Colorado Haunted History

Colorado Haunted History Colorado Haunted History currently provides historically accurate haunted walking tours of Morrison a Children under 5 are free.
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Colorado Haunted History currently provides historically accurate haunted history tours of Morrison and Golden, Colorado. The Morrison tour is a one and a half hour walking tour covering the fascinating history amd paranormal accounts of this small town located just minutes from Denver and literally in the shadow of Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. Tales include the Hatchet Lady of Red Rocks, the

ghosts of the haunted Cliff House, ghost stories of love, murder, robbery, and much more. The Golden tours cover the wild west origins of this town that once was the territorial capital of Colorado. Hear harrowing tales of multiple hangings, shootouts, disasters, and the spirits that still hang around. Due to some salty language and the nature of a few stories, parental guidance is advised on this tour. Tours cost $30 for adults and $20 for children 12 and under. Check the website for currently available tours, however, groups of five or more can request other dates and times throughout the year.

888-649-3849
www.coloradohauntedhistory.com

11/21/2024

This is sad news to hear. Bishop Castle is such an iconic location.

On this date in 1903, it was reported that Father Lepore (pictured) of the Church of our Lady of Mount Carmel had died f...
11/21/2024

On this date in 1903, it was reported that Father Lepore (pictured) of the Church of our Lady of Mount Carmel had died from his gunshot wounds, obtained during a quarrel with Joseph Sorice inside the church. Sorice died about an hour later.

Conflicting stories arose as to what led to the shooting in the church. Father Lepore claimed that Sorice had come from out East where he lost a sum of money from a bank that Lepore unsuccessfully ran several years prior. Sorice came into his office and began shooting. Lepore's nephew claims the two men were playing cards for a quarter a game, and heard the priest say "You lose." An argument ensued, and then Sorice yelled, "YOU lose!!" Gunshots followed.

Whatever led to the shooting, the facts of the shooting were not confused. Sorice shot Father Lepore three times, and then tried to escape out the back door. Lepore caught up to him and turned Sorice's gun upon him and shot him in the abdomen, upon which Sorice fell down the stairs. The gun was found in a heap of trash/rubble at the bottom of the stairs as the church was still under construction.

Father Lepore called out for his nephew and sent for his brother. Lepore asked to be led to the alter, leaving a trail of blood from the hallway into the sacristy. He tried to kneel before the Virgin Mary, but sank, burying his head into a prayer cushion. Both men died at St. Joseph's Hospital. Father Lepore is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Sorice is buried in an unmarked grave in Riverside Cemetery.

This week in 1919, the Colorado School of Mines was in a very heated rivalry with the University of Denver. DU students ...
11/10/2024

This week in 1919, the Colorado School of Mines was in a very heated rivalry with the University of Denver. DU students consistently threatened that they were going to paint the M on the hillside crimson and gold. However, before they did so, a couple of explosions occurred on the DU campus, shattering many windows.

On November 7th, eight DU students made the trek to Golden and attempted to paint the M, but they were discovered and captured by Mines students. They were then placed in mining overalls, had their heads shaved, and were branded with silver nitrate paint on their foreheads (photo).

The next day, Mines students, fed up with the negative stories told about them by the Denver Post, invited a reporter out for a 'Big Story.' They captured him, placed him in overalls, and forced him to carry a copy of the Post that stated 'Yellow Journal.' He was saved from the branding when he declared he was leaving the Post in a few days.

The game on the 8th ended in a 0-0 tie in snowy conditions.

On November 10th an explosion on the mountainside blew away a part of the 'M'. A major snowstorm prevented any tracking of the perpetrators. This was followed by a proclamation from the governor declaring an end to the lawlessness, and a hope that he would not need to send in troops to stop it.

On this day in 1887, Doc Holliday (or Holladay as many newspapers spelled it) passed away from consumption in Glenwood S...
11/08/2024

On this day in 1887, Doc Holliday (or Holladay as many newspapers spelled it) passed away from consumption in Glenwood Springs. His remains were taken to the cemetery that afternoon, but it was believed the ground was too frozen to bury him at that time. Nobody knows the exact spot that he was buried.

