A large red granite monument commemorates the 75 miners who died in the 1943 explosion at the Smith Mine. The United Mine Workers of America installed this memorial in 1947 to memorialize Montana’s worst coal mining disaster. Twenty-two of the Smith . . . — — Map (db m190162) HM
Platted in 1905 by George Lamport and Robert Leavens, Bearcreek was the center of an extensive underground coal mining district. At its height during World War I, Bearcreek boasted a population of nearly 2,000 people. The community was ethnically . . . — — Map (db m190160) HM
A coal-mining town established in 1905, Bearcreek developed quickly, and after just one year the town boasted telephones, city water, and electric streetlights. Bert Vaill, a cashier with the Carbon County Bank of Red Lodge, purchased this lot from . . . — — Map (db m190148) HM
About sixty million years ago, this area was part of a vast subtropical coastal plain with major rivers flowing eastward into an inland seaway. Between these major river systems great thicknesses of plant material accumulated that was converted to . . . — — Map (db m190146) HM
Thirty-nine corrugated metal structures mark the site of the Smith Mine, a ghostly reminder of a once vibrant mining district. The Montana Coal and Iron Company (MCI) began developing the Smith Mine in earnest after the arrival of the Montana, . . . — — Map (db m190143) HM
The Smith Mine is the site of the worst underground coal mine disaster in Montana history. The decaying buildings across the coulee are a memorial to the 74 men who died in the mine on the morning of February 27, 1943. Smoke pouring from the . . . — — Map (db m190113) HM
Shortly after this area was removed from the Crow Reservation in 1892, homesteaders settled along the fertile Clarks Fork River to raise wheat. The discovery of rich coal deposits along Bear Creek, seven miles to the west, generated interest among . . . — — Map (db m167143) HM
In 1863, John Bozeman and John Jacobs blazed a new trail through the buffalo rich Powder River Country to the southwest Montana mining camps. The Bozeman Trail, however, could be deadly fo rat men and women who traveled it. The Lakota and Northern . . . — — Map (db m167011) HM
Jim Bridger arrived in Montana in 1822 as a member of a Rocky Mountain Fur Co. brigade. For years he had no more permanent home than a poker chip. He roamed the entire Rocky Mountain region and often came through this part of the country. A keen . . . — — Map (db m96630) HM
Jim Bridger arrived in Montana in 1822 as a member of a Rocky Mountain Fur Co. brigade. He roamed the entire Rocky Mountain region and often came through this part of the country. A keen observer, a natural geographer and with years of experience . . . — — Map (db m167010) HM
Organization of the Bridger Methodist Episcopal Church and the Ladies Aid took place in 1899, pre-dating by one year the founding of the town itself. As in other small Montana communities, itinerant ministers like the Reverend John G. Clark served . . . — — Map (db m166987) HM
known as the Pillsbury House
Built 1907
has been placed on the
National Register
Of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior — — Map (db m167009) HM
The Pryor Mountains to the east cover roughly 300,000 acres. Once entirely Crow Indian territory, now only the north end of the range is on the Crow Reservation. The south end is in the Custer National Forest. The range is bound on the east by . . . — — Map (db m166982) HM
The Pryor Mountains are located on the horizon to the southeast. The prominent cliffs and dip slopes are Madison Limestone, which was deposited in shallow seas over 300 million years ago. Along the margins of the mountains, younger tan-colored . . . — — Map (db m166979) HM
The old Fromberg Bridge was the crowning achievement of Carbon County's concrete bridge program in the early 20th century. Completed in 1915, the graceful arches across the Clark's Fork were the first such use of reinforced concrete in Montana. . . . — — Map (db m166872) HM
Homesteaders who came to farm the Clarks Fork Valley in the early 1900s profoundly affected Fromberg’s growth, adding to its population and elevating its status as a regional trade and shipping center. Dr. Ted Benson, a recent graduate of the . . . — — Map (db m166931) HM
The first Protestant services in the Clarks Fork Valley were held in 1897. The Reverend John G. Clark of Red Lodge officiated in a company boardinghouse tent at the nearby coal mining town of Gebo. By 1905, the growing congregation needed a more . . . — — Map (db m166930) HM
Norwegian-born immigrant John Gibson arrived in the Clarks Fork Valley at the turn of the twentieth century and soon opened brickyards in Fromberg and nearby Belfry. Gibson became one of the area’s most prominent contractors, constructing Fromberg’s . . . — — Map (db m166882) HM
The Gebo Mine, founded in the Clarks Fork Valley in the late 1890s, brought the tracks of the Northern Pacific to this area. The railroad, however, bypassed the coal mine and the town of Gebo that flourished near it because of difficult . . . — — Map (db m166879) HM
