Wolf Creek Tavern/Inn
The inn was built around 1883 for Henry Smith, a local merchant-entrepreneur. As it was known then, local people crafted Wolf Creek Tavern exceptionally well. It served local traffic to mines and stage travelers connecting between Roseburg and Redding before the completion of the Oregon and California railroad through the Siskiyou Mountains of Oregon in 1887.
Known then as the Wolf Creek Tavern, Smith's hotel featured 16 bedrooms, separate men’s and women’s parlors, and a large dining room. While the rooms had no private bathrooms, each offered a bowl and a pitcher of fresh water. If any of the guests wished to have extra privacy, the hotel had a deluxe outhouse just outside the back door.
It seems that, during the Gold Rush, one of the toughest and most famous of the stagecoach drivers making the run south from Oregon was One-Eyed Charlie Parkhurst. As Charlie’s reputation had it, he “drove his team hard, spat his tobacco juice harder, and cussed like Sam Clemens.” They say that he only missed work on the day after payday when he was too hungover to drive. In 1868, Charlie registered to vote so that he could cast his ballot for Ulysses S. Grant.
When One-Eyed Charlie died at the age of 67, the mortician found something unexpected: Charlie had been Charlotte, an orphan girl who got out of the orphanage and into stagecoach driving by dressing and acting as a man. Given that Charlie voted in the 1868 presidential election, some say that she was the first woman in the country to do so.
Wolf Creek Inn is the oldest continuously operated hotel in the Pacific Northwest. It is here that Jack London completed his novel Valley of the Moon. As an essential stop on the 16-day stagecoach journey from San Francisco to Portland, the Wolf Creek Inn has housed practically every important person in the Northwest during the early history of Oregon.
In the early days of movies, the Inn became a refuge for beleaguered actors seeking an escape from demanding Hollywood studios. Clark Gable was a good friend of the innkeeper in the 1930s and stopped by several times while fishing the Rogue River just a few miles west of the Inn. Other visitors who have signed the guest register include Carole Lombard and Orson Wells. Robert Redford spent some time here while filming the fly-fishing scenes of A River Runs Through It.
Between 1975 and 1979, the Inn was acquired by the State of Oregon and restored. Wolf Creek Tavern is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is among the best preserved and oldest active travelers' inns in Oregon.
The haunted tales have caught the attention of the Travel Channel’s "Ghost Adventures" crew and paranormal experts at the famed Pioneer Saloon in Nevada. Two of its mediums came to the same conclusion as so many guests: The creepiest place might be room eight, where most ghostly vibes have been reported. The whole inn and woods have paranormal activity.
You don’t need to stay here to become an amateur ghost hunter. Self-guided tours — no reservations necessary — are possible year-round (check the website for days and hours). These are the same days the restaurant is open, so grab lunch and stroll the rooms afterward. On weekends from late May through early September, you can join a free 50-minute guided tour of the inn’s history led by an Oregon State Parks ranger. Call ahead to confirm dates and times.
This is the website where you can find the information.: The Historic Wolf Creek Inn
According to legend, several people died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances at the inn. Some of the alleged victims include:
· A young girl who was murdered in room 8 by her father.
· A miner who was stabbed to death in a fight over gold in room 5.
· A woman who hanged herself in the attic after being rejected by her lover.
· A man who shot himself in the basement after losing his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929.
· A couple who vanished without a trace after staying in room 6.
There is even a Clark Gable room, and this is the room he used to stay in while he was here, and rumor has it he haunts it also.
There are two episodes of the Ghost Adventure Crew being here. The first one is the Season 19 episode. 1, and the second is Season 19 episode 13.
In one of the episodes, Billy talks about a Native American who was hung here to celebrate the opening of the inn. I have to say that I'm debunking this because I have done research for days and cannot find any mention of this. Not all you hear is necessarily true.
If you want to come here and do some paranormal investigating, I recommend spending the night in room 8. The rooms here are relatively inexpensive and will cost about $120 a night. The restaurant here is only open Thursday to Sunday so you may have to consider that also because there is more to do here when the restaurant is open including ghost tours.
If you are into stagecoach history across the road is a little park that talks about the Applegate Trail and the history of stagecoaches in the area. It is a tiny park, and you can walk around the loop and read the plagues about the history in about 15 minutes.
If you do decide to take a trip here, I would also go to the Ghost Town of Golden Oregon. It's about three miles away and worth the detour. Here is a link to the post I did on Golden Oregon.
If you come here and have any paranormal experiences, please let me know because I would love to hear about them.
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