Haunted Colorado: The Ghost of Buffalo Rose Saloon
You hear about ghosts in all sorts of places, but when it's an older building like the Buffalo Rose Saloon in Golden, Colorado, the feeling of goosebumps intensifies tenfold.
The Buffalo Rose Saloon on Washington Avenue has been home to various businesses since 1859, when it was originally a grocery store on the first floor and the Metropolitan Hall (the town's first public meeting place) on the second floor, where dances and church services were held. When Golden was the capital of the Colorado territory, the hall was used for meetings with the territorial council (equivalent to the senate) from 1862 to 1866. In the 1870s, the hall was converted into a hotel and restaurant called the Overland House where famous guests U.S. Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan once stayed, until guests became shadier and were involved in shootouts with the local sheriff. It's said some of the ghosts of men involved in those shootouts still linger around the Buffalo Rose Saloon.
Probably the most notorious ghost at the saloon, however, is not a man involved in a shootout but rather a little girl believed to have drowned in a swimming pool from the 1920s that was once located in the basement.
"Where they have the swimming pool - that place is very bad," overnight cleaning man Seth Barry told KDVR of the girl's presence he feels at the Buffaloo Rose Saloon. "Sometimes you can't go there. [The] presence is very strong."
Buffalo Rose owner Kenny Lee also told KDVR that the girl can be heard going up and down the stairs.
"It's like having someone around all the time. Like a dog," said Lee. "She's here and she's cool."
Lee adds that he's never been someone to believe in ghosts, but feeling her presence around the venue has become part of his life. The ghost is active during all times of the day, he says, but mostly at night.