+ Content Warning

- Hide whatever

Mentions of racism, slavery and violence.

Item #: SCP-7377
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: As SCP-7377's effects make prevention impossible, containment protocols are to be oriented towards containing knowledge of its existence. As such, Foundation assets in academic, archeological, literary, educational, medical, law enforcement, and historical institutions are to be on alert for SCP-7377-A instances. Special attention is to be dedicated towards institutions or societies that focus on the American Civil War and Southern United States' role therein. Biological instances of SCP-7377-A are to be detained and transported to the closest Foundation site, with future transportation to Site-49's C-Wing being mandatory upon accurate identification as an SCP-7377-A instance. Those aware of the SCP-7377-A instance are to be administered Class C amnestics.

Henry S. Foote, circa 1860

Foundation web-crawlers are to search for any potential digital instances of SCP-7377-A, and are to delete them. Individuals involved in the distribution of digital SCP-7377-A instances are to be located and administered Class C amnestics, and all digital technology capable of storing SCP-7377-A instances to be delivered to Foundation custody.
If multiple distinct SCP-7377-A instances are officially discovered and it becomes impossible for the Foundation to maintain consensus reality, Operation Bitter-Salt is to be enacted, with intent to destroy all known evidence of Henry S. Foote's existence to the public. A suitable fictional historical figure is to replace all mentions of Henry S. Foote, to be decided upon by Foundation historians upon enactment of the Operation.
Description: SCP-7377 is an anomalous temporal phenomena that results in the unexplained appearance of objects, documents and biological material involving former Senator and Governor Henry S. Foote (1804-1880). These materials (SCP-7377-A) are commonly located in facilities that relate to Henry Foote as a historical figure, with a slight propensity to appear in academic or educational collections. SCP-7377-A instances are of comparable quality to other documents or objects of the time despite the contradictions to the historical record. No instance has been recorded with anomalous properties besides their unexplained origins.
SCP-7377-A changes to the record typically range from insignificant changes in dates or names to alterations of major historical events, usually involving the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods of American history (1848-1877). The latter are more common as more subtle SCP-7377-A instances are indistinguishable from non-anomalous documents.
SCP-7377-A instances range in subject matter, format, make-up, condition, and identifiability (See Addendum-7377.I for partial list). Some instances, however, are congruent and connected with one another. Foundation analysts in the Historical, Temporal, and Alternate Histories Departments have able to extract fragmentary records from some, but they are incomplete on details unrelated to Foote.
SCP-7377 was first discovered in late December of 1879, when news reports celebrating the seventh anniversary of Henry Foote's execution was published in a paper claiming to be the New-York Daily Tribune. The paper went on to describe various details surrounding the capture and execution of Henry S Foote after:

his traitors actions to these United States, against the People in whom placed their Faith and Trust into his hands, violating the Sacred rights of Man through his support for the Late Rebellion that has taken from the Mother's Brest [sic] three millions of Human Souls. O, Lord! Bless them, those Eternally Merciful executioners for their Humanity and Decency, for no other than the most Christian among us could stand to let him go without repaying his Debt in full to the People!

When, in January 1880, Henry Foote, then living in Nashville, Tennessee, discovered the existence of such a paper, Foote threatened to lodge a lawsuit in New York State for defamation of character. Although the editors of the Tribune attempted to prove that said document could not have been produced by them due to differences in printing, paper and styles, Foote was preparing for the case before his death on May 19th, 1880.
It was only in June of 1898 that SCP-7377 would be officially designated by the American Secure Containment Initiative (ASCI) after a biological instance of SCP-7377-A was discovered buried near the first Confederate White House in Montgomery, Alabama. Following an attempt to restore the building by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a casket containing the corpse of Henry S. Foote was found buried beneath a previously unseen tombstone at the edge of the property. Engravings on the front read:

Henry Stuart Foote
February 28th 1804
January 19th 1869
President, Husband, Father

