׉?4ׁB!בCט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://qXTGijpatPIoC81NGmWPwoJ3pVVnkV206vOUIx4J_dA`׉ 7cassandra://g9HfGK8s5W8dD4qj8NCLIBNJ_9dyinvaXPcNknpztWo͋`s׉ 7cassandra://lYNN_7AQX5WI5HM2ey-xzJuM-Ct7FyQRFw08_EDvLVU*`fly2F2:ט(u׈}\נfly2F2:#̏ 9ׁH#https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ׁ ׁ Ј׈Eflx2F2:׉EJULY 2024 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter From The Ronan Pioneer, March 4, 1937 The Ghost Town of Independence Independence, Montana is nestled high in the Absaroka Range and has always challenged the limits of travelers and commerce. A trip from Big Timber to the mining camp took 5 days by horse. Gold was first discovered in the area in the 1860s but at that time, the land was still part of the Crow Indian Reservation. It would be another 20 years before the Crows would cede the land and development would occur. The main mining boom occurred from 1888 until 1893. This was following the cut of a pack trail through the timber granting easier access to the high elevation veins. The first stamp mill was taken in by the Independence Mining Company in 1888. Many more stamp mills would follow to serve local mines such as the Daisy, Hidden Treasure, King Solomon, Poorman and the Independence. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The Independence Mine was running full blast in 1892 and 1893 which prompted a local population of nearly 500. The camp consisted of one main street with scattered cabins, a few saloons and a couple of stores. Seven stamp mills were running. Telephone service and electricity made their way to the town. The Independence Mill would produce $42,000 in gold bullion. But, this big boom would all come to an end with the depression of 1893, exhaustion of accessible ore and poor management. Accessed via: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ ׉ 7cassandra://lYNN_7AQX5WI5HM2ey-xzJuM-Ct7FyQRFw08_EDvLVU*`flx2F2: flx2F2:(בCט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://vHTIfDedPYlbILrTMRYmGb5l0PrhrZmRAzOOqTMkxHoY`׉ 7cassandra://8B30OXg353m8SVjkjaFJzkkKSWOd3L6N4c2l3DHeFgA~/`s׉ 7cassandra://Anv9LjcQfKLMSmXtF51ooN6VDle_EJuQDq0EovUPET4$`fly2F2:$ט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://raIDvDjmSwXgVUoKX1qX58xOuL-cpAlu9Y60WyHgN_I-`׉ 7cassandra://snVSdIM7F9NJCfI9afPTRTd0wyyNjs83E0M3M-EtW2c͗`s׉ 7cassandra://THSNzDNPf41-c6S0BdJTsJ4aF1PpfeQepdgPWlCozUU)y`flz2F2:%נfly2F2:"9׉H"http://www.museumoftherockies.org/Gׁ ׁ r׉E1P a g e 2 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r In 1894, Ethan H. Cowles came on the scene and bought several of the local properties and built a 10 stamp mill. However, by 1904, a fire in the stamp mill would prompt Cowles to close down operations. Workings were reopened and closed several times over the next several years but eventually all was abandoned. While little remains today of Independence, the legends of the miners who worked the highmountain location live on...The Big Timber Pioneer Newspaper once reported on the conditions. “To a pilgrim it would seem impracticable to even think of working a mine where it required a 15-foot bar of steel to locate the roof of its blacksmith shop under the snow, on the first day of June, but to the boulder miner, such trifles as that prove no obstacle.” Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz GARNET SCHOOL This building was built in 1938, the original Garnet school was constructed in 1897. In 1900, the schoolmistress of Garnet’s first school had trouble disciplining the unruly, older boys. The trustees responded with a new ruling, the subject of this poem left behind by an unknown Garnet versifier. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz There’s a school up here at Garnet that is tough The pupils are bright as dollars But they’re rough The teacher is a lady That is right She calls them all her babies But they fight She tries to teach them good manners All she can But the trustees they have tried Another plan -From Interpretive Sign at Site at Garnet Ghost Town The Next Little Cuss That Hollers... They have notified the scholars of the rule That the next little cuss that hollers Out in school Must pack his little turkey And must get right out of school For the trustees are determined that they Must obey the rule. