10/06/2026
๐ฏ๏ธ THE MYSTERY OF EDNA WILSON
In the summer of 1888, a young Wyoming woman named Edna Wilson disappeared.
More than 130 years later, no one can say for sure what happened to her.
Edna was one of five children born to Andrew and Margaret Wilson. Her family had moved from Colorado to Wyoming in 1881 and settled along Meeteetse Creek. She and her sister Ida were reportedly skilled horseback riders and were well known around the area.
Then, in 1888, Edna vanished.
According to a later account written by family friend and ranch hand Tom Osborne, Edna attended a dance on Wood River and left with a cowboy named Al McComb sometime during the night.
Osborne later claimed that Edna changed into men's clothing and traveled with McComb, stopping at a roundup camp on Cottonwood Creek before supposedly heading toward Casper.
But contemporary newspaper reports tell a slightly different story.
In August 1888, newspapers reported that McComb passed through Lander, sold his horse, and headed toward Rawlins. He was also reportedly carrying a considerable amount of money โ money believed to include $310 that Edna's mother had entrusted to her.
By that time, Edna's mother, Margaret, was offering a $250 reward for the apprehension of her daughter.
One explanation later attributed to McComb was that Edna had drowned while attempting to cross a swollen river on horseback.
There was no body to prove it.
Then, roughly a year after Edna disappeared, something unsettling washed ashore from the Big Horn River.
A headless horse and a woman's saddle were found downstream.
A January 1890 newspaper report confirms the discovery and says people at the time believed the remains could be connected to Edna's disappearance.
Tom Osborne later claimed that he personally identified the horse and saddle as Edna's.
But even that did not solve the mystery.
Around the same time, newspapers reported the discovery of an unidentified woman's body near Kirby Creek. Two rings were allegedly found with the remains โ one marked with the initials โE.W.โ and another bearing the name โEdna W.โ
The clothing was sent to Edna's mother.
She said it did not belong to her daughter.
Another disturbing report from 1890 described a female body found near lower Owl Creek โ only for the body to apparently be removed from its grave before the coroner arrived.
None of these remains were ever conclusively identified as Edna.
Then came another strange chapter.
In 1924, nearly 36 years after Edna vanished, Al McComb returned to the Meeteetse area.
Later accounts claim that he spoke repeatedly about Edna, asked for a photograph of her, and then abruptly left after rumors circulated that he might be arrested.
Those details come from later recollections rather than contemporary documentation, so exactly what happened during his return remains uncertain.
And still, the story continued.
In 1955, uranium hunters reportedly discovered the skeleton of a woman beneath an overhanging rock about 25 miles outside Lander. Items including a bridle, belt buckle, comb, and mirror were reportedly found with the remains.
Some believed Edna Wilson had finally been found.
But once again, the remains were never conclusively proven to be hers.
So what happened to Edna Wilson?
Did she drown in a Wyoming river, as McComb reportedly claimed?
Was she murdered?
Or did something entirely different happen after she rode away in 1888?
More than a century later, the disappearance of Edna Wilson remains unsolved.
๐ฏ๏ธ What do you think happened to Edna?
Have a Wyoming mystery you want us to dig into?
If you know of any unsolved mysteries, spooky stories, strange history, ghost tales, or Wyoming folklore you'd like us to research, drop them in the comments! ๐ป
We may choose your suggestion for one of our Spooky October posts. ๐๐ฏ๏ธ
