P a g e 8 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r "Although this camp is not so large as Butte, what there is of it is lively and the present prospects are that at no distant day we can take our place in the front ranks of Montana's important mining districts. The camp is composed of four saloons and two boarding houses. Our two friends Capt. Parkison and W.W. Dailey are running the boarding houses." -From an excerpt in the Semi-Weekly Miner (Butte) referring to the mining camp of Comet on Dec. 12, 1883, Accessed via: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov Photos: One of the boarding houses in Comet, MT, taken by Jolene Ewert-Hintz It was a hot August afternoon in 1916 when a few girls from Bannack decided to go wading in nearby Grasshopper Creek to cool themselves. Sixteen year old Dorothy Dunn, Fern Dunn and Ruth Wornick chatted merrily while splashing around in the refreshing water until they stepped off a ledge and found themselves in an old dredge hole and, nine feet of water. Joy turned to panic as none of the girls were swimmers. A young lad by the name of Smith Paddock happened to hear their screams and jumped in to rescue the trio. Just 12 years old, he was able to save both Fern and Ruth. Sadly, Dorothy was lost that day. The town took it hard, especially Bertie Matthews, a close friend of Dorothy’s. Bertie’s parents managed the Hotel Meade at the time of Dorothy’s death and Bertie was quite shocked when she saw the ghost of Dorothy, wearing a blue dress and her long locks flowing, at the hotel. Over the years, countless others have also seen Dorothy at the hotel. Is she lost, looking for Bertie, or just stuck in time?? Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz, model: Kaitlin Keele My/Donor Information: SUBSCRIBE TO THE GHOST TOWNS AND HISTORY OF MONTANA NEWSLETTER! Renewal? Y/N Send a Gift to: NAME____________________________________ NAME___________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________ ADDRESS_________________________________ CITY______________________________________ CITY_____________________________________ STATE__________________ZIP________________STATE_________________ ZIP________________ Yearly subscriptions are $19.95 (published monthly). Please make checks payable to Ghost Towns & History of MT, LLC and send with this clipping to P.O. Box 126, Warm Springs, MT 59756
9 Publizr Home