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz ׉ 7cassandra://Anv9LjcQfKLMSmXtF51ooN6VDle_EJuQDq0EovUPET4$`flx2F2: ׉E P a g e 3 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r 20,000 People a year visit Tinsley House to learn about homesteading in Montana By Evelyn Boswell, MSU News Service– JULY 8, 2013 BOZEMAN –A log house carrying memories from the homesteading days of Montana merged into traffic and joined the cars and trucks streaming east on Interstate 90. As angry drivers backed up behind it, the slow-moving Tinsley House rolled from Three Forks to Belgrade, south to Four Corners and east to Bozeman before settling next to Montana State University’s Museum of the Rockies in 1986. “I could always tell the progress we’d made each day by the angry phone calls,” said Michael Hager, head of the museum at that time and now president and CEO of the San Diego Natural History Museum. “We backed up traffic for 30 miles on the interstate and truckers were really mad. Then, when it arrived in Bozeman, if trees or mailboxes were in the way, they were removed and a stack of firewood was left for the homeowners along the street.” “We started off with a sign on the back of the home that said, ‘Follow me to the Museum of the Rockies,’” Hager said. “Charles Kuralt did a national news story about it. We took it off after the angry phone calls started coming in.” Sentiments changed, however, after renovators prepared the Tinsley House for more company than it had seen in a century near Willow Creek. Twenty-four years after opening to the public, the Tinsley House now attracts 20,000 people a year who are curious about homesteading life between 1860 and 1910, said David Kinsey, manager of the Living History Farm. Among them have been Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, movie stars and the producers of the PBS reality show “Frontier House.” “My vision was that the homestead would allow us to tell a very important story of Montana settlement and agriculture in a way that would generate a great deal of public interest,” Hager said. “But I had no idea it would be so wonderful and so important to the educational program of the museum.” Shelley McKamey, current director of the Museum of the Rockies, said, “Many people came to Montana in the first wave of homesteaders in the 1880s and 1890s and many of them were involved in agriculture. Helping students and visitors understand what life was actually like at this time in Montana’s history is an important part of the Museum’s mission. Whenever kids can connect with the past in a tangible way, it ׉ 7cassandra://THSNzDNPf41-c6S0BdJTsJ4aF1PpfeQepdgPWlCozUU)y`flx2F2: flx2F2: (בCט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://n2x57cM8PDfwzRRuepnbL8jmXpmK2yhLE5or34MexzA`׉ 7cassandra://Lkud85wKZGXvkscItPCYxUmGOLWVvyOoyYcbdkO9KKU͢;`s׉ 7cassandra://hSCx-9z7PYt9zacpfNv0b75JgextpzVl5u2EpVTQvBI&`flz2F2:2ט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://N8mpmKEqhfkjqqcdt7JMg8lkd9Ti-Eetb6PZ2y4pdOcn`׉ 7cassandra://rJdTUkOI6sXVleQgNIc3sqMffrAkRs_ihrSYQ04au_w͞`s׉ 7cassandra://7eCIq-IHOJJtT33dTfnvuMFTSIJQjx6OASteK6BuBz0(`fl{2F2:3נflz2F2:(+B9׉Hhttps://museumoftherockies.org/Gׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:)Lz̵9׉H;https://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/2012/07/camel-trains.htmlGׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:*#t9׉H-https://mhs.mt.gov/pubs/Magazines/#Winter2011Gׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:+#"9׉H"https://mhs.mt.gov/pubs/Magazines/Gׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:,L<f9׉H"https://mhs.mt.gov/pubs/Magazines/Gׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:-UX9׉HOhttps://digital.lib.washington.edu/ojs/index.php/WHQ/article/viewFile/7795/6831Gׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:.ҁ{9׉HShttp://www.smokstak.com/gallery/files/3/2/4/6/_BullwhackerbulltrainnearFtBenton.jpgGׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:/ҁ{9׉HJhttp://www.helenahistory.org/fort_benton_mule_team_wagon_ca1880_msulib.jpgGׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:0v*9׉H/https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001JSBUVAGׁ ׁ rנflz2F2:1L9׉H/https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001JSBUVAGׁ ׁ rנfl{2F2:8L 9ׁH%http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/p/myׁ ׁ Јנfl{2F2:7+G9ׁHhttps://museumoftherockies.org/ׁ ׁ Ј׉E NP a g e 4 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r helps them understand that what happened before was real -- real events happening to real people, just like them.” The Tinsley House was built in 1889, the year Montana became a state. It opened to the public in 1989, the year Montana celebrated its centennial. Since then, the two-story, four-bedroom house has been joined by a root cellar, garden, chicken house, granary, barn, blacksmith shop, outhouse, machine shed, apple orchard, wheat field, chickens and the occasional sheep and milk cows. Almost 100 volunteers -- including children, families and very senior senior citizens – now spend their summers demonstrating what life might have been like for Montana homesteaders. “The whole idea behind the Tinsley House is that it’s useable,” Kinsey said. “Artifacts have