Helena in Lewis and Clark County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Pioneer Cabin
Helena Historic District
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, July 15, 2021
1. Pioneer Cabin Marker
Inscription.
Pioneer Cabin. Helena Historic District. Wilson Butts followed the stampede to Last Chance Gulch in 1864, staked his claim here, and built a serviceable one-room cabin. The following spring his brother Jonas arrived with a wife and three young daughters. Jonas added a front room and porch onto the bachelor cabin and there the family lived until 1867. But the rowdy gold camp was no place to raise the girls. When music of a nearby dance hall filtered into the cabin, the Buttses fled the gulch. Stephen and Luella Fergus Gilpatrick then moved into the cabin and their first son was born soon thereafter. Although neighbors laughed when Luella planted two locust seedlings brought from Wisconsin, the trees thrived and grew to parent many others. From 1904, George Mitchell ran a wood, coal, and poultry business from the cabin. The Last Chance Restoration Association acquired the property in 1939 soon after Mitchell’s death. Restored and furnished with period pieces including items of the cabin’s early residents, the community treasure is Helena’s only unaltered remnant of the great gold rush.
Wilson Butts followed the stampede to Last Chance Gulch in 1864, staked his claim here, and built a serviceable one-room cabin. The following spring his brother Jonas arrived with a wife and three young daughters. Jonas added a front room and porch onto the bachelor cabin and there the family lived until 1867. But the rowdy gold camp was no place to raise the girls. When music of a nearby dance hall filtered into the cabin, the Buttses fled the gulch. Stephen and Luella Fergus Gilpatrick then moved into the cabin and their first son was born soon thereafter. Although neighbors laughed when Luella planted two locust seedlings brought from Wisconsin, the trees thrived and grew to parent many others. From 1904, George Mitchell ran a wood, coal, and poultry business from the cabin. The Last Chance Restoration Association acquired the property in 1939 soon after Mitchell’s death. Restored and furnished with period pieces including items of the cabin’s early residents, the community treasure is Helena’s only unaltered remnant of the great gold rush.
Location. 46° 35.096′ N, 112° 2.585′ W. Marker is in Helena, Montana, in Lewis and Clark County. Marker is on South Park Avenue near Reeder's Alley, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 208 South Park Avenue, Helena MT 59601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 3, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 3, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 103 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 3, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
