William F. “Buffalo Bill" Cody celebrated the opening of his Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming, with a huge party on Nov. 1, 1902.
The now-iconic hotel, named after his youngest daughter, has gone on to host more than 120 years of princes, Indian chiefs, cowboys, and even ghosts.
Melissa Watson said she saw one of these apparitions while working as a waitress in the Irma restaurant in 1997.
It was summer, a busy time of year, and the staff was constantly dealing with guests who seated themselves. When the hostess would finally spot a guest, a waitress was sent over.
Sometimes this guest was a well-dressed gentleman in a fedora hat, patiently waiting to be served in booth three.
When older, more experienced servers heard who it was, they knew to ignore him. The summer help who didn’t realize this would scurry over to take his order.
“We would go over to this booth and nobody would be there,” Watson said. “That happened multiple times and never on the same day.”
The disappearing guest continued to show up over the course of the summer until finally one of the older waitresses told the summer servers that the reason he was never there when they went to take his order was because this well-dressed gentleman was a ghost.
“She said that he always sits in that booth,” Watson said. “And then told us to just zip out of there when nobody is sitting in the booth.”
At the iconic and historic Irma Hotel, staff have claimed that guests have appeared and disappeared mysteriously and pranks were played when glasses would move on their own in a certain booth. (Mac Watson, Cowboy State Daily) 
In the late 1990s, Melissa Watson and other waitresses at the Irma in Cody, Wyoming, would often see a man in a fedora sitting in a booth. When they would go to take his order, he would be gone. Some of the older waitresses claim he was a regular — and a ghost. (Mac Watson, Cowboy State Daily) 
In the late 1990s, Melissa Watson and other waitresses at the Irma in Cody, Wyoming, would often see a man in a fedora sitting in a booth. When they would go to take his order, he would be gone. Some of the older waitresses claim he was a regular — and a ghost. (Mac Watson, Cowboy State Daily)
The Angry Guest
Park County Archivist Robyn Cutter said that the Irma Hotel is rich with ghost sightings, especially over the past three decades.
While she has never experienced any paranormal activity, Cutter has dug deep into the Irma’s past and discovered that there are actual people who stayed at the hotel who match modern-day ghost sightings.
“I found articles which talked about this Frank Cunningham back in 1912,” Cutter said. “He used to serve in the U.S. Army. He appeared to have been hallucinating and started shooting in his room.”
This was Room 35, the Paul Stock Room, where people have reported paranormal happenings.
“They talked about somebody in a U.S. cavalry uniform and that, to me, coincides with Frank Cunningham,” Cutter said.
Cutter said she had come across several stories like Cunningham’s while researching the Irma and is always curious if the stories reflect the ghost sightings people have had at the historic hotel.
What fascinates Cutter is that often people don’t know about the stories she has uncovered and their sightings still match the research.
“Nobody's gone through the newspapers like I have and don't know that 1912 story,” Cutter said. “And yet they are reporting a soldier in the room we know Cunningham shot up.”
Room 35, the Paul Stock room, in the historic Irma Hotel has been reported to be haunted by a man in a civil war uniform. Historian Robyn Cutter then discovered an old newspaper story from 1912 where a cavalry solider, Frank Cunningham, apparently hallucinated and shot up the room. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Room 35, the Paul Stock room, in the historic Irma Hotel has been reported to be haunted by a man in a civil war uniform. Historian Robyn Cutter then discovered an old newspaper story from 1912 where a cavalry solider, Frank Cunningham, apparently hallucinated and shot up the room. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
The hallways of the historic Irma Hotel are still visited by guests today - and some believe from the past. Staff and visitors have reported paranormal activity that historians can trace back to actual occurrences. 
The Irma Hotel in Cody was built in 1902 and staff would refuse to clean the older section of the hotel because they believed that this section was haunted by guests who have never left. (Courtesy Dean King)
Ghost Sightings
Cutter has also researched the recorded incidents of ghosts and discovered that the reports are as numerous and varied as the guests themselves.
One article Cutter unearthed was from the March 2002 edition of the Cody Enterprise.
Reporter Carole Cloudwalker interviewed staff about ghost sighting at the Irma. They recounted that the two most haunted rooms were 18 and 35, the latter being the room Cunningham had shot up during his apparent hallucination.
Geny Raile was a longtimeemployee and swore that Buffalo Bill himself had come up and put his arm around her shoulders.
Another employee swore that Room 16, the Irma Suite, was haunted by a rocking chair that would rock on its own — until she would rub it down with furniture polish.
“I'm literally going through every single newspaper and finding these stories where people have shot themselves in different buildings,” Cutter said. “These are other places in Cody where paranormal activity have occurred today that you can’t explain.”
Watson had shared her own story of the ghostly restaurant guest with her son and said that the man in the fedora still shows up.
“My son was talking to the waitress about ghosts just a few months ago and she pointed out the table under the moose,” Watson said. “She said that when nobody's looking, the glasses get moved around or turned upside down all the time.”
Watson recalled that she also had to deal with the rearranging of glasses. She would set the tables and come back to find the glasses all pushed to the middle of the table.
Watson said that while the older ladies were not scared of the ghost in the booth, they were frightened of the old section of the hotel.
“They would only work in the new part, and they would make us teenagers work in the old part,” Watson said. “I never saw any ghosts in the rooms, but the older maids insisted that there were there.”
While she never did see any apparitions in the hotel, Watson said there were other unexplained events she witnessed.
“You would turn off all the lights at night in the bathrooms and walk back out in the lobby, only for the lights to come back on,” she said. “It was a nuisance.”
The Irma Hotel was built in 1902 by Buffalo Bill Cody and over the last century has been visited by many celebrities, locals, tourists, and ghosts. (Park County Archives) 
Buffalo Bill Cody founded the Irma hotel in 1902, naming the iconic business after his youngest daughter. Some believe that his spirit lingers in the hallways and rooms of the historic hotel. (Park County Archives) 
Buffalo Bill Cody founded the Irma hotel in 1902, naming the iconic business after his youngest daughter. Some believe that his spirit lingers in the hallways and rooms of the historic hotel. (Park County Archives) 
The Irma Hotel was built in 1902 by Buffalo Bill Cody and over the last century has been visited by many celebrities, locals, tourists, and ghosts. (Park County Archives) (Park County Archives)
History Lives On
Cutter plans to continue to research the hotel and will shareseveral of these stories at a Tuesday presentation with historian Bob Richards and Irma owner Mike Darby.
Aside from sharing ghost stories and the history of the Irma, Cutter will also tell humorous stories she has uncovered about guests of the Irma’s colorful past.
“We just got the log records from the Irma here in the archives,” Cutter said. “You see a lot of local people that were outfitters and the railroad men.”
She also discovered that the world’s tallest man had visited the hotel.
“They had to put two twin-sized beds back-to-back so that he can lay down in the bed,” Cutter said. “He was 8 feet, 11 inches tall with a size 19 shoe.”
Cutter said that as she shares the history of the Irma and Buffalo Bill Cody, everybody will also need a good laugh.
She wants them to learn some new things about their history while they have fun, whether it is ghost hunting or learning about the real people that walked the hallways of the Irma Hotel.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
