1893 Frontier Hotel with a Lady in Yellow on the Third Floor
2 N Broadway Ave, Red Lodge, MT 59068
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Overnight rates typically $150-$300 depending on room and season. Restaurant and bar open to non-guests.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved sidewalks; historic building with elevator
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1893 · National Register of Historic Places · Frontier Hotel · Wild West Outlaw History
The Pollard Hotel opened as the Spofford Hotel in 1893, the first brick building constructed in Red Lodge, Montana. The town was then a coal-mining hub on the rail line south of Billings, and the hotel served the traffic of miners, ranchers, and frontier travelers passing through Carbon County.
Thomas F. Pollard purchased the property in 1902 and gave it the name it carries today. Under his ownership the hotel became the social and commercial center of Red Lodge, complete with a bank lobby, a bathhouse, and a billiard room. Sources note that William F. Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, stayed at the Pollard, as did Calamity Jane during her travels through the region.
The hotel's most cinematic chapter unfolded in 1897, when guests reportedly witnessed members of the Wild Bunch — including the Sundance Kid and Kid Curry — robbing the Carbon County Bank, which then occupied a portion of the hotel itself. The robbery contributed to the building's place in regional outlaw lore.
The Pollard is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After a period of decline, it was renovated in the 1990s and continues to operate as a full-service historic hotel, restaurant, and bar in downtown Red Lodge. It sits roughly 60 miles from the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park via the Beartooth Highway.
Sources
The Pollard's best-known reported phenomenon is the Lady in Yellow, associated with a specific guest room on the third floor. Multiple sources describe the same anecdote: housekeeping staff turn off the room's light, leave the floor, and return to find it on again. Guests staying in the room have reported the same pattern.
A second recurring report involves the scent of French perfume in the hotel's public spaces with no identifiable source. The smell is most often noted in the lobby and along the third-floor corridor.
The hotel's most idiosyncratic story belongs to the so-called Ghost Monkey. According to local folklore and accounts published by paranormal-tourism sites, the Pollard family kept a pet monkey, which is said to have escaped during a renovation and may have been sealed inside a wall. Housekeepers have reported small handprints reappearing on the front-door glass after polishing.
Reports from the bar are less frequent but consistent: patrons have described seeing a man at the counter with an untouched drink, who is no longer present when staff or other guests turn back. The hotel does not market itself primarily as a haunted destination, but the third-floor stories are a recurring feature of regional ghost-tourism coverage and have been documented in Montana paranormal literature.
Notable Entities
Book a third-floor room and listen for the Lady in Yellow, whose lights reportedly switch back on after housekeeping leaves. The 1893 hotel hosted Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, and members of the Wild Bunch, and retains its original brick walls and woodwork.
The hotel's restaurant serves dinner in the original 1893 dining room. Staff and guests have reported the scent of French perfume in the lobby and bar areas with no identifiable source.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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