The Benevolent Spirit of Red Mountain

I heard piano music drifting from the old crystal cottage boardinghouse that I knew was vacant, then I looked up and was startled to see a woman, who looked like Emma, peering from the attic window, smiling down at me, years after she died.

–Steve Thomas, Denver, Colorado

If you stroll down Capitol Hill late at night, you just might hear a spirited piano rhapsody drifting from the windows of the Crystal Cottage. The current owners do not own a piano, but that does not stop them from dancing to the music.

The cottage was the first house built on "Haunted Hill," in 1884, by a woman from Colorado Springs named Katie Flynn. Miss Katie, as she was known by her devoted guests, ran the sunny little cottage as a four-bedroom boardinghouse. Crystal Cottage attracted fashionable residents from all over the country, like the William Hall family, prominent farmers from Iowa; Mr. and Mrs. Showalter, ranchers from Texas; and the Burns and Stroud families, from Kansas city. The most well-known residents of the Crystal Cottage were the members of the Crawford family from Massachusetts.

Madame Crawford was a woman of charm and poise. She was a graduate of Germany's prestigious Leipzig Academy of music, and her home in Boston was the center of music circles. Perhaps her fondness for music is what inspired her oldest daughter, Emma, to become an accomplished musician. Emma showed a decided talent for music at an early age and matured into a talented concert pianist. One review in a New York newspaper raved about her October 1887 concert in Washington Square, noting: "Emma seemed to channel all of her energy into her powerful performances, making her music seem, otherworldly to her spellbound audience."

Unfortunately, Emma's stellar career was interrupted when her tuberculosis became unmanageable. She was diagnosed with the deadly illness at the tender age of seven, and having lived in the grimy city of Boston most of her life had taken a toll on her health. The only known remedy for the lethal condition was rest, clean air and hope. Manitou Springs had become a popular destination for easterners suffering from tuberculosis The dry, fresh alpine air and the healing mineral spring waters were thought to be the only treatment for the deadly illness. In 1888, Madame Crawford, Emma and her sister, Alice, packed their bags and headed west after reading about the "Manitou Cure" in the Boston Herald.

While convalescing at the Crystal Cottage, Emma would often lie in bed and stare out of her attic bedroom window. Her mind dwelt long on the adventures of Indian tribes who had once roamed the hills. She was fascinated with their customs, folklore and the faith they had in their Great Spirit. She daydreamed about being well again and climbing to the summit of the mountain that she fondly referred to as "Red Chief" because it was rumored that the ghost of an Indian chief resided there. Yes, Emma believed in ghosts. In fact, her mother was a spiritualist who often hosted séances at the boardinghouse.

The three Crawford women believed that the soul, upon death, transcended to a higher plane of existence and was capable of communicating with the living. Madame Crawford was a spiritual mentor to both of her daughters and fostered their dreams and inspirations. Alice, being the youngest by six years, was fair-haired, loved to sing and dance and hoped for a stage career. Emma was more of a dark, mysterious beauty who preferred to spend time alone playing the piano or walking in the woods. The Crawford women quickly acclimated to Manitou, and they made many friends in their new home. The dry mountain climate and fresh, clean air seemed to agree with Emma especially, and her health dramatically improved. She seemed to radiate happiness as she began to fall in love with a ruggedly handsome young man named Wilhelm Hildebrandt. She had met the charming engineer while still living in Boston. The smitten bachelor followed Emma to Manitou Springs after he secured a job as chief construction engineer at the Manitou and Pikes Peak cog railroad. The joyous couple was often seen strolling about town arm in arm down lover's lane and "taking the cure" from the various mineral springs.

One beautiful summer day, the young lovebirds took a picnic lunch to the Iron Springs Pavilion, and Wilhelm asked for Emma's hand in marriage. Although Emma was overjoyed by his proposal, she hesitated to accept, explaining that she had always felt that she would die young. However, with slight trepidation, she agreed to marry Wilhelm, with one condition: if she should die before him, he must bury her body on top of Red Mountain. She clarified that she hated cemeteries. For her, they represented great despair. She wanted to be buried high on a mountaintop in the sunshine and fresh mountain air, overlooking the little town of Manitou.

A few months later, just weeks before her wedding day, she had a strange, uncontrollable urge to climb Red Mountain. She had been warned by her physician that any strenuous activity could compromise her health, but she climbed the mountain anyway because she felt "summoned" by a spirit guide. While resting on the peak, she saw a puff of smoke swirl from the branch of an ancient pinion tree that formed into a ghostly apparition. The soaring, transparent image grew into a regal-looking Indian chief wearing ceremonial gear, complete with a full eagle feather headdress. The Indian spirit lingered a few moments before smiling at her knowingly and then fading away. Emma was convinced that the apparition was the spirit of Red Chief and believed that he had called her to the summit to bless her. Before leaving the summit, she tied her handkerchief to the branch of the ancient pinion tree and then raced down the hillside, excited to tell all who would listen about her "miracle on the mountain."

