The Watchful Settler

Local Lore>Ghosts of the Yampa Valley>The Watchful Settler

Oak Street Home built in the late 1800's [Click here to view full size picture]

In a house at 927 Oak Street in Steamboat Springs built in the late 1800’s there lived and maybe lives still what might still be an early Yampa Valley Settler. He seems to be a friendly ghost and comes around often just to be sure everything is going OK.

In a story told by Steve Elkins whose family moved into the house in the late 1940’s, the spirit that may still call this house home usually walked the stairways and halls later in the evening.

“The door would never slam, and it seemed like he came out of the trap door in the floor or a hole in the basement. Sometimes we thought that he came in from the warehouse where the City Café is now located in the new Centennial Hall.”

He would come in from the back of the house by the living room and very consistently stop on the main floor to scan the room, checking to see if everything was OK. The creaky footsteps could be heard on the narrow stairway that one went up about ž of the way and then turned to the landing on the second floor. Steve knew every step on the stairway and the specific sound that represented that spot in the path. The pattern was always the same, creaky footsteps on the stairs, a pause on the landing, and a few more steps to the top of the stairs. When on the second floor, the first stop was his sisters bedroom on the right. Another pause, checking to see if all was well. Then down the hall to check to see if the others were settled in. The creaking always ended down the hallway at his sister Vickie’s room.

At times, it seemed as if someone was just standing and looking at you, which was really a scary thing for a kid. Everyone in the house, Steve, his 4 sisters and Mom and Dad all frequently experienced the presence of the friendly spirit, maybe as many as 3 to 4 times a week. Even in returning to the house as an adult the visits continued and the family just learned to live with the phoniminia. Just watching and checking to see that things are kept in order.

The Back Door
The Carver Power Plant

The Back Door

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Lucy Bogue, a friend of Mrs. Elkins once gave her a model of the stairway with a ghost making its way up the stairs. In 1964 there was a fire in the back room of the house burning the kitchen, the sister Marvine's room and a big hole in the felt board wall. The Settler must have been smoked out for a while as some time went by without hearing the spirit.

In learning more about the story, we visited with the City of Steamboat staff now working in the building. One of the employees, intently listening to Steve's story, whether it was a sence of confirmation or more of concern, had recently when working late at night, heard the sound of footsteps creaking, and a strange presence of something in the room. The hair stood up on the back of his neck and he described almost an identical experience to the story Mr. Elkins told of his near nightly experiences years ago.

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Back door to the Oak Street home [Click here to view full size picture]

The Carver Power Plant

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And then there was the story of the spirt in the Carver Power Plant, an adjoining building. The energy in this building had been felt for some time, but different from the feeling in the old house next door.

Is it the energy that was present as part of what was being produced in the building or is it another sprit? Is this spirit good or is there evil lurking?

The Carver Power Plant 2002 [Click here to view full size picture]