to be hands-on.” Some volunteers tend the garden, where all the plants are grown from seeds that are at least 100 years old and seem to have stories behind them. “Red Orach,” for one, is the first plant to emerge every spring, Kinsey said. It’s loaded with vitamins and sometimes called “mountain spinach.” The seeds of “Snow On The Mountain” were collected by Lewis and Clark and sent to President Thomas Jefferson to grow at Monticello. By the 1880s, the plant was included in seed catalogs that homesteaders might have received. Other volunteers cook meals on a wood stove, forge tools, plow fields, spin yarn, weave rugs, and make bread, butter and biscuits. Walter Mason, who became a volunteer in 1989 and continued until his recent death at age 96, demonstrated leather working. “He was raised on a ranch in North Dakota, so he knew how to do some of these things that they did on ranches in those days,” said his 93-year-old wife and long-time museum volunteer, Allagene. Other volunteers lead children’s games, conduct tours through the house and identify photos of William and Lucy Tinsley and their eight children. “One of my favorite things about the Tinsley House is hearing parents, grandparents and great-grandparents share stories with their children,” McKamey said. “The cross-generational connection is very sweet to see.” William and Lucy Nave Tinsley moved to Montana to get away from Missouri, a state split by the Civil War, Kinsey said. Even the Tinsley brothers were divided by war, he added. William and Joseph, who originally moved to Virginia City, were probably Confederates. Their younger brother John, a sketchy character who moved to the Helena area, fought for the Union. William and Lucy Tinsley, a dressmaker, married in 1867, Kinsey said. For more than two decades, they lived in an 8-by-16 house near Willow Creek with their growing family. In 1889, they built the larger log house that now sits at the Museum of the Rockies. The fact that the house was made of logs indicates that the Tinsleys were relatively poor compared to those who built brick houses along Willson Avenue in Bozeman, Kinsey said. Hager said the condition of the Tinsley House and a touching story about the children’s involvement were ׉ 7cassandra://hSCx-9z7PYt9zacpfNv0b75JgextpzVl5u2EpVTQvBI&`flx2F2:׉E P a g e 5 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r part of the reason he was attracted to the house. “It was built exactly 100 years prior to the new Museum of the Rockies building, and I thought it would illustrate 100 years of change in our region,” Hager said. “It was in incredibly good shape and the personal story of the Tinsley children making a two-day wagon trip alone to get the logs (from the Tobacco Root Mountains) was very compelling.” McKamey said the museum has three main goals for its Living History program. The first is to operate and maintain a historically authentic Montana homestead as typical of those established between 1864 and 1917. The second is to provide an opportunity for visitors and students to experience, participate in and understand the importance of Montana’s agriculture and rural heritage. The third is to enhance the meaningful involvement of the agricultural community and the general public in the organization, support and activities of the Living History Farm. “Even after 25 years of operation, some people don’t know anything about the farm and it’s just too great an experience to have anyone miss it,” McKamey said. “We are in the midst of a long-range plan to chart the future of the Living History program and welcome people’s input.” For more information visit: https://museumoftherockies.org/ Camel Trains If you are stressed out about your Fourth of July preparations, here's a humorous perspective: In the earliest days of the Montana mining camps, transportation was slow, and miners often waited in vain for ox-drawn freight wagons and mule trains to deliver supplies. Bad weather frequently delayed such essential items as mail, flour, and of course, whiskey. Stories abound about freighters caught in winter storms (check out the Winter issue of Montana The Magazine of Western History for an example). Such delays caused the rationing of supplies and brought on the infamous flour riots in Virginia City. Private companies tried to improve the delivery system, and some began to employ camel trains to carry goods over the Mullan Road to remote mining camps. It sounded like a great idea. Camels could carry up to one thousand pounds of flour each, they needed little food and water, and they plodded along at a slow but even pace. They were rather like today’s postal service: neither rain nor sleet nor snow seemed to stop them. But there was one problem. Bullwhackers and muleskinners