blackfoot-valley

In our supposedly superstition-free age we smile knowingly at such a quaint story, even though the tale of Duffey’s Banshee ended with the ulti- mate tragedy for some wayward stranger who may have been hurt or sick and seeking shelter. The writer or relater quoted above treated the story in jocular fashion as if it were a sit-com episode, though it was clearly no joke to Duffey, much less to the hapless victim. The account does not state whether Duffey was formally charged with anything. In those frontier times, probably not, or if so, the case would likely have been dismissed as an honest mistake. A story illustrating the sometimes casual attitude of frontier justice is related by the same source. “Settler after settler would move into the fine ranch, only to be driven off by the restless spirit which haunted the place. Finally one Duffey, lately from the Ould Sod, decided to brave the Banshee and settle on the land. All went well and Duffey was beginning to think the Banshee had either been an imagination or had chosen another haunting place. Then, one night as he was bringing in the milk the apparition appeared, moaning weirdly. Duffey put down his pails, removed his forty-four from its holster and fired. There was a blood-curdling shreik and the Banshee fell to the ground. Duffey had laid the haunt, but inves- tigation proved that until the shot was fired he was very much alive. Just to show that there was no hard feelings the Irishmen took the dead man into his cabin and the community gathered to wake and bury him in such style that the wake of “Duffey’s Banshee” is still one of the tales of the Nevada Valley.” “Land meant a great deal to these early settlers and the Nevada Valley was no exception. Such a dispute arose between two settlers. In the intensity of the aurgument one shot the other, inflicting a fatal head wound. Remorseful, the man walked to Blackfoot City and gave himself up. The corpse was taken to a saloon there. A doctor appointed a coroner’s jury of twelve men. After a few drinks the butcher was called in to perform an autopsy on the deceased’s head; the jury’s verdict - Lead poisoning.” A prominent landform that looms above Helmville and much of the Nevada Valley, whose name is steeped in Irish folklore, is Hoodoo Moun- tain, standing at 7,200 feet above sea level and seen prominently from the Ranch. Forested to its summit, and easily identified by several clearcut areas, one may let one’s imagination roam as to how it got this strange name. Although the word is supposed to be ultimately of West African origin - possibly derived from “Voodoo” - it was taken up enthusi- astically by the Irish who used to keep their children in line when putting them to bed. 115