Haunted Helena: Montana's Queen City Ghosts

By Ellen Baumler

Helena was born of the gold rush, nurtured by the wealth of its financiers and raised on its political struggles. The lawless gold camp and its vigilante hangings left an indelible imprint on the modern community. Restless spirits from Helena's turbulent past still linger around town. Historian and award-winning author Ellen Baumler blends history with the supernatural as she expertly weaves the past with the present in a ghostly web. Firsthand accounts and historical records add credibility to these spooky but true tales. Explore the legacy of the hangman's tree and meet the ghosts of historic Last Chance Gulch. These stories and more bring to light the shadowy places in Helena where the past sometimes comes to life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Sep 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781625849496

Ellen Baumler

Interpretive historian at the Montana Historical Society from 1992 to 2019, Ellen Baumler is a longtime member of the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau, a 2011 recipient of the Governor's Award for the Humanities and an award-winning author. As author of five books on Montana history, contributor to Montana: The Magazine of Western History and Montana magazine and editor of Montana's historical highway markers, Jon Axline has been the historian at the Montana Department of Transportation since 1990.

Reviews for Haunted Helena

[sarah_gruwell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a wonderful blend of historical background and uber creepy ghost tales. I've always enjoyed Ellen Baumler's tales of haunted Montana and this addition doesn't disappoint. It probably didn't hurt that I was reading this as my family and I were traveling to and experiencing the haunted historical ghost tour in Helena itself; I was able to physically visit at least one locale in this volume. Ellen creates a balance between her historical facts and her ghost details in such a way that the reader isn't swamped by either end of the spectrum. I’d definitely recommend this volume to anyone looking to bone up on haunted Montana.