Fan Casting Phantom Manor

Henry Ravenswood (born 1795) was a Western settler who struck gold in Big Thunder Mountain and founded the Big Thunder Mining Company, thus creating the city of Thunder Mesa (Frontierland as a whole). Ravenswood became rich and built himself a Victorian manor high on Boot Hill overlooking Big Thunder Mountain, where he raised his family - his wife, Martha, and daughter, Melanie Ravenswood (born 1842). Big Thunder Mountain was thought by the local Native Americans to be home to the Thunderbird, a powerful spirit. According to the legend, its wrath would fall on any who disturbed the mountain. However, Ravenswood would not believe the stories. Time went by, and the gold in Big Thunder Mountain began to run out, making miners dig deeper into the mountain. Melanie grew from a girl into a beautiful young woman, who caught the eye of many would-be suitor. Four such men courted Melanie, but each met with some unfortunate fate not long after their respective intentions of marrying her were known. Just when Melanie thought herself doomed to a lonely life, she finally became engaged to a train engineer who planned to take her far away from Thunder Mesa, much to the dismay of Henry. Henry did everything he could to stop the wedding, but his attempts were put to an abrupt end when a terrible earthquake in 1860 struck Thunder Mesa, and killed he and Martha. It seemed the Thunderbird had been awakened, and the family was never heard of again.