[7] According to legend, Wyatt Earp kept the saloon, Jack Dempsey was a bouncer, and Howard Hughes married Jean Peters at the Mizpah.

The neighboring three-story Brougher-Govan Block, with rooms on the upper floors, served as the first Mizpah and remains connected.

Another widely accepted description of the events is that The Lady in Red had been caught cheating by her husband at the hotel after he had missed a train, who then proceeded to kill her in a jealous rage.

The Lady in Red haunting of the Mizpah was featured in season 5, episode 2 of Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel.

[12] The Mizpah changed hands several times through the years until Frank Scott of Las Vegas (who also built the Union Plaza Hotel) bought it in 1979.