaken by white supremacists to show it right into a white supremacist haven.”

—luxahoy

35.West Plains, Missouri — My good good friend purchased 40 acres there. Went with him to border his home. Came upon it is a city misplaced in time. There have been no individuals of coloration in the entire city. I requested a younger man on the lumber yard about it. He mentioned ‘Effectively the KKK remains to be fairly massive round right here.’ Bizarre vibe for positive.”

36.“Elizabethtown, Kentucky — My son, 19, and I have been touring from Ohio to central Kentucky on I-75. We stopped in for gasoline, espresso, and to stretch our legs. We determined to get the espresso first trigger we had slightly below 1 / 4 gasoline tank. We pulled right into a restaurant. We stroll in and everybody stops and stares. Individuals within the cubicles are craning their necks to stare at us. Everybody was white, and we’re olive-skinned Puerto Ricans. We ordered two coffees to go and simply stood ready — fairly uncomfortable. After for much longer than it takes to brew a pot of espresso we lastly bought served, paid, and walked out. Determined to drive on to the following city to get gasoline and threw out the untasted espresso. It was a really unusual expertise. Particularly since we thought Elizabethtown was a school city and didn’t anticipate to have that sort of expertise there.”

37.“Fallon, Nevada — It is an oasis for lovers of dusty isolation and emu ranches only for the heck of it!”

38.“Lynchburg, Virginia — House of Jerry Falwell and Liberty College. Is it actually a cult in the event that they’re so corrupt they fleece 40,000 college students a 12 months and persuade the non secular proper to pick out a thrice-married con man for president?”

39.“The Villages, Florida — What began as just a little neighborhood of 400 cell houses has change into a large retirement compound of practically 80K residents, many retirees but in addition households with school-aged youngsters. Being so meticulously deliberate, with manicured landscaping and themed ‘city squares,’ and residents being predominantly white boomers makes all of it very Stepford Wives. All the massive Republican candidates and Fox Information pundits make a cease at The Villages throughout their campaigns and e-book/talking excursions.”

40.“Redding, California — They inform tales in regards to the aliens who dwell on Mount Shasta (Lemuines) and it brings lots of fascinating characters out. Extra lately a Christian cult has arrange camp and can ‘assault’ individuals in shops with gold and feathers to avoid wasting their souls.”

41.“St John’s, Arizona — My ex-husband’s household lives there and each time we visited I instructed my ex that if he ever tried to maneuver us there I might by no means. It completely jogged my memory of the city Napoleon Dynamite was filmed in. When my father-in-law died we stayed within the residence of a distant member of the family who had handed away and her son was there, and really intoxicated. He stored providing to let our babies sleep in the lounge with him. After a totally sleepless evening of retaining watch over our children, we went to the crappy, solely lodge for the remainder of the go to. Round that point there was an incident the place a baby and killed his personal father and a good friend that made nationwide information.”

42.“Corinth, Mississippi — My sister and I took a street journey by way of the USA within the early 2000s. Handed by way of this little city, and saying the vibes have been bizarre is an understatement. We drove round just a little to see the place and determine if we must always discover. We each bought very quiet and after a couple of minutes my sister mentioned, ‘This place is a bit…’ My response was, ‘YUP!’ I don’t know tips on how to describe it, on one hand, it appeared like picture-perfect southern America nevertheless it was undoubtedly an unsettling feeling. It felt like curtains have been twitching like we have been being watched; there have been American and/or Accomplice flags on all of the residential and industrial buildings, and it was very quiet.”

43.“Gary, Indiana — Drove by way of on our strategy to Chicago after darkish. The entire place felt abandoned, we didn’t see a SINGLE soul and even one other automobile your entire time we drove by way of. This would possibly simply be my imaginative reminiscence however I really feel prefer it was particularly darkish for a downtown space as properly — not many streetlights and some intersections the place you needed to cease beneath overpasses that weren’t lit in any respect. We have been solely passing by way of, however we sped as quick as doable out of there. Came upon later it’s presupposed to be a really unsafe space, stuffed with crime!”

44.“Gold Hill, Colorado — A leftover hippie city within the mountains from the Nineteen Sixties. Stopped for gasoline within the early Nineteen Nineties. Went right into a gasoline station, Quickie-Mart. Virtually ran again to the automobile and hightailed it out of there.”

45.“Rainbow, California — It’s on the enterprise loop of I-15 between San Diego and Riverside. House to some tree nurseries and a classic ’50s-era truck cease. The diner has a B ranking from the well being division and a accomplice flag on show. Stopped there for lunch as soon as out of curiosity. Came upon it’s a mainstay for neo-nazis and bikers.”

46.“Provo, Utah — The city is 90% LDS. My husband (on the time) and I went to the mall there and bought stares from everybody. They know you’re not LDS and that you just’re not an area.”

