Ghosts among us

Digging up the stories of North Idaho's haunted history has been a fascinating experience for Deborah Cuyle.

Originally from upstate New York, Cuyle discovered the area, fell in love with it and bought a house in Wallace.

As she walked around and met the townspeople, stories from the past began to emerge.

"I was like, 'I see a book coming,'" the author said.

Cuyle's portfolio includes titles such as "Haunted Snohomish," "Ghosts of Leavenworth and the Cascade Foothills" and "Haunted Everett." Naturally, she began to collect stories for her newest book, "Ghosts of Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley."

She said she had some difficulty in her research on Coeur d'Alene's paranormal past, as details about murders, shady dealings and other incidents that may lead to hauntings weren't thoroughly reported.

"They kept stories under wraps in Coeur d'Alene. Finding articles on stuff made it pretty hard," Cuyle said. "Digging some of the old bones was more difficult in Coeur d'Alene."

But as she launched her investigation, she found more and more stories that many would only speak of in low voices with their names not attached, a "You didn't hear this from me, but …" sort of situation.

"Sometimes, people don't want to be the first to tell the story," she said.

Cuyle has had an altered perception since she faced a near-death experience. She said what inspired her to explore the paranormal was the need to understand the experiences she was having. She began receiving messages from the other side and needed to know she wasn't imagining things, she said.

"I just started to read about it because I knew I wasn't crazy. I wasn't seeking out anything," she said. "I used to do a lot of mediumship where you can talk to spirits of the past, but I found that extremely taxing. What I felt personally is they just never shut up and always want their stories told. I have to almost close that one off because it was really becoming overwhelming."

When asked what location in Coeur d'Alene was the most active, she immediately replied: "The Roosevelt Inn, definitely."

"That was pretty cool," she said. "I didn't see anything move, but I was only there for a few hours. You can definitely feel stuff at the inn. Nothing bad, though."

Fort Sherman, Farragut State Park and the former Bates Motel are a few other locations Cuyle visited for the book. She has two more books coming out about the mysteries of North Idaho's history.

"I do love it," she said. "I think it's very fascinating. I wish more people were open to it."

"Ghosts of Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley," published by Haunted America, a division of Arcadia Publishing and the History Press, was released in August. It can be found online and through retailers such as Target and Barnes and Noble.

Info: www.arcadiapublishing.com and www.historypress.net