The Ruby River was called the Passamari by the Shoshoni Indians and the Stinking Water by the miners in the early 1860's.
Later, it was mistakenly renamed the Ruby, although the gems found along its length were actually garnets.
The . . . — — Map (db m116998) HM
The Madison Valley was well known to mountain men and traders during the first half of the 19th century. Beaver loved the many creeks that emptied into the river and buffalo were common in the valley, making it popular for both Indians and trappers. . . . — — Map (db m141490) HM
Few natural events cause as much fear in people as earthquakes. They remind us that the Earth is always changing and renewing itself and that this sometimes occurs violently and without warning. Earthquakes happen when stored energy is suddenly . . . — — Map (db m141489) HM
Motoring was an adventure in the early 20th century and people usually didn't travel very far from home. Most roads were choked with dust during the summers, knee-deep in mud in the rainy seasons, and blocked by snowdrifts in the winters. But as . . . — — Map (db m141491) HM
Imagine… in a blink of your eye …you feel the earth rumble beneath your feet …you watch 80 million tons of rock, half a mountain, crashing down …and then the water begins to rise by your campsite
At 11:37 p.m. on Aug. 17, 1959 a 7.5 earthquake . . . — — Map (db m144146) HM
The Madison Range rises from the east side of the Madison Valley along an active fault that threads its way along the base of the range. The mountains began to slowly rise along the fault about 50 million years ago and it remains active today. This . . . — — Map (db m192667) HM
Trailblazers John Bozeman and John Jacobs opened the Bozeman Trail in 1864 as a shortcut between the Overland Road and the newly discovered Montana gold fields.
The trail began near present Casper, Wyoming and ended just over the Bozeman Pass in . . . — — Map (db m117028) HM
The low gap in the mountains on the sky line south of here is Raynolds Pass over the Continental Divide.
Jim Bridger, famous trapper and scout, guided an expedition of scientists through the pass in June of 1860. The party was led by Capt. W. F. . . . — — Map (db m187603) HM
1866 ... first Sunday School.
September 1866 first sermon in Sheridan by Rev. George Comfort.
Summer 1873 Revs. Francis Riggin and Wm. Wesley Van Orsdel (Brother Dan) are appointed to the newly formed circuit headquartered in Sheridan. This . . . — — Map (db m141492) HM
Pete Daly built a log roadhouse at this site in 1863. Unlike most roadhouses of the time, which provided meals, companionship and a place to stay for weary travelers, Daly's was allegedly a hangout for Montana's most notorious criminal gang . . . — — Map (db m116999) HM
This small community of Sheridan is located approximately 55 miles south of Butte. Our population is 700 within the town proper, and approximately another 700 in the adjacent Ruby Valley rural area. When those who had come to Virginia City in the . . . — — Map (db m141494) HM
William O’Brien arrived in the gold-mining and ranching town of Sheridan, Montana, in 1881 and began selling liquor from a small sixteen-by-twenty-foot building. He was one of the town’s three suppliers of “wet groceries” (liquor), the quality of . . . — — Map (db m209428) HM
Browne’s Bridge was constructed as a toll bridge by Fred Burr and James Minesinger in late 1862 and early 1863. The bridge was located on the Bannack to Deer Lodge Road. Joseph Browne, a miner, bought the bridge in 1865. The territorial legislature . . . — — Map (db m180757) HM
Big Wheels
• About 22 ft. dia.
• About 20 tons each
• 22 grooves for 1-1/2 inch rope
• About ½ mile of rope on each wheel
• Originally installed about 1903
• Operated until about 1964
• Erected here in the . . . — — Map (db m128410) HM
These sheave wheels from the Speculator Mine were used to hoist the bodies of the 168 miners who died in the Granite Mtn. Mine Disaster, June 8, 1917.
It remains the worst metal mining tragedy in U.S. History. The Granite Mtn. shaft was burned . . . — — Map (db m128411) HM
When Captain Meriwether Lewis and his men arrived in the Jefferson River Valley in August 1805, they explored the tributaries of the Jefferson River (today's Beaverhead River), which was named after President Thomas Jefferson. They named it . . . — — Map (db m193123) HM
Explorations of Lewis and Clark 1804-1806
Cartographic Reconstruction
UTM Zone 12
Map Number 262-263
With only a sextant, chronometer, and compass in hand, Captain William Clark was able to map the entire exploration, . . . — — Map (db m193068) HM
Which Fork to Take?
