Ravenswood Manor - A Guided Tour of Phantom Manor

1 · Welcome to Phantom Manor
2 · Nuptial Doom
3 · The Underworld
4 · Boot Hill

High on the hills lies a tombstone commemorating the work of several imagineers involved in the creation and installation of the attraction; among them show producer Jeff Burke, lighting and special effects designer Michael Valentino, and production designer Richard Brown.

In reference to the infamous “Hole in the Wall” gang, the tombstone reads:

AS — In Memory, “The Hole in the Wallet Gang”, 1992
Roland Aylor, Phil Canata, Darlene Todd, Casey Brennan, Jeff Burke, Michael Valentino, Ed Hanna, Nancy Gee, Richard Brown, Stephen Court, Keith Ackland-Snow, Monica Ackland-Snow, Paul Ackland-Snow, Robert J. Smith, Dave Giddens, John Flynn, George Hollis, Gerry Wilcox, David Fardell, Michael Fleming

The "AS" monogram and several names also refer to the British firm of Ackland-Snow who built and installed many show set elements including the Boot Hill tombstones. In fact, the photographs of Mary Murphy and Frank Ballard feature two employees of the company.

— The Carriage House
— Cast Member Interview
— Music Releases

Boot Hill

From one large tomb, apparently the Bride’s very own, we may sometimes hear her broken heart, still beating after all those years.

Not too far away lie her parents’ graves:

Henry Ravenswood, 1795 - 1860
Martha Ravenswood, 1802 - 1860
“Quarreled And Fought As Man And Wife
Now Silent Together Beyond This Life”

In this oldest part of the cemetery we also find the graves of two servants:

Jasper Jones, Loyal Manservant, Died 1866
“Kept the Master Happy”

Anna Jones, Faithful Chamber Maid, Died 1867
“Kept the Master Happier”

All around the stone-paved family plot lie the tombs of various Thunder Mesa citizens…

Mary Murphy, 1837 - 1859, “Til Death…
Frank Ballard, 1829 - 1859, …Do Us Part.”
Ma Ballard, 1800 - 1859, “Over My Dead Body”

B. Arnold
“Cold Is My Bed
But Oh, I Love It
For Colder Are My Friends Above It.”

Here Lies Leadfoot Fred
“Danced Too Slow And Now He’s Dead”
1802 - 1866

Rest In Peace, Barroom Benny
Seems He Took One Drink Too Many

“Shorty” Smith, 1862

Red Hot Harry
“He Got Hot
But He Was Slow
So He Got Put
Six Feet Below”

Valentin,
dit le Desosé
Ici reposent les miettes d’un homme brisé.

(Valentine,
“the boneless”
Here lie the pieces of a broken man)

Dakota Dick
Pendu le 17 octobre 1867
Descendu le 18 janvier 1868
Poignardé le 18 décembre 1868
Empoisonné le 21 mai 1869
Il Reviendra

(Dakota Dick
Hanged October 17, 1867
Shot January 18, 1868
Stabbed December 18, 1868
Poisoned May 21, 1869
He’ll Be Back)

Jacques Shrillman
Lynché par une poignée de mélomanes
“Une fausse note l’aura tué”
le 9 mai 1865

(Jacques Shrillman
Lynched by a bunch of music lovers
“A wrong note was his end”
May 9, 1865)

No. 39
These Miners Were Told
About Digging Too Fast
They Lost All Their Gold
In A Dynamite Blast

Down by the river, we can find another tombstone:

Peg Leg McBrogue the River Rogue
Walked the Plank
and Sank.

And on one end of Boot Hill, at the confines of geyser country, we see the wooden grave markers of a bear and his three victims:

November 13, 1865 – Breakfast time
November 13, 1865 – Lunch time
November 13, 1865 – Dinner time
November 13, 1885 – Hibernating in Happiness
After Years of Hearty Hunting

Anxious to leave the dark mysteries and prankish spirits of Phantom Manor behind, our steps speed up to rejoin the tranquil Western town of Thunder Mesa. Passing the manor-house as we leave, we notice that the Phantom is glaring at us one last time from an upper-floor window…