The Ghost of The Murray Hotel

Today we rode through the spectacular Yellowstone National Park. Before entering the park, we stopped for lunch in Livingston, Montana for lunch. As we ate, we casually asked the waitress if she knew of any interesting things around Yellowstone. She told us of an old hotel called The Murray. Rumor has it, that the an occupant of The Murray Hotel, loved this hotel so much, he decided to stay...

   The Murray Hotel was built in 1904 by Josephine Kline. Livingston was once a central hub of activity for Northern Pacific passenger trains. The hotel was built specifically to accomodate these travelers. But perhaps not all of them left the hotel. We heard from a former employee, that the hotel's room 303 reportedly had a ghostly guest. Guests have reported hearing knocking, seeing things move, and even see the ghostly apparition of a man in the room. We questioned the front desk clerk, who oddly, seemed reluctant to talk. Upon seeing the hotel, it's not hard to get the vibe that the building is old, while still being a beautiful building. Not being the types to give up, we decided we were determined to learn the story of room 303.

     We dug a little more, and found the story of room 303. The suite belonged to movie director Sam Peckinpah. It was said that Peckinpah was schizophrenic and liked to do a variety of drugs. He was known to put steel grates on his suites windows, and sleep with a revolver by his bed. He often woke in the night and fired the revolver into the cieling, luckily, never hurting anyone. It's said that after Peckinpah passed away, he loved The Murray so much, that he returned and to this day haunts the hotel. The suite has been kept as it was when he used it, and guests stay in it often by request. These are where the reports of things moving, hearing voices, and even sightings of Sam's ghost. We didn't see the ghost of Sam Peckinpah on this visit, or any other ghosts for that matter. But we did see a big part of Livingston's history and an amazing building.
    We continued on our way and by chance came across a book called "The Ghosts of Yellowstone", which gave us some new things to explore. We eagerly started up our bikes and hit the road in search of our next LRS Myth, Legends and Tales from the Road on the way to the great Yellowstone National Park. So tune in next time as LRS Myths, Legends and Tales from the Road takes on the legends and spectres of Yellowstone National Park.

On our way down the 89 in the Lewis and Clark forest we came across this old guy, he was only going half the speed limit and to be honest I thought he was gonna fall off the road. 

When we stopped for gas he rolled up behind us and I spoke with him for a while, he was on his way back from a couple of months in alaska, where he rode to the end of every highway on his KLR 650. What and adventure!  He had crashed his bike a few weeks ago and was forced to be laid up waiting for his thumb to start working again.
The big fairing on his bike was his own creation which he sells for 67 different motorcycles out of Arkansas. He still had a ways to go before he got home.  

We have vader for a mascot, he had tinker bell, who look like she had better days. 

Found this cool statue on our way to Livingston on the 89. Its at a spot that lewis and clark named after a member of their party. 

Plaque dedicated to all the trappers explorers and mountain men.

The livingston Train depot is one of the most beautiful train stops I have ever seen, it was designed by an italian man and is one of only two of its kind in the world. It truly is a work of art and worth visiting on any trip to livingston

Inside the depot is a museum of the way things were back when Livingston was the gateway to Yellowstone

Interesting train wreck

Jeremy outside the Livingston Train depot

We found this article which spoke of some of the shady characters who made this hotel home.

Rumor has it that on some nights this piano plays all by its self in the Murray Hotel

If you look real hard you can see a ghost in the window of this picture........ 

North gateway to yellowstone

Buffalo just where they belong, out of the road!

A group of japanese people really wanted to pose with my Harley - I let them sit on the bike as much as they wanted, took like a half hour to finish taking pictures and pretending to ride. I did my good job for diplomacy today. 

Beautiful ride away from yellowstone lake at sunset. 

We finally pulled into our hotel in cody about 11:00 pm, we were both exhausted,  its a good thing this little hotel had nice beds and hot showers.