The tiny town of Wayne in Alberta’s Badlands is not exactly a ghost town, but it’s not far off. Before the coal mine shut down, the town boasted a population of nearly 2,500 souls. Today, there are only 27 or, to be more accurate, 27 , as one of the town’s residents is pregnant. That’s big news in a community that has been in decline for decades.
Most of Wayne’s residents picked up and left when the mine closed during the Great Depression. Building supplies were at a premium in the Badlands, since there aren’t many trees around, so most folks literally picked up their shacks and relocated to nearby communities where other mines were still operating, places like nearby Drumheller. As a result, there aren’t many buildings left to remind visitors of Wayne’s glory days, but there is one place, the storied Rosedeer Hotel.
The beige, false-fronted building of the Rosedeer, sitting by the rusted railway tracks that once served this populous place, looks like something from a western, which is probably why it’s been featured in a film or two, not to mention some TV shows and music videos.
Today, it’s a popular stop for road-trippers searching for remnants of the old West — and for ghost hunters. Not ghost-town hunters, but ghost hunters. That’s because the Rosedeer Hotel is haunted.
The hotel has three floors, but the third floor is closed. Legend has it, it’s off limits because a ghost lives there.
The story goes that goons from the Ku Klux Klan were hired by the mine to mingle with the clientele in the hotel’s saloon to be on the lookout for Communists, which was what anyone who dared try to organize the miners into a union would be called.
On occasion, they would take undesirables up to one of the hotel rooms and give them a good beating, burn them with cigarette butts or tar and feather them — whatever it took to deliver the message that they weren’t welcome in Wayne. At least one time, it’s said, the roughs went too far with their victim. Something bad happened on the third floor, which remains closed to this day.
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Welcome sign to Wayne running count of town's population |
A group of us spent the night in the hotel, not so much to find the ghost, but to enjoy the atmosphere of the colourful Last Chance Saloon, which is attached, and to enjoy the quiet of Wayne.
It was late September, and the season was winding down. It was also a weeknight, so it was quiet. A few curious travellers stopped by for food, which is excellent, and the occasional local would step in for a drink or two. Since it was Wednesday, our drinks were served in quart sealers, jars normally used for making preserves.
The saloon is as colourful a place as you can imagine. The original upright piano sits in the corner. The walls are festooned with memorabilia and bric-a-brac accumulated over the hotel’s history. There are even bullet holes in the wall from the time an argument got a bit overheated.
The highlight of the antiques on display is probably the band box, which is an old mechanical contraption from the 1940s that would sit on the top of a jukebox. It featured a bandstand with a number of foot-high, metal musicians that would light up and play along with the song selected on the jukebox. Dayman says there are only two in Canada, and the other is in a private collection.
After a pleasant evening of food, drink and conversation, we settled into our rooms for the night. The rooms are plainly furnished and decorated with eclectic folk art, but are comfortable enough.
I didn’t know if I’d see or hear any sign of the hotel’s infamous ghost, but I lay in bed thinking about it. I heard the sounds of footsteps on the creaking wooden floorboards in the hall outside my door. It was simply someone heading down the hall to the shared bathroom.
I slowly drifted off to sleep with no further sign of a spectre. All I heard was the faint sound of the wind outside my window and the howl of coyotes in the distance. The ghost would be silent that night, but that’s the way spirits are. You can’t predict when they’ll show.
To contact the hotel for reservations or other information, call (403) 823-9189.
Source: The Leader Post
