 Crowds of spectators would view this gory, gruesome spectacle and place bets on the outcome.Helena is a ghost town allegedly because of the vendetta that Colonel William G. Butler (1831–1912), a powerful rancher, had against the town he blamed for the death of his son, Emmett Butler, who had been killed by a stray bullet from a saloon brawl on December 26, 1884.A few days later, Colonel Butler went to Helena with group of cowhands and demanded to know who had shot his son and found that none of the townspeople was willing to tell the truth.