THE RUSH IS ON MINING DISTRICTS DISCOVERY

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1 DISCOVERY James Stuart organized a prospecting expedition to the Yellowstone River valley in the May of 1863 BILL FAIRWEATHER and 5 others tried to catch up to the expedition but were turned back by a band of CROW Indians Taking a route through the Madison River valley and over a divide on their way back to Bannack, they camped along what they would call Alder Creek In ALDER GULCH they found good color in placer gold, staked some claims and returned to Bannack for supplies THE RUSH IS ON Upon buying supplies, Bill Fairweather and company began their return to Alder Gulch Hundreds of miners followed Before arriving at Alder Gulch, Bill Fairweather stopped for two days The miners organized a MINING DISTRICT with regulations and officers Virginia City s first name was VARINA, named after the wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis wife MINING DISTRICTS Typical rules of a district: No one could file for more than 2 claims Each claim was limited to 100 feet along the lode A claim had to be worked at least 3 full days a week or it would be declared abandoned No claim could use creek water more than 10 inches deep in their sluice boxes MINER S COURTS handled civil and criminal cases 1

2 BIRTH OF VIRGINIA CITY Townsite was limited to 320 acres No plan for city, but the main street was Wallace because the first buildings were constructed along it 4 or 5 other mining camps sprung up along the gulch, but Virginia City remained the most important Within 18 months, over 10,000 people lived and worked on the gulch Virginia City became a true MELTING POT with people from every state and immigrants from overseas living and working together VIRGINIA CITY 1866 WALLACE STREET GOLD MINING IN ALDER GULCH PLACER deposits of gold nuggets, flakes and dust were found up and down the gulch Usually buried under several feet of gravel Main tools were pick and shovel to dig a shaft into the gravel bars, a windlass hoist to bring up the gravel, and sluice boxes to wash the gravel FLUMES were built to carry water to claims for use in sluice boxes PLACER MINING WINDLASS HOIST SHAFT FLUME SLUICE BOX GOLD MINING IN ALDER GULCH Everyone was looking for the MOTHER LODE, the vein where all the placer gold came from Gold dust was so plentiful, that children were allowed to collect it for spending money CHINESE reworked old claims for leftover gold 2

3 ALDER GULCH BECOMES A TOWN Freight was hauled in from Fort Benton and Salt Lake City Businesses found in Virginia City: Bakeries Breweries Saloons Blacksmiths Hurdy-Gurdy Houses (Dance Halls) General Stores Banks Assay Offices VIRGINIA CITY ENTERTAINMENT For miners: Saloons & Billiard Halls HURDY-GURDY Houses -Dance Halls - where miners could buy a dance with a pretty girl for $2.50 per dance in gold Gambling Sporting Events 193 round prize fight between CON OREM and HUGH O NEILL 3

4 VIRGINIA CITY ENTERTAINMENT For townspeople: Dances men outnumbered women 8:1 through the 1870s Bands and orchestras Singing groups Dramatic troupes Picnics Holiday celebrations 4 th of July and St. Patrick s Day VIRGINIA CITY RELIGION Father Giorda said the first Catholic mass in November 1863 Reverend A.M. Hough dedicated a small log cabin as a Methodist Church in 1864 Church services never really competed with the hurdy-gurdy houses, saloons and other amusements for miners Congregations were never large, but they were important for the families of Virginia City VIRGINIA CITY NEWS & SCHOOLS THE MONTANA POST was the first newspaper to be published in the territory in 1864 THOMAS J. DIMSDALE was its publisher Dimsdale and two other teachers opened a private school in In 1866 the first public school opened MONTANA BECOMES A TERRITORY First miners arrived in 1863 as part of the Idaho Territory In May 1864, President Lincoln created the Montana Territory SIDNEY EDGERTON became Montana s 1 st territorial governor BANNACK became the 1 st territorial capital, but Virginia City was already larger than Bannack, in a few months VIRGINIA CITY became the 2 nd capital ROAD AGENTS & VIGILANTES Miner s courts were ineffective against the growing crime of the booming mining camps HENRY PLUMMER, was elected sheriff of both Bannack and Virginia City in 1862 He had led a criminal life prior to Montana He organized a gang known as the ROAD AGENTS They attacked stage coaches and miners on the roads between Bannack, Virginia City and beyond Henry Plummer George Ives Road Agent by Olaf C. Seltzer 4

