The Cheyenne train depot was hailed as one of the architectural wonders of Wyoming. Built with a price tag of $100,000, no expense was spared from its stonework to the elegant furnishings.
However, just 13 years after it had been built, claims of a nightly haunting plagued the Union Pacific depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming,
A reporter for the Wyoming Tribune had been assigned to cover the train station and, over time, earned the trust of the staff.
For six months, he roamed the halls and, on December 18, 1900, shared a story of supernatural origins.
“The employees of the Union Pacific are greatly disturbed over strange sounds which disturb their labors every time the witching hour of midnight comes round,” the reporter said.
He said that the employees claimed that for the past several years at each Christmas season, the noises would disturb their work.
The superstitious night guardsmen declared emphatically that the building was haunted.
They also knew who the culprit was.
Several years ago, an elderly man had attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat in the cellar of the building.
The staff believed that the evil spirit which prompted him to do the deed was now compelled to haunt the place of his wrongdoing as an atonement.
The sounds were said to emanate from beneath the baggage room floor, just north of the big scale.
They were described by those who have heard them to be the most distressing groans, a sound as of dripping blood, and a low scuffling noise, such as would be made by a man in supreme agony.
“While many of the depot force laugh at the phantom idea, they are visibly disturbed over the repeated occurrence of the sounds,” the reporter said. “They are entirely at a loss as to a rational explanation of the mystery.”
It didn't take long for Cheyenne’s grand 1887 train depot to earn an eerie reputation when workers reported ghostly groans and noises from a man who died there. Decades later, real-life tragedy struck when a watchman was murdered on the grounds. (Getty Images) 
It didn't take long for Cheyenne’s grand 1887 train depot to earn an eerie reputation when workers reported ghostly groans and noises from a man who died there. Decades later, real-life tragedy struck when a watchman was murdered on the grounds. (Getty Images) 
Built in 1887, the Union Pacific railroad depot was a crown jewel of Cheyenne and the Wyoming territory. No expense was spared in either the stone work or the elegant furnishings. Despite this lavish surroundings, employees were frightened when they would hear ghastly sounds coming from the cellar each night, especially around the Christmas season. (Cheyenne Daily Reader) 
The interior of the 1887 Cheyenne Depot was elegant and sported the most advanced technology of its time. Despite this, staff claimed the building was haunted beginning at least a decade after it was built. Others claimed it was nothing but a trapped cat, howling each night for rescue. (Wyoming State Archives) 
The interior of the 1887 Cheyenne Depot was elegant and sported the most advanced technology of its time. Despite this, staff claimed the building was haunted beginning at least a decade after it was built. Others claimed it was nothing but a trapped cat, howling each night for rescue. (Wyoming State Archives) 
The interior of the 1887 Cheyenne Depot was elegant and sported the most advanced technology of its time. Despite this, staff claimed the building was haunted beginning at least a decade after it was built. Others claimed it was nothing but a trapped cat, howling each night for rescue. (Wyoming State Archives) 
The interior of the 1887 Cheyenne Depot was elegant and sported the most advanced technology of its time. Despite this, staff claimed the building was haunted beginning at least a decade after it was built. Others claimed it was nothing but a trapped cat, howling each night for rescue. (Wyoming State Archives) 
The Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was built as a luxury railroad station in 1887. Just 13 years after it was built, employees claimed that it was haunted by ghastly sounds coming from beneath the baggage floor. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives)
The Crown Jewel Of Cheyenne
When Cheyenne was established in 1867 as a railroad town, a small wooden building served as the depot. This was not enough for the powerful Union Pacific who, a decade later, dragged the structure off to the side with a steam engine.
In the fall of 1887, work on a magnificent building of red and white sandstone was begun. The corner stone had been laid with imposing ceremonies led by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Wyoming.
The architectural make-up of the building was described as a combination of the Queen Anne, French, Roman and more modern styles, the whole forming a mass of architectural beauty, unique in appearance, but grand and imposing as well.
“The interior of the building has a palace-like appearance and one would almost forget himself and think that he was in the Crystal Palace of old, that formerly adorned the city of London, while taking a stroll up and down its ample halls and corridors,” The 1887 Cheyenne Daily Sun reported with pride.
Despite the money poured into the elegant building, employees began to fear going to work at night and the local newspapers began to investigate the cause of the horrible sounds.
The Investigation
The Wyoming Tribune reporter covering the railroad beat asked less superstitious staff what the sound could possibly be.
“The more cold-blooded employees at first put forth the theory that the ghostly disturbances were caused by a cat which had become imprisoned beneath the floor and was slowly dying of starvation,” the reporter said.
Janitor Jim Ward was sent to investigate the cellar and although he searched the area thoroughly, he failed to find any evidence of an animal. The hair-raising noises continued.
The Cheyenne Daily Reader immediately mocked this reporter in their own pages and blamed spirits of another kind for the nightly hauntings.
“A reporter who has worked in the depot for six months, imbibes a few generous sized schooners,” the Daily Leader said. “And then writes up a column article on a depot ghost. He is a genius and a credit to the profession.”
The Wyoming Tribune responded four days later on December 22.
“The depot ghost still continues its dismal groaning,” the reporter said. “The Leader reporter having had such intimate association with dead matter, ought to be able to attend to its case.”
Apparently, the Daily Leader took up the challenge. A few weeks later, their conclusion was the same as that of the less superstitious employees. This time, another employee, angered by the nightly howling, searched the cellar again.
