Spectral Storytelling Sojourns with Madame DuBois

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Spectral Storytelling Sojourns with Madame DuBois Historical walking tours of Denver with a haunting twist

On the night of May 19, 1864, the residents of the frontier town of Denver, Colorado Territory, went to sleep blissfully...
19/08/2024

On the night of May 19, 1864, the residents of the frontier town of Denver, Colorado Territory, went to sleep blissfully unaware of the fact that they were about to experience the city's first major flood. Swollen by days of rain, the waters of Cherry Creek and the Platte River overflowed their banks—taking an untold number of lives, millions of dollars of property, and irreplaceable city records.

The Great Flood of 1864 is described in some detail by seminal Denver historian Jerome Smiley in his 1901 book History of Denver. He says that the "old plainsmen and mountaineers" had been seeing signs of potential flooding in the form of swollen creeks and minor flash flooding, but Denverites ignored their warnings.

Smiley describes what happened next:

After midnight the creek suddenly became an angry roaring torrent that exercised its long-reserved powers of devastation without warning. It swept down upon and through the town like a besom of destruction; through the collection of dwellings, saloons and business establishments that stood directly in it its course, it tore its way, and daylight on the morning of the 20th revealed the extent of the mischief it had wrought.

To understand why "mischief" is such an understatement in this case, it's worth taking a look at what the Denver/Auraria area looked like in 1864. For starters, the two towns had only recently agreed to stop competing and come together as one city. According to Smiley, Auraria hosted more businesses (mainly saloons and gambling halls), while Denver had more residences. The bulk of civic life was clustered around Cherry Creek in what is, more or less, today's Larimer Square and the intersections of 16th Street, 17th Street, Market and Larimer Streets.

Although both sides of Cherry Creek were devastated by the raging waters, the Auraria side of the creek was crippled due to a lethal disadvantage—a much lower elevation. Auraria thus took the brunt of the raging floodwaters wrought on the pioneer town. The next morning, Auraria was still covered in several feet of water and some residents had to be rescued by boat.

At least eight people were known to have been killed in the flood, though the exact number was never known for certain —and Denverites weren't the only ones killed in the maelstrom. Smiley reports two separate incidences of women and children being swept to their deaths in the flood in Plum Creek and another group "some distance above the town." One lucky woman was pulled in the torrent, but somehow managed to pull herself out and was discovered a full eighteen miles downstream from Denver.

Besides the cost in human lives and livelihoods, the City of Denver lost some irreplaceable history in the flood of 1864. Among the buildings that the flood took away was the "Old City Hall" on Blake Street near Cherry Creek. Smiley reports that one of the objects lost with the building was a safe containing the city's earliest land and municipal records; items which certainly would have been retained (maybe even by Denver Public Library) and would have proven very useful in adjudicating future Denver real estate battles.

Also lost in the flood was the original Rocky Mountain News building, which rested on stilts along the creek bed near Market Street. The paper lost thousands of dollars worth of property, along with the only copies of a few of its earliest issues. A brave RMN employee named John L. Dailey grabbed some cash and a few records from the building as it crumbled into the creek, but was lucky to escape with his life. A few years later, construction workers found pieces of the old Rocky's press buried beneath 15 feet of mud. Those pieces were retained by the Colorado Historical Society.

Although the city's buildings were thoroughly devastated by the flood, the people appear to have rebuilt without much fuss. After all, they were barely a year out from rebuilding from the Great Fire of 1864. No doubt businesses thought long and hard before building so close to Cherry Creek, and Auraria never really regained its pre-flood swagger. Cherry Creek and the South Platte River overflowed multiple times until the city finally got them under control, more or less, during Mayor Robert Speer's administration. But on the night of May 19, 1864, those two bodies of water showed the people of Denver that they were a long way from being tamed.