Following this, the ASCI closed down the restoration project. When the non-anomalous corpse of Henry S Foote was accounted for, the ASCI catalogued SCP-7377 and contained.
Addendum-7377.I — SCP-7377-A Instance Log

Designation
Description
Notes

SCP-7377-A-01
The corpse of Henry S. Foote, discovered near the first Confederate White House. Lethal neurological and cranial damage was apparent to the back of the objects head, caused by an unremoved .41 caliber bullet.
n/a

SCP-7377-A-07
A damaged ballot for the 1860 general election, to be used for the Democratic ticket in the State of New York. Various names are written out, including, for President and Vice President respectively, Henry S. Foote and Daniel S. Dickenson.1 The names William Henry Seward and Abraham Lincoln were written beside the crossed out section.
Discovered in the New York City Public Library's in the Historical Collections.

SCP-7377-A-19
A copy of a non-existent children's book, The Other Boy, written by a 'Rufus Walker' and published in 1988 by 'Clemens House'.2 The novel's protagonists are a pair of boys on opposite sides of the Kentucky-Ohio border. They develop a friendship despite the disapproval of friends, families and communities on both sides. The climax of the novel ends when one of the boys, William Yankey saves John Rebel from Rebel's father, Harry, after the latter discovered the two playing together in the middle of town, and, enraged, tried to shoot his son. The novel ends with William surviving, and John promising to come by and see him, to which William replies by saying that he can bring as many friends as he would like. A twenty page long non-fiction afterword describes the author's intentions to educate the reader on Confederate-US relations, including going into minor depth about the Civil War period, with special mention of Henry Foote as a 'rabble rousing demagogue who based his career on hate and bigotry.' The author ends by advocating for stronger cooperation against 'European intervention in the Americas."3
Discovered in a 6th grade classroom in Frankfort, Kentucky, after several students asked if it could be used as a resource on an upcoming test.

SCP-7377-A-34
A painting entitled 'Foote On The Run', which depicts Foote hiding behind a tree as it rains. Several men in gray are on horseback, waving swords and searching the area. Foote is wearing tattered clothing, is emaciated, and is visibly distressed.
Object appeared at the Boston Museums of Arts American section. A plaque was in front, and described it as a 'tribute to the suffering Unionists who, tragically, lost their lives, fighting for freedom, like Henry Foote.'"

SCP-7377-A-44
A ambrotype photograph of a man laying upright at the back of a coffin, naked. The man's face has several gashes and openings, along with the many more bruises and indentions along the body. Writing on the back states, "Me and the boys found this from a Star reporter. Really gave Sumner a beating, didn't he? P.S Word is the Big Man is gonna issue a pardon. Foote is a rascal, now, isn't he? Love, B."4
Discovered uploaded to Wikipedia by an individual intending to vandalize the site, having purchased it as an old yard sale a couple years earlier. The individual who originally had the instance is currently unknown.

SCP-7377-A-59
A partially damaged report from a 'Colonel Newton Knight' of the federalized 1st Mississippi Regiment, describing a raid on the Mississippi Governor's Mansion, which was being held by members of the White League,5 in July 1874. They had been holding the Republican Governor, Henry S Foote, and his family hostage in order to re-establish 'honourable government'. The report states the raid was successful, ending in the capture of all White Leaguers with no deaths. The report goes on to praise the "inter-racial regiment, Negro and White, proving to be the best of both races." It recommends more integrated regiments.
Discovered by a historian looking into the historical archives of the US army for an unrelated project in 2008.

SCP-7377-A-68
A previously undiscovered ASCI file, describing the phenomenon of SCP-7377. The article describes Henry S Foote as a former President of the United States who had been able to avoid a civil war. While a lot of the document is damaged, many individual pages were recovered. See Addendum.7377.II for more information.
Discovered during clean up at the Bowe Mansion, KS, in 1999. Formatting matches the same as ASCI files made from 1868 to its destruction in 1919.