As reported in the Denver Republican:

"Doc Holladay is dead. Few men have been better known to a certain class of sporting people, and few men of his character had more friends or stronger champions. He represented a class of men who are fast disappearing in the New West. He had the reputation of being a bunco-man, desperado and bad man generally, yet he was a very mild-mannered man; was genial and companionable, and had many excellent qualities. In Arizona he was associated with the Wyatt Earp gang. These men were officers of the law, and were opposed to the "rustlers" or cattle thieves. Holladay killed several men during his life in Arizona and his body was full of wounds received in bloody encounters. His history was an interesting one. He was sometimes in the right, but quite often in the wrong, probably, in his various escapades. The Doctor had only one deadly encounter in Colorado, and this was in Leadville. He was well known in Denver and had lived here a great deal in the past few years. He had strong friends in some old-time detective officers and in certain representatives of the sporting element. He was a rather good looking man and his coolness and courage, his affable ways and fund of interesting experiences, won him many admirers. He was a strong friend, a cool and determined enemy and a man of quite strong character. He has been well known to all the States and Territories west of Kentucky, which was his old home. His death took place at Glenwood Springs Tuesday morning."

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!Thanks to everyone that attended one of my tours this season! I absolutely love telling ...
11/05/2024

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thanks to everyone that attended one of my tours this season! I absolutely love telling the stories of these two small towns and seeing the shock on your faces as some disturbing tidbit is revealed. I also love interacting with you and hearing your own stories that cause me to start researching even further into the histories and mysteries of Colorado.

Stay tuned, as I am diligently working on a 3rd potential tour to begin sometime next year. Throughout the winter, I'll also continue to post stories from Colorado's darker past.

Thank you for our continued partnership in Morrison. It's been a pleasure to start and end the tours at your haunted establishment.

Until next time, Joel

Photo credit: Laura R. (Thanks!)

Halloween may be officially over, but that can't stop us from telling spooky stories. This is the last weekend to take a...
11/01/2024

Halloween may be officially over, but that can't stop us from telling spooky stories. This is the last weekend to take a haunted history tour of Morrison or Golden this year. I have room for you to join either tour. The weather looks great!

Happy Halloween!This illustration is from a 1924 issue of the Rocky Mountain News, as part of an article about things to...
10/31/2024

Happy Halloween!
This illustration is from a 1924 issue of the Rocky Mountain News, as part of an article about things to buy for the season. One item was Halloween candy gift boxes from Smith's Candy Store that was in Denver at that time. "The Halloween boxes are particularly interesting, for they contain every candy novelty, chocolate mice and cats, cream pumpkins, red apples and long Halloween sticks - and Smith's feature them for only 50 cents the box."

Another amazing review of the Murder, Mayhem, and Madness tour! Thank you Katherine!The last opportunity to take that to...
10/30/2024

Another amazing review of the Murder, Mayhem, and Madness tour! Thank you Katherine!

The last opportunity to take that tour this year will be this coming Saturday. Don't miss out! The last Morrison tours will likely be this Friday.

Haunted tour season is flying by, and we're down to the last week! Six opportunities left to join, including tonight in ...
10/28/2024

Haunted tour season is flying by, and we're down to the last week! Six opportunities left to join, including tonight in Golden before the weather starts to turn a little chilly again. Thanks to everybody that has already joined me this year!
Photo from Denver Public Library archives.

After a great night in Golden last night, I'm back in Morrison tonight. The 6:30 tour is sold out, but there are a few s...
10/26/2024

After a great night in Golden last night, I'm back in Morrison tonight. The 6:30 tour is sold out, but there are a few spots left at 9 pm (when the town is quieter and spookier). We won't be hiking to the cemetery (1.5 miles away), but it will certainly be mentioned a couple of times.