Walking around Uptown! While politics are plenty scary on their own, there’s another reason you should be wary of visiti...
12/08/2024

Walking around Uptown!
While politics are plenty scary on their own, there’s another reason you should be wary of visiting the Colorado State Capitol Building: it is crawling with ghosts! Disembodied floating heads, the sounds of ghostly horses, restless spirits wandering the top floor have all been reported by curious Capitol visitors. One of the most common sightings is a white v***r that rises from the Senate and forms itself into a Victorian lady. Many believe she’s the ghost of a jealous senator’s wife. Others report seeing a phantom nicknamed “Henry” who wanders the Capitol, guarding a secret stash of cash that is reportedly hidden in the tunnels beneath the building…
Come wander Denver’s streets with me!
https://www.spectralstoryteller.com/

Icehouses in Denver revolutionized life in Denver. On January 11, 1860, the Rocky Mountain News wrote of a gentleman, wh...
07/08/2024

Icehouses in Denver revolutionized life in Denver. On January 11, 1860, the Rocky Mountain News wrote of a gentleman, who had experience in the ice trade back East, (Boston) completing an ice house in Denver.
The Rocky Mountain News then provided an update on the ice house's progress on February 22, 1860, reporting that "..with twelve hands, and two horses they are putting up near two hundred tons per day."
Kershaw's ice house had over a 1,000-ton capacity. Each ice block, cut with a horse-drawn ice plow, was sized 22 x 36 inches and ranged from 8 to 12 inches thick. The ice blocks were stored in layers. While many ice houses used straw to insulate the layers of ice, Kershaw claimed to use broken bits of ice. The ice house itself was well-insulated; it had "double walls twelve inches apart, the intervening space being filled with saw dust."
By the end of May 1860, the Crystal Lake Ice Company was open for business and advertising in the Rocky Mountain News Weekly.
On Christmas Eve 1861, Kershaw's ice house burned to the ground at around 10 p.m. (the sawdust insulation in the walls was problematic). Losses were estimated to total between $2000 and $3000.
By late February 1862, the ice house was being rebuilt. And in a gesture that seemed to foresee the city's growth, the new building was made twice the size of the old one—ensuring that ice cream in Denver could truly be "kept constantly on hand."
Alden's Hotel and Restaurant on Blake Street boasted how their tables were "spread with the best the market affords"—including game, fish, oysters, and ice cream!
Stories abound in this building of spirits still hard at work in the Icehouse…

06/08/2024

Let’s get spooky! Book your Historical, Haunted Walking Tour today!

01/08/2024

When Elizabeth ‘Baby Doe’ McCourt wed Colorado silver magnate Horace Tabor in Washington, D.C. in 1883, news of the scandalous occasion and the extravagant dress the bride wore spread throughout the nation.

Rumors ensued about its lengthy train and modern, low-cut neckline; the silver thread that people imagined it being sewn with. The gown symbolized Baby Doe’s daring ambition and youthful beauty, and her rapid ascent into a life of wealth. However, it would also come to immortalize her decline. After the Tabors lost their fortune, Baby Doe kept her dress in a storage trunk, where it aged and became stained with water. It was discovered after her death in 1935 and displayed for decades, worsening its condition, before being moved into storage 📦

👗 This fall Baby Doe’s wedding dress will undergo conservation treatment for the first time in 43 years. Come learn about its story and upcoming conservation on August 8th, when curators Shaun Boyd and Tara Kaufman, and conservator Paulette Reading, will present this momentous project!

Donate to the conservation fund and learn more at: https://www.historycolorado.org/baby-doe-wedding-dress
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Everything in Denver changed completely in 1881 with the opening of Union Station on June 1st. The original building spa...
31/07/2024

Everything in Denver changed completely in 1881 with the opening of Union Station on June 1st. The original building spanned over 500 ft and was adorned with a 180 ft clock tower at its center. Giving it the distinction of being the tallest building in the west. It stood for less than three years and on March 18th, 1894, an electrical fire consumed the station. Its replacement was quickly rebuilt, but soon the city outgrew that station and the beautiful new gateway to the Mile High City, and indeed the gateway to the West, The Union Station building we see today, opened its doors in 1914. So many people have passed through the station's doors, but there are stories of the few that remain trapped by unknown forces, their spirits still roaming the building.