Emma stumbled home late that evening, shivering with a high fever and babbling about climbing Red Mountain and communing with an Indian spirit. The doctor was summoned, but there was little he could do to ease her suffering. She cried out for Wilhelm, and her mother tried to assure her that her fiancé would soon be there, but Emma could no longer wait for her beloved. With her last breath, the dying woman whispered, "Please implore Wilhelm to honor his promise. Remember my love to him and relay that when the Great Spirit takes him one day, I will be waiting for him on Red Chief Mountain." Then she peacefully died in her mother's arms.

After hearing the news of Emma's death, some people wondered if Emma fabricated the mysterious story about being summoned to the mount, until her next-door neighbor found a lacey, soiled white handkerchief with the initials "E.C." tied to the branch of a lonely tree on the summit of Red Mountain. The tattered handkerchief was placed on the coffin at Emma's wake, where Madame Crawford is remembered to have said that she always knew that Emma would die young, yet she somehow felt that her daughter's memory would live through eternity.

Wilhelm was determined to honor Emma's dying wish; however, in order to legally bury Emma on the summit of Red Mountain, he had to get a deed to the land. The grief-stricken man tried but was unable to get anyone to give him a title because the mountain had been laid out with the townsite and was just Manitou lots on paper, sold by early con artists. Wilhelm did not let the legal red tape detain him. He packed a couple of burros with necessities like water, food, blankets, shovels, picks and his trusty Winchester rifle. The normally reserved Hildebrandt is recalled to have shouted over his shoulder as he left the livery, "If anyone tries to stop me from digging a grave for my darling Emma, her grave won't be the only one that I'll dig today." Legend has it that it took Wilhelm two days to burrow out a hole deep enough to accommodate the casket. The frozen earth refused to give way, and he broke the heads off three shovels and one pick before the grave was finished.

The day of the burial came, and Emma looked like a sleeping princess as she lay in her open casket. She wore the heirloom wedding gown that she had planned to marry in, and her hair was set with tiny white flowers. Fresh evergreen pine and pinion sprig crowned the small gray casket with sterling handles, and a small silver name plate with "Emma" graced the coffin lid. The funeral procession slowly crawled up Ruxton Avenue on that dreary, cold morning. The mourners waved goodbye to Emma as the pallbearers made the ascent up Red Mountain. Emma had many distinguished friends, some of whom where honored when asked to serve as pallbearers. The brave men trenched through tangled scrub oak, prickly pinion and dense pine as they marched through the rugged canyon that separates Eagle and Red Mountain.

It took twelve men working in two shifts of six men each all day long to lift the tiny gray coffin by a rope pulley system to the summit of Red Mountain. Making the trek nearly impossible was the fact that the mountain slopes are shrouded in loose red granite gravel. The pulley ropes snapped several times during the arduous journey, launching the coffin off its course and into shrubs, trees, snowbanks and gullies. Some of the men in the group grew impatient and wanted to turn back. However, Wilhelm persuaded them to persevere, as he was determined to keep his promise to his beloved Emma. It was late afternoon when they buried Emma under an ugly wind-swept pinion tree and covered her grave with large rocks.

The following excerpt is from the Manitou Springs Journal on December 12, 1891:

Miss Emma L. Crawford, daughter of Mrs. J.W. Crawford, passed in the higher life yesterday evening at 10:30. Funeral private … There was that in her life here … which was passing strange … a faith in the infinite unknown — the spirit life … The few who knew her here, remarked her calm unruffled mood …She was known by nearly all, as a musician of rare compassion and skill.

The funeral services over the remains of the departed were held at the family residence …Tuesday afternoon, and the attendants comprised principally the intimate friends and votaries of the faith to which the deceased was adherent. …The entire service was unusual, but very impressive and partook not of the customary sadness at such scenes.

Among those present, was Mr. Wm. Hildebrandt, of New York, an intimate friend of the departed. To this gentleman, Miss Crawford had confided a wish to be buried on the crest of Red Mountain, which overlooks Manitou to the South. To that lone and wind swept eerie, her remains were borne on the following day and there may she rest in peace.

Shortly after Emma's death, Madame Elizabeth and Alice moved to Los Angeles, and Wilhelm, brokenhearted, moved back to Boston. Emma rested in peace for a while; her only visitors were wild animals and a few locals who claimed to have seen her spirit wondering around the mountaintop.

In 1912, the Red Mountain Incline was erected up the side of the mountain. In the course of the construction of the powerhouse and depot on the summit, the coffin of Emma Crawford was moved to the east side of the mountain, and a concrete slab with Emma's name scrawled on it was laid over her new grave site. Tourists were charged one dollar per ticket. It was a small price to pay for an exciting thrill ride and the chance to see the ghost of Emma Crawford. The cog train took ten minutes to reach the summit. But the 80 percent grade, the last one-third of the incline, was so steep that frightened riders would belt out bloodcurdling screams that could be heard all the way down the mountain. The incline was closed in 1927 after only a few short seasons, due to safety concerns.