It's here! Everyone's favorite weekend before Halloween is upon us! There's still time to join a haunted history tour of...
10/25/2024

It's here! Everyone's favorite weekend before Halloween is upon us! There's still time to join a haunted history tour of Golden or Morrison. Next week may be the last week for the year. Don't miss out!

On this date in 1914, (110 years ago) George Quinn shot and killed William Herbertson in front of Herbertson's wife, Nel...
10/24/2024

On this date in 1914, (110 years ago) George Quinn shot and killed William Herbertson in front of Herbertson's wife, Nellie (who had Quinn's unborn child), at this apartment building located at 1045 West Fourteenth Avenue in Denver. According to the newspaper reports:
"...as Herbertson fell with the top of his head torn away by the charge from a shotgun, Quinn turned the weapon toward Nellie, who, with her 20-months-old baby, had witnessed the shooting.

Mrs. Herbertson fled to a pantry, where she pleaded with Quinn to spare her life for the sake of her unborn child. Quinn lowered his gun and fled, but later returned to the house and surrendered himself to the police.

The love of the two men for the woman is said to have been the cause of the killing.
Members of Herbertson's family charged that Mrs. Herbertson's account of the shooting was false and that she had conspired with Quinn to cause her husband's death."

Nellie was never charged as an accessory to her husband's death, even though the unborn child belonged to Quinn!

Quinn was found guilty of murder in November of 1914, and sentenced to death. However, in July of 1915, Quinn and Nellie married in the county jail in order to legitimize their son's birth and name. "I want him to be a prize-fighter. Look how well built that kid is," were the words of Quinn in regards to his son, knowing he would never see him grow up. Immediately after the ceremony in the warden's office, Quinn was led back to his jail cell.

Quinn was hanged the evening of January 28th, 1916. His final statement was, "Just say that I died game as I said I would. Tell them to take care of the boy," referring to the son born to the widow of the man he had murdered. "At the sight of the gallows Quinn shrank slightly but squared his shoulders and continued resolutely. He slowly mounted the steps of the platform. As the executioner fitted the black cap over Quinn’s head the slayer’s lips moved in prayer but no sound was audible. Quinn was hurled upward and swung like a pendulum. In five minutes the physicians pronounced him dead."

We have another busy weekend of tours coming up! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's early tours are all sold out, but there'...
10/23/2024

We have another busy weekend of tours coming up! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's early tours are all sold out, but there's plenty of room to join the late night tours when the towns are quieter, and perhaps spookier as well.

Next week, there are some weekday evening tours, and then one final weekend. Don't miss out this season!

A sad and disturbing story from this date in 1919: Headless Body of Man Found in Pine TreeA skull which rolled across th...
10/22/2024

A sad and disturbing story from this date in 1919:

Headless Body of Man Found in Pine Tree

A skull which rolled across the trail in front of a couple of ranch hands last Sunday near the Charles Wilson ranch on Coal Creek, led to a search which resulted in the discovery of the headless body of a man, sitting in the fork of a pine tree. The grewsome find was made within 500 yards of the Wilson home and revealed a su***de which undoubtedly took place some time last winter.

Coroner Woods was called from Golden and after some difficulty extricated the body from the tree and brought it to Golden for investigation.