Meriwether Lewis, traveling ahead with 3 men, reached this spot two days ahead of William Clark and the main parry. After exploring the river courses, Lewis left a note telling Clark to stay on the Jefferson River. Clark . . . — — Map (db m128400) HM
Highway 14 Fairgrounds Road, Twin Bridges, Montana
Early Twin Bridges offered few public gathering places, and so these fifty acres, once part of the Lott and Seidensticker homesteads, were developed as “The Park” in 1887. A “harvest home . . . — — Map (db m193038) HM
WPA engineer C. D. Paxton designed this impressive octagonal community building as part of the federally funded project to rebuild the fairground in 1936. Master log craftsman Tosten Stenberg of WPA headquarters in Livingston supervised the . . . — — Map (db m193044) HM
August 1805 - The Corps of Discovery struggled upriver toward the Rockies. Illness and injury, along with the increasingly difficult river passage, had eroded the group's morale. But the afternoon of the 8th brought a much needed lift, when . . . — — Map (db m193127) HM
Gold was the key to the success or failure of many of Montana's mining camps in the 19th century. Roads were almost as important as gold because they made possible the movement of supplies, people, and precious metals between the remote territory . . . — — Map (db m127286) HM
Beloved Members of the
Corps of Discovery
This Memorial was made
possible by the generosity of
the
People and Friends of Madison
County
Sculpted by Dick and Sandi Crane — — Map (db m193049) HM
Post-and-beam construction covered with log-veneer siding characterizes this early building inspired by M. H. Lott and built as a community project by area homesteaders in 1894. It is the only remaining building of the original fairground complex, . . . — — Map (db m193039) HM
In, early August, 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, westward bound, came up the Jefferson River and passed through this area. The valley was an ancient travel corridor; Lewis noted the presence of an "old Indian road" near the Big Hole River. . . . — — Map (db m116997) HM
Meriwether Lewis, Touissaint Charboneau, Patrick Gass and George Drewyer, the vanguard of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the first white men to enter this valley, camped on the east bank of the Beaverhead River, two blocks west of here, on . . . — — Map (db m128399) HM
Both before and since the passage of Lewis and Clark, the limestone outcrop in front of you served as an important landmark and meeting area. The Shoshone tribe, from whom Sacagawea had been kidnapped as a child, came to this area every summer. By . . . — — Map (db m193132) HM
Many of the rangelands in this valley still look largely as they did even before the Lewis and Clark Expedition walked here. Yet people and animals have traveled through and use the lands around you since prehistoric times. Montana Highway 41, and . . . — — Map (db m193129) HM
As the Corps of Discovery approached this river valley, the convergence of several rivers presented Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with a choice of routes. Lewis and a few men traveled ahead of Clark to investigate the various rivers. . . . — — Map (db m193124) HM
Fairweather and Party Discovered World’s Richest Placer Ground May 26, 1863
Most Important Center of Notorious Road Agent Activities 1863-1864
Center of Montana’s Famous Vigilante Organization 1863-1864
Home of Montana’s First Newspaper, . . . — — Map (db m128434) HM
Alder Gulch at peak population numbered ten thousand souls and the colorful mining camps that enjoyed the limelight were so numerous that contemporaries named it the Fourteen-mile City.