SCP-7377-A-87
A beaded necklace composed of 14 human teeth. DNA analysis confirm them coming from Henry S Foote.
Discovered inside a small glass container in the personal collection of [REDACTED] in Little Rock, Arkansas; he did not recall owning the object. A small engraving at the bottom reads, 'The Fate of All Traitors'.

Addendum.7377.II — SCP-7377-68 Discovery and Log
On June 1st, 1999, Sarah Jane Bowe, the last known living member of the Bowe family, died. The Foundation, as the sole legal guardian of the Bowe family's living relatives, acquired the house, and began transporting it to various Sites around the globe for further study or containment.
SCP-7377-A-68 had been discovered in a large work desk previously owned by Col. William J. Bowe. Col. Bowe had gone missing on September 19th, 1891 without a trace.
SCP-7377-A-68 is the longest (at over 600 surviving pages) and the most detailed. It also the only known instance of another SCP-7377-A instance being aware of the SCP-7377 phenomena.
The following are the sections considered most related to SCP-7377's mechanics and history.
Page 11

Discovered him near Washington. The fiend was digging up the late President and his beloved. We moved on him after 2, believing him sufficiently preoccupied to make noticing us unlikely. Of course, we were mistaken, and he had drawn his pistol. Fortuitously, the gunpowder had failed to ignite, leaving him quite agitated. I ordered that he cease moving. When he violated my order, Mr Williams, to the contrary of the Author's prior warnings against the use of fire arms, fired a shot into the ground besides the fiend. The shot on the man, already quite queer in mannerisms and appearance and elderly in age, shattered his nerves and he preceded to flee. It was only through the actions of Agent McAlister and Agent Clay that we were able to avoid losing the would-be grave-robber. I recommend promotion for both of them. I recommend Agent Williams for removal.
[It is here, in the margins, handwriting can be read: 'Demerit Agent Williams for his ungentlemanly conduct in the field. Do likewise with Special Agent Johnson for unmanly conduct in the field, and for his inability to establish respect among his peers - Col. William Bowe]

Page 29

- and from there we get into the nature of reality, which we [faded text] earlier.
So Foote did that to avoid [faded]
You must understand the condition that he was under. Both of us, in fact, were quite ill in our nerves, and when given the opportunity to avoid what they were going to put him through, he did the only thing he could, which was to use it.
Did he not consider the ill-effects?
I do not believe so. Or, perhaps, he did, and he simply did not care. Desperation makes even good men indifferent to their actions. And he most certainly was not a good man.
Uh huh. If what you say is true - and that remains to be seen, Mister Fitch - then how come you are able to remember and not any one else?
I have been asking myself that question for three decades, sir. It must have had something to do with the ritual those men did.
Those men?
Apologies, sir. You must understand that it has been so very long since I have discussed this with anyone who was not already there. These men - Foote said that they were powerful people, who knew magics. I didn't believe him until after, but I went along. I did not have a choice. Those savages outside were going to kill me. Kill all of us, if they could. Our parting with those wizards was not agreeable, either, but we got the better of them, by God. They did, however, leave me with a beautiful image that I haven't been able to forget.
What was it?
A basin of water at the top of mountain spills forth downhill into many rivers, large and small. From these more split off, adjusting to their circumstances. The currents are too strong to go back. You can only move forward. Except he found a way to not only move back but to instantly move to another one - different, yes, but more similar than not.
And how did he do that?
The answer is in that coffin.

