A trio of towns tucked into the hills of southwestern Montana teach a vivid lesson in history.
Virginia City, Nevada City and Bannack, settled in the 1860s, were once rowdy mining camps where outlaws and vigilante justice often took center stage.Bannack and Virginia City each had a turn steering the ship of state as the territorial capital. Bannack was the capital for one legislative session. It then moved to Virginia City, which was the seat of government from 1865 to 1876.
Today, the threesome draw tourists who want to peek into Montana's past.
Virginia City and Nevada City are a few miles from each other on MT-287.
Bannack, southwest of Dillon, is about 120 miles from the other two. A bonafide ghost town with eerie buildings and tumbling tumbleweeds, it became a state park in 1954.
Present-day Nevada City is where the original Nevada City was located. Most of its original structures were destroyed, however, and today's Nevada City is a collection of historic buildings moved there from other parts of the state.
As the seat of Madison County, Virginia City still has a pulse, not to mention a population. So it is a misnomer to call it a ghost town.
Most of the original buildings on the main street have weathered the years, making it a star of Old West towns.
Bannack
The town dates back to the discovery of gold in the summer of 1862, the first major gold strike in what would become the state of Montana. In 1863, the population was estimated at 3,000.
More than 50 original buildings still stand. They have been protected, not restored, and are authentic down to their weathered wood and creaking doors. Sagebrush is waist high.
One of the Wild West's most infamous characters met his end in Bannack. Henry Plummer, whose day job was sheriff of Bannack and Virginia City, had a much more lucrative secondary career. He was the leader of a band of thugs that was said to be responsible for killing more than 100 people and robbing countless more. He and two of his associates were hung in Bannack and buried beneath the gallows, victims of vigilante justice.
A replica of the gallows is on the approximate site of the original.
Among the buildings that have weathered the years are a drugstore and assay office where gold was weighed and valued, and the Meade Hotel and courthouse, built in 1875. It was the Beaverhead County Courthouse until 1881, when the county seat moved to Dillon. New owners remodeled it into a hotel. Other buildings include Skinner's Saloon, which was the meeting place of Henry Plummer's road agents; the Methodist Church, built in the summer of 1877 by local residents under the direction of a well-known circuit preacher; the Reyburn House, home of one of the area's early physicians; the Masonic Temple and school. Lodge meetings were held on the second floor, and school was held on the first floor until the 1940s.
Getting there: Turn off I-15 south of Dillon at exit #59. Head west on MT-278 for 20 miles. Turn south onto Bannack Road and drive for four miles. Then turn left onto the gravel park entrance road.
The town is open year-round. Summer hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fall, winter and spring hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In winter, call ahead to check weather and road conditions. The town is nearly 5,800 feet in elevation, which means the weather can be problematic almost any time of year.
Bannack Days, with living history demonstrations, a working telegraph office and horse-drawn wagon rides, among many other activities, are every year on the third weekend of July. It usually offers a Halloween activity, such as a haunted house or a ghostly tour on the weekend closest to Halloween. A skating pond is open in the winter.
Admission is $4 per car. Camping is $11 per site per night. The campground, which is not well suited to RVs, has pit toilets and a hand-operated well. Sites are available first come, first served. Motels are in Dillon, Jackson and Elkhorn Hot Springs. For information call 406-834-3413.
Virginia City
Like many of the West's mining booms, the discovery of gold at what is now Virginia City was quite by accident. In the spring of 1863, six men had left Bannack and were heading toward the Yellowstone gold fields when they were captured by Indians. They were released on the condition that they turn around and head back toward Bannack. On the way, they camped along a small creek that was lined with Alder trees, now called Alder Creek. They filled a pan with dirt and washed it to see if they could get enough gold to buy tobacco when they got to Bannack.
They had happened on one of the richest deposit of placer gold ever known.
By June, the first log cabins were under construction. By fall the population was estimated at 10,000.
Cabins and tents extended along the gulch for 14 miles. In addition to Virginia City, settlements included Nevada City, Adobetown, Central City, Pine Grove, Summit and Highland.
More than one hundred million dollars worth of gold has been extracted from the area.
