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Kootenai Brown
Historical Park
Howdy! We are happy you're here.
We are open 7 days a week, 10 am to 6 pm.
60 years of keeping history alive!
Kootenai turns 60 in 2026!
HAUNTED HISTORY: STORIES & EVENTS
GHOST SIGHTINGS
They say that the ghouls come out at night. At Kootenai Brown Historical Park the ghouls break every rule and can be seen, felt, and heard during any event, any sunny day, by anyone. Over the years we have collected several encounters our visitors and staff have experienced on our grounds and during our events.
The Cox House
The most famous haunting on our grounds is the A.E & Mary Cox farmhouse. Commissioned in 1887, Arthur and Mary raised their family and lived a happy life there. So happy in fact, that they never left. Since the home arrived in 1987, there have been reports of visitors hearing footsteps, seeing independently moving artifacts, and disembodied voices telling people to get out or stay away. The most common and eerie perhaps is the feeling of acceptance or rejection countless visitors reported from some invisible force, sometimes tangible in the air.
In 2006, paranormal expert Vicki Burles took the initiative and started an investigation into all of these sightings. She led a group of other paranormal experts in calling out to the spirits within the house. They were standing at the base of the stairs asking who was present, when a photograph flew 10ft off the top of the piano and landed on the floor in front of them. The photo was of an unidentified female Cox family member who was suggested by online correspondence to be a grand daughter or niece of Mary Cox. That night several orbs were caught on film as well.
In 2023, another sighting happened during our SpookyTown event. A volunteer had sponsored the Cox house and was handing out Halloween candies when a lady visitor remarked on how fabulous the volunteer's Victorian mourning gown costume was. Also the fact that the woman upstairs in the window wearing a similar costume was a nice touch. Startled, the volunteer responded saying that there was no other person in the same costume, let alone inside the house. The visitor pointed up at the window and said she had just saw her, plain as day. There was no other people or staff in the house that day, only the volunteer and her family wearing unique costumes.
For anyone wanting to be accepted into Mary Cox's home it is recommended that you ring the doorbell, politely ask to be let in, and make sure once you are in to comment positively on her china tea set. She is very proud of it.
North West Mounted Police Outpost
Outside of the North West Mounted Police Outpost exhibit is the original gravestone of Sergeant William Brock Wilde that stood over his grave for over 50 years. His remains were reinterrred in the RCMP section of the Fort Macleod Cemetery. He was killed in the line of duty by a three time murderer known as Charcoal who shot him out of his sattle while in pursuit. It was the middle of winter, and bitterly cold. When his partners came to retrieve his body, his pooled blood had frozen him to the ground. There have been many reports from visitors of cold spots and walking through columns of cold air while going past Sergeant Wilde's gravestone. Reports also talk about how once you have gone through the column of cold air, something continues to follow you around the park. This presence has been coined "The Lurker".