“The baggageman at the depot has discovered that an old cat was the “spirit” which haunted the place,”’ the Leader smugly concluded. “He used a rifle in his hunt for the specter.”
When Cheyenne was in established in 1867 as a railroad town, a small wooden building served as the depot. This was not enough for the powerful Union Pacific who, a decade later, dragged the structure off to the side with a steam engine and replaced it with a gorgeous stone building, sparing no expense. Despite this, the depot was reported to be haunted and frightened employees spoke of unearthly sounds emanating from the cellar. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives) 
The Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was built as a luxury railroad station in 1887. Just 13 years after it was built, employees claimed that it was haunted by ghastly sounds coming from beneath the baggage floor. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives) 
When Cheyenne was in established in 1867 as a railroad town, a small wooden building served as the depot. This was not enough for the powerful Union Pacific who, a decade later, dragged the structure off to the side with a steam engine and replaced it with a gorgeous stone building, sparing no expense. Despite this, the depot was reported to be haunted and frightened employees spoke of unearthly sounds emanating from the cellar. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives) 
The Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was built as a luxury railroad station in 1887. Just 13 years after it was built, employees claimed that it was haunted by ghastly sounds coming from beneath the baggage floor. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives) 
The Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was built as a luxury railroad station in 1887. Just 13 years after it was built, employees claimed that it was haunted by ghastly sounds coming from beneath the baggage floor. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives) 
The Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was built as a luxury railroad station in 1887. Just 13 years after it was built, employees claimed that it was haunted by ghastly sounds coming from beneath the baggage floor. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives) 
The Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was built as a luxury railroad station in 1887. Just 13 years after it was built, employees claimed that it was haunted by ghastly sounds coming from beneath the baggage floor. (Courtesy Wyoming State Archives)
Murder At The Depot
Whether or not the Cheyenne Depot is haunted is a question that continues to plague the old railroad station to this day.
In Jill Pope’s book, “Haunted Cheyenne,” she pointed as would be expected at a rail yard, there were serious injuries and deaths in the early years of the Union Pacific Depot.
One such example occurred a decade after the original haunting, in 1910, when a yard watchman had been run over by a train. His remains were described as gruesome and mangled.
The most horrific murder occurred at 1:45 a.m. on August 5, 1912. There are those who believe this murder left behind a restless spirit.
Union Pacific watchman Lloyd J. Sparr, 29, was shot from behind while monitoring vagrants to prevent boxcar robberies.
An hour after the shot had rung out, his body was found in the darkness, just beyond the depot between the number one and two freight tracks.
“The murder was about seventy feet from where the other watchman had been run over two years earlier,” Pope said.
Investigators concluded that Sparr had been shot at close range from behind based on the powder burns below his left ear.
The assailant had stolen Sparr’s gun after killing him but did not take his wallet, leaving investigators to question whether the aggressor had been a frightened hobo or someone with a more sinister motive.
According to newspaper reports at the time, Conductor William Walcott had seen Sparr with a stranger around midnight.
Known as a swift man with a gun, Sparr was very cautious when handling hobos, never allowing anyone to get behind him.
“Lloyd was always kind to everybody and never got into trouble,” Mrs. Abbots his landlady said, according to the 1912 Wyoming Tribune.
A manhunt ensued and the lawmen caught a break which solved the murder.
Three weeks after Sparr had been shot, Charles Taylor confessed to killing Sparr. Taylor had served time at the state penitentiary in Rawlins when Sparr worked there and it was believed to have been a revenge killing.
Whether or not Sparr or any of the others who have died violent deaths at the Cheyenne Depot continue to haunt the area is one for speculation.
As the strange noises and sounds continue at this historical spot, now a destination for locals and tourists alike, there will be those who claim the noises are a stray cat and others, who know it is a ghost.
Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com
Lloyd Sparr was murdered in 1912 at the Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne. There are those that believe his spirit, and others who died violent deaths, still haunt the Cheyenne Depot to this day. Others claim the ghostly occurrences have more natural explanations. Such as the yowling of stray cats. (Wyoming Newspaper Project) 
Lloyd Sparr was murdered in 1912 at the Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne. There are those that believe his spirit, and others who died violent deaths, still haunt the Cheyenne Depot to this day. Others claim the ghostly occurrences have more natural explanations. Such as the yowling of stray cats. (Wyoming Newspaper Project) 
Lloyd Sparr was murdered in 1912 at the Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne. There are those that believe his spirit, and others who died violent deaths, still haunt the Cheyenne Depot to this day. Others claim the ghostly occurrences have more natural explanations. Such as the yowling of stray cats. (Wyoming Newspaper Project) 
Newspaper articles from the two competitive Cheyenne papers claimed that investigations were being conducted by the reporters themselves to determine the origin of the ghostly sounds. Was it spirits… or a cat? (Wyoming Newspaper Project) 
Newspaper articles from the two competitive Cheyenne papers claimed that investigations were being conducted by the reporters themselves to determine the origin of the ghostly sounds. Was it spirits… or a cat? (Wyoming Newspaper Project) 
Newspaper articles from the two competitive Cheyenne papers claimed that investigations were being conducted by the reporters themselves to determine the origin of the ghostly sounds. Was it spirits… or a cat? (Wyoming Newspaper Project) 
Newspaper articles from the two competitive Cheyenne papers claimed that investigations were being conducted by the reporters themselves to determine the origin of the ghostly sounds. Was it spirits… or a cat? (Wyoming Newspaper Project)
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
