Bannack, Montana's first territorial capital, was founded in 1862 following a major gold strike on Grasshopper Creek. The town exploded to a population of over 3,000 within months, attracting miners, merchants, and outlaws. The town's first sheriff, Henry Plummer, was secretly the leader of a gang of road agents who murdered over 100 travelers before being hanged by vigilantes in 1864. As the gold played out, Bannack declined and became a ghost town by the 1940s.
Now a state park, its 60 remaining structures — including the old jail, Masonic lodge, and Hotel Meade — stand preserved in a state of arrested decay. The Hotel Meade is considered the most haunted building, with visitors reporting the apparition of a young girl who drowned in a swimming pool that once existed behind the hotel. Her ghost is described as playful, sometimes tugging at visitors' clothing or appearing in photographs as a misty figure near windows.
The old jail produces reports of heavy boots pacing on wooden floors and the rattle of chains. Rangers and volunteers have described seeing lights in buildings that have no electricity and hearing music and conversation from the abandoned saloon. Bannack's annual Ghost Walk event draws thousands, but many visitors report encounters that seem to go beyond theatrical staging.