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October 28, 2019
Ghost Towns and History
of Montana Newsletter
L o u i s v i l l e a n d C h i n a G u l c h ,
M o n t a n a
The townsite of Louisville occupied only 1/2 acre but there were many
buildings in and
around the town.
The post office
was open from
3/31/1870 to
6/20/1871, before
it was moved
up the creek. Louisville
lasted until 1/1873, before most buildings were dismantled as the
miners moved on up the creek. January 1874, the only thing left was a cabin,
saloon, and a jail with three souls and a ghost.
Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
From the Flathead Courier
Newspaper (Polson, MT)
Dec. 2, 1926
Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
In January
1870, Louisville
had
1,000 residents
in the
area.
There were
100 houses,
9 stores, 14 saloons, 1 hotel, 3 bakeries, 2 doctors, 2 drug stores, 1 banker,
2 express houses, 1 dress maker, 3 butcher shops (dealing out about 1500
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G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y
to 1800 pounds of beef a day), 1 shoe maker, 4
blacksmith shops, 2 wash houses, 12 general
merchandise stores, 1 brewery, 1 justice of the
peace, 2 houses of ill fame, and 2-24 hour restaurants.
There
were about 150 Chinese up China Gulch,
that had been chased out of Moose City, Idaho.
They walked through the mountains to Louisville.
Some of them only had the clothes on their
backs and had to survive the winter. Many died and were buried there, until their friends and relatives dug
up the bones and sent them back to China. -Mineral County Historical Society and Museum
Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
Ringling, Montana. Yes, it was named for one of the
Ringling Bros. of circus fame. John Ringling was also the
president and builder of the Yellowstone Park and White
Sulphur Springs Railroad which eventually became a
branch of the Milwaukee railroad. The Ringlings at one
time owned over 100,000 acres in the area and even contemplated
establishing a circus headquarters here. At one time it was a bustling little town with
several businesses as a junction for White Sulphur Springs transfer customers.
After several devastating fires, the last in 1931 and the demise of the railroads, Ringling dwindled
to a few people and the surrounding ranches. Today it has a post office, school (now a residence),
and restaurant and bar.
The town was immortalized by Jimmy Buffett when he
wrote
of the
town in
his
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Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
song
"Ringling, Ringling" on the "Living and Dying in
Three Quarter Time" album. And yes, "Livingston
Saturday Night" was about Livingston, Montana
down the road a piece. -Excerpted from "The Ultimate
Montana Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia"
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P a g e 3
Lion City and
Hecla, Montana
As the Trapper Mine declined
in production around
1877-1878, attention shifted
to the other mines located
earlier on Lion Mountain. As
a result, a community would build up closer to these mines, these new towns would be called Lion City and Hecla.
The town of Lion City took its name from the mountain known then as "White Lion Mountain". The "Trapper" or "Bryant
District" derived its name from the famous “Trapper Lode” and one of it’s original discoverers, "James A. Bryant",
There is much debate as to “who” and “how” Lion Mountain came to be known as "Lion Mountain", "White Lion Mountain",
or "Lion Hill". The silver and lead outcrops on this bare, white rock upthrust were discovered shortly after the
strikes at Trapper Ridge. Early newspaper accounts refer to this area as White Lion Hill, Lion Mountain, or simply “The
Hecla Mines”. Early historians tell the same story over and over again with varying differences in names and circumstances
leading up to the naming. The only thing certain in this story is the fact that a lion was involved, or was there?
One legend tells of a man by the name of “Joe McCreary” who was out walking in the vicinity of what is now Lion
Mountain. Joe came upon what he thought was a mountain lion but in actually, was a white mule belonging to his
friend, P. J. Grotevant. In a panic, he ran to camp for help. When the men, who returned to the site with him, discovered
that the “Lion was actually a mule, the other miners made sure McCreary would never live it down and named
the mountain where the mule was spotted as "Lion Mountain".
