Ghosts: True Hauntings In Montana

By David Francis Curran

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Brautigan, Richard, A Pilgrimage, August 1982

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Butte

In 1955, the two-story three-bedroom house in the West Silver area of Butte, Montana, was around 60 years old. Helen Reardon* was a young girl. When her parents, John and Sheila Reardon, bought the house, it was in much need of repair. So John and Sheila decided to spend some time, before moving in, fixing the place up.

Early one Saturday morning they arrived at their new house for the first time with tools and paint samples. They had brought some furniture with them, having decided not to waste a trip.

The first thing they did, after arriving and unloading, was set up the kitchen table and make a pot of coffee. They were sitting there, discussing what color to paint the rooms, when both of them heard footsteps in the bedroom above them. Whoever it was walked across the room and began descending the stairs. Shocked and angered that someone had entered their house before they arrived, and had been in the bedroom all this time, they cautiously walked over to the bottom of the stairs to confront whoever it was. But there was no one on the stairs.

Helen and her sister Rachel shared an upstairs bedroom. Across from the bedroom was an attic area. One night, while the girls were in the living room, they heard footsteps in the attic upstairs. They heard the attic door open and close. And then they listened as footsteps came down the stairs. The steps went into the kitchen. The butler's pantry door opened, and then the swinging door to the dining room opened. The family dog, whose eyesight was not good, began growling and watched as if something crossed the room. There was a hall off the dining room which led to a bathroom and two bedrooms. The door to the master bedroom was hard to open because of the carpet. But it swung open easily as if by itself. The girls ran from the house.

Another time the front door opened and then closed on its own. The door and storm door, which had been locked, were found unlocked afterward.

The footsteps and the opening of doors recurred over and over.

In her father's room one day, Helen heard violent knockings on the window. Soon afterwards, John woke one night and saw the faint figure of a man standing by the foot of the bed. He wore a tri-cornered hat and smelled heavily of pipe tobacco. The figure reached out and John could feel something touch his feet through the blankets. There seemed to be a cold draft in the room. Helen learned later that the previous owner had smoked a pipe and had been a member of the Knights of Columbus and wore such a hat. This ghostly appearance in the room and knocking was also repeated again and again.

One day there was a party in the dining room when suddenly something threw the light switch plunging the room into darkness. There was a smell of flowers in the room. The doors began to open and close, and all the guests heard footsteps in the attic and bedroom upstairs.

Helen began to feel that the ghost disliked her, since she was blamed for some of the strange events--such as, the thermostat being turned up high or things disappearing only to be found later in some odd place.

She was in the bathroom by the sink one day when there was a knock on the door. The door immediately opened. There was no one there. The same thing began to happen to other family members.

Helen left the house when she got married. She went back one night on a visit. Her father was w7orking a night shift, so she and her mother shared the master bedroom. Helen was lying in bed, not yet asleep, when she was poked in the ribs under the covers. She jumped up in fright and then was hit in the face with an unseen fist. Her mother was sleeping. The punch was not hard enough to hurt but informed a terrified Helen there was a presence in the room.

Shelia and John were alone in the house one night and were getting ready to go to a meeting. Suddenly Shelia felt funny and lay down on the couch. Within moments she was paralyzed, unable to move or speak. Her body became cold and numb. John kept asking frantically what was wrong, but she couldn't reply. The paralysis lasted an hour. During that time she was able to hear what John was saying but was unable to move.

According to Helen, they sold the house some years ago. And since that time no one has stayed in the house for long.

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