Page 56

[water damaged above, making this the only readable portion]
grounds of indecency to the former President, and should be done with as little disturbance to the resting President. Col. Bowe complied and ordered the opening of Foote's casket, which was thusly done on [crossed out, unreadable] but Col. Bowe breached orders and looked inside the former President's coats and pantaloons, humiliating President Foote in a most unrespectful manner that made it seem as if he was one of the common dead, and not one of the sacred saviors of our union.
Regardless, we
[ink spill, multiple pages destroyed from age and ink]

Page 219

Yes.
My God. Just, write in it, and it sends it back, eh?
That's the jist. Place it in the little slot with the address and time. It's not a guarantee, though. Often times nothing would happen, but sometimes we'd switch streams. Quite horrifying, I must admit, waking up in the middle of a dungeon ready to get hanged.
That would be disquieting, I shall admit.
Of course it is. Even for men like us. Have you seen the elephant, sir?
Pardon?
Ah, no, please, pardon me. I forget you did not have such an incident in this stream.
What do you mean? Was there a war in one of your worlds?
Many, but let's not discuss such depressing things.
Many wars? How many dead?
Hm. Is there a war going on right now?
Um, yes. The Russians and the Germans are fighting over something, somewhere in -
Irrelevant, but how many dead are there? Total.
I don't know, but I saw one of the big battles - I believe in St. Petersburg - around 5,000 dead on both sides.
Imagine double that, daily, for years. Sometimes many years.
My God.
We'd get lucky though, occasionally. Or at least Foote got lucky.
How so?
He'd be someone important. That was what he wanted more than anything. That and living for as long as possible. Those were the two rules: stay if alive and powerful, leave if dead or a nobody.
And did your - your comrades, as it were - did they have a say in any of this?
Ha! What do you think, sir? One world we ended up in had me as a small farmer out in Missouri. Free labor wasn't as good but we made do with what we had. A little girl, a wife - beautiful one, she - and a nice comfortable place at the Post Office. Foote had become President - I thought it was enough, but then we shifted. It was like that, in an instant, all of it was gone. I was in Virginia now, in the Confederate White House, and Foote was there, holding that goddamn book, looking at me expectantly.
Confederate? What is that?
It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that he was still President - not of the country he wanted, mind you, but it would do while we planned our next move.
And you helped him?! After doing that to you?!
It was my own fault for getting attached. He was never satisfied. I helped because I thought that one day he'd just….
Just what?
Be dead. Universally dead, across all worlds.

Page 344

Preliminary Object: #1113
Physical Danger: Low
National Danger: High
Description: A locked journal of unknown origin and manufacture. None of the papers have writing on the inside. A small slip exists at the front, entering into an unknown space not corresponding to natural mechanics. Below it is a series of gears with numbers on them, with the time, day, month and year to be cycled through. If sent to a future date, it will be found at that specified address at that specified date. Even when tracked packages always disappear and reappear. When sent backwards in time, it can change past events. Artifacts of such changes alongside testimony from Person of Interest 012 "Benjamin Fitch" suggest this to be true.

Page 393

Site-15 Head,
Despite recent incidents in the South, the President, with the full support of the cabinet, has maintained a firm commitment towards keeping all ASCI objects in Washington proper. This government shall not panic the people because of a couple of abolitionist agitators are making a scene.
However, since tensions remain high in the capitol, special instructions are to be headed regarding the safety of certain items - especially Item #1113. All high priority items, including Item #1113, shall be re-located to Fort Leavenworth under joint containment by the ASCI and United States Army soldiers. Persons of interest relevant to said objects are to be transported alongside.
Secretary of War Jonathan Platte
President Horatio Seymour6
October. 19th 1876

