Beyond Spirit Tailings

by Ellen Baumler and Philip Aaberg

Book Overview

Montana is alive with things that go bump in the Big Sky night. A World War II serviceman who lingers in a Billings business, a dearly departed priest who still hitchhikes around Helena, and a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972152245
• ISBN13: 9780972152242
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Montana Historical Society Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

More Mysterious Montana Stories

Ellen Baumler continues in this book where she left off in her earlier book "Spirit Tailings." While "Spirit Tailings" concentrated on the many haunted sites of the historic mining communities of Virginia City, Butte, and Helena, she ranges further afield in location and subject matter. Not all the stories in this book are about ghosts or haunted places. Some are about mysterious events, and there is one about Montana's famous Flathead Lake Monster. Baumler's approach is that of a professional historian (she is interpretive historian for the Montana Historical Society) trying to make sense of the many anecdotes brought to her by people she meets in her job, while being respectful of their experiences. As she terms it, she writes "history with a twist." This is why the stories are based in thorough historical research to try and find possible historical reasons for the things that people tell her. Baumler starts with a number of short anecdotes in the first story, "Beginnings," including bits on the Richards House (Lenox Addition house in first collection); Eighth Avenue house; Helena High School; a house on Hillsdale/site of Hangman's Tree near corner of Blake and Highland (and a couple other houses in that neighborhood); a new house site in a heavily wooded area of Jefferson County (north of Helena), the Harlem Hotel (in Harlem of course!), unnamed houses in Havre and Shelby; Virginia City's Fairweather Inn and Bonanza Inn; Virginia City Theater and Opera House. "The Sleeping Buffalo" is about a Native American sacred place, now called Sleeping Buffalo Rock. Originally it was located on the Milk River at Cree Crossing, then it was removed from its ancient site by white people to Trafton Park in Malta, and finally to the junction of Montana 243 and US 2. "Fruit of the Hangman's Tree" relates the history of the infamous hangman's tree of Helena, which was located on what is now the corner of Hillsdale and Blake, the "Boot Hill" graves associated, and some of the eerie happenings in houses in this quiet old neighborhood. "The Hoo Doo Block" is about an unlucky series of events in an area in Fort Benton, Block 25 (now Block 164). "Digging Up the Dead" is a tragic and spooky tale covering Benton Avenue Cemetery (mention also of Boot Hill, the pioneer City Cemetery (now Central School), and Forestvale Cemetery. "Speaking with Artifacts: Conversations with George" introduces the reader to a Helena-based dowser who does "psychic archaeology," George McMullen. He has traveled to and dowsed many Native American sites, including Hellgate Canyon (in Broadwater Co., not far from Helena); in the story he also does psychometry (reading the impressions) of some historical artifacts. "The Hanging of Peter Pelkey" is about a brutal murder on a ranch between Helena and East Helena, the execution of the murderer (buried in what is now Robinson Park), and the mysterious ghost lights at the ranch. "Celestia Alice Earp" is a story of a murder by a pioneer wom

Just Short of Hair Raising

Having read her "Spirit Tailings" books and taken one of her tours, I greatly respect Ms. Baumler's knowledge of Montana history and folklore. Whatever one's beliefs regarding ghosts and their attachments and activities, the existence of the stories and what it reveals about a community and its attitudes is as fascinating as it is revelatory. While I prefer reading Baumler's stories and savoring their wealth of regional detail, this CD collection is a great introduction to the books and their subject matter, as well as a good way to hear Ms. Baumler telling her stories, if you've never been so fortunate as to attend one of her lectures or bus tours. Philip Aaberg's accompanying music is appropriately brooding and mysterious, though the presentation was occasionally intrusive. I would rather have had it "bookending" each story, or in bands of its own between each story. But this collection is great fun, and an interesting approach to historical research (without diving into the realm of seances and tabloids). Montana is lucky to have so many spooks and so dedicated a historian as Ellen Baumler to chase them.

Beyond Spirit Tailings is a spooky treasure for ghost story lovers everywhere.

Read aloud by the author and interpretive historian Ellen Baumler, and featuring a bonus music CD by composer and pianist Philip Aaberg, Beyond Spirit Tailings is an abridged audiobook on CD about historical Montana ghost stories handed down through generations. Combining evocative music with tales ranging from the story of the hitchhiking specter of a priest to a departed Hamilton socialite who spreads the scent of roses, Beyond Spirit Tailings is a spooky treasure for ghost story lovers everywhere. Highly recommended.

Award of Merit

Beyond Spirit Tailings is the recipient of a 2006 Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History.

Strongly Disagree with Cbauman

As a lifetime resident of Montana and a professional historian, I have to disagree with Cbauman's review of this wonderful book. From my conversations with the author over the years, the intent of the book is to not only tell a good story, but provide good historical contexts of of the times, people, and events that lead to the ghostly encounters. The stories tell you a great deal about Montana's history from a perspective that you don't ordinarily get in most history books. These are community stories as much as they are ghost stories and the way they are presented makes them relevant and interesting for skeptics and true believers. For any student of history and for anybody looking for a great ghost story, I strongly recommend this book. The stories will both haunt you and provide a great inside look at Montana's history from a new perspective.