5 ROAD AGENTS & VIGILANTES Robbing miners and stagecoaches was an acceptable risk in mining camps GEORGE IVES, a member of the Road Agents, murdered Nicholas Tbalt, a German miner, in full view of witnesses WILBUR FISK SANDERS prosecuted and convicted Ives for murder Ives was summarily hanged, the first Road Agent brought to justice in December, 1863 ROAD AGENTS & VIGILANTES Sanders and others organized the VIGILANTES, citizens who take the law into their own hands trying to stop crime They did not know that Sheriff Plummer was the leader of the gang At the end of December, 1863, the Vigilantes captured Red Yeager, a member of the gang, who revealed that Plummer was the leader of the Road Agents ROAD AGENTS & VIGILANTES On January 10, 1864, Plummer and 2 others were hanged in Bannack Four days later, 5 more Road Agents were hanged in an unfinished building By the end, 24 men had been caught and hanged Not all agree that the Vigilantes were in the right Thomas J. Dimsdale wrote it all down, from his point of view, in THE VIGILANTES OF MONTANA Where the FIVE were hanged in Virginia City The GALLOWS of Bannack What does it mean? It was a warning given by the Vigilantes to those who were a threat to the community Possible meanings: The time a person had to leave before the Vigilantes gave them justice 3 hours 7 minutes and 77 seconds OR 24 hours ( =24) Dimensions of your grave (3 feet wide by 7 feet long and 77 inches deep) 5

6 What does it mean? The number is still used by the Montana Highway Patrol as a symbol representing law enforcement in Montana today ISOLATION BRINGS PROBLEMS Freight shipments from Salt Lake City and Fort Benton were unpredictable Roads could be shut down for several months during the winter Flour had to be hauled in from far away Freight wagon trains failed to reach Virginia City during the winter of 1864 ISOLATION BRINGS PROBLEMS Merchants kept raising prices on flour as the winter wore on and supplies dwindled Price for 100 pound bag of flour Normal Price $20 Mid-November $26 Late November $28 April 1865 $40 April 17, 1865 $90 ISOLATION BRINGS PROBLEMS People could not afford flour to make their bread and were beginning to go hungry REGULATORS liberated flour from merchants to distribute to all in the community 500 men were part of the Regulators but there was no violence even though this time was called in the newspapers the flour riots DECLINE OF VIRGINIA CITY By 1870, only several hundred people remained in Virginia City The territorial capital was moved to Helena 1875 Virginia City refused to become a ghost town It became the county seat of Madison County PRESERVATION OF VIRGINIA CITY False-fronted commercial buildings, log miners cabins and frame Victorian residences of business owners remain as evidence to the gold rush Charles and Sue Bovey of Great Falls were the first to recognize the historical and architectural significance of Virginia City 6

7 PRESERVATION OF VIRGINIA CITY They began to purchase and stabilize some of the fragile buildings in the early 1940s In addition, they located important buildings in other mining communities and had them moved to Nevada City to create a model of mining camps The Bovey family efforts led to the town's designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and its preservation as one of the most intact gold rush towns in the United States PRESERVATION OF VIRGINIA CITY Following Bovey's death, the Virginia City Preservation Alliance was formed and led the initiative for the State of Montana to purchase his properties. Now managed by the Montana Heritage Commission, the State has done a wonderful job in restoring and maintaining the buildings and thousands of artifacts. Private individuals have also joined in the restoration of historic buildings and protecting the historic integrity of the community. 7