Page 415

To the Secretary,
Included is my report - I do not trust secretaries to ensure that you receive this important information, especially for a newly employed man such as yourself.
Several issues have been piling on in the Chesapeake Department at the present, some minor (such as the high cost of personal servants) to the extreme, which I will detail for you now, as I understand you have little patience for drudgery, sir:
a) High Labor Cost: As benefitting their peculiar institution, the South lacks large labor pools to pluck from. The few gentlemen of means refuse even to hire their servants out. It is not the rates but the ill effects it will have on them, for their largest fear is them self-emancipating. As far as can be told, the Southern states shall not be spreading human liberty for some time.
b) Southern Rights Fervor: The recent campaign (both for the Presidency and for emancipation) has stirred much agitation in the region. Although not as bad as the Deep South, we are still dealing with the aftershocks. A lot of my agents are singled out and harassed for any trace of foreignness. Just this week I have had three of my agents, all from New England, tarred and feathered in Richmond. The police, I hear, are more interested in handing out beers to the criminals than in handing out warrants. If these attacks do not subside soon, I fear the Department will be unable to function.
c) Targeted Killings of Agents: The most troubling - and in my opinion, most important - issue is the recent attacks against agents in the field. It starts with them disappearing for a couple of days before being dumped into the Potomac, covered in bruises and lacerations, and completely catatonic. The most recent victim was a Mr Higgins, who, to our horror, was dead when discovered. The letters 'K.G.C.' were carved into his head. Investigators I've brought in have been unable to identify any sort of lead.
I hope that I could have been of service, and wish you luck in your new post,
From, Joseph Williams, Department Head of the Chesapeake
[ Written on the back is the following in handwriting: 'Demotion immediately; no slaves on federal projects, violation of ethics, humanity, etc. Import workers if necessary. KGC? Familiar. More men to all Departments, push for appropriations in Congress, talk with President.' ]

Page 582

I hadn't thought to ask you at the time some questions.
What sort of questions, pray tell?
Those men. Who are they?
What makes you think I'm going to tell you?
[Interviewer places photos of dead men on the desk; at the top of their skulls, the words KGC can be seen, carved into their flesh.]
Because we have some boys out in Chesapeake getting killed - and I think you know something about it.
I - I don't know what you are talking about, sir, I -
Knights of the Golden Circle. It ring any bells?
[Interviewee does not respond]
Thought so.
They're here, aren't they?
I believe so. At the very least they're searching for something -
The book.
Pardon?
They're looking for that goddamn book. They're planning on reclaiming their stolen property.
I thought you said Foote -
He did. He brought them into the Oval Office, just when the people were outside - goddamn it, were they angry. All for that foolish goddamn tomfoolery in the Caribbean.
What did he do?
What do you think? He tried taking Cuba. Spain wouldn't have that. Congress wouldn't appropriate the money - goddamn black Republican bastards, if they had gone along none of this would happen, its their fault, goddamn them, goddamn them to hell!
Focus.
Let an old man indulge his hate.
Not when there's lives on the line.
But they - the Circle - they came, and they offered him a deal: money for war in exchange for slavery in Kansas.
He - he tried to make Kansas a slave state?
Yes. Tried to shove it down Congress' throat, but he did it. Somehow. I have no doubt he had their help on that front.
Good God.
But the election came and the party was split in two. No Electoral College majority though - lucky us, we could get in the House. As long as we had the Circle's help.
For a price.
Of course! But he thought he was smarter, smarter than them all.
The most dangerous fool of all.
I didn't think that at the time. I thought we were defending our way of life.
The book. What happened with the book?
Damnit I'm getting to it! We won, but only on Southern and Corrupt votes. It was blatant. I don't know about the rest of the nation, but DC began burning. Northerners and southerners were fighting in the streets. What few troops we had were stationed at the White House but it did no good. The Circle offered us a deal: collaboration or abandonment. We had no choice, but Foote had a cleaner conscience about it than the rest of us.
The book.
Fine. They had just discovered it, somehow - a library of some sort, from worlds unknown. They wanted to give Foote, their most loyal member, the first letter.
And what did he do?
He sent a letter back to himself, telling him what is happening, and to not collaborate with the Circle. And when it was done everything was different.
The Circle must have remembered. Must have looked for it.
If they did I hadn't seen it. I should have. Good God, I should have.

