Urban legends often revolve around harmless dares and thrill-seeking rituals. But sometimes, these stories take a darker turn—turning real people into targets of fear and speculation. Such was the case with the so-called Witch of Parley’s Hollow, a woman known as Crazy Mary or Bloody Mary. From the 1930s to the 1950s, parents warned children to stay away from Crazy Mary’s house.
So it naturally turned into a challenge to see if they could spot the Witch of Parley’s Hollow. She was a recluse, and from the stories I found she had very eccentric behavior. One lady told a story of going to her house at midnight and watching her wildly playing her piano. The legend’s goal seemed simple: to spot her. Since people knew little about her, they spread rumors and branded her as crazy or even a witch. So who was Crazy Mary? And how did this legend surrounding her grow?
Dudler’s Inn
In 1864 the Dudler family built their homestead where Parley’s Historic Nature Park stands today. The family included Joseph Dudler, his wife Elizabeth (who went by her middle name, Susan), and his 7 children. Joseph was a carpenter by trade with a talent for brewing beer. He built a two-story home with a stone foundation and framed upper floor. By 1870 Joseph had extended the house into the hillside behind it, which included a brewery. The lower floor contained a stone “wine cellar” that served to keep things cool. You can still see this cellar along with pieces of the original foundation today.
Mr. Dudler’s beer business quickly took off and by 1892 he owned one or two saloons in Salt Lake City as well as a The Philadelphia Brewery Saloon in Park City. Travelers passing through Parley’s Canyon stayed at the homestead, which also operated as an inn. By the early 1900s, it had become a saloon.
Death & The Dudler Family
Joseph Dudler died suddenly on the 21st of October, 1897. The responsibility of running the brewery and maintaining Dudler’s Inn fell on his wife and children. It seems they were a feisty bunch and were definitely up to the challenge. In 1898, the Salt Lake County Sheriff arrived at the property in the middle of the night to shut off access to a canal the Dudlers had built to supply their brewery with water. Mrs. Dudler was not having it and along with her sons and Loretta, kept the canal open and the Sheriff left embarrassed. The dispute escalated into a major legal battle when Salt Lake City sued Mrs. Dudler, claiming she had taken water she wasn’t entitled to use.
Mrs. Dudler repelled the suit successfully and was able to maintain her claim to water rights of the canal. Just a few years later on December 26th, 1904, Mrs. Dudler succumbed to pneumonia and died at the family homestead. Joseph and Susan Dudler had three daughters: Amelia, Louisa, and Loretta. Louisa was the only one who appears to have had a “normal” life. She married, left Parley’s Hollow, and started her own family
Troubled Lives and Tragic Fates
Amelia Dudler was a popular girl in her teenage years. She along with Loretta spent a lot of time in Park City, and both attended St. Mary’s Academy in Park City. Loretta mastered the piano and organ, earning awards for her musical talent and beautiful singing voice. Amelia Dudler married but eventually fell into addiction, relying on morphine and cocaine. She spent most of her adult life cycling in and out of jail and prison. Newspapers frequently reported on her, detailing her involvement in fights, arrests for drug use, and charges of disturbing the peace. In 1906 she was even a suspect in a murder case. She died on October 30th, 1907. The death certificate lists her death as natural, and specifically states she “was morphine and cocaine fiend.”
And then, there was Loretta. Loretta also called Retta or Mary moved back to the homestead after she finished school. Starting when she was 16 she began suffering from anxiety and severe depressive episodes. She met her husband, Harold Schaer while living in Park City, and they married in July 1907. Harold was a miner by trade, but after marrying Loretta he began work at the family brewery. In May 1908 their first child, Harold was born.
Life, at this point, seemed to be going pretty well for Loretta.A year later, Loretta lost another loved one, when her sister Louisa died at the age of 49. And three years after that, on July 26, 1912, her favorite brother Frank died from kidney disease. In a span of just a few years, she lost her mother and three siblings. Anyone would have struggled with this loss, but Loretta’s depression and anxiety made it even harder for her.
Loss and the Breaking Point
In March 1911 Loretta and Harold’s second son, Charles was born, but things were not going to stay relatively normal for Loretta for much longer. On October 18, 1912, Charles Schaer died at the age of 19 months from convulsions at the Dudler homestead. Loretta was devastated, and from all accounts, she was never the same after his death.
By 1930, Loretta’s husband had moved to Los Angeles, leaving her and their son, Harold Jr., behind in Parley’s Hollow. At 21, Harold Jr. inherited his mother’s musical talents and worked as a musician. In February 1933, he married and moved to California, where he spent many years as a studio musician for Paramount Pictures. Loretta was now living alone at Parley’s Hollow.
This is when the legend of The Witch of Parley’s Hollow got its start. Loretta didn’t leave the house much, and no one really came to visit her. By 1940, her house had fallen into severe disrepair, fueling the rumors that surrounded her. I’m sure many of the local people remembered the stories of her drug-addicted sister and the mother’s fight with the city over water. Many locals resented the Dudler family’s long-standing claim to the canal’s water, a conflict that had already painted them as outsiders. As the years passed, these lingering tensions helped fuel the legend of Loretta. Parents warned their children to stay away from her house, and soon, stories spread that the strange woman living there was a witch.
The Abandoned House
By the mid-1940’s Loretta was living in a nursing home near 2nd North and 5th West. Her house sat abandoned, and her son left all of the antique furniture, including Loretta’s beloved piano inside. On the evening of October 18th, 1952, the 40th anniversary of her son’s death, Loretta’s house went up in flames.The fire was determined to have been caused by vandals. In the years it sat empty the house of legend had turned into a party spot for local teens. The house wasn’t completely destroyed, but all of the antique furniture, including the piano was a loss. The house was now more derelict and creepy than ever.
Death of A Legend
Early in the morning of March 22nd, 1959 an older woman who had lived a long yet difficult life died at the nursing home in which she had been living for years. Her siblings and estranged husband had all died before her, and her only living son lived in Las Vegas. Loretta Dudler Schaer lived to be 88 years old. Her obituary was very simple, and she is buried in an unmarked grave in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Was she estranged from her son as well? It seems so but has been impossible to fully determine given what little information is available so far.In 1963, Salt Lake County set the Dudler house on fire and demolished it. They needed the land for the new freeway (I-80) that was going in.
If you ever visit Parley’s Historic Nature Park, take a moment to walk to the old Dudler wine cellar. Stand in the silence, where echoes of a long-forgotten legend linger, and pay your respects to a woman who was never a witch—only misunderstood.
Legends of witches often blur the line between history and folklore. While the Witch of Parley’s Hollow is shrouded in local myth, the tragic fate of the Doruchów Witches in Poland was all too real. Their trial and execution marked the last witch hunt in the country, proving that fear and superstition have long shaped the stories we tell. Read about the haunting history of the Doruchów Witches here.