The Vaughn Mansionby Heather McDowellA cold breeze passes over me and the "big house." The dead, brown grass crunches beneath my feet, and ghosts of the past call out my name to hear their story. Standing outside the gate, the house looks as though it would devour me in a quick second if I tried to get in. With a blink of an eye, I can see families of the past standing outside the house, their eyes filled with terror and happiness at the same time. I strain to hear music of dances from the past, to hear screams from children as others laugh at their Halloween tricks. I fear the red brick and huge pillars would crush me if they fell. The big windows sparkle with the shine of the sun and I almost wish that I were (myself) the house, having stories and secrets of times past that everyone longs to know but no one finds out. Just northeast of the house, the old barn looks like a family of spiders' dwelling and I refuse to get any closer. As a young child, my friend Amy Nielsen lived right next to the mansion. She and I use to secretly stroll over to the mansion's fence. There we would sit and tell stories of the ghosts and goblins that we believed were hiding inside. Dares would be made to jump the fence and look into the windows, but the fright of its aged foundation kept us away. Still, children and elders of the Sun River Valley each have stories to tell of the Vaughn Mansion. Sterlin Nielsen is one who actually grew up there. According to Sterlin, growing up in the Vaughn Mansion "was fun but at times could be scary." The citizens of the Sun River Valley would meet at the "big house" for everything from parties, church, and dances. Sterlin and Virgie Nielsen explained how most of their food was raised on the Couch Ranch, on the Vaughn Mansion Homestead. Not many things were bought and money was scarce because of the Great Depression. Looking at it today, I can see that the mansion has changed quite a bit from Depression times, but it still holds the same stories. Since the 1920's, many have claimed that the Vaughn Mansion was haunted. "Melissa," sleeping in her bed one night, began to feel her bed shaking. Wondering what this tremendous vibration was, she quickly sat up. A few seconds later, a force pulled her through the footboard of the bed. Hearing her scream, her parents ran into the room. Sure enough, the force released her ankles and her parents saw nothing. Around the same time, in the same house, "Melissa" recalled seeing unknown figures. One night, she woke up and saw a dark shadow standing in her doorway. At first she wasn't frightened; after trying to talk to the figure for some time, she realized the it would not answer and began to scream. When her parents entered the bedroom, the figure disappeared. A couple days later, the family began to have conversations at the breakfast table. When "Melissa's" little brother "Timmy" started talking about the same figure, she realized that she was not the only one seeing images of people. Although the children's parents were skeptical, they were sure that the children were telling the truth. Stories always play an important part in history, but facts follow these stories too. Robert Vaughn came to Montana with the gold rush, but he ended up being an important homesteader with the town carrying his name. The Vaughn Mansion was finished in 1889; at that time, it was owned by Tom Couch. Robert Vaughn had only built the northwest corner of the mansion, the rest was built by Couch. In fact, the bricks that Vaughn used to make the house were made on the farm with rock and soil. Although people tend to think of farmers as individuals who grow food and raise pigs, cows, and chickens, the Couch people also raised race horses. Serving the Couch Ranch, there was a blacksmith shop, a stable, an ice house, and windmills. I love to sit on the grass and look at the spooky house and all that it holds. The family who now lives in the Vaughn Mansion says that they have never seen ghosts in the night. So, it is up to those of us who visit and read about the Vaughn Mansion to decide what to believe. The "big house" will continue to draw up rumors of ghosts and times of the past but the history and impact of the Vaughn Mansion will remain the same. Works Consulted Bailey, Lillie. Interview. 21 Feb., 1999.
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