The Spirits of Old Faithful Inn — A Yellowstone National Park Story

[Transcript]

So, anyone up for a little ghost story? And just a disclaimer, this story might not be suitable for young children, so earmuffs, kids. Now, there's a pretty good chance that you're listening to this track while waiting for Old Faithful to put on a show. When you got to the viewing area, you drove past that impressive Old Faithful Inn, right? The Old Faithful Inn that you see today was built in 1903, after the original Upper Geyser Basin Lodging House burned down.

When its doors opened in 1904, guests were mesmerized by the inn's 76-foot-high lobby ceiling, massive stone fireplace, and ornate woodwork. In fact, some guests have been so enamored with the place that they've never left. One such guest is known only as the Headless Bride.

Legend has it that in the 1920s, a young woman from a wealthy family fell in love with a rugged soldier. But the girl's father disapproved and forbade the marriage. So the girl and her beloved eloped.

They spent their honeymoon at the Old Faithful Inn and then moved to the Old Faithful Lodge. But the young bride very quickly learned that her new husband was both a reckless gambler and a mean drunk. During a particularly loud confrontation, the soldier told the bride that he had only married her for her money.

Soon after, the staff at the Old Faithful Inn realized that the couple was missing. They hadn't checked out, and no one had seen them for days. One curious chambermaid let herself into the couple's room and found a horrific scene.

The bride was lying dead in the bathtub, and she was missing her head. The hotel staff called the police who assumed that the bride's husband had killed her and fled the area. They searched, but they were never able to find him, nor was anyone able to find the poor bride's missing head.

That is, until years later. Now, if you haven't been inside the Old Faithful Inn, the lobby actually features a wooden tower. The top of the tower is called the crow's nest, just like the lookout on the upper mast of a ship.

Well, one day, an unsuspecting hotel employee stumbled upon the bride's missing head. It was tucked away in a corner of the crow's nest. So, according to this legend, the bride's ghost still walks the halls of the Old Faithful Inn, searching for her missing head, and maybe even her missing husband, too.

Guests have seen her pacing on the widow's walk and appearing as a sort of mist in the honeymoon suite. Her scoundrel of a husband may have gotten away with the crime in life, but it seems he, too, is doomed to a lonely afterlife. Old Faithful Inn guests have reported seeing a spectral man in a merchant marine uniform pacing the crow's nest and peeking into guest rooms.

If you're staying at the Old Faithful Inn, keep a close eye out for the ghosts of the bride and groom, if you dare.