The Matriarchal Ghost Syndicate: Percie & Ellen's Eternal Zoning Board
PRAY, MT. Long before Miami developers with shell companies and PowerPoint decks sniffed around Paradise Valley, two women ran Montana the old-fashioned way: with grit, ledger books, and a low tolerance for men's nonsense.
At Chico Hot Springs, Percie Knowles built a wellness empire out of sulfur steam and whiskey bottles, holding court from Room 349 like a frontier CEO. Up in Bozeman, Ellen Story reigned as matriarch of the Story clan, whose cattle money built the Ellen Theatre in 1919. While their husbands got the headlines, both women quietly steered the region's future.
Local lore insists Percie and Ellen would meet in secret. Sometimes at Chico, sometimes in hidden rooms beneath the Ellen Theatre. They would plot the fate of the valley. Some say they were séance partners, others that they formed an "informal zoning commission" decades before Bozeman even had one.
Now, with new developments sprouting at Canyon Gate, Suce Creek, and East River Road, witnesses claim the Matriarchal Ghost Syndicate is active again. Percie has been spotted tipping survey stakes, Ellen rearranging plats. Together, they're said to haunt Miami investors' Airbnbs, whispering "Not Compatible" until the men flee back to Florida.
As one local put it: "Developers come and go. But Percie and Ellen? They never checked out."