Adobetown was one of the many settlements that lined the . . . — — Map (db m117000) HM
Between 1870 and 1880, Virginia City's African American population was small compared to other minorities such as the Chinese. African American freighter Jack "Jarret" Taylor was in town as early as 1866, Sarah Bickford arrived in January 1871, and . . . — — Map (db m208756) HM
The tracks of the Northern Pacific Railroad never really came to Virginia City. Although the town was the first overland transportation hum in the Territory of Montana and an important regional supply center, this status predates the railroad era. . . . — — Map (db m206347) HM
The Federal Reserve Bank of Montana identifies the Allen and Millard Bank, which opened here in 1864, as the first real bank in Montana Territory. While other businesses in the Territory called themselves banks, most were actually express companies . . . — — Map (db m128435) HM
The Montana Heritage Commission’s state-owned collection of railroad equipment represents the construction era of railroads in Montana. The wooden Soo Line cars representative of cars used by the Northern Pacific, Great Northern and Union Pacific . . . — — Map (db m128402) HM
The oldest section of this building, dating to 1863, was first a simple one-story building which housed a restaurant called the “Young American Eating House.” A butcher shop followed from 1866 to the 1880s, and then in the 1880s the building was a . . . — — Map (db m49474) HM
Martin and Anna Lyon came to Virginia City by covered wagon in 1864 and settled into this small dwelling. Martin, a successful tailor, was on his way home in January of 1865 when thieves attacked and fatally struck him over the head. A blizzard . . . — — Map (db m206467) HM
Mining is filthy work, a fact that spelled opportunity for African American barber George Turley, who opened a “Fashionable Hair Dressing and Shaving Saloon” in a narrow building on this site. In 1864, Turley advertised bathrooms for miners . . . — — Map (db m208691) HM
Virginia City boomed and land prices soared accordingly in 1863 and 1864, a trend well illustrated in the earliest ownership transactions of this choice commercial property. On May 13, 1864, George Parker paid $800 for the lot and sold it for $1400 . . . — — Map (db m49441) HM
Dr. Levinus Daems built or purchased the home on the right (West) soon after his arrival in Virginia City in 1863. Born in Belgium, Levinus Daems studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Paris. While in Paris, he likely met his future . . . — — Map (db m117102) HM
Like the Picture Gallery, the Elling Store, and several others, this 1946 building and its neighbor to the left are a faithful reconstruction of the originals. The Elephant Auction House occupied these storefronts from summer 1863 until October . . . — — Map (db m208682) HM
This was Virginia City’s first Cemetery. There were many markers here, but only those of the road agents and Daltons remain. The road agent’s graves, which gave the Cemetery its name Boot Hill, were first marked by the city in 1907.
William & Clara . . . — — Map (db m49490) HM
Two small houses shared this choice corner location in 1866, but after 1875, photographs reveal the unmistakable steeply pitched roof and central gable of this splendid Gothic Revival style residence.
Expansion and remodeling during the 1890s . . . — — Map (db m117044) HM
Charles W. Rank arrived on the third train into Bozeman in 1883. There he launched a career in the drug store business that would span more than half a century. In 1884, he came to Virginia City to manage a small drug store. Partnering with his . . . — — Map (db m206279) HM
Charles Argalis Bovey ("Charlie") was born May 1, 1907, in Minneapolis, Minnesota into the comfort and social status provided by his father's position as President to the company which would become General Mills. Charlie, however, would find his . . . — — Map (db m208659) HM
The history of these two false-fronted cabins, joined by the 1890s, is interwoven with Virginia City’s African-American pioneers. The two separate, 1860s log cabins served both residential and commercial purposes. Minerva Coggswell acquired this . . . — — Map (db m208760) HM
This early home, built circa 1868 by C. E. Hill, was reputedly the site of Virginia City’s first Chinese wedding. The two-story section was originally finished in vertical siding, the eaves were trimmed in fancy latticework, and a small porch . . . — — Map (db m206343) HM
During Virginia City’s mid-1860s boom, residences and businesses crowded along Cover Street. Most commercial buildings were gone by the mid-1880s and the neighborhood became primarily residential. Irish immigrant Phillip Conrey, a rancher and . . . — — Map (db m206464) HM
When Solomon Content built this commercial building in 1864, it was one of the area’s most impressive, desirable business spaces. Stucco scored to look like stone originally covered the rubble stone walls, and Gothic transoms lent a civilized . . . — — Map (db m208692) HM
The cozy placement of the Corbett and Daems houses has long been a mystery in Virginia City. The log Corbett house was likely built in summer 1863, and the Daems house by early 1864. No records exist explaining why these two middle-class homes sit . . . — — Map (db m206283) HM
Brothers John A. and Edward Creighton came west scouting the first transcontinental telegraph lines from Omaha, Nebraska, to the coast.
Temporarily settling in Virginia City, Edward hired Thompson and Griffith to construct this building, the . . . — — Map (db m117047) HM
Though simple by today’s standards, the Daems house exemplifies an upper-middle-class, early-1860s Virginia City dwelling. Dr. Levinus Daems and his wife Marie Daems, a nurse, may have been the first residents of the house. Born in Belgium and . . . — — Map (db m206284) HM
James Stuart and his brother Granville set up the first sluice boxes in the northern Rockies in 1852. Delaware native Walter B. Dance came to Gold Creek in 1862. James Stuart and Dance opened their mercantile in November, 1863. One of Virginia . . . — — Map (db m49442) HM
Two panels make up this marker:
Discovery Park - The Fairweather Party
One spring day in 1863, six men looking for their next big gold strike found it in Alder Gulch, William Fairweather, Henry Edgar, Thomas Cover, Barney . . . — — Map (db m208993) HM
Light timber framing with board-and-batten walls characterizes this early home original to the Nevada City townsite. Inside, the original, well-preserved, muslin-covered walls are a rare example of a frontier decorating technique. The cabin’s . . . — — Map (db m117035) HM
The design of this false-fronted wooden shop, built in 1863, includes hand hewn timbers and bay windows which are said to have been Montana's first "show windows.”
