Mark Shadley - Haunted Deadwood: A True Wild West Ghost Town

Published by Haunted America

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2012 by Mark Shadley and Josh Wennes

All rights reserved

First published 2012

e-book edition 2012

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.61423.675.7

Library of Congress CIP data applied for.

print ISBN 978.1.60949.325.7

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the authors or The History Press. The authors and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For Peggy, the love of my life and my best friend. I love you!

Mark Shadley

For Amanda, you are my world and I couldnt have done this without you. With love always.

Josh Wennes

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are so many people behind the scenes that make writing a book possible, from those who are responsible for printing, publishing and marketing the book to those we interviewed and depended on to point us in the right direction for research material. It would take a better prose than ours to express our heartfelt feelings of gratitude to each and every person who provided us assistance. But we will try.

Ben Gibson, at The History Press, was always there to answer our questions and had faith that our collective knowledge of local history and paranormal subjects would benefit the project. We also want to thank all those behind the scenes at The History Press who make us look good. Thank you!

Ernie LaPointe, great-grandson of Chief Sitting Bull, educated us about Native American culture and told us some of the fascinating oral history of his ancestors. It was a true honor. And thank you Ernie for your service to our country.

Our friends at the Adams Museum and HouseMary Kopco, director of the Adams Museum and House; Hayley Chambers, curator of the Adams House; and Rose Speirs, communications director of the Adams Museum and Houseprovided an incredible amount of information that directly influenced us and the success of this project. Thank you for your support and friendship.

We were truly appreciative of the friendly staff at the Deadwood Library for providing us with professional, helpful and friendly assistance. They were always willing to answer questions and help us figure out how to work the infernal microfilm machine.

Ron Russo, owner of the Fairmont Hotel, is not only a businessman, but he is also a true and passionate historian at heart. His knowledge of Deadwood history was invaluable to us. Ron is quite the character, and if you have an opportunity to visit Deadwood, stop in, belly up to the bar and say hi. We guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

We would also like to thank the members of the staff of the Bullock Hotel for their eagerness in telling us their stories and for allowing us to roam the hotel. We want to especially thank Molly VanNorman, who provided us with some great stories. If you ever visit the Bullock Hotel, make sure you take her guided haunted tour of the hotel.

A special thank-you goes to the staff at the Lucky Nugget Casino, especially Charles, who allowed us to once again roam the haunted second floor.

We also want to thank our Black Hills Paranormal Investigations teammates Mark Rowland, Susan Parsons, Maurice Mo Miller, Peggy Shadley, Dustin Hallett and Charles and Rachel Blanchard. We are lucky and proud to be associated with this group of common-sense paranormal investigators.

Last but not least, we want to thank our beautiful wives, Peggy and Amanda, for being there every step of the way. We love you!

INTRODUCTION

As the coolness of the fall night seeped through the loose-fitting windowsills covered with layers of peeling paint, we stood motionless in the darkness of what were once the lively and raucous brothels of Deadwoods Badlands. We all heard it, but we were by no means willing to admit it until someone else in the group spoke up first. Once one of us mentioned that they just heard a female voice, a chorus of I heard that, too! broke the silence. We had just experienced a disembodied ghostly voice. This experience was just one of many we encountered while investigating the second floor that once housed the infamous brothels of Deadwood, South Dakota.

Whether conducting paranormal investigations in the Badlands of Deadwoods lower Main Street or at a private residence situated precariously on the side of the steep hillsides overlooking town, one thing remains constant. Deadwoods history is palpable. It becomes clearly evident that the historic present-day buildings on Main Street were not built with the intent to amuse or entertain tourists. These buildings were built on the burned-out foundations of an early Deadwood. They were built with purpose and a function.

Walk down Main Street, and you can feel the energy of an earlier time, when Deadwood streets were crowded with freight wagons pulled by oxen and the yell of the teamster and crack of the whip filled the air. Take a deep breath, and you can almost smell the whiskey, manure, Chinese incense and opium wafting through the streets. You can almost hear the faint gunshot that killed Wild Bill Hickok or the sounds of laughter and music coming from the popular Gem or Bella Union Theaters. This energy has no doubt permeated the environment, and that is why, to this day, we hear stories of ghostly figures looking down from the windows of the brothels and listen to eerie tales of shadow figures ducking into the nooks and crannies of buildings.

As paranormal investigators, we have always been intrigued by the symbiotic relationship between claims of paranormal activity and historical events. We would be remiss not to admit that we are always searching for that ever-elusive answer to the question of the ages: what are ghosts? We may never be able to adequately explain or answer this question with absolute conviction. We do believe, though, that those of us in the paranormal trenches can at least give an intelligent answer, through proper historical research, to the second most frequently asked question: why are certain structures or geographic areas prone to paranormal activity?

All too often, some people in our field tend to not only glaze over the historic background of a structure or geographic area but also completely overlook the history of the haunting activity itself. They are looking instead for that one piece of documentation of a reported death or some violent activity. Once that small piece of the story is collected, most feel that they have the essentials to properly answer the question of why. To be sure, death and violence are inextricably linked to our field and are often great companions to a successful telling of a ghost story. If hauntings are a result of energy imprinting on the environment, then it would stand to reason that strong emotions, such as happiness and love, can certainly imprint their energy on an environment, too. So, paranormal investigators should not just look for death and violence but rather at the whole picture. What does the whole story tell us? We are not defined by just the tragedy and death in life. We are defined by the sum of our experiences, good and bad. It makes us who we are.