GHOSTLY VISITORS
ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY ELLEN BAUMLER
Many report hearing footsteps in the Bonanza Inn's empty hallway.
I
heard voices in the empty kitchen and the air felt strangely heavy. I had stayed in the house before, but never alone. This time, some- thing was off-kilter. I loved its timeworn rooms so I made a sweep of the house with my digital camera. Scrolling through the photos, I noticed orbs — bubbles of light that some believe are evidence of the super- natural, in a number of the frames. Odd, I thought. I struggled to shut and lock the back door in the adjoin- ing room, made certain it was secure, pulled down all the shades, turned out the light, and fumbled my way to bed in the dark.
www.distinctlymontana.com
I awoke with a start around 1 a.m. The house was utterly silent, but something wasn't right. What was it? Then it dawned on me that the room was no longer dark. I crept out of bed, stepped into the back room, and a scream stuck in my throat. The back door stood wide open; silver moonlight flooded into the house, touching everything with an eerie metallic glimmer.
I instantly
knew that the heaviness — whatever it was — had gone out the door.
Later that same week, in August of 2009, I again stayed alone at the restored state-owned Daems House, once home to an early-day physician, on Idaho Street
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IDAHO STREET IN VIRGINIA CITY HAS ITS SECRETS