The town's fortunes have waxed and waned over its 135-year history. A handful of permanent residents (there are approximately 150) have helped the town cling to life. It remains the Madison County seat.
In 1945, Charles and Sue Bovey from Great Falls took an interest in preserving the town. They purchased and restored historic buildings and stocked their shelves with period merchandise.
They turned some of their restored structures into restaurants and hotels to serve tourists.
Virginia City's historic buildings include: the Dressmaker's Store, built in 1863; Hitching Post Gifts, originally housed the City Bakery and then a Chinese laundry, reconstructed in 1948 by Charles Bovey; Kiskadden Barn and Blacksmith, where the Plummer Gang reportedly met on the second floor and signed their oath on Dec. 23, 1863; the Montana Post, built in 1863, a Gothic-style building that housed the area's first newspaper. The original burned down in 1937. Charles Bovey built a replica in 1946. Madison County Courthouse, built in 1876 with additions made in 1913 and 1962, was restored after a 1972 fire and is still in use. E.L. Smith General Store housed several different mercantile operations over the years including Shoe Dealers and Clothing Merchants. The window shades in the present building are from The Chicago Cheap Cash Store, which occupied the property beginning in 1881. The Boveys restored the building in 1947. The Barber Shop is an original building. The Dance & Stuart General Merchandise store is where Clubfoot George, a spy for the Plummer Gang, repaired shoes. He reported to Plummer the conversations he heard in the store about gold shipments. George was arrested in January of 1864 and hanged in Virginia City.
Wooden lampposts along the street date back to the 1860s, and many of the historic buildings still have their original glass.
Today, the town is on the tourist map. The Virginia City Players perform melodramas at the Virginia City Opera House nightly from mid-June through Labor Day. The Brewery Follies, a song and dance presentation with what is said to be PG-13 humor, perform at the Brewery, the first brewery in the state.
If you're passing through, we advise you to eat in Virginia City because you won't find many restaurants down the road.
For information, call the Virginia City Chamber of Commerce at 800-648-7588.
Nevada City
Nevada City didn't fare as well as Virginia City. Most of its original structures bit the dust, so to speak, but the Boveys rode to the rescue. They moved historic buildings from other parts of Montana to the site of the original Nevada City.
The Nevada City Hotel was built in 1863 in Salsbury. It's still open for business. The Sullivan Saddler Co. building came from Fort Benton. It dates from 1847 and is reportedly the oldest still-standing building in Montana. The Seadman House from Junction has period furnishings. The China Town buildings came from Butte. The schoolhouse, built in 1867, is from Twin Bridges. The wagon shop, which has a splendid collection of wagons, came from Canyon in Yellowstone. The post office is from Ironrod.
A two-story outhouse is one of the most interesting of Nevada City's buildings.
Don't miss the Music Hall filled with music machines that date from the 1890s through the 1920s. It's a collection the Smithsonian would probably die for.
There is no admission fee for the Music Hall. (That's subject to change.) The bulk of the historic buildings are in a fenced area, accessible from a gate next to the Music Hall. Admission is $5 for adults. Prices for senior citizens and children are slightly less. There are about 50 historic buildings, 17 of which you can walk into.
The Alder Gulch Short Line runs between Nevada City and Virginia City. John Ellingsen, curator of Nevada City and Virginia City for the state of Montana, hopes to have the train up and running this summer. "We didn't run it last summer because the tracks had deteriorated so badly," he said.
The area has a limited number of visitor accommodations. The Fairweather Inn and the Nevada City Hotel, both historic structures, are open from the end of May into October. Several privately owned bed & breakfast inns operate in Virginia City.
Restaurants include the Star Bakery in Nevada City, and the Wells Fargo Coffee House, the Virginia City Cafe and the Copper Palace in Virginia City.
Virginia City and Nevada City are on MT-287, which takes off from US-287 at Ennis.
The Bovey family owned many of the historic properties in Virginia City and most of Nevada City. Charles died in 1978 and Sue passed away in 1988. Their son, Ford, oversaw the Bovey properties until the state of Montana bought them for $6.5 million in 1997. Some of the buildings, such as the Fairweather Inn in Virginia City and the Nevada City Hotel, will be leased to private parties to be run as businesses. Others will continue to be open to the public as a museum.