Page 615

SPECIAL ORDER TO CHEAPSEAKE DEPARTMENT HEAD (draft)
Relating to the recent deaths of agents by from the suspected organization (the previously dormant 'Knights of the Golden Circle'), I am ordering the removal of Item #1111 #1113 to Fort Leavenworth effective immediately, in addition to along with Person of Interest 012 "Benjamin Fitch". To ensure its safe arrival, I, as Secretary of War, shall personally accompany the detachment to Leavenworth.
(deliver to Mr Clay and have him clean it up for delivery to Prs. Johnson for signature, he can handle my signature - he's better at it than me)

Page 616

I don't know why I am writing this. Perhaps part of me hopes that, perhaps, someone, somewhere, can look at the little scribbles on the page and see what the world could have been. Perhaps I am hoping that someone, anyone, can tell understand what I did and why.
I shot Benjamin myself. The officers did not question it - one less mouth to feed at Leavenworth.
From there, it was quite easy escaping with the book. It was lucky I did it when I did, too, because it was when I passed through St. Joseph that I learned a US army contingent had been slaughtered in Kentucky. Governor was blaming Indian attacks. I know who really did it.
I then came home, to Lawrence. Her old wooden shacks, all burned, inhabitants driven out. The home of freedom destroyed by savage slavers. Thirty years, it had almost been. 1858: I remember it well. Men on horseback, screaming, shooting, killing. Father ran out with his gun. I saw them carve those little letters into his head: KGC.
The documents here are, to me, proof enough of the men who did this, and the man who allowed it, stocked it, survived off their hate. I thought he had been an old Fire eating radical but I see the truth, and I cannot help but laugh.
This is a rotten world. I see no hope but civil war, and that I could not bare to see, not with the weapons we had. The nation would be engulfed in blood, in slaughter. And yet conflict is inevitable.
It was an equation I could not make work until I realized that, if inevitable, better sooner than later.
I can change this world. I can make war happen, just as it had, in 1860 instead of 1887 or 1888 or Lord knows when. I know what I must do.
And the man I must target is Foote.
After I am done, he will be a footnote. He will be dust beneath my boot. I will take his greatest dream away from him, the only reason he lives and breathes.
I am not doing this for the slaves. I am not doing it for the yankees or the westerners or anyone else, not even my family. I do this out of self interest and hate.
I only weep, knowing I won't be able to see him burn.
To those other worlds, I wish you good luck. May you be better than we were. And, if you mess up, follow the old river from Lawrence, down until you see a cave. You will find it there, just as I had.
William James Bowe

Addendum-7377.III — Recovery Log
On June 8th, 1999, the Foundation discovered the cave described in Addendum.II above, located at [REDACTED] coordinates. On short notice, Mobile Task Force Epsilon 6 ("Village Idiots") was sent to investigate and retrieve the object, hereafter described as PI-1113 (Preliminary Item). After a short walk inside, MTF-Epsilon 6 encountered a wide space, reaching up to 10 meters high. In the center of the room was a small mound.
Upon digging it up, a corpse was discovered, later identified to be William James Bowe. He had been shot, twice in the chest and once in the mouth.
PI-1113 was not discovered on his body, nor anywhere else in the cave.

Footnotes
1. Daniel Stevens Dickenson was a major leader of the conservative, pro-South faction of the New York Democratic Party, the Hunkers. They came into conflict with their enemies within the party, the anti-slavery Barnburners.
2. This is notable for being one of the few instances of an SCP-7377-A instance mentioning the Confederate States of America in the present tense past the 19th century.
3. African Americans and the issue of slavery as a start to the Civil War is never mentioned.
4. The physical proportions and height, combined with the name mentioned, suggests subject is Charles Sumner, an anti-slavery Whig and Republican. He is known for having been caned by Preston Brooks of South Carolina until the latter's cane broke, leaving Sumner unconscious.
5. The White League was a terrorist organization whose goal was the re-assertion of white supremacy and the end of Radical Reconstruction, active between 1874-1877.
6. Horatio Seymour (1810-1886) was a Democratic Governor of New York from 1852-1854 and 1862-1864, and was a prominent member of the Hunker faction in the Democratic Party, which gave him a Presidential nomination in 1868, which he lost.