detested the ungainly critters and dreaded meeting them on the trail. A mule train could smell the peculiar odor of camel from a long way off. Camel stench on the wind made horses and mules impossible to control. A mule train laden with a supply of whiskey earmarked for the Fourth of July met a camel train on a narrow road, and the mules stampeded. When it was over, whiskey soaked the ground, the Fourth of July was dry, and the camel experiment was over. –Ellen Baumler Ellen Baumler was an award-winning author and Montana historian. A master at linking history with modern-day supernatural events, Ellen's true stories have delighted audiences across the state. The legacy she left behind will be felt for generations to come and we are in debt to her for sharing her extensive knowledge of Montana history in such an entertaining manner. To view and purchase Ellen’s books, visit: http:// ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html ׉ 7cassandra://7eCIq-IHOJJtT33dTfnvuMFTSIJQjx6OASteK6BuBz0(`flx2F2:flx2F2:(בCט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://24iSc05EOYk5FpWYJxJLkaBfwNkPMLDvgHm8ChPgmEk54`׉ 7cassandra://hlD9O1PEHm1Q35UI3qFK-qQwPFByAM6oh5Ht6n50hhk͐`s׉ 7cassandra://TrEeT3ZZvZH728oJYZf1BJaBbN8lUw3QcDIwer2d178'`fl{2F2:9ט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://x1BauQH3RASZ2OOFPh8wqjory3MLjQx8IlYpcks--2k{ `׉ 7cassandra://-NpOjpiCdtV6y1ojtkPvO0M5M8GaJ5pwhTrV8db1tiQ͓`s׉ 7cassandra://P1DRiRx046jDOvz2fRi1A69jGVcyiAn5yrDEpvvPGNo*`fl|2F2::נfl{2F2:6.9׉Hhttps://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.montananewspapers.org%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR38FaDkIyvrBEKfVrTmSSTClVRo6zNvhM7LepRDp7vs2aq3KHZInbs1tlM_aem_1fdTwXOMsO5-HC1lNPo7oA&h=AT1aedvwlOo5O_u-Dr1D1LTFdLlIa1z6DHxRdIOVLn_rODrbyducS0N8jlDI73of5mwCGׁ ׁ rנfl|2F2:>.9ׁH http://www.montananewspapers.orgׁ ׁ Ј׉E P a g e 6 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r LEGEND OF BUMMER DAN’S DISCOVERY ONE OF THE MOST FANTASTIC IN LOCAL HISTORY Of all the legends of the early days of Virginia City, none is more fantastic than that of Bummer Dan's bar, a patch of sidehill ground a few acres in extent, where a shiftless miner made one of the easiest fortunes that was ever made in the gold fields. The patch of ground is straight across Alder Gulch from Virginia City, where the hillside has been washed down to a miniature Grand Canyon. An estimated $5,000,000 in gold was taken from that site. According to legend, “Bummer Dan” McFadden was a sort of a “hanger-on,” an individual without much ambition who made his ing [sic] a new claim. His old one would be “jumped” about every Monday morning. Sometimes he would try to “jump” someone else's claim and the rightful owner would have to chase him away with a shovel. At that time, the only rich claims that had been found were in the bottom of the gulch and one day someone suggested to Bummer Dan that he stake a claim up on the side hill, where no one would jump it. Bummer Dan thought it was a good idea; he went up on the hillside and started digging and everyone laughed at him. But scarcely had Bummer Dan gotten under the grass roots when he started digging out nuggets, picking them up by the dozens! A new stampede was started— living visiting the campfires of other miners about chow time and inviting himself to eat of their fare. Some people say that he was half-witted. Others say that he was just lazy. That was in 1863, right after the discovery, and it was the rule, adopted by the miners in those days, that a claim had to be worked at least three days a week and that any time the claim wasn't worked, it was open to be reclaimed the next Monday morning. Bummer Dan was always hunting from the bottom of Alder Gulch to the sidehill above it. A short time later, Bummer Dan took a stage coach out of the country. However, Henry Plummer's gang of road agents heard that he was leaving and the stage was held up. The road agents took Bummer Dan's poke. Then one of them saw a leather string running over his shoulder and demanded that he remove it. It supported a larger bag which was concealed in McFadden's pants. Before they left him, the road agents had relieved “Bummer Dan” of three large leather bags filled with pure gold nuggets. - The Madisonian Newspaper, May 29, 1953, Accessed via: www.montananewspapers.org ׉ 7cassandra://TrEeT3ZZvZH728oJYZf1BJaBbN8lUw3QcDIwer2d178'`flx2F2:׉EP a g e 7 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r SETTLEMENT HISTORY OF THE UPPER TENMILE AREA John Caplice discovered a rich vein in 1864 and soon local mines drew a solid population to the Tenmile area. By 1867 the early settlement, nestled in the shadow of Red Mountain’s soaring 8,800 foot peak, was home to miners working local claims. Lode mining