Speaker 1: Ghost Stories of the Rocky Mountain written by Barbara Smith,
published by Lone Pine Publishing. The Fairest Mansion. Every community
has one a house that's reputed to be haunted. There
needn't necessary ever have been, and any actual encounters with
ghosts in the house. It just looks like it should
be haunted. The mythts that developed around such places are
genuinely great fun, especially if the house is abandoned. Sneaking
into a supposedly haunted house often becomes a rite of
passage for the community's youth, and people of all ages
have fun spinning scary yarns, for another, using the well
known piece of real estate as a venue for the
fictional ghostly activity. Every now and again, however, such a
supposedly haunted house really is home to ghosts. The Fairest
Mansion in Rowling's Wyoming is such a house. The enormous
three story Victorian house has a rich history of ghosts.
The residence was completed in nineteen o three at great expense,
not just financial, but tragically and lives. Several workers died
on the job during its construction. First, when the work
had finished, the Rawlings family moved in the tragedies continued
when little Cecil Rollings was accidentally shot to death by
her brother. Newspaper recordings at the time confirmed that the
boy died in nineteen o four at the tender age
of nine. The sorrowful background effectively set the stage for
the hauntings that were to come. The years went by,
and the Pharises, who were once among the richest families
and Rallings moved on. The mansion was sold, and soon
afterward it was subdivided into apartment suites. Over the years,
many tenants reported supernatural going gone, such as a balloon
moved across the room as though being pulled on an
invisible string but an equally invisible hand. Another tenant related
that her tube of toothpaste suddenly flew loft counter, although
no one was near it. A young man witnessed sourceless
shadows walking past doorways. The ghostly pranks were never malevolent,
but they were mischievous, much like the capers that might
be expected from a nine year old boy. A painter
who lived in the old mansion for a time had
a frustrating time keeping track of her painting supplies. Defying
all logic, they would go missing, only to turn up later,
right where they should have been all along. Years later,
the building was sold again, but this time to be
refurbished to its original grandeur. This restoration seems to have
pleased the spirits, for they have been quiet ever since.