One such story is that of an old man down on his luck, who had decided that it would be best to sleep off his enormous alcohol induced haze on a bench on the Dark Platform one summer evening. It must have been some time during the night that he either rolled over or perhaps stumbled awake, unsure of where he had taken perch. In any case, that man was not seen again. Not until, of course, they found his now lifeless train splattered co**se spread across the tracks. For years it has been reported that this man has remained in the station on the platform. His ghost content to spook random passersby as they come and go.

Other reports of the paranormal around the station include those of a man apparently befuddled on which train he ought to take. He roams around the lobby, confused and panicked, wandering back and forth for a time until he suddenly vanishes into thin air. It is believed that this gentleman might well be the ghostly afterimage of a traveler long passed by who had died in the station while waiting for his train to arrive caught in a crazy deja boo situation!

Another phenomenon is that of a very commanding presence who maintains watch over the station's Great Hall. Having never actually been seen, only felt, this figure remains shrouded deeply in mystery, thought to perhaps be a military man. Due to his strength of presence and his diligence in keeping watch. Many common travelers have felt reassured by his presence.

And there is the ghost of a homeless man with just three fingers. He has terrified passengers and workers by appearing, then disappearing suddenly all over the station. The creepy entity of the See through three fingered hobo would appear like clockwork on the main platform and proceed to the lobby and then to the office area of the depot, and then get his chuckles by bothering the ticket agents by tapping on the glass of the window of the ticket booths…. by the way, these windows are still in place of part of the beautiful Terminal Bar, in the main atrium. you should go and treat yourself!! Have three fingers of whiskey in the hobo’s memory!!

Another tale is of a little girl in the clock tower. In the year 2000, a maintenance worker went in to adjust the clock for daylight savings time. He came running out of the tunnels clearly distressed. Claiming to have seen an apparition of a young girl walking around inside the tunnel. He said she was dressed in 1800s period clothing, wandering and playing in the tunnels beneath the location of the old clock tower, eerily singing softly to herself … Many others also reported to have since caught a glimpse of her, or at least heard her in the tunnels. Could this be the ghosts of one of the young victims of the 1894 fire? Is she still wandering the building looking for her family and for her train to depart?

Want to hear more stories my Lovelues? Book your LoDo tour with me, Madame, today!

https://www.spectralstoryteller.com/

Cheesman Park… 👻👻👻Ask anyone who has spent time in Cheesman Park. They will tell you it is a very eerie place. In fact, ...
27/07/2024

Cheesman Park… 👻👻👻

Ask anyone who has spent time in Cheesman Park. They will tell you it is a very eerie place. In fact, it inspired the pool scene in the movie “Poltergeist.” Originally, below the pavilion there was to be a” water Lily lake” surrounded by trees “the likes no one had ever seen”. However, this lake never came to fruition since when digging out the hole for the pond, it suddenly became extremely rainy. Causing lots of localized flooding. It also filled up the hole that had been dug for the lake, sending a large amount of skeletal remains bobbing to the top!
The idea for the pond was scrapped.

https://www.spectralstoryteller.com/

Come promade with me on my LoDo and Red Light district tour. Hear about the ghostly visitor of the Cruise Room. A beauti...
20/07/2024

Come promade with me on my LoDo and Red Light district tour. Hear about the ghostly visitor of the Cruise Room. A beautiful Art Deco bar in the Oxford Hotel. It opened the day after prohibition ended. We can pop in for a wonderful cocktail too if you wish!
https://www.spectralstoryteller.com/

13/07/2024

Here's a cool thing, courtesy of Ruth Zalewski at the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum. Yesterday the museum sponsored a preservation class at Victor, Colorado's Sunnyside Cemetery. Participants learned how to identify, preserve, clean and restore the graveyard's historic tombstones.

Among the images Ruth took was this picture of Robert "Bob" Speed's tombstone. It happens that I wrote about Mr. Speed's untimely death, as well as the fact that he was actually buried three different times, in my upcoming book Wicked Cripple Creek District. And it brings me comfort that he has a nice tombstone so he will be remembered. The book comes put October 6, and pre-orders will start soon. Stay tuned!

