The Spirit of Dorothy Dunn

A young girl in her teens, Dorothy Dunn drowned in the dredge pond along Grasshopper Creek on August 4, 1916.

Her spirit likes to wear a blue dress.

She is lonely and likes kids and teens.

She tries to talk to them.

Personal Appearances

She first appeared to her best friend, who was with her on that fateful day when they decided to go swimming, and witnessed her drowning.

Today, her apparition is seen mostly by children.

She has also been seen looking out one of the second story windows, in one of the guest rooms or perhaps the large front room with the balcony, which overlooks the street.

She was the daughter of the hotel manager at the time, and probably had access to this large suite.

Psychic Research: Greg Burchfield, Hotel Meade, Bannack, Montana, February 2005.

In the evening, brave Greg Burchfield went to the second floor alone with his recording equipment, via the front staircase. On the second floor, near the staircase and in front of the large front room which is locked, he felt a presence and a cold spot. With his EVP equipment running, He asked, “Are you a little chicken?” One can hear the accented voice of the teenage entity answer him. Check it out!

Spirit of an Older Woman

One older woman also haunts the second floor as well. She has been seen looking out the second floor windows of the large suite in the very front.

Little is known about her. She could be Dorothy’s mother, who wants to be near the spirit of her daughter.

Residual Energy OR Intelligent Spirits

Sounds of crying children have been heard.

The crying could be psychic impressions/residual energy, left over from the days of the Indian attack scare, when some children were put in the hotel safes. Or, crying from the hospital days.

The crying could be coming from intelligent child spirits who died here during an epidemic.

Dorothy has Spiritual Company

Besides possibly child spirits, other entities who can’t quite leave the place because they loved it so when they were alive may reside here.

Is Dr. John Singleton Meade still around to keep an eye on the living?

Or perhaps a frequent guest or another owner of this hotel?

Unexplained cold spots are felt inside.

Unseen presences are felt by the living watching them.

Personal Experience: Time: 10:00 AM, August 2005 – Arrived at Bannack Ghost Town

Tom and I visited Bannack and the Hotel Meade during a working vacation on a crisp August morning. I was wearing a heavy coat and hat with gloves, because it was nippy outside. The Park Ranger told us that the Hotel Mead was haunted, so I went on alone because Tom said he wanted to get some other photos and would catch up with me.

The heavy front wooden door opens inward into a small lobby area. Upon entering the front door, one finds the lobby/reception area, with a curving, once elegant staircase, which has fancy wooden carving on the rails and steps that once had beautiful tiles, very inviting for tired travelers. It winds up to the second floor where the guest rooms were located. Looking straight ahead is the large dining room, located off the wide hallway. Other rooms where food was prepared and the kitchen also are found off this main hallway.

I walked alone around the spooky downstairs, trying to imagine how grand it once was, waiting for husband Tom to join me. No one else who was living was in the building with me.

I thought I’d be polite and quietly talk to whomever unseen entity was there, as I verbally admired the various rooms, as if I was visiting as a guest, talking to the host. I did feel an unseen presence walking with me.

While studying the various dining rooms, kitchen area, etc., here and there I saw glimpses of fine flooring, wallpaper and other evidence of how beautiful this hotel was in its heyday.

While the downstairs was cold, so was the outside, and I was warmly dressed. So if there were cold spots, I didn’t notice them. After taking a look around the very quiet, still, chilly downstairs, I decided to see where my better half went, as there was something too spooky about going up to the second floor alone.

There was something about the shadowy staircase leading up to the second floor from the kitchen that made me decide not to go there just yet. I turned into the main hallway and walked through the lobby toward the large front door of the building which I had left open.

When I was about 50 yards from the door in the main lobby, the heavy wooden door suddenly was pushed hard from the inside with a hard slam. I jumped and let out a yelp of surprise! There was no wind outside, and the only explanation was that the unseen presence wanted to let me know that I definitely had company on the first floor, and wanted to see me jump for chuckles!

Or perhaps this entity wasn’t pleased that I didn’t come up to the second floor for a visit, or maybe he was upset that I left the door open in the first place! I apologized verbally for leaving the door open, and made a hasty exit. I did go back to the hotel with Tom to have a living escort this time as we explored the hotel together, the second floor as well, about 30 minutes later. Tom took some pictures which capture the atmosphere of this building on both floors.

Musings about The Second Floor

YIKES! I’m glad I waited for Tom. And this was 10:45 in the morning! Though we didn’t see anything physical in the guest rooms, the atmosphere in the upstairs rooms and hallway was definitely different and a bit unnerving, especially near the large front room. On the second floor was the largest room, which is in the very front of the building, and has a large balcony, offering an excellent view. This room was locked. Paranormal investigator Greg Burchfield reports on his website that the doors are locked because of “supernatural events” which have happened in this room.

The spirits of the old woman and Dorthy are still claiming this front room, and don’t appreciate visits from the living.

History of Chrismans’ Store

This building housed a general store and had offices in the back used by the notorious Henry Plummer. The store was a natural draw for the male population of the town and a lot of male bonding happened here, as the men gathered to buy the various supplies needed. Men in the family during the 19th century era did the shopping.