Jewish merchant Samuel Greenblatt moved to Fromberg from Gebo in 1900. An immigrant from Russia, Greenblatt built the town’s first commercial building. Two years later he married Jennie Hetch of Chicago at Temple Emanu-El in Helena. Greenblatt built . . . — — Map (db m166929) HM
“Chief shepherd” Walter Jordan and “singing evangelist” Lucile Park preached to a packed house at an October 1908 revival meeting, held above the meat market on Joliet’s Main Street. Forty-five charter members joined together to found the Joliet . . . — — Map (db m190744) HM
The Bank of Joliet opened in 1904 and began planning construction of this stately one-story building soon after. By the time the $8,000 building was completed in 1907, the bank had new owners and a new name. Built on Joliet’s most visible corner, . . . — — Map (db m190745) HM
The Bozeman Trail which crossed Rock Creek near this site, was established by John M. Bozeman and John M Jacobs in 1864 as the shortest route from the east to the Montana gold fields. It was abandoned in 1868. The first trail heard of Texas cattle . . . — — Map (db m190746) HM
Local physician Dr. Samuel Souders owned this commercial lot in 1909 when Dan Davis, an advocate for the construction of a fancy opera house, proposed it for the construction of his vision. The newspapers reported weekly for several months on Davis’ . . . — — Map (db m45384) HM
The manager of the Red Lodge Brewery, Paul Lehrkind, purchased this lot in 1920, likely with the intent of building a home. However, despite efforts to survive Prohibition by manufacturing the “near beer” Bud-O (“Always on Top”), Lehrkind was forced . . . — — Map (db m190277) HM
A combination moving picture theater and boarding house were the original tenants of this two-story masonry building, completed in 1908. Several directors managed the rather short-lived Alcazar, including Steve Roman, whose family long monopolized . . . — — Map (db m45387) HM
Over a quarter of the houses in the elite “Hi Bug” neighborhood were built between 1900 and 1901, including this one-and-one-half-story home, erected as a real estate investment by Red Lodge merchant Walter R. Hall and his wife Louisa. After leasing . . . — — Map (db m190244) HM
Americans organized much of their social life around fraternal groups at the turn of the twentieth century. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks provided an important social and charitable outlet for Red Lodge's professionals, who circulated . . . — — Map (db m45395) HM
Butte architect P. J. Donahue drew the plans for the 1899 landmark after fire destroyed its predecessor. Situated at the busy northern end of the commercial district, the building today provides an excellent example of restrained, classically . . . — — Map (db m45402) HM
When prominent local physician and surgeon Dr. Samuel Souders built this magnificent hospital in 1909, it was considered “state-of-the-art.” Amenities included a central heating system, wide doorways and hallways, an elevator, and . . . — — Map (db m45404) HM
Forty-five guests enjoyed a sumptuous dinner and housewarming at the home of John and Alphia Chapman on November 12, 1903. Begun in 1902, completion of the residence was delayed when contractor Walter S. Smith suffered a serious fall from the porch . . . — — Map (db m190278) HM
This two-story building was under construction in 1907, and for a short time housed part-owner Charles Antilla’s dry goods store. In 1912, new owners Ed Ricketts and C. V. Lucas located their Okay Meat Market, later the Red Lodge Meat Market, on the . . . — — Map (db m45388) HM
A natural springs and pond provided ice and water for a brewery established here in the early 1890s. In 1894, arson destroyed the ice house and brewery buildings, but a small, one-room log residence escaped the blaze. Dan Davis purchased the . . . — — Map (db m190562) HM
Architect Seth Hunneywell designed and built this Colonial Revival two-and-one-half-story home for Alfred and Ruth Flager, who lived here from 1902 to 1911. Costing approximately $3,500 to build and boasting “all the modern conveniences,” its “eight . . . — — Map (db m190274) HM
On Sept. 18, 1897, The Sundance Kid (Harry Longbaugh), Kid Curry and others of the "Wild Bunch" rode into Red Lodge after escaping from jail in Belle Fourche, S.D., and announced their intention of making an unauthorized withdrawal from the Carbon . . . — — Map (db m80188) HM
Prominent lumber merchant C. C. Bowlen purchased this lot in 1901. Two years later, when attorney George Pierson decided to build a larger home, Bowlen purchased Pierson’s front-gable residence and moved it a block south to this location. . . . — — Map (db m190559) HM
Photographer Mark E. Hawkes and his son Charley built a photography studio at this location where much of Red Lodge’s history was documented in pictures. Charley later struck out for Great Falls, and son Harry joined Mark. Hawkes & Son sold the . . . — — Map (db m45405) HM
Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan and 124 men forged the first documented passage over the Beartooth Mountains in 1881. Once thought impassible, the route was later modified by E. E. Van Dyke - a miner from coal rich Red Lodge, Montana. His route . . . — — Map (db m45244) HM
In the 1920s Italian shoemaker Ludovico Iarussi (later changed to Jarussi) owned this property containing his shop and several frame commercial buildings. In 1929 Iarussi razed the older shops and constructed the present building. Financially . . . — — Map (db m45409) HM
Finnish immigrant Ephraim Kent settled in Red Lodge in the early 1900s to work in the coal mines while his wife, Fiina, began a small dairy business. It was a family venture from the start, with all the children pitching in to deliver raw milk in . . . — — Map (db m190567) HM
Red Lodge Miner’s Local No. 1771 had grown to more than a thousand members when this labor temple was built in 1909. The United Mine Workers of America organized nationally in 1896 and by 1898, Local No. 1771 had 200 members. The building is a . . . — — Map (db m45412) HM
This log cabin was the home of one of Montana's most notorious citizens - John "Liver-Eating" Johnston, a sobriquet he earned in 1869 while cutting wood for the Missouri River steamboats in north central Montana. After a battle with the Lakota, he . . . — — Map (db m190093) HM
Early Red Lodge businessmen James Blackburn and Dominic Marino jointly built this fine two-story commercial building circa 1905 to house a mercantile business. A series of saloons later occupied the ground floor. An upstairs boarding house, first . . . — — Map (db m190220) HM
A four-square plan, tapered porch pillars, and flared overhanging eaves reflect the Craftsman style influence that affords this distinctive home a more modern appearance than its contemporary neighbors. Decorative cresting and leaded glass add . . . — — Map (db m190440) HM
Rocky Fork Town and Electric Company sold this lot and the one next door to F. P. Musser for $84 in 1896. Immediate resale to real estate agent T. P. McDonald for $177 netted Musser a handsome profit. This four-square cottage was either moved or . . . — — Map (db m190247) HM
The sloping roof of this one-and-one-half-story house once shaded an open porch. The curved roofline and shed dormer add Craftsman style elegance to the home, constructed on a double lot after 1907. The interior also reflected Craftsman ideals with . . . — — Map (db m190276) HM
These two turn-of-the-twentieth-century wood-frame commercial buildings with a tiny shop sandwiched in between today share one façade. In 1900, Biagio Sconfienza opened a bakery in the one-story building. In 1903, as the business prospered, Biagio . . . — — Map (db m190225) HM
German-born Victor and Otto Neithammer first established their meat market on North Broadway in 1912, raising their own livestock to supply this and other local family-run stores. Because the Neithammers' employees represented many ethnic groups, . . . — — Map (db m45415) HM
One of nine remaining homes on Nutting Row, this foursquare cottage features a hip-roofed main block with ornate dormers with shingles in an imbricate pattern. The design and plan of this 1907 home reflects William B. Nutting’s role in the . . . — — Map (db m190448) HM
Irish immigrant Daniel G. O’Shea arrived in Carbon in 1887. The eager eighteen year old took a position with the Rocky Fork Coal Company, serving as paymaster and bookkeeper until 1899 when he was appointed manager. He resigned from RFCC in 1903 to . . . — — Map (db m190438) HM
“Coziness” was the watchword of progressive builders in the early twentieth century. Small, well-designed houses proliferated after 1900 in part to compensate for the expense of such modern conveniences as indoor plumbing. Plans for . . . — — Map (db m190227) HM
Designed by Red Lodge carpenter and amateur architect Frank A. Sell and built by W. T. Pernham in 1902, this impressive brick commercial building was home to the Red Lodge Picket and, after 1918, the Picket-Journal, the primary news . . . — — Map (db m45416) HM
Michigan-born attorney George Pierson and his wife Loretta moved to Red Lodge in 1894. Soon thereafter they purchased this lot, where they lived in a one-story cottage. After the Piersons decided to build this “Free Classic” Queen Anne style . . . — — Map (db m190248) HM
During the summer of 1887, Ben F. Pippinger became Red Lodge’s first teacher, hired to teach the children of the Rocky Fork Coal Company miners opening the area’s first coal mines. Pippinger later ran the Cloverdale Dairy on a ranch north of town. . . . — — Map (db m190453) HM
"The buffalo gone and freedom denied him, the Indian was visited by two equally hideous strangers, famine and tuberculosis. The could cope with neither. His pride broken he felt himself and outcast, a beggar in his own country. It was now that . . . — — Map (db m190094) HM WM
