Sixty-three-year-old Will McClain, the foreman of the northern branch of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, was murdered near Gurdon, Arkansas, on the evening of December 4, 1931. Captured the following day, his killer was convicted of the crime and condemned to death.

Like all murders, that of Will McClain was tragic, but it would be largely forgotten if not for the strange sightings which began shortly thereafter. Although the railroad foreman has been dead for over ninety years, many believe his spirit continues to roam across the railroad tracks of southwest Arkansas to this day.

Residents of Gurdon, a town of approximately 2,200 people roughly eighty-five miles southwest of Little Rock, have reported seeing a glowing light along the railroad tracks once roamed by Will McClain. Several explanations have been offered for the source of the light, but none have been proven.

Absent a conclusive explanation of The Gurdon Light, many believe the phenomenon is the lantern carried by the ghost of the slain foreman. The spirit of Will McClain, they believe, is destined to live for eternity along the path where the man was killed.

The Gurdon Light

On December 4, 1931, Will McClain fired railroad employee Louis McBride after concluding he had sabotaged a section of a track which caused a freight train to derail. When McClain did not return home that evening, a search party was organized. His body was found in a ditch alongside the tracks.

McBride confessed to beating McClain to death with a pick ax. The thirty-six-year-old was convicted of murder and later executed.

I was unable to find a picture of either Will McClain or Louis McBride.

Will McClain Is Murdered

Shortly after Will McClain’s murder, a conductor is said to have seen a light from the train’s caboose along the tracks overseen by the slain foreman. The light followed the train for over a mile, increasing speed as the train did so. Legend holds the conductor said the light continued to follow the train before veering into the local cemetery.

Initially, the conductor’s contended sighting of the strange light met with disbelief. Soon, however, other people began reporting sightings of a similar nature. Most described the light as hovering or bobbing along the railroad tracks.

More sightings of the Gurdon Light were reported during both day and night. They grew into the thousands and continue to the present day. The color of the light varies; it has been seen as red, blue, green, white, and orange.

Ghost Light?

Gurdon is located just east of Interstate 30 on United States Highway 67. One theory of the light’s origin is that it comes from headlights reflecting off a bridge on the Interstate.

The light, however, appears along a stretch of railroad tracks over two miles outside the town, as shown in the map below. In addition, the sightings of the light began shortly after Will McClain’s murder in 1931, nearly forty years before the interstate opened in 1970.

Near the Interstate

Some contend the Gurdon Light is swamp gas created by decomposing vegetation, but many people claimed to have seen the light during windy weather.

Another theory is that the light results from the piezoelectric effect, which occurs when certain materials, including quartz crystals, emit an electric current under pressure to counter mechanical stress. Gurdon sits above large amounts of quartz crystals and the New Madrid fault line. Will McClain’s murder occurred near the time of a major earthquake occurring on the fault.

The piezoelectric effect, however, does not explain how the current migrates above the surface and into a ball-like shape.

PS Electric Effect?

The debate over the Gurdon Light is not a question of the light’s existence. It has been captured on photo and video numerous times. The controversy involves the nature of the light.

Reasonable explanations have been offered as the light’s source, but none can conclusively be proven to be the causing phenomenon.

Those who have seen it say they would like to know the cause of the Gurdon Light. Perhaps, however, deep in their souls, they really do not want to know, preferring instead to believe the light is the soul of Will McClain.

Such a view makes for a great story to pass down to future generations.

Gurdon’s Ghost 

Will McClain lies buried in the Bryant, Arkansas, Cemetery, approximately sixty-five miles from where he met his grisly demise.

Although the section of railroad of which he was in charge is no longer used, many believe, and probably will continue to believe, that his spirit will forever roam the train tracks along where his life was taken.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37616032/william-mcclain#

 

SOURCES:

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas
• Unsolved Mysteries