The place acted as the town’s informal “news bureau, university and a social settlement.” The fireplace provided a warm area for conversation about various topics of interest, as well as sharing what was going on in their lives and their town.

Spectral Male Fellowship

Some male spirits continue to bond and enjoy fellowship as it was captured on film by Judith of the paranormal group Ghosts, Poltergeists and Hauntings. She displays a photograph on her website showing a group of foggy apparitions grouped around a piece of furniture having a deep conversation in the General Store.

History of The Bessette House – 4200 Bannack Road

This house was the home of long time Bannack resident, Abed “Amity” Bessette, who was one of the original Vigilantes who stopped the murderous practices of Plummer’s gang.

During his entire lifetime in Bannack, he was a stockman who raised sheep, and at one time owned the famous Bank Exchange Saloon and the Hotel Meade. He died in Bannack in 1919.

Being a citizen who cared about the town, he let his house become an official house of quarantine when the deadly epidemics of typhoid, diphtheria and other killer diseases swept through town, killing the vulnerable, especially the young and old. People who were ill stayed here until they recovered or died.

Bessette House Spirits of Epidemic Victims

House is haunted by all the children that died during the various epidemics which swept through town. In the 1880s, for instance, fourteen infants died of smallpox.

Photo Proof – Greg Burchfield took a picture of his kids in the attic of the house. When developed, two small orbs were next to the kids in the picture.

The Sad tale of Henry Powell/Sheriff/Thief/Killer/Victim of mob justice?

Henry Powell was an east coast transplant, the son of a sea captain, who came to Bannack after a six month stay in San Quentin Prison for killing his girlfriend’s husband, and after other incidents of killing and thievery he was involved in after his release from “stir.”

He didn’t start out that way when he came to Nevada City. He worked hard in a bakery, earned enough money to buy a ranch from his mining claim, and was well liked and admired. At the age of 24, he was elected Sheriff and did such a good job that he was reelected in 1857.

His troubles began when he took something he wasn’t entitled to, another man’s wife. He wound up having a duel with the irate man and killed him. He was convicted and sent to San Quentin on a ten year sentence. However, the good people petitioned for his release, saying it was self-defense. Because of this petition and the fact that he had TB, he was released after six months, a changed man.

Prison life was a brutal experience, which didn’t act as a deterrent for him. After this, Henry Powell acted on the worst parts of his character and decided that stealing from others was the best way to make a living when he was released early. He blew what money he had left and started his life in crime, by joining a gang, the first of many, robbing stagecoaches. While in San Quentin, he made some unsavory friends, one of whom he met up with much later in 1862 while hiding from justice in Idaho.

In January 1863, he appeared in Bannack, and won over the people there with his charm and personality. The Miner’s Court trusted him and elected him Sheriff. Henry Powell took advantage of his position, working both sides of the law. Uh Oh.

While acting the lawman on the job, it is said that he and his posse of about 25 unsavory cohorts, called The Innocents, terrorized the gold camps, robbing and murdering in cold blood 102 people, along with his old prison buddy.

It wouldn’t be hard to recruit them. In a growing mining town, all kinds of men came to try their luck. Alongside the honest hardworking fair men, who formed the Miner’s Court, there were the other types not so nice: “Civil War deserters from both sides, river pirates, professional gamblers, outlaws and villains.”

YIKES! People in the town put two and two together and figured out that the evidence pointed to Henry Banner being involved with these vicious thugs. Something had to be done to stop the killing. On December 23, 1863 the first Vigilante Committee was organized, forming a posse of men from Virginia City and Bannack. The executive officer was James Williams.

By the end of January, they had hunted down and hung on the spot 24 of the robbers. They also hanged Henry Plummer and his two deputies at night from the gallows on the hill just above Bannack. Henry Plummer was buried in a box in hangman’s gulch at the age of 27! His grave was robbed twice. The second time, someone took his head and kept it as a keepsake in the back of the Saloon. The Saloon later burned to the ground.

This quick form of justice was thought necessary at the time because they had no help from the government, and people were being viciously murdered and robbed. Other historians aren’t so sure that Henry Plummer was involved; the evidence is sketchy they say and wouldn’t hold up in today’s court. They further theorize that perhaps that some on the Vigilante Committee were the culprits. There is no evidence of that either.

However, if one looks at Plummer’s history of crime before he came to Bannack, he was involved with robbing others and even killed a few people along the way. It isn’t hard to believe that he did what he was accused of, being the mastermind behind the killings and robberies.

After the demise of The Innocents, the robberies continued for a little while by other gangs, until a stronger arm of the law eventually came in to control it. However, in 1867, the Vigilantes living in Bannack were told by the people of Bannack to stop hanging people. It wasn’t going to be tolerated either, so it stopped.

The Spirit of Henry Powell

The spirit of the infamous Henry Powell haunts the various buildings in Bannack, especially his favorite places, like Skinner Saloon, a favorite hangout of Powell and his “road agents.”

He probably visits Chrismans’ Store as well.

If he was innocent, his spirit may be trying to clear his name, some theorize.

He may be looking for his missing head!