Niwot Historical Society presents haunted west lecture

The Niwot Historical Society's Then & Now Lecture Series will feature award-winning cinematographer, director, writer, and lecturer Ethan "E.S." Knightchilde who will tell stories of the haunted Old West, both real and folklore, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. at the Left Hand Grange.

Knightchilde is an author, film maker and lecturer on old western towns and mining settlements. His award-winning film, "Ghosts of the West: The End of the Bonanza Trail," was praised as the highest rated, western documentary by IMDb. The film played for a week-long engagement in Fort Collins in 2014 to a full house for every showing.

In his photo book, "Ghost of the West: Tales and Legends from the Bonanza Trail," he recounts the stories of those who traveled The Bonanza Trail, which passes through the El Paso Mountains within Kern County, California, northeast of the Mojave Desert. The trail is littered with abandoned gold mines and ghost towns.

The reader is led through a landscape of legends and dramatic nonfiction accounts of life, successes and hardships in the old mining towns which were founded and later to become ghost towns along the trail. The hills along the trail was where the adventurous sought their fortunes.

Knightchilde has devoted more than twenty years to researching the fascinating history of the old west. His lecture will provide the audience with a comprehensive understanding of life in the "Old West" mining towns and how some became ghosts of themselves.

Admission is free to members of the Niwot Historical Society, and $5 at the door to non-members.