In her book 'Haunted Montana' Billings ghost expert Karen Steven features a chapter on the Olive Hotel. According to Carol Schneider, it is believed that Olive Kennie Gifford, for whom the Hotel is named, haunts room 250. The room has been maintained in historic style, with antique furniture and fixtures. The chain on the old fashioned toilet is known to suddenly start swinging, and the toilet flushes when no one is near.

An apparition of a woman in a long mutton-sleeve dress with her hair in a bun has been sighted many times in the dining room, sitting in one of the booths.

The Olive Hotel had its centennial in 1998, and the owners did some research on the hotel at that time. According to Ramona Christenson who was an employee, vintage pictures were hung in the Hotel. 'One was called 'Dining at the Ritz.' The picture hung in the dining room at the hotel. To the public, it looked like a group of people sitting on a terrace. My partner and I spent many hours there after hours, and the picture would change. A man in a long white beard would appear in a corner of the painting, then there was a girl, and in the center was a man with a dark beard. Lights would twinkle and the girl would turn. She really loved parties....I still have that painting. To this day it can't come out of the closet because weird things will happen at my home.'

(This story is from "Haunted Montana," by Karen Stevens, Riverbend Publishing, Helena, Montana. Copyright 2007. Used with the author's and publisher's permission. To order a copy of this book visit Riverbend Publishing.)