High transom windows that provide interior light for a mezzanine commercial display area are an interesting design feature of this well-constructed commercial building. The simple chain-patterned ornamentation of buff brick across the tall parapet . . . — — Map (db m45419) HM
The Rocky Fork Coal Company constructed this hotel, originally the Spofford, which welcomed its first guests on July 4, 1893. This architectural landmark, built before the commercial district was platted, originally had its main entrance on 11th . . . — — Map (db m45390) HM
Coal was discovered in the Rock Creek Valley nearly two decades before Red Lodge was established as a mail stop on the Meeteese Trail in 1884. In 1887, the Rocky Fork Coal Company opened the first large-scale mine at Red Lodge sparking the . . . — — Map (db m45250) HM
Pure Rock Creek water and a ready market of thirsty coal miners struck Bozeman beer baron Julius Lehrkind as a recipe for success. With nephews Fred and Paul, Julius incorporated the Red Lodge Brewing Company in 1910, hiring the prominent . . . — — Map (db m190564) HM
Rapid growth of the young town of Red Lodge coincided with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad’s branch line in 1889. The area became Montana’s leading coal mining region. Town lots were platted by the secretary of the Rocky Fork Town and . . . — — Map (db m45386) HM
The Consolidated Mausoleum Company made the case for constructing a communal mausoleum in a full-page newspaper advertisement in 1921. “The present high state of civilization demands for the masses a more humane and sanitary method of taking care of . . . — — Map (db m190570) HM
Prominent Red Lodge businessman William B. Nutting subdivided this northwestern neighborhood as the Nutting Addition circa 1899. Beginning in 1900 with this home, he built five cottages north of his own residence that became known as Nutting Row. J. . . . — — Map (db m190443) HM
A steep-roofed gable-front cottage with a wraparound porch stood on this lot by 1901. Sometime before 1907 Rose Robbins—who owned the one-and-one-half-story home along with many other lots in the neighborhood—expanded the residence, adding a rear . . . — — Map (db m190275) HM
Original rusticated and ashlar concrete blocks and the 1935 ROMAN marquee distinguish the façade of this early movie theater. Austrian immigrant Steve Roman built the theater in 1917. One of fourteen sons, nineteen-year-old Roman came to Red Lodge . . . — — Map (db m190222) HM
Real estate speculation abounded after the Northern Pacific Railroad constructed a branch line to Red Lodge to take advantage of the area's rich coal deposits. In 1891 Nathan Smethurst purchased this lot for $36, selling it for a profit the same . . . — — Map (db m190249) HM
A prestigious corner site contributes much to the elegance of this Queen Anne style cottage, built by rancher and businessman Louis Sichler in 1902. The steep and asymmetrical roofline, projecting gables, and two-storied bay epitomize the Queen Anne . . . — — Map (db m190245) HM
W. A. Talmage arrived in Red Lodge in 1888 to manage a branch of a Billings mercantile. By 1894, the ambitious businessman owned his own large hardware and farm implements store on Billings Avenue. Undoubtedly, his business connections helped . . . — — Map (db m190436) HM
According to an oral tradition handed down in the Crockett family, this gable-front cottage was moved here from “Old Town.” It was remodeled circa 1901 when it is first recorded on this lot. At that time, prominent merchant W. A. Talmage owned the . . . — — Map (db m190246) HM
The Beartooth Plateau contains some of the oldest exposed rocks on Earth and provides a unique window into the history of our planet. About 55 million years ago, this massive block of metamorphic basement rock pushed its way upward nearly two . . . — — Map (db m45251) HM
Originally intended as a meeting hall with storefront space, tenants Byton Down and Robert Pryde redesigned the building’s ground floor before its completion for use as a theater. When the Iris opened in 1925, residents viewed it as welcome . . . — — Map (db m45410) HM
According to tradition, a band of Crow Indians left the main tribe and moved west into the foothills of the Beartooth Range many years ago. They painted their council tepee with red-clay and this old-time artistry resulted in the name Red Lodge. . . . — — Map (db m45247) HM
A keen sense of the town’s future prompted businessman William Talmage to move his hardware business away from the busy commercial center a few blocks south to this building in 1894. When other businesses began to move to the newly platted main . . . — — Map (db m45420) HM
This fine example of masonry architecture, with its unusually preserved storefront and recessed entry, appears almost as it did in 1900 when Walter Hall opened his first-floor grocery. Sandstone banding, corbelled arches, and original stained glass . . . — — Map (db m190221) HM
