Ghost story still haunts Niarada

Ask anyone who has lived in the Hot Springs area for several years if they have heard of Hannah Flagg. Most have. Some have their own stories. In fact Hannah’s reputation expands beyond the lonely roads and buildings lost to fire or time that she is purported to frequent.

This is the time of year when days are shorter and nights are dark and spooky with the anticipation of Halloween. Stories of spirits are told. Imaginations are piqued to heighten the atmosphere of the unknown. Stories are retold of ghosts, true or imagined, in the local folklore.

The years have not forgotten Hannah Flagg. People still talk about her. But Flagg was said to have passed away several decades ago. She was reported to be a stagecoach stop attendant in the Niarada area on what later became the McDonald ranch.

In recent years there have been YouTube videos and articles about a mysterious ghost being caught on camera.

Residents say the story told for decades is that Hannah died in a house fire, but that she is friendly and non-violent.

The other story floating around the area is about the horses' tails being braided. Page said it happened years ago but to talk to some of the locals it happened last week. On the Schneider Quarter Horse Ranch, according to resident Lenny Page, Bob Paro went out one morning and found that the horses mysteriously had their tails braided. Paro could not be reached for further comment.

Another local resident, Lindsey Columbo said she locks her car doors and drives fast whenever she travels by the area known as the Big Draw, on her way back from Kalispell at night. This area is directly west of Niarada.

The stories about Flagg have changed from generation to generation. In Page’s high school days, Hannah had her head but in later generations, the story was told to children that she lost her head and thus became known as Headless Hannah. Collin Hinderman from Hot Springs said he grew up hearing the story. “Ever since I can remember, since I was five, we were told Hannah was thrown down a well and her head somehow came off.” Columbo learned about headless Hannah in high school as well. The kids would scare each other with stories when they drove out on the highway near the Big Draw.

But, a more recent telling is of a family visiting Hot Springs’ Symes Hotel in 2016. Hannah Madina from Big Arm said that her family was leaving the hotel late one night when they saw the ghost of Flagg appear in the road and then disappear. Medina said she had heard stories of Flagg and could tell it was her. She wasn’t headless, Medina added.

A video posted to YouTube in 2014 depicts an eerie presence flashing on and off the camera. Nothing identifies Hannah other than the location possibly being where she actually lived, and presumably still haunts.

The only concrete identification of her was by the ranch hand on the McDonald Ranch who was acquainted with Hannah's spirit and the elderly gentleman in the barber shop in Polson who was aware of Hannah and her family as a child. There were two separate stories published about Flagg. The oldest one was published in the September/October 1987 edition of Montana Magazine and the other in the book, Big Sky Ghosts written by Debra D. Munn in 1994. The two accounts were very similar but had distinct differences. Montana Magazine’s article, titled ‘Spooky Niarada where things go bump in the night’ was written by Maggie Plummer, who presumably gathered information from local people that allowed their names to be published and were not afraid to tell all. But the Munn interpretation changed names and put a different twist on the Flagg story. Munn quoted Ann McDonald, from the McDonald Ranch, who thought the magazine article was exaggerated.

Some recollections in the magazine article depict Flagg as a nuisance wanting to scare people. Others say she means no harm and is only trying to find her two daughters. There could also be confusion between the Hannah Flagg ghost and other spirits reported in the same area. The magazine article gives the idea that there are other possible ghosts in the vicinity. They include headless hitchhikers, haunted bars and horse riders who disappear.

Nevertheless, local people still talk about Hannah Flagg today. Is the female hitchhiker who vanishes between Niarda and Elmo the ghost of Hannah looking for her lost daughters? It was reported that she wears a long dress with an apron. Has anyone seen her lately?

Take a drive down the road with its burnt fields that are lined with fence posts left behind to resemble jack-o-lanterns’ teeth dangling sparingly; an eerie stillness echoes where wind once whispered over green hay fields, and pastures full of life. Native Americans understand the importance of fire. They do not put them out. Fires clear out the old and promote new growth. In the open range land of Highway 28, fires seem to occur regularly.

The fires have surprised Niarda residents by their mysterious behavior as well. Danna Jackson posted photos on Facebook, according to Wendy Carr from Plains. The photos are taken of a teepee that sits in the middle of burnt land around Niarada a few years ago. The teepee had been spared and presumably not touched by fire. The 1987 article suggested that there were other spirits or mysterious happenings in the small town of Niarada. Could they be caused by one source, such as a long ago resident who died in a fire and is still looking for her lost children? Or is it possible that the area attracts certain energies?

The Big Draw is the subtitle for the Fearsaken film company’s video on YouTube. It captures a ghostly image at two different times in July and August of 2014, at 3 a.m. and 9 p.m. The end of the video shows a blurred image of a newspaper article with the words “filmmaker’s ghoul” and “ghost” in the headline and a photo presumed to be Hannah Flagg.

Whether you believe in them or not, spirits have been a part of our culture. Some people like the mystery that surrounds them. Some enjoy being spooked by them or the idea of them. Others search for them to make TV shows and films. And there are those who just accept them and respect their presence. Some say telling them to move on sends them away, as if the spirits are looking for permission or encouragement to let go of their life here and move on to wherever they are meant to be. Talking about and searching for ghosts such as Hannah Flagg keeps them alive in our imaginations or possibly on a dark lonely road near the Big Draw on Highway 28 west of Niarada.