The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-01-16
WERE HIS SLAYERS
Ghost of Bob Ferguson Nightly Visits
Ranch Where He Lived
Years Ago.
From Wednesdays Daily Gazette.

our county and nobody has been
found with nerves strong enough to
lnhabit it since it acquired the repu-
tation of being the abiding place of
a ghost. although several have made
the attempt"
n speaker was a gentleman who
has long resided in Rosebud county
and who spoke in all seriousness.
mo, I'm not joking; neither have
become locoed by the many ghost
Etories of a political nature that have
been sent out from our county. Thir-
teen years have almost passed since
it first became noised about that the
house of which l am speaking was
disturbed by visits from an inhabitant
of shade land.
"In May, 1890, Bob Ferguson, a
cowboy, who vas living alone on a
ranch on the Little Rosebud, a tribu-
tary of the main Rosebud creek, dis
appeared. He owned some land and
seemed to be fairly prosperous.
Search for him was made after he had
disappeared a few weeks, but no
trace of him could be found. Finally
the roundup started and the cow
boys concluded to look for Ferguson
as we'll as for cattle. One day some
of them discovered a dead body bur-
led in the red shale of the hills near
by where Ferguson had lived. The
body was identified as that of the
missing man and subsequently it was
fairly we'll established that he had
been killed by the Cheyenne Indians,
who at that time were still inclined
to be ugly and would take in every
struggling whiteman they could find
when they believed that detection
would not follow.
ferguson left a sister, who dis
posed of the ranch to a married man.
1t vas not long after the new owner
had taken possession when nightly
the occupants of the house were
awakened by someone rapping on the
door. Beattie, the man who bought
the ranch, was away from home on
siderably, leaving his wife alone. She
/WAs anything but a timid m and
Whenever she heard the rapping she
would go to the door and open it, al
ways with the same result-ncbody
was to be seen. Determined not to
be driven away by a ghost or a trick
he believed somebody might be play
ing on him to brighten him and cause
him to sell out, Beattie hung onto the
ranch, his wife bravely standing by
him. At last the government bought
the place, it being included in the
area of land purchased by Uncle Sam
for the Cheyennes a few years ago.
Before he sold out, however, Beattie
had lost his wife and was married
a second time when he finally left.
Like the first, the second Mrs. Beattie
heard the rapping, making it toler-
ably clear that it had not been a trick
of the imagination that had caused
the first Mrs. Beattie to- declare that
something was wrong with the place.
CAS- soon as the government had
obtained title to the land a great rival.
ry sprung up among the Indians as to
who should have the ranch, it being
watered by springs and in other
ways one of the most desirable pieces
of land on the reservation. One Of
the many applicants for the place Sc
cured it and moved onto the land,
using the house and stables built by
Ferguson. He did not remain long,
though. The rappingss that had an
noyed and mystified the white occu-
pants continued and the Indian NOV
ed. Another moved in and then NOV
ed out. Several others tried it, but
none would remain. All declared that
a bad spirit vas there and would per-
nit nobody to live on the place in
peace.
Several years have passed since
the last occupant left and the build
ings have begun to go into decay and
are tumbling down, and unless the
ghost of Bob Ferguson gets tired
and goes elsewhere the ranch will
probably be never occupied again, at
least not by any of the Cheyennes.'
Ask Change of Venue.