.png)
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!
We will be closed on Labour Day, Monday September 7.
After Labour Day, we are on fall hours: Open Monday to Friday, 10-6. Closed Saturday and Sunday.
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, 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 to hundreds of children with her family, which is a common practise for this event. A lady visitor who was taking her children around trick-or-treating remarked on how fabulous the volunteer's Victorian mourning gown costume was. Also the fact that the woman in the upstairs window wearing a similar costume was a nice touch. Startled, the volunteer responded that there was no one else 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 were no extra volunteers or staff in the house that day, only the volunteer and her family wearing unique costumes.
In 2026, a summer student was locking up the Cox House at the end of the day when she heard a strange noise as she approached the front door.
As she unlocked the building and stepped inside, she heard someone humming.
Curious—and understandably a little uneasy—she followed the sound through the house, trying to determine where it was coming from. As she entered the parlour, she noticed something that immediately caught her attention: the kitchen door was standing wide open. She was adamant the door had been closed and locked. In fact, she distinctly remembered closing it earlier that morning because it had been open when she arrived to unlock the building. That kitchen door is never opened for visitors. It leads to a broken back porch and a private garden that is used for rentals, making it especially unusual for the door to be open at all.
But by the time she reached the parlour, the humming had stopped.
There was no one in the house and no explanation for the open door.
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 once you are in make sure to comment positively on her china tea set. She is very proud of it.
(Picture of unknown Cox family member that flew off the piano)
Photo of volunteer in the Victorian mourning gown costume and her family sponsoring the Cox family farmhouse for SpookyTown 2023
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 previously reinterrred in the RCMP section of the Fort Macleod Cemetery under a new gravestone. 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 columns of cold air while going past Sergeant Wilde's gravestone, even during the heat of summer. 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".
Fishburn School House
The Fishburn School was the first of the 39 rural one-room school houses to open in 1897, and the last of them to close in the 1960s. It was the social-hub of the community. Here many joyful community events were held including dances, meetings, parties, etc.. Of course, this building was extensively used for educational purposes as well.
In 2022, a summer student was locking up the buildings along the same route as every night, checking the interiors for guests. When she got to the Fishburn exhibit she opened the door to a strange sight. A little boy wearing strange clothes was sitting in a desk very still while looking straight ahead at the blackboard. As the student opened the door wider, the boy jumped up, sprinted to the window and disappeared while giggling.
In 2025, the Museum hosted its Halloween ghost-hunting event Midnight Macabre, where the Archivist had gone into the building with friends to test their new paranormal skills they had learned as part of the program. Upon entering, the Archivist immediately felt an overwhelming energy, a presence, standing right behind her back, causing the hair to rise on her neck. She quickly motioned to her friend to point the EMF reader behind her and the reading went wild with flashing lights and sirens. Shortly after, the Archivist left to go to another building but a couple of her friends remained. She had barely left when the two friends heard children's voices on their spirit box say, "Get out! You are so annoying!", in a very childish way.
Additional Stories From Events
In 2025, during the SpookyTown event, a child was adamant that there was a person in the very top window of the Turcotte Bank Building. His mother urged him to move along but he refused, he wanted to continue watching the figure. That window belongs to the attic where no one but staff can get too. All staff members were on the grounds outside monitoring visitors.
In 2025, the Midnight Macabre event stirred up many sleeping entities. Several paranormal sightings occurred or were caught on special equipment such as EMF readers, spirit boxes, electric sensors, pendulums, and so much more. Here are a few of the paranormal occurences:
- During an investigation in the Kootenai Brown Cabin, our paranormal expert put electrical sensors on the table and called out to the spirits. Immediately the sensors flashed wildly and Kootenai Brown's snowshoes slammed to the ground off the wall.
- Another instance, was when a group went into the B/A antique car barn and used a spirit box near the old hearse. They received a strange one-worded message. They left the building and ran into one of the volunteers. They were chatting about the old hearse when the volunteer remarked on some insider knowledge about the exhibit. Specifically, the embalming machine and chemicals used to embalm a body. Many people miss those artifacts displayed by the hearse. The people looked at the volunteer wide-eyed and turned the device screen to them. The word "CHEMICAL", was the message.
Check out the Haunted Canada podcast interview about all our ghost stories, done with our Collections Technologist.
_JPG.jpg)
Coming EVENTS
Midnight Macabre 2: October 30th, 2026. 7-10pm.
Paranormal Adventure: Book a group ghost-hunting session with paranormal expert Vicki Burles, max. 8 guests per group.
Midnight Macabre hosts Mrs. Carey (left) and Miss. Mallory (right). Join them for terrifying true stories, creepy cocktails, and a real life ghost-hunt. Beginner friendly.
TICKETS