Built over a century ago, Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful Inn has had plenty of time to accumulate a collection of ghost stories. If you ask the right people, you won't be disappointed. From specific rooms that are haunted to flickering lights and including fire extinguishers that turn upside down and back up again to the amazement and horror of astonished bystanders, there are enough eerie tales about the historic inn to fill a book. There is one terrifying tale, however, that tops them all on the creep scale. It's a story of a gold-digging Cassanova and murder, and it just might be the most chilling urban legend in all of Wyoming.
Stately and historical, the Old Faithful Inn can conjure up visions of both a charming old-world castle as well as a menacing haunted mansion.
Guests and employees both have stories to tell about disembodied footsteps running through the hallways and doors that open and close by an unseen hand.
The creepiest ghost story at the inn had its beginnings back in 1915 when a shipping company heiress from New York refused to go through with a marriage arranged by her father that would unite two wealthy families. Instead, she eloped with an older man who also happened to be a servant in her father's employ.
Naturally, the father was enraged and heartbroken. Not only would the arranged marriage have been good for his business, but he also felt that the servant was only interested in her inheritance. Thinking the hired hand would leave his daughter if the money were taken out of the equation, he came up with a plan to reveal the servant's true colors. He offered the couple a considerable amount of cash as a wedding present, but it came with two conditions. First, the daughter would be cut off financially if they accepted the gift and went through with the marriage. Second, the newlyweds had to leave New York never to return. The father's plan backfired, though. The couple happily accepted the money and left for Wyoming, where they planned to spend their honeymoon at a fairly new inn they'd heard about.
The bride and groom arrived at the Old Faithful Inn and checked into room 127. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before their nest egg started running low. It turned out the girl's husband had been in it for the money, which he lavishly spent and foolishly gambled away. Less than a month after arriving, there was no money left to pay the hotel bill.
The story says that the young lady did contact her father and asked for more money, but she was turned down.
The staff reported witnessing heated arguments in the dining room and hearing shouting matches in the hallways outside the couple's private room. Tensions escalated and one night guests and employees heard an especially loud and violent argument coming from room 127. The husband left in a rage and was never seen again. Not wanting to intrude on a private matter, the staff left the bride alone. When no one had seen her for a couple of days, though, they decided to check on her.
The knock on the door wasn't answered, so the manager and a maid carefully entered the room, calling the bride's name. The room was a mess with clothing and furnishings thrown about, but it seemed to be deserted.
Seeing that no one was in the bedroom, the maid looked inside the bathroom, then let out a blood-curdling scream. The bride's body lay in the bathtub, and there was blood everywhere — but her head was missing. The police were called, and a thorough search of the inn was conducted, but the bride's head wasn't found.
A few days later, a terrible odor began wafting through the lobby and upper floors of the inn. In those days, the Crow's Nest was where the orchestra played, high above guests listening from the landings or dancing in the lobby below. That fateful day, the only thing found in the ornate timber loft was the decapitated head of the unfortunate bride.
Through the years, sightings have been reported of a headless woman in a flowing white gown descending the stairs from the Crow's Nest, which is supposed to be off-limits to guests and unauthorized personnel.
Some of the support beams in the Crow's Nest were damaged in an earthquake in 1959, causing the hotel's management to close it off to the public because of unsafe conditions.
In 1991, the former assistant manager of the Old Faithful Inn admitted to making up the entire story almost 10 years before, saying that he thought it would give the old hotel an air of mystery. To this day, however, the story is still circulating.
Even though the details of this urban legend were revealed to be just a story, the unexplained occurrences at the inn are what inspired the assistant manager to weave his eerie tale. Still, the true facts might not be known, but who is the woman in white who is said to haunt this grand old hotel?
Have you had a supernatural experience at the Old Faithful Inn? What other creepy Wyoming urban legends have you heard?6
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