Visitors to the Old Faithful Inn whisper about a pale young woman who drifts down the long-abandoned Crow’s Nest, her white gown floating behind her… and her head tucked neatly under her arm. 

 Some say she’s a restless bride from a century-old murder. Others claims she’s just a story told by employees closing the inn for the winter. But every year, someone new insists they’ve seen her. 

 Tonight, we’re stepping into the flickering shadows of one of the most iconic lodges in Yellowstone National Park to uncover the legend of the Headless Bride – what’s fact, what’s fiction and why she refuses to disappear. 

 The Headless Bride Of Old Faithful Inn 

 The Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park was built in 1904 to be one of the most unique hotels in the park. It replaced the Upper Geyser Basin Hotel, also known as the "Shack Hotel", which had burned down. The new hotel had to be at least 1/8 mile from the geyser, Old Faithful, and at first was going to be a typical Queen Anne style hotel.  

 However, a 29-year-old architect, Robert Reamer, designed a much more radical building that was more reminiscent of rustic camps of the Adirondacks. His hotel was built entirely of logs that had been harvested withing the park. Three large, old fashioned fireplaces were in the center of the spacious lobby.

 By 1915, Old Faithful Inn averaged 1,000 tourists each day and was considered the most beautiful of the six hotels in Yellowstone National Park. The 1915 Rock Springs Miner said that tourists would chatter around the fireplaces, some popping corn and others dancing from the music floating down from overhead.

 Towering above them was the Crow’s nest which rose 76 and a half feet to the ceiling of the inn. During these early years of the Inn, an orchestra would play in the room at the top and spectators would watch from the various landings as guests danced on the lobby floor below. 

 The orchestra played throughout the years until August 17, 1959. An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale rocked Yellowstone Park. The trembler twisted some of the support timbers for the Crow’s Nest, making it unsafe for the number of guests visiting the Inn. 

 Although closed to most guests, one remains. Over the years, there have been sightings of a headless apparition. 

 Welcome to Pioneers of Outlaw Country: Wyoming History. I am your host and historian, Jackie Dorothy. This special edition of haunted Wyoming history is brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, preserving your stories so that you can haunt future generations!

 It was the fall of 1982, and the summer season was nearing an end. Two employees were closing the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park for the season and were alone in the old lodge. In the lobby, the large clock’s steady rhythmic tick marked the passing of time.

 Bellman George Bornemann heard a strange noise. Knowing that people were supposed to be gone, he went to investigate the intrusion. He walked through the dark building to a balcony that overlooked the lobby. 

He saw nothing. 

George returned to his room but then heard the noise again. Once more, he found nothing. The third time, he ran towards the sound. 

 This time, George saw her.

 The transparent figure gracefully ascended the wooden steps from the Crow’s Nest. She was dressed in a white flowing gown and appeared to be no more than a child. 

 Tucked under her arm, she cradled her head. 

 The bellman fled. He and the other employee left the inn immediately. But the image haunted George and he was determined to learn who she was. 

 During that winter of 1982, while doing research in the library at Missoula, Montana, George claimed that he had discovered that there had been a murder at the inn in the summer of 1914. It had occurred in Room 127 and was close to the Crow’s Nest.

 The tale Bornemann shared with guests began in New York City in 1914.

 The wealthy owner of a shipping company had a teenage daughter who wanted to marry an older man who worked in their house as a servant. Despite her father’s misgivings and being disinherited if she went through with the marriage, the young woman and the servant were wed in a quiet ceremony. 

 The father gave the couple a substantial dowry in the hopes that this at least would get them started in their new life. His final gift was to send them back west on a honeymoon, where the family shame would be far away.

 They were to stay in the Old Faithful Inn’s room 127. it was “the” place to take a fashionable vacation. 

 On the way to Yellowstone, the new husband had managed to gamble away all their money. There wasn’t even enough left to pay their hotel bill. Staff at the Old Faithful Inn witnessed nightly arguments, loud enough to be heard outside of their private room. 

 The bride sent a telegram to her father asking for more money. The answer was no and that he would instead send her a train ticket home.

 Her husband was livid. That night the argument was louder and more violent than usual. The husband stormed out of the hotel room, slamming the door. 

 This was the last anyone would see of him. 

 A hotel maid finally ventured into the hotel room and headed to the bathroom. Her screams brought many of the staff and guests rushing in to find the young bride in the bathtub, bloody, and missing her head. 

 A few more days passed and the summer heat brought with it a foul smell. Up in the Crow’s Nest, where the band played happy tunes, the staff found the missing head. 

 Over the years, sightings have been reported of the headless apparition. Guests claim to have seen a woman wearing a flowing white dress, walking down the stairs from the Crow’s Nest, with her head under her arm.

 In 2006, now the manager of the Old Faithful Inn, George Bornemann was interviewed by Shellie Larios, author of “Yellowstone Ghost Stories.”  

 Bornemann told Larios that the Headless Bride actually appeared at the insistence of visitors who for years pressed him for a ghost story. She was pure fiction, however, the part about hearing running in the hall inside the deserted hotel was true and is what gave him the idea for the story.

 Despite his claims that he had made up the story of the bride, not all visitors believe George that the Headless Bride is a myth he invented. They still claim that they, too, have seen the transparent bride as she descends from the Crow’s Nest. 

 Whatever the truth, the Headless Bride will continue to haunt our imagination. 

 Thank you for listening to this tale of haunted history. You are listening to Pioneers of Outlaw Country and I am your host, Jackie Dorothy. This episode was brought to you by Rooted in Legacy, preserving YOUR history.  This was a production of Legend Rock Media.