Out with my ghoulfriends tonight!  👻🖤Book the Capitol Hill walking ghost tour with me, Madame, we shall have a haunted h...
06/07/2024

Out with my ghoulfriends tonight! 👻🖤
Book the Capitol Hill walking ghost tour with me, Madame, we shall have a haunted hoot!

https://www.spectralstoryteller.com/

Linger2030 W. 30th Ave., DenverColorado’s only Death-Themed RestaurantPicture this: A former mortuary converted to a dea...
26/06/2024

Linger
2030 W. 30th Ave., Denver
Colorado’s only Death-Themed Restaurant

Picture this: A former mortuary converted to a death-themed restaurant complete with coffin-shaped happy hour menus. Yep. Sure to be some ghosts…maybe even Buffalo Bill Cody’s, whose body remained in the mortuary for six months while Colorado and Wyoming fought to bury his remains. While the water is served in bottles that look like they contained formaldehyde, the drinks definitely don’t leave a suspicious aftertaste. Instead the renowned restaurant is a hotspot in Denver’s LoHi neighborhood.

Bar Red437 West Colfax Ave.Bar Red simply has too many “unique” qualities not to be haunted. Considering a Prohibition-e...
20/06/2024

Bar Red
437 West Colfax Ave.

Bar Red simply has too many “unique” qualities not to be haunted. Considering a Prohibition-era tunnel, a door that goes nowhere, and a history as a brothel, this 120-year-old building seems to have a spirit or two. No wonder the owner claims to have seen a red mist in the cellar, heard inexplicable crashes and footsteps, and had a hair-raising sensation that prevented him from looking back. But, paranormal experts claim that the ghosts aren’t a menace, so the place gladly welcomes visitors to enjoy a mix of Italian and American cuisine with an assortment of boos and spirits of all kinds 👻🖤

Celtic on Market1400 Market St., DenverThe Celtic resides on Market Street, long considered the most notorious street in...
18/06/2024

Celtic on Market
1400 Market St., Denver

The Celtic resides on Market Street, long considered the most notorious street in Denver. In it’s heyday, it featured parlor houses, maisons de joie, brothels, dancehalls and hurdy gurdy houses. Now, it’s included in numerous “haunted tours” of the city because eerie occurrences have become commonplace: flickering lights, unexplained footsteps and chilling whispers. Staff members have encountered objects moving on their own, and whispers of long-forgotten conversations echo through empty hallways. The origins of this haunting remain shrouded in mystery, but many speculate it to be tied to the building’s rich history, stretching back to those early days of Denver. The current proprietors are happy to distract you with onsite sports betting, Irish-inspired dishes and free-flowing pints of Guinness.

Rock Rest Lodge16005 Old Golden Rd, GoldenIn a tale almost to unreal to be believable, there is Molly Barton…The Lady in...
17/06/2024

Rock Rest Lodge
16005 Old Golden Rd, Golden

In a tale almost to unreal to be believable, there is Molly Barton…The Lady in Red. In 1923 when the Rock Rest Lodge was a brothel and speakeasy, young Molly was entertaining a gentleman when another entered the room and stole her clothes. Thrown to the rafters, a naked Molly was undeterred. She climbed the posts, retrieved her dress and bloomers but tragically fell reaching for her bra. But that’s not all. In her fall, she dislodged a stuffed moose head whose horn impaled young Molly’s heart. Her spirit still resides in the Lodge where she has been photographed. Fab burgers and wings… and Murray the Rhino! You should go! 🖤🖤🖤

In the Spring of 1908, three women walked onto the Longchamp racecourse in Paris and jaws dropped. The elite society eve...
16/06/2024

In the Spring of 1908, three women walked onto the Longchamp racecourse in Paris and jaws dropped. The elite society event was known for debuting the latest couture creations to the public, but no one had seen fashion quite like this before. Dressed in blue, white and havane brown creations, according to newspapers, spectators called the three women a “monstrosity”, accused them of being semi-naked and showing revolting décolletage. It was these three dresses however, which would forever change fashion that day and launch the twentieth century silhouette 🖤🖤🖤

