American Fork Haunted Forest

Legend of the Haunted Forest

Cletus Snodgrass grew up in the Bayou country of Louisiana making and selling his famous Bootlegger Moonshine. He was quite successful and many people couldn't get enough of his moonshine. After a few years, he caught the eye of a local barfly named Helga Vandersnoot! She soon fell in love with Cletus and his moonshine. In 1848, there was major Civil unrest in the south, and on a whim, Cletus decided to pony up and marry Helga, and soon after had their first child named Otis. In search of a more exciting and fulfilling life, they decided to head West with the rest of the pioneers. It was a long and arduous journey. About the time the Snodgrasses hit the Utah line, his Mules were plum exhausted and couldn’t go much farther. He decided to follow a wagon train to Utah County to stake his claim and build a homestead near the shore of Utah Lake in an area called Nutty Putty Creek.

Over the next few years, Cletus built the Nutty Putty Hotel, General Mercantile store, and Livery Stables that would later support the Pony Express when it started in 1860. With the increase in Pony Express riders came more people to support them. Cletus decided to get his Bootlegger Moonshine business back up and rolling and planned on selling it to all the Mormons that surrounded the area. Little did he know that his Moonshine business idea would be a Dead End with the Local Mormons and decided to focus more on the constant stream of travelers. One night he hosted a lone traveler who loved his moonshine. He drank with Cletus late into the night until he passed out. As Otis hid under the table, Cletus dragged the drunk feller into the back room where he began his grisly work of harvesting human blood so he could add just 2 drops of blood to each bottle of moonshine. This was his secret ingredient! It was from this experience that Otis became obsessed with the taste of blood. On several occasions, Helga would let Otis play in the forest and go out later to retrieve the lad and would catch him gnawing on small animals he had trapped. After a few months, Otis’s teeth became pointed and sharp. When the local guests would reach down to pat the toddler on the head, he would look up at them with beady little eyes,then proceed to hiss and chop his teeth at them.