Another account told by an early historian, Marguerite LaMarche, recalls the story of a man by the name of “Dr. Glick”
who would sometimes become visionary when in his cups, which was often enough, one day, dashed in on his friends
saying that he had just seen a white lion, several of the fellows took their guns and followed Doc. But the white mountain
lion turned out to be an old white horse grazing on the hillside.
The most likely culprit of this mountain naming legend was probably a “Dr. Day, as an early Glendale newspaper
known as, “The Atlantis” commented, “that Doc Day’s white lion of White Lion Mountain was an ass”. There was indeed,
a Dr. Day who spent time on the mountain, prospecting under the employ of Armstrong, Atkins & Co. This Dr.
Day along with Harvey prospected for the firm. Why else would any other doctor be roaming along the mountain side
if not to tend to mining or prospecting business? This newspaper dated to about 1879-1880 and the information it contained
was common knowledge of that time, I am more likely to believe that it was a "Dr. Day" and not the former two
names of McCreary and Glick. This mountain commonly known as Lion Mountain was being referred to "White Lion
Mountain or White Lion Hill" in early newspapers dated 1874 through 1877. Eventually the “White” would be dropped
and the hill would simply be known as “Lion Mountain”.—From our friends at www.glendalemontana.com
Please be sure to share this newsletter with a friend!
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G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y
Confederate Gulch struck in 1864,
six months after Last Chance Gulch,
where Helena now stands, was discovered.
Confederate Gulch contained placer
diggings which, up until the discovery of
Schoolhouse in Marsh, MT
Courtesy of The Montana
Memory Project
I WONDER by L.W. Lawrence
I wonder just how far things can go sometimes.
One of our rural schools is in a slightly embarrassing
position. It seems that due to the lack of
plumbing out there, they had one of these little
houses setting out in back of the school. Well,
that was as it should be until one day some one
either stole or borrowed it. Now that little house
is very essential and until some one either returns
or replaces the structure it will be highly impractical
to hold school. We've seen a lot of them tipped over around Halloween but
this is the first time we have ever heard of one being borrowed. -The Mountaineer
Newspaper (Big Sandy, MT) July 29, 1948
Ruby Sands, near Nome, Alaska, were the
richest ever found on Earth. The gravel on
Montana Bar ran as high as $1,000 to the
pan. When the first cleanup was made on
the bedrock of that bar the flumes were
literally clogged with gold. Little more
than half a century ago the stretch of
gulch was a thriving mining city, the metropolis
of eastern Montana, and a rival of
Helena. Today only a few time-battered
log cabins remain and the once proud and
prosperous Diamond City exists only in
the memory of a few grizzled Montana
pioneers. - The Mineral Independent
Newspaper, Nov. 26, 1925. Accessed at:
montananewspapers.org
Photos: Diamond City c. 1870, current
photo of abandoned cabin in the gulch by
Jolene Ewert-Hintz
W.A.A. to Present Hallowe'en Ball Annual Costume Party In Gym,
October 31 The W. A. A. will sponsor the Hallowe'en dance to be held in the gymnasium
on October 31. The Hallowe'en dance is an annual occurrence in the
school and, according to tradition, it will be a costume dance to which no outside
guests are invited. The guests are requested to wear Hallowe'en, half and half, or
barn dance costumes. The half and half costumes consist of wearing half one type
of outfit with the other half of a different type. Evelyn Kelnofer, chairman of the
decoration committee, says that a barn dance idea will be carried out. Pumpkins,
corn-stalks and hay will be predominant in the decorations. Serving with her on
this committee are Peg Johnson, Maude Ruppel, Sigfrid Helgeland, Ellen Holliday,
Mildred Hunter and Anne Oser. Yvonne Halsey is taking the program responsibility.
Her ideas are being kept a mystery as she seems to think the best idea is to
come and see for oneself. She admitted that a couple of special dances are being
arranged. There will be something good to eat, reports Erna Berndt, chairman of
the refreshment committee. She has chosen Shirley Barnett, Ethel Edmonds and
Norma Knowles to work with her. Everyone is urged to come to this dance and to
come in costume. -The Rimrock Echo Newspaper (Billings, MT) October 27, 1938
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