The Star Billiard Hall was an early tenant, followed by a shoe dealer and . . . — — Map (db m117093) HM
The livestock trade was big business in emerging gold towns across the West. In the 1860s when livestock was essential to transportation, owners of liveries (stables) and corrals stood to profit far more than any gold digger. James Gray and Justus . . . — — Map (db m208681) HM
Bankers Nowlan and Weary set up business in this brick-veneered building, one of the town’s oldest stone structures, in 1864. Three well-proportioned gothic arches with elaborate tracery, removed during 1910 remodeling, originally graced this stone . . . — — Map (db m49486) HM
Gold dust was the common currency when George Higgins built this sturdy “fire-proof stone” business block circa 1866. F.R. Merk leased the new building for his mercantile, advertising fancy and staple groceries, liquors, Queensware, . . . — — Map (db m49440) HM
J. A. Nelson built Leviathan Hall in 1863 with a "special view to the development of muscular talent." Torn down just five years later in 1868, the hall dominated Wallace Street with its impressive 28 feet wide and 100 feet long footprint.
. . . — — Map (db m117055) HM
Construction layers of this original homestead tell much of Nevada City’s ‘boom and bust’ history. In 1864, miner Frank Finney and his bride, Mary, moved into a cabin on this property that had been constructed the previous year. The cabin forms the . . . — — Map (db m49567) HM
Like the blacksmith shop next door, this early building was probably a dance hall or saloon in the mid-1860s run by owner John Trollman. In 1865 Trollman was one of Virginia City’s seventy-three licensed retail liquor dealers. By the 1870, a larger . . . — — Map (db m49410) HM
The Frisch/Ferguson cabin escaped collapse twice and survives as an excellent example of a one-room log dwelling meant to provide short term, basic shelter for prospectors. The cabin’s early history is unknown, but by 1874, miner Fred Frisch and his . . . — — Map (db m206356) HM
This 1863 building features a classic Greek Revival style storefront with French doors, typical of the 1860s frontier. The lintel above the door still bears the name of G. Goldberg, who ran the Pioneer Clothing Store Company prior to 1866. The . . . — — Map (db m49469) HM
Built in the 1890’s for the White Sulfur Springs Sheriff’s Department. In the year 1917 this barn had a legal gallows installed for the execution of three men. These men robbed a train south of White Sulfur Springs and murdered a trainman on January . . . — — Map (db m49569) HM
Christen Richter, Henry Gilbert’s partner in the brewing business, built a home on this site in 1864 and soon added a stone wing. Gilbert purchased both Richter’s interest in the business and the house, moving his own dwelling to adjoin it on the . . . — — Map (db m206537) HM
George Gohn, a butcher by trade, came to Alder Gulch with the first rush in June of 1863. A member of the vigilance committee and later elected to several county offices, Gohn ran a local meat market. The Gohn family lived in the house next door . . . — — Map (db m206553) HM
Alder Gulch, located between Virginia City and Alder, is one of the most significant placer mining districts in the U.S., having produced over 2.5 million troy ounces of gold between 1863, and 1889. In total, miners recovered over $40 billion . . . — — Map (db m117023) HM
These two adjoining log houses were probably built by Calvin Holly and William Douglas as dwellings in the late 1860s. By 1890, the two buildings were operated as “female boarding houses” or house of prostitution run by madames Myrtle . . . — — Map (db m49385) HM
Look for something to eat, and find it in the water, in the ground, on the surface; whose bill of fare ranges from grass-seed, nuts, roots, grasshoppers, lizards, and rattlesnakes up to the antelope, deer elk, bear, and buffalo... Randolph . . . — — Map (db m208748) HM
Virginia City supported three brewing operations in the 1860's. Eventually only the H.S. Gilbert Brewery would remain. There is no finer intact historic example in the West, possibly even the country, that exemplifies the 19th century brewing . . . — — Map (db m206536) HM
On January 14, 1864 , the Vigilantes used the heavy center support beam of this building, then under construction, to hang five of Henry Plummer’s road agents: Frank Parish, Boone Helm, Jack Gallagher, Haze Lyons and Club Foot George Lane. Druggists . . . — — Map (db m49487) HM