It was clearly a case of su***de by hanging, according to the coroner, as the rope used was still tied to the tree and the loop at the other end was still caught in the collar of the coat. The man had evidently climbed up as far as he could into the tree, tied one end of the rope around his neck and the other around a limb and then let himself fall. After the body swung there for many months, the skull came off and the body fell in a sitting posture in a fork of the tree, with one arm hooked over a limb, making it appear as though death had come while the man was sitting there. Had it not been that the skull came off and rolled to the trail, it is likely that the remains would have remained undiscovered, as the body was hidden in the thick branches of the pine tree.
It is very evident that the su***de took place last winter sometime as the body was dressed in warm clothing. There were two coats and a sweater on it, and the heavy gloves and overshoes which had been worn had fallen to the foot of the tree. Evidently the man had taken precautions to destroy all means of identification, and the only clue left is a small note book, from the cover of which an attempt had been made to erase a name. Under a magnifying glass this name appears to be Bartle, or Barker, or some such name, and at the bottom the cover the words "in acct' C. Crowley" can be made out. Several pieces of wrapping paper, a few shoestrings, a handkerchief and an old silver watch were the only things found in the pockets.
Judging from the appearance of the teeth and the hair, Coroner Woods figures the remains to be those of a man probably 55 or 60 years of age. It is the coroner's theory that he was a section man employed on the Moffat road, near which the body was found.
Later --- The body was identified yesterday by Mrs. Frank Zollers, of Denver, as being that of her husband. Identification was made by the clothing and the watch. Mrs. Zollers said that her husband left home the 9th of last April, saying he was going in search of work. He had been without work for some time and had grown very despondent, she said. The remains will be sent to Denver for burial.

Photo by César Guadarrama Cantú on Unsplash

I received this amazing review today based on the Golden tour this last weekend! Thanks for the kind words! There's stil...
10/21/2024

I received this amazing review today based on the Golden tour this last weekend! Thanks for the kind words!

There's still time for you to join in the next couple of weeks!

Every once in a while I discover advertisements in the newspapers what sound like medicines that are too good to be true...
10/21/2024

Every once in a while I discover advertisements in the newspapers what sound like medicines that are too good to be true. A lot of the 'medicines' claimed to cure all kinds of ailments, but many of them contained ingredients that probably caused more harm than good. For instance, I found this advertisement in an 1885 paper for Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup:

"Advice to Mothers
Are you disturbed at night and broken of your rest by a sick child suffering and crying with pain of cutting teeth? If so, send at once and get a bottle of Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup For Children Teething. Its value is incalculable. It will relieve the poor little sufferer immediately. Depend upon it, mothers there is no mistake about it. It cures dysentery and diarrhea, regulates the stomach and bowels, cures wind colic, softens the gums, reduces inflammation, and gives tone and energy to the whole system. [It] is pleasant to the taste, and is the prescription of one of the oldest and best female nurses and physicians in the United States and is for sale by all druggists throughout the world."

Now, this sounded too good to be true, and to some extent it is. This syrup definitely produced the results the mother needed or desired, but that's because it was comprised of high levels of morphine and alcohol. As the syrup became known as the 'baby killer', it was found to have 65 mg of morphine per ounce. One teaspoon had the morphine content equivalent to 20 drops of laudanum, which babies were recommended to have no more than 2-3 drops of laudanum.

Babies certainly went to sleep after having a teaspoon of this syrup, but many never woke up again. Estimates are that thousands of children died from overdose, or from addiction and withdrawal.

This formula was sold for over 60 years (from about 1850-1910s), with ads touting that fact, and millions of bottles were sold.

Thankfully, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 forced companies to disclose the ingredients on their packaging. Within a decade, Mrs. Winslow's was forced to remove morphine from the syrup, and it ceased being sold all together in the 1930s.

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Mount Vernon Avenue At Stone Street
Morrison, CO
80465

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(888) 649-3849

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Colorado Haunted History currently provides historically accurate haunted history tours of Morrison and Golden, Colorado. The Morrison tour is a one and a half hour walking tour covering the fascinating history amd paranormal accounts of this small town located just minutes from Denver and literally in the shadow of Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. Tales include the Hatchet Lady of Red Rocks, the ghosts of the haunted Cliff House, ghost stories of love, murder, robbery, and much more. The Golden tours cover the wild west origins of this town that once was the territorial capital of Colorado. Hear harrowing tales of multiple hangings, shootouts, disasters, and the spirits that still hang around. Due to some salty language and the nature of a few stories, parental guidance is advised on this tour. Tours cost $20 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. Children 5 and under are free. Check the website for currently available tours, however, groups of five or more can request other dates and times throughout the year. 888-649-3849 www.coloradohauntedhistory.com

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