It took just 90 minutes to learn about - pubic wigs, feet turned into moccasins, tunnels full of ghosts, and over 1,000 buried bodies found under an elementary school near Missoula.
And those were just some of the crazy and shocking facts that we learned on Unseen Missoula’s Walking Tour called “Screams and Spirits.”
Wait, there are other tours, similar to this one?
Sign me up!
Living on and off in Missoula since 2010 and running our glamping business, we haven’t had much time to get to know Missoula. Garrett attended the University of Montana in Missoula many years ago and like most folks, we don’t always venture out to do the “touristy” things.
In an attempt to be more involved in the Missoula community, we’re so thankful that there are so many passionate folks who are excited to bring the history of this little town back to life.
Maybe we can finally get some answers to some of our burning questions:
“What’s up with that M sign on Mount Sentinel?
“Are there really tunnels under Missoula? And where do they lead?”
“What is known about Missoula’s Queen of Brothels?”
A lot of folks think that the highlight of Missoula’s history is Norman Maclean’s book “A River Runs Through It,” which tells the story of two brothers from Missoula, who love fishing on the Blackfoot River. Yes, technically, that book and later the movie helped to put Missoula on the map (though few people know that it wasn’t filmed here, but in Bozeman and Livingston.)
If you live or visit Missoula and love walking tours and fascinating stories, you’re in luck!
WHAT IS UNSEEN MISSOULA?
Unseen Missoula Tours started in 2018, entertaining and baffling over 1,400 people since its inception, and I was recently one of them.
Thanks to the wonderful Missoula ambassadors, Hauna and Melissa, from Women Who Explore (WWE), I learned about the Unseen Tour and decided to sign up. Check out another exciting and insanely photogenic hike we went on with WWE in this blog post.
Unseen Missoula is a program of Heritage Missoula and the Downtown Missoula Partnership that offers educational walking tours that showcase Missoula’s unique history. At the time of this writing, six tours are offered from April to October. Check out the tours and get your tickets here.
SCREAMS AND SPIRITS TOUR
October was the perfect month to hear Missoula’s spine-chilling history, despite that day’s colder temps and rainy conditions. Still, women who explore and I persevered, joining about a dozen other participants, celebrating birthdays and other curious folks.
Our wonderfully informative guide Sophia is a Public Historian, specializing in the history of Western Montana red light districts.
She had laminated printouts of various photos that made the tour come to life, putting a face to certain folks and seeing what the city looked like way back in the day of dirt roads and when Missoula was literally eight feet deeper than today.
We didn’t walk very far on this tour (about five city blocks), but every stop had its significance - like this Ghost Signage, which we just had to document with a group photo for WWE.
Above us are Ghost Signage in Missoula, Montana
WHAT’S A GHOST SIGN?
Ghost signs are considered valuable historical artifacts as they provide information about past businesses, products, and local culture. Due to age and exposure to elements, the paint on ghost signs fades, making them appear faint and "ghostly."
WHAT ELSE DID we LEARN ON THE TOUR?
Sophia did such an incredible job filling the 90 minutes with SO MUCH INFORMATION, but here is the quick summary of the tour to get your anticipation boiling until the tours restart in April:
What was Missoula like during the 19th and 20th centuries?
You’ll hear detailed stories of the convicted murderer John Burns, crooked sheriff William Houston, as well as two of Montana’s first state female convicts, Felicita Sanchez and Mary Drouillard.
You’ll learn about how the Clark Fork River was re-routed, The Wilma Theater was built on a man-made island where Caras Park sits today, as you drive down to the Carousel, you can feel how low Missoula used to exist before.
Your eyebrows will undoubtedly rise when you hear about the shoe-feet mocassins, which are still out there somewhere!
The hairs on the back of our spine stood up, as Sophia told us about a certain plaid-shirt-wearing and mustachioed ghost figure, which continues to show up in various businesses around downtown.
You may be joined on a tour by a business owner who swears that their downtown location has a mystery door that may or may not lead to the tunnel network under Missoula.
You’ll definitely finish the tour at Cranky Sam Public House, which happens to have a framed pubic wig displayed above the bar, ask Sophia about it.
While you’re there check out the Naked Lady in all her glory, but did a ghost reveal her location during the renovations?
We definitely have more questions about Missoula since before the Unseen Missoula Tour, but history reveals some things and leaves other facts hidden, like all the unknown names of the people buried under Rattlesnake Elementary School.
