Montana Chillers by Ellen Baumler

Author:Ellen Baumler
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781560376231
Publisher: Farcountry Incorporated
Published: 2009-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

The volunteer shrugged and said that it was probably just another visitor. She did not want to scare them. She did not tell them what she knew. The volunteer realized that, after all this time, old Mr. Davey’s ghost still stands guard over his gold shipments—and that he likes to scare kids, to get back at them for all their mean tricks.

THE HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF BANNACK IS FULL OF TRAGEDY. There were hangings, shootouts, and illnesses. Many of Bannack’s dead lie buried on the hillside in the town’s lonely cemetery. And not all of them rest in peace. Visitors sometimes catch glimpses of spirits playing hide-and-seek in the empty buildings. Sometimes you can hear their lonely cries as the wind carries their voices into the surrounding hills.

Gold discovered on nearby Grasshopper Creek in 1862 brought miners across the mountains and over the Continental Divide. They were hungry for golden treasure. The town of Bannack quickly sprouted up, becoming the capital of Montana Territory in 1864.

The Meade Hotel is one of Bannack’s most haunted places. There are good reasons. The large brick hotel once served as the courthouse, where dramatic and highly emotional trials took place. And in 1877, the brick structure was the best place to hide when rumors circulated that Chief Joseph and a band of Nez Perce Indians were coming to attack Bannack. Terrified men, women, and children blocked the doors with furniture and huddled inside for a whole week. Although the Nez Perce never came, surely the terrible fear of attack left an impression in the old building.

Then in 1888, Dr. John S. Meade and his wife, Louisa, moved to Bannack with their large family. The Meades bought the old courthouse and remodeled it as the Meade Hotel. The courtroom and county headquarters became a lobby, parlors, and dining hall, and the offices upstairs became bedrooms. Louisa set the tables with white linen, and guests enjoyed delicious meals prepared in the kitchen at the back.

The Meade children grew up in Bannack. They played in the hotel and explored the mine tailings left near the banks of Grasshopper Creek.

When children in Bannack were sick, the home of miner Amede Bessett and his wife became a hospital. The Bessetts had a large two-story house. The upstairs was one long room where sick children could be isolated and cared for. Diseases like measles spread quickly. It was important to separate sick children so that others did not catch the disease. Before the use of vaccines, children often died from common childhood diseases. Dr. Meade and Louisa, a trained army nurse who served in the Civil War, used their medical training to tend to the children. When the Meades’ grandson became ill, they did everything they could for him, but the little boy died. Life in Bannack was sometimes cruel.

Today, the Bessett House is known as the “house of crying babies.” Most visitors do not know about the children who died of measles in the Bessett House. These visitors sometimes remark that when they visit the upstairs, they hear the faint sound of babies crying.

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