THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The Windbag Saloon is associated with Helena's colorful mining history and local reports of unexplained activity. Staff and visitors have described phantom footsteps, strange noises, and the feeling of being watched after closing. Some believe former patrons and miners still linger inside the historic saloon.
The 1882 building that houses the Windbag Saloon has been a bootery, a bank, a Vaudeville house, a bowling alley and several bars. Upstairs were “Dorothy’s Rooms,” the home of madam “Big Dorothy” Baker, who died in 1973. Her rooms became offices, but witnesses there have heard music and female laughter and smeller perfume. In the saloon itself, workers say the stereo changes stations by itself, something knocks at the back door, and the mirror above the bar reflects movement. The apparition of a cowboy has been seen at lunchtime in the dining room.