October is known as the “Spooky” month, so please join me as I share this month’s WHS Insights Blog for Campfire Conversations in a special Halloween edition.
I am Beki Speas, the President of the Wyoming Historical Society Executive Board and a NE Region Representative. Throughout the year, I get to share some of my firsthand experiences, thoughts, and stories from here in Wyoming. This month, as we set out our Halloween candy and prepare for the bustle of incoming doorbells pushed by costume-wearing children. At this time, we can also drawn to stories of the thrills, chills, and the mysterious.
Wyoming, as a state, collectively has many such stories. This last month, the Wyoming Historical Society was able to have our 72nd Annual Meeting and 1st Annual Conference in one of these locations…. The Sheridan Inn. Since moving to Sheridan from Cody in 2012, I have had people share some of these unexplained stories about the Sheridan Inn. Some of those stories included stories of a “Miss Kate” who can be sensed or seen by a few, and others, including Sheridan Inn owners, staff, and visitors, will say they have experienced commonplace, unexplained happenings.
I am one to be cautiously optimistic when it comes to the unknown, but I will say that I am extremely curious in these instances and always enjoy learning more. Recently, at our WHS conference, Edre Maier, recipient of the 2025 Mary Humstone Preservation Award for her work in the preservation and support of the continuation of Historic Sheridan Inn, shared some of the paranormal or bizarre experiences within the Inn. Edre, a friend of mine, truly piqued my interest.
To investigate the unexplained experiences, I have read a few online sources to get a little clarity. With that, let me share a quick history of our “Miss Kate.”
Miss Catherine B. Arnold came by train to Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1901, leaving her family home back in Virginia for a life of adventure below the Big Horn Mountains. At the youthful age of 22 years, Catherine Arnold, later known as “Miss Kate,” was hired to work as a seamstress for the owner’s family. She would grow to fall in love with the Inn and continue this passion throughout her entire life.
At the time that Miss Kate first began working at Sheridan Inn in 1901, Buffalo Bill Cody owned the hotel and grounds. The historic Sheridan Inn was known at that time as the most luxurious hotel west of Chicago, designed by Thomas Kimball of Omaha, NE. The Inn featured 64 bedrooms split between the second and third floors with a single bathroom.
The Inn, which opened on June 18, 1893, was partially funded by Burlington and Missouri Railyard and the Sheridan Land Company for $25,000.00. Each room had electric lights; they were also the first fully functioning electric lights in Sheridan, WY. Also, they were one of the first locations that had a telephone. The Inn was meant to accommodate businesspeople, politicians, and facilities needing a place to stay as they fulfilled their roles in the economic expansion of the West. (sheridaninn.com)
The Inn was styled after hunting lodges that Mr. Kimball had visited in Scotland. He used an interior European style, which is seen throughout the interior. Buffalo Bill Cody held auditions for his world-famous Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. The show depicted life of the “old west” featuring Native American culture and reenactments of frontier events such as a Pony Express Relay Race, and most famously the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The featured individuals included Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull. There were many famous guests to the Sheridan Inn throughout the years, most notably Buffalo Bill Cody (resident from 1894 to 1902), Annie Oakley, Ernest Hemingway, President Herbert Hoover, and Bob Hope.
Okay, so here is the spooky part…somewhere within an unknown wall location at the Sheridan Inn, there are the ashes of the prior Inn caretaker, “Miss Kate.” Throughout the years, Kate had a variety of jobs at the Inn, some of which were as a desk clerk, housekeeper, seamstress, hostess, and, at times, babysitter. She raised a cutting garden so they could have flowers for the rooms and restaurant tables. She’d light and put out candles to keep the hotel lit at night. She continued to work even when the business had a change in ownership and periods of closure.
It was Miss Kate’s final wish, when she died in 1968, to have her final resting place be inside her home for the past 64 years. Creepy, right? The Sheridan Inn staff and friends have been said to have a private service in her room on the third floor. I personally like the idea of letting ashes be blown to the wind, and am a little leery that they would be kept for eternity inside a regularly visited public business.
There have been articles about paranormal experiences within Sheridan Inn that people have had, such as glasses being pushed off tables, lights being turned on and off, doors opened after being closed, pictures watching you as you walk around the Miss Kate Room, chills, and the feeling of being watched in general.
In the future, I hope to stay the night here and make my own experiences. I can see why a young, adventurous 22-year-old Miss Kate would learn to love this Inn. My personal experience of attending events in the ballroom and parlor has all been beyond pleasant, and the always-friendly Sheridan Inn staff make it a joy to visit.
If you happen to ever walk the front deck of the Sheridan Inn, just know that you will be safe because Miss Kate is always watching for you.
Enjoy this spooky season!
Until next time, be safe out there!