began before 1870, and the mining camp was first known as Young Ireland because many of the miners were of Irish descent. In 1884, citizens petitioned Territorial Governor Schuyler Crosby for a post office, requesting the name of the town as Lee Mountain after the area’s most important mine. Governor Crosby, however, informed the delegation that postal officials did not usually approve names of towns that had more than one word. The governor had just seen a production of the play Francesca da Rimini at Helena’s Ming Opera House and loved it. He suggested the name Rimini (pronounced REE-mee-nee) after the town of that name in northern central Italy. The name stuck. Irish miners assumed the name was Irish because Irishman Richard Barrett played the lead role in the play. The post office approved Rimini’s application. Miners then changed the Italian pronunciation to RIM-in-eye. Rimini boomed as the Northern Pacific Railroad’s Rimini-Red Mountain branch line, which opened in 1886, hauled gold, silver, lead and zinc ore to the smelter at East Helena. Between 1864 and 1928, local mines genPhoto by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz erated some $7 million. The Hotel Rimini served delectable meals and visitors from far-away places strolled along the main street. But mining waned, the post office closed in 1916, and train traffic ended in the 1920s. Mining remnants lie scattered everywhere. From 1942 to 1944, remote Rimini was the U.S. Army’s War Dog Reception and Training Center for the Air Transport Command’s Arctic Search and Rescue Units where dogsled teams trained. Then the town became quiet. Today picturesque Rimini is a patchwork of time periods and home to a handful of residents. – Montana Historical Society Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz ׉ 7cassandra://P1DRiRx046jDOvz2fRi1A69jGVcyiAn5yrDEpvvPGNo*`flx2F2:flx2F2:(בCט(u׉׉ 7cassandra://mHpIstZ60LmHW0JDOaSSrJFDSVE2gdHv6WwCY0oI4nI`׉ 7cassandra://Yi-BYQnj2eFc15I07li-Y95THGGH92cxA_NajR6L5GY͊R`s׉ 7cassandra://JpkB7jKKkWioApKFknrMvnMRDP2cmjisjvfjaxy__R8(`fl|2F2:?נfl|2F2:=-]9׉Hhttps://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Foverlandtrails.lib.byu.edu%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR14W2rO4NyLUwBCBtgKXECCo_V5o6pPRjFXhHQnK9qXnTvuBLwIu4gxYNk_aem_CFudccO00puKLBM7nnNDkQ&h=AT0Nn49pg8D0Uv5DDY7Bm8VlETagGCoyWFHAGsTVD-zVCQJO6F3WTSTT0UtwbQJoETjGׁ ׁ rנfl|2F2:B-b9ׁH"http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu/ׁ ׁ Ј׉E&P a g e 8 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r July 21, 1865. Friday. Camp near Helena, Montana. We left camp near Virginia City last Friday the 14th and arrived at this camp Tuesday the 18th. We found most of the road good, but several bad hills, no sand. Paid to cross Jefferson's Fork at the ferry, $1.00. And the toll gate eight miles from here $2.00 in gold or $2.20 in greenbacks. Found this quite a thriving little mining town of near the population of Virginia City, and I think a more business place. It is located on what is called Last Chance Gulch. This gulch and many others near here are being worked their entire length, but no ground on them but what is claimed by someone, and if for sale at all at enormous prices. The prices are for new comers to pay. They call us "Pilgrims" and I am told that in many cases large figures are paid for claims that the purchaser fails to get anything out of them. These diggings are what miners call "spotted"; that is, one claim may be good and the adjoining one worth nothing. They told me of an old man who gave $18,000 for three claims and got nothing at all out of them. We here met Mr. Lisher, attorney of Mexico, and also Mrs. Lockinger, Rucker, Deport and Hawkins of Sturgeon, Mo.- From the diary of Benjamin Ross Cauthorn telling of his journey by wagon train from Missouri to Montana and on to Oregon. Accessed via http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu/ SUBSCRIBE TO THE GHOST TOWNS AND HISTORY OF MONTANA NEWSLETTER! My/Donor Information: Renewal? Y/N Send a Gift to: NAME____________________________________ NAME___________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________ ADDRESS_________________________________ CITY______________________________________ CITY_____________________________________ STATE__________________ZIP________________STATE_________________ ZIP________________ Yearly subscriptions are $19.95 (published monthly). Please make checks payable to Ghost Towns & History of MT, LLC and send with this clipping to P.O. Box 126, Warm Springs, MT 59756 ׉ 7cassandra://JpkB7jKKkWioApKFknrMvnMRDP2cmjisjvfjaxy__R8(`flx2F2:׈Eflx2F2:flx2F2:(,&Ghost Towns & History of MT- July 2024UEnjoy stories and photos on the history and ghost towns of Big Sky Country, Montana! flq}\