47.“Citrus County, Florida — I at present dwell right here. I had the unlucky expertise of getting to graduate from the native highschool after solely attending my senior 12 months. Mainly, there is a church on each nook. All of them seem to function individually. Nevertheless, when you do not belong to one of many many cult-affiliated church buildings cluttering Citrus County you end up out within the chilly and fully remoted. They’ve an antagonistic manner of supplying you with lip service with none ideas of fine intentions.”

48.“Commerce, Tennessee — Heading to Boone, North Carolina, a college city within the snowboarding areas, we handed by way of unincorporated Commerce. It had a big outdated gasoline station and market on the roadside, and that is it. One thing about that space made it really feel like The Shining. I’ve by no means gone again.”

49.“Gloucester, Massachusetts — I went to a marriage within the late ’90s and after sleeping on the lodge, we stopped for lunch on the town. A person was carrying in a recent bag of steamer clams, so it appeared like an incredible spot for recent seafood. As quickly as we walked inside, it went silent. I’m from Massachusetts, lived there my complete life, I by no means anticipated to really feel like a stranger or outcast wherever. Seems it was within the Excellent Storm film and, apparently, the locals practiced this shunning to maintain out guests. I simply want there was an indication or non-public membership state of affairs to tell us that we have been completely not welcome. So unusual to really feel it while you have been simply excited for lunch.”

50.“Colfax, Illionois — I needed to go there to watch one of many lecturers at the highschool once I was in faculty. I pulled into the city and stopped on the gasoline station. I went in to make use of the lavatory, and it was such a creepy expertise. I requested the place their restroom was and each staff simply pointed with out saying a phrase. I actually needed to go, so I simply went actually quick. Then, the highschool turned out to be a Okay–12 constructing with a TOTAL of 250 college students. The highschool was within the basement and the ability went out whereas I used to be there. Apparently, that may be a regular incidence.”

51.“Elko, Nevada — I joke that the longest 12 months I’ve ever had is a protracted weekend in Elko. Each place we stopped at made me want that I used to be wherever however there. I nonetheless shudder.”

52.“Belvidere, Illinois — A single freeway fully encircles this north-central Illinois metropolis. The Grange, a previously secret society, runs the town behind the scenes. In , a twister ripped by way of their highschool at dismissal, killing 24. Nobody will converse of this occasion.”

53.“Higher Merion, Pennsylvania — The individuals are the meanest within the US. Worst drivers. They act like being merciless is a energy. It’s the place the place Echoes within the Darkness came about. I by no means forgave my dad and mom for transferring us there.”

54.“Sunshine, Pennsylvania — One summer time, about 10 years in the past, some mates and I went on a street journey from Charlotte, North Carolina to rural Pennsylvania for a small area of interest music pageant. It was 5 of us (three alternative-looking Black ladies, together with myself, and two white dudes, one autistic and the opposite who appeared like hippie Jesus). We stopped at a diner in West Virginia on the way in which there and instantly about confronted when the entire place turned useless silent after we walked in. We continued our journey and ended up in Sunshine, Pennsylvania to seize meals earlier than heading to the pageant.”

55.“Metropolis, Kentucky — I used to journey from Georgia to Illinois rather a lot, and we would at all times cross the city signal. Stopped on one journey to get gasoline. It was, like, 11:00 a.m. and nobody was round. No automobiles, no individuals. The retailers within the sq. have been all closed, aside from the Superman Museum. The principle courthouse has a HUGE Superman statue. The museum was shady AF and felt just like the store the place the man buys a Gremlin. We bought out of there and by no means stopped in once more.”

56.“Brattleboro, Vermont — my son and I have been there for a school interview and tour. We went to dinner at an area restaurant. Once we walked in the entire place stopped speaking and checked out us. I didn’t need to appear nervous about it, so I mentioned nothing. Midway by way of dinner my son mentioned, ‘Is it me, or is everybody looking at us?’ They continued to stare all through dinner. I don’t know if it’s as a result of we have been dressed up, brown, or outsiders. He ended up going to that faculty and a lady who owned a B&B instructed me that it was like that for her for years when she first moved there. She was from Brazil.”

57.Lastly, “Riverside, California — The one city I’ve ever been to that has a emblem — they name it a , and it’s EVERYWHERE. It is on avenue indicators, etched in concrete freeway partitions, on individuals’s homes, actually in every single place. It seems Riverside is the place indigenous youngsters have been despatched en masse to be within the methods of the white man, and the raincross image is a mixture of the Christian cross and the cross to which Native People prayed for rain. It’s a really conservative county with a number of large megachurches (together with Harvest, of the Harvest Crusades) and though it has magnificence and historical past, it’s a unusual place for positive.”

Some submissions have been edited for size and/or readability.