Hotel burns in Colorado, but what about Rufus the Ghost (video)

ROUTT COUNTY – People living in the town of Yampa, just south of Steamboat Springs, are wondering whether a historic building destroyed by fire in early January will return to their community.

The century's old Royal Hotel went up in flames after an issue erupted with its coal-heating system. Everything in the building was destroyed.

The hotel was considered the heart and soul of Yampa. For more than a hundred years, hunters, fishermen and outdoorsmen from all over Colorado would visit it.

"Little towns like this or a little town out on the Eastern Plains – whenever they lose something the town hurts. It's important to us. A heart and a soul," said Paul Bonnifield, a local historian.

Perhaps no Royal Hotel guest is as well-known as "Rufus the Ghost." As the legend goes, Rufus was either killed during a poker game or died from the flu. No one really knows. Regardless, folks in Yampa say he haunted the hotel for 100 years.

"One of the questions that was asked almost immediately after the fire was 'What happened to Rufus?' Because he's important to the town," said Bonnifield.



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