Emma must have missed having company and decided to return to Manitou because her skeletal remains and splintered coffin washed down to the bottom of Red Mountain shortly after the incline was shut down.

Bill Crosby knew Emma Crawford when he was a child, as she was his piano instructor. He was quite fond of his teacher and even recalled going to her unusual funeral with his grandfather, who was one of the pallbearers. Bill was born and raised in Manitou Springs and was the town's first historian. He was interviewed by the Gazette Telegraph in an article called, "Is Red Mountain Haunted?" on September 24, 1947:

People wouldn't believe there was a grave up there. Nettie and I use to go up every year and put up a marker, headboard with her name and the date of her death …no one else ever went up there except for some of Emma's friends who were spiritualists, they believed the rumor that her spirit would appear on moonlight nights.

In later years, boys tramping around up there, found a skull. They took it over to Hugh D. Harper, then chief of police. Dave Banks, who was then police magistrate in Manitou, made an investigation. The party discovered human bones on the hillside and at the bottom of the canyon. They also came across the silver handles on the casket. These relics lay in city hall for 2 years. Finally, Banks and I buried the bones in Crystal Park Cemetery. We tried every way to contact any of the girl's relatives. The last we ever heard of Madame Crawford was 35 years ago. She was then in Los Angeles, and had a girl's orchestra.

Old man Crosby, as he was known to the locals, went on to tell of how shortly after Emma's death, her mother, sister and close friends made spiritual contact with Emma during graveside séances. Over the years, many hikers have claimed to see a woman with dark, straggled hair wearing a dirty, raggedy wedding dress and wandering the summit of Red Mountain. Town folk have come to reason that the ghost perching above their rooftops on the 7,200-foot mountain is the benevolent ghost of Emma Crawford and have started to regard her as a ghost spirit that protects the little mountain village she once loved so well.

Emma Crawford died more than one hundred years ago. She may be gone, but she certainly is not forgotten. Ask any number of people on Manitou Avenue during the Emma Crawford Coffin Festival who Emma Crawford is, and they will most likely tell you that she is the patron spirit of Manitou Springs.

In 1993, John Tschannon was looking for interesting stories about Manitou Springs when he discovered the Emma Crawford story. He and the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce decided to pay homage to Manitou's most loveable spirit with the Emma Crawford Festival, which includes coffin races, hearse parades, ghost walks and Emma's Wake at Miramont Castle, which are held the last weekend of October. The event draws thousands of people into Manitou Springs every year and is one of the unique events that keeps Manitou weird.

The Dramatic Phantoms of Iron Mountain

I stayed at Red Stone Castle when it was a bed-and-breakfast …Sure, it's a beautiful home, but that place is so haunted you couldn't pay me to live there.

–Brenda Stivers, California

A dark, blood red–colored sandstone castle stands defiantly alone on seventy-five acres at the base of Iron Mountain. The intimidating structure, overlooking the rolling hills of Manitou, is one of the town's oldest buildings and has harbored a haunting secret for more than 130 years.

Red Stone Castle was the first of several "castle homes" built in town during the 1880s. It was built on land that was formerly owned by Englishman Dr. Isaac Davis, who homesteaded the property with his wife and children in 1874. Dr. Davis was one of the founding fathers of Manitou Springs. He owned several properties in town, including the pharmacy and the Canon Avenue shoe store. He also proudly served as town mayor, chief of police, trustee, coroner, undertaker and president of the school board. With so many jobs, it's a wonder how the physician had time to father fifteen children.

In 1880, Dr. Davis's health began to rapidly decline. Some speculated that it was because of the stress of the Stringler trial. The charge of murder was brought against the physician by the husband of his deceased patient, who perished from a morphine overdose. Though the physician was exonerated of the crime, the trial took a toll on the normally robust fifty- four-year-old. He began to have severe headaches, indigestion and dizzy spells that not even the fabled magic waters of Manitou could remedy. Following the counsel of family and friends, Dr. Davis reluctantly agreed to sell the Iron Mountain homestead to the up-and-coming Davis brothers (no relation). The warning "Buyer Beware" was boldly printed on the bottom of the land purchase agreement. No doubt the Davis brothers took the warning in stride, failing to notice the clause as a foreboding hint at the future.

The Davis brothers must have considered themselves impervious to disastrous real estate deals. Some believed that the well-liked gentlemen had a Midas touch, as every investment property they owned turned to gold. They planned on making a fortune off the Iron Mountain parcel by developing the land into an exclusive community that would be known as "Manitou Terrace Estates." The development would feature custom-built castles, for which Red Stone Castle would be the model.

Exploiting Dr. Bell and William Palmer's marketing techniques was a strategic business strategy; the Davis brothers' full-page ads espoused the wonders of Manitou Miracle Mineral Waters. The colored illustrations were featured in national publications and local newspapers in East Coast cities. In 1881, billboards depicting the virtues of the upstart mountain community were dotted throughout East Coast cities, highways and train stations. Billboards, soliciting to wealthy commuters, declared "CASTLES FOR SALE."