Most Haunted Places in America: Bullock Hotel

Deadwood, South Dakota was essentially a gold rush town founded in 1875. It was home of many colorful characters including Calamity Jane , Wild Bill Hickok and maybe a little less famous Seth Bullock. Due to the lawlessness and wild nature of Deadwood it was a popular place for many gunman and gamblers alike. It was Seth Bullock however that tamed this town and left the Bullock Hotel for people to enjoy even today.

Seth Bullock and partner Sol Star saw a great opportunity and picked Deadwood to start their hardware store. They would begin auctioning off their goods right out of their wagons the moment they arrived in Deadwood, eventually building a store on the corner of Wall and Main Street around 1876. After the death of Wild Bill Hickok holding the famed “dead man’s hand”, the town wanted law and order and Seth Bullock was tapped as the new sheriff.

One of the sheriff’s claims to fame was that he never killed a man as Deadwood’s law. The hardware business continued to flourish and though it was untouched in the big Deadwood town fire, it did eventually burn down in 1894. It was then that Bullock decided to build a luxury hotel in Deadwood and at the cost of $40,000; he built a 3 story hotel which included 60 rooms which was completed in 1896.

Seth Bullock led a good life and he is credited for bringing the important crop alfalfa to South Dakota by being the first to plant it on his ranch in 1881. Met and befriended Theodore Roosevelt and when he was President appointed Seth as United States Marshal for South Dakota which he was reappointed to under President Taft and Wilson.

Seth Bullock died in 1919 at the age of 62 and is buried in Mt. Moriah with the likes of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. One of the only controversies about Seth Bullocks life is where he died. There are reports that he died in Room 211 of the hotel and others that say he died on his ranch. According to a Deadwood newspaper clipping dated September 23, 1919, he died at his home after “an illness of several weeks”.

Though the location may be in question, today the Bullock Hotel is reportedly active with paranormal activity attributed to Seth. Employees and guests feel a strong presence in the hotel, particularly the second and third floor and in the restaurant.

There have been several claims by staff and guests of actually seeing the apparition of Seth Bullock particularly in the restaurant and the basement. It is apparent to the staff that Mr. Bullock is still making sure things are kept perfect and it seems the paranormal events start to increase when staff is sitting idle. Lights click on and off, appliances turn on or unexplainable stop running, reports of items being moved, plates and glasses start rattling and even some reports of them being tossed across the room. Seems Mr. Bullock does not like his employees wasting his time.

Guests have reported a male voice calling their name and no one there, being tapped on their shoulders and footsteps accompanied by whistling coming down the hallway. The second and third floor of the hotel has also seen its share of the paranormal. There are many pictures that have had strange anomalies in them when printed, alarm clocks going off even when not plugged in, televisions changing channels and turning on and off and the most interesting is an old antique clock in a third floor room that occasionally chimes apparently though it hasn’t worked in many years.

Seth Bullock in life was said to be able to stop a fight but the glare of his eyes. All reports seem to point to him as being a respected and influential man in the community, it seems in death he is still the same way. If ever in Deadwood, stay at the Bullock Hotel and maybe you can see why it is one of the most haunted places in America.

Related posts:

1. The Stanley Hotel
2. The Haunting of the St. James Hotel
3. Haunted Goldfield Hotel
4. Whose Haunting the Hotel Del Coronado?
5. The Haunting at Otesaga Resort Hotel