15/06/2024
I have been called and compared to a dark Mary Poppins my entire adult life, I originally thought it was just because I ...
13/06/2024

I have been called and compared to a dark Mary Poppins my entire adult life, I originally thought it was just because I was British, and it used to annoy me… but now I fully embrace the gift I have been given!
Come and join me on a spooky, yet educational, but still extremely fun adventure! Book your historical ghost walking tour with me today!

https://www.spectralstoryteller.com/

My partners in crime! My beautiful friends Ambre Rouge and Minerva the Undead conspiring in the green room before our sh...
10/06/2024

My partners in crime! My beautiful friends Ambre Rouge and Minerva the Undead conspiring in the green room before our show 🖤🖤🖤

Hello my Lovelies!! It’s me! The classy lassie with the sassy chassis!! Join me and my wonderful friends this evening at...
08/06/2024

Hello my Lovelies!! It’s me! The classy lassie with the sassy chassis!!
Join me and my wonderful friends this evening at the beautiful, historic Dickens Opera House for a fun filled historical, haunted hoot!! 👻🖤

🖤🖤🖤 Tonight 🖤🖤🖤
08/06/2024

🖤🖤🖤 Tonight 🖤🖤🖤

A hysterical Historical Haunted Extravaganza! A cheeky night of ghost stories for all ages!

The Navarre building, which is now a museum, used to house a brothel. Its location directly across the street from one o...
07/06/2024

The Navarre building, which is now a museum, used to house a brothel. Its location directly across the street from one of Denver’s most prestigious hotels caused some problems for businessmen who did not want to be seen going from one place to the other. Tunnels underneath the buildings helped to solve that problem.

Bar brawls and loose women are indelibly part of the history of the Old West, and Denver, once established, had its red-light district too. Some of these brothels became connected to expensive hotels via an intricate underground tunnel system that was built beneath the Mile High City, as its wealthy citizens did not want to be seen coming and going from such establishments. Rumor has it that these passageways were put to further use during Prohibition, and many businesses used them to transport liquor and sometimes trade it with brothels.
The Navarre was originally built as a school for girls in 1880 and was called the Brinker Collegiate Institute. While originally it served only women, it soon became a coed institution. After the death of the school’s namesake in 1889, the building was sold and reopened as Hotel Richelieu, a more infamous type of establishment. Here, gentlemen could dine with ladies of the night, either publicly or in more private areas of the building.
There was a potential pool of clients just across the street at the Brown Palace Hotel, but business did not take off quite as quickly as the owners of the Richelieu might have hoped. As noted, to be seen coming to and from the Richelieu from the Brown was not ideal for a gentleman, so the idea for the tunnel system was born. The first tunnel connecting the basement of the Brown to the Hotel Richelieu was constructed around 1892. Later, a whole system of tunnels would spread underneath Denver, connecting other hotels—and even the government buildings of the city—to the whorehouses.
Today, buildings can tap into the tunnels for hot or cold air, an unlikely heating and cooling system that is sold by the city of Denver. Due to movement of air, the tunnels can make a plethora of ghostlike sounds but some of the tunnels are too dangerous to enter, and many have been closed down or sealed.
With the help of the tunnels, the Richelieu became the second-best brothel in the city, after Mattie’s House of Mirrors—which, incidentally, is also considered to be haunted.
Many of the ghosts believed to reside in the building (now called The Navarre), predominantly on the second floor, are said to be those of the working girls. Reports say someone pulls back a curtain and can be seen while standing in front of The Navarre.The theory is that the mysterious figure who pulls back the curtain may have been the ghost of a working girl.
The building continued to be used as a brothel until the early 1900s, when it became home to a different kind of discouraged business: gambling. In fact, the building’s current name, The Navarre, came about after the building was lost in a card game. The new owner named the building for a French king. One of the building’s ghost stories is that of a man who was not gambling well one night and decided to pull his gun and shoot himself in the chest for everyone to see. It is said that visitors can hear him wandering the halls on the lower floor.
After the city began clearing out gambling halls and brothels, the building became a fine restaurant and eventually a top jazz club in the city. It was purchased in 1997 by the Anschutz Corporation.

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