04/22/2026
Iâm taking the weekend offâno tours bookedâand Iâm heading back to my old stomping grounds in western Nebraska to have a little fun.
Speaking of fun, thereâs a very interesting story just about an hour north of my hometown of Alliance, known as The Vampire of Dawes County:
In the late 1800s near Dawes County, ranch reports began circulating about cattle turning up dead, mangled, and sometimes exsanguinated across the open range. At first, it was written off as wolves or simple range lossâbut the pattern didnât quite match what experienced cowboys were used to seeing.
During this same period, a cowboy named Jack Lewis became part of one of the most enduring accounts. Separated from his group while tending cattle, Lewis later claimed he was suddenly attacked in the dark. A violent struggle followedâbrief, chaotic, and enough to draw the attention of nearby riders. He survived with injuries that were serious, but not fatal.
According to later retellings, the other cowboys tracked the assailant into the surrounding hills. They described it as something unnaturally fast and strongâânot moving like a man should move,â in some versionsâbut whatever they pursued vanished into the landscape and was never confirmed or captured. Over time, the story absorbed the language of frontier fear and uncertainty, eventually becoming part of regional âvampireâ lore tied to the Pine Ridge backcountry.
