Buffalo Bill's legacy part of Old Town Fort Collins Haunted History After Dark tours

Haunted History After Dark was honored to be part of the birthday celebration for Sara (third from left) along with her friends Alaina, Kim, Bryan, and Jamie (who was behind the lens) for a ghostly tour of Old Town Friday night. Tour guide, Suzy, was impressed that Sara, who was raised in Fort Collins, knew that the town was founded on a military reservation commissioned by Abraham Lincoln in 1864. But, what Sara didn't realize is that on that military reservation, 16 young cavalrymen lost their lives at the fort hospital and were buried in area that is now in the heart of Old Town.

Haunted History After Dark tour took Sara and her guests to that location where local ghost whisperer and tour guide, Grace, says the spirits of those young soldiers still haunt the location. They may have been laid to rest there, but they aren't sleeping! According to Grace they are as active as the humans are at this location and often have their own parties in this structure, especially on Saturday nights.
Along our route we also visited the site where a young attorney was murdered in broad daylight by an angry client. The home of the family of this victim is supposedly one of the most haunted locations in Colorado. As we traveled north on the second oldest street in Fort Collins the group learned about the history of Disneyland’s Main Street USA and it’s connection to Fort Collins including the window where Walt Disney would hang his lamp in an exact replica of one our towns own relics, which still welcomes visitors to the Anaheim them park, over a thousand miles away. One of our recent Haunted History After Dark guests was an actual tour guide at Disneyland who had visited Fort Collins to learn more about our hometown boy and one of the designers of Main Street USA ,Harper Goff. This tour guest was amazed at the exactness of Old Town and Main Street USA.  Throughout the tour he would say, “Yeah, this is Disneyland…this is it!” Another reason why Fort Collins is “one of the original happiest places on earth.”

Harper Goff

Before visiting our last and very haunted location, the tour wouldn’t be complete without touring the site of the second oldest bank in Fort Collins established waaaayyy baaack in 1879. That is 132 years ago! This location was also where the one and only Buffalo Bill Cody would advertise his Wild West Show (For some reason guys love this spot). One of Cody’s best friends was an early resident and he would often visit Fort Collins to catch up with his pal. Buffalo Bill was actually the town’s first preservationist and started the act of honoring our early residents in 1915. Thanks Bill! As historians we love our early residents and love to tell their stories for our guests. At this location, early circus flyers would also be posted and the group was shown what an actual poster, dated 111 years ago, looked like.

The tour ended at a location that has seen its tragedy and triumph and has enormous history. This site was built out of the town’s compassion for the tragic loss of an early bookkeeper, housed the prisoner (and once employee) of the only lynching in Larimer County history, and is supposedly “protected” by the very benign spirit who called this home for many years and still watches from the hose tower.  Although this site was the location where many an early murderer, madam, brothel worker, bootlegger and over imbibed cowhand spent time contemplating his or her fate, rumors of this site and businesses surrounding it as an area of macabre are still being investigated.

Take the Haunted History After Dark tour to find out the history of this haunted site as well as the most spooky locations in Old Town. Spend a ghostly birthday like Sara on our tour and learn the haunted history of Fort Collins Old Town.

Contact Hauntedhistoryafterdark@yahoo.com for more information. Cost is 10 big ones per courageous ghost buster or 35 clams for an extra brave group of four. Cash only please.

 Stephen Stills begged Suite Judy Blue Eyes long ago, “Will you come see me…Thursdays and Saturdays…” What a coincidence! That’s when our tours are.  Will you come see us…Thursdays and Saturdays.  Or by reservation. 7:30 p.m.  Tours start at 136 W. Mountain Avenue home of Boutique Bravo and Mother Lode Gallery where owner Kate has been in business for a whopping 33 years! Check her out.