Banta Inn

The Banta Inn was built in 1879 by Frank Gallegos — reputed to have ridden with Joaquín Murrieta — as a two-storey saloon and sporting house, with rooms upstairs for lodging and entertainment. Fire destroyed much of it in 1937; it was rebuilt using some of the original timbers, and two people, said to have been a mother and her child, are reported to have died in the blaze. In the 1960s Gallegos's youngest daughter Jenny and her husband Tony Gukan turned the building back into a bar and restaurant, and Tony died behind that bar of a sudden heart attack. The family held the place until 1981, when Jenny sold it at ninety-two. Staff attribute most of what happens to Tony: the register drawer found open with the coins stacked neatly after closing, objects knocked from the walls, doors opening and shutting. He has been reported sitting alone at a corner table playing poker, and working behind the bar. Employees closing up have also described a woman's laughter with no one else in the building.