In the mid-1860s stores, hotels, and businesses lined both sides of Jackson Street near Idaho. The road was bustling with pedestrians and noisy teams of horses and wagons traveling on the toll road that led South to Summit. The Tootle, Leach & Co. . . . — — Map (db m209178) HM
John Henderson’s painting business occupied this humble log building beginning in 1864. In addition to painting buildings, Henderson also offered decorative painting and sign writing. In Virginia City’s boom days, when new buildings on Wallace . . . — — Map (db m206458) HM
In 2009, the Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (the Friends) and the Montana Heritage Commission (MHC) engaged in partnership whereby the MHC loaned some unused railroad trucks (axles, wheels, and suspensions systems of rail cars) to . . . — — Map (db m128403) HM
When in the hills, prospectors often constructed temporary shelters called wikiups. Minters stood poles in a half circle and bound smaller ends together at the top with a cord. Evergreen boughs were planted against this conical frame work forming a . . . — — Map (db m208999) HM
Virginia City's booming gold mines provided economic opportunities for a small number of African Americans after the Civil War. By 1866, at least thirty African American men and women resided in Virginia City. Aside from working in the mines, they . . . — — Map (db m208755) HM
This property
contributes to the
Virginia City
Historic District
•
Listed in the
National Register
of
Historic Places
By the United States
Department
of Interior
•
In cooperation with . . . — — Map (db m49471) HM
Retail liquor dealer J.F. Stoer operated here from the raucous 1860s until about 1890. From that time until 1908, Smith and Boyd who ran the livery next door ran this establishment, aptly renamed the “Bale of Hay.” After 1908, the . . . — — Map (db m49390) HM
Virginia City’s first stone building, constructed during the summer of 1863, originally housed three stores on the ground floor and a meeting hall upstairs. Popular legend has long designated this as the meeting place of the Vigilantes, who . . . — — Map (db m49473) HM
Carpenter Julius Kohls purchased this property in 1882, where he built a one-room log cabin and a combination wood shed and outhouse. In contrast to most of the town’s 1860s-era gold-rush log buildings, Kohls’ cabin does not have hand-notched logs . . . — — Map (db m206350) HM
The hasty construction on this remarkably preserved early dwelling reflects the excitement of the gold rush to Alder Gulch during the summer of 1863. Its original dirt-covered pole roof predates the first saw mills; the roof was later covered over . . . — — Map (db m49443) HM
Dentist-turned-miner Leander W. Frary came to Virginia City with the gold rush to try his luck. He and his wife Alice owned interests in a number of lode claims. Frary, a prominent citizen, was among the founders of the Grand Lodge of Masons in . . . — — Map (db m206470) HM
During restoration of this modest dwelling, built in 1864 by J. M. Lewis and later owned by the Gohn family, its unusual construction came to light. Hand-planed planks finely crafted with key joints in between, posts of hand-hewn timbers, and . . . — — Map (db m206554) HM
Courthouse and the original Beaverhead County Courthouse in Bannack (later the Meade Hotel) in 1875. Among the earliest architect-designed buildings in the territory, they both feature dramatic, gracefully curving interior staircases with beautiful . . . — — Map (db m206556) HM
The gold rush to Alder Creek in 1863 spurred settlement of the Madison Valley, and among the first families to settle here were the Jeffers, the Switzers (whose home is preserved here in Nevada City) and the Careys. Irish-born Nick Carey walked to . . . — — Map (db m49565) HM
Virginia City witnessed Montana’s first Methodist services in 1864. By 1874, however, too many residents had succumbed to “depraved and wicked conditions.” Well-known itinerant ministers Revs. W. W. Van Orsdel and T. C. Iliff, then resident pastors . . . — — Map (db m206340) HM
George Gohn was one of the first to arrive at Alder Gulch in 1863 where he and Conrad Kohrs set up a meat market in a log cabin. Alkali dust sifted through the chinks and covered the meat prompting Gohn to experiment with various other locations . . . — — Map (db m49479) HM
This little log building is Montana’s Oldest Standing Public School, built in 1867 in Twin Bridges, Montana, about 30 miles north of here. It served Twin Bridges until 1873, when the Masons built a two-story building with the first floor for use as . . . — — Map (db m49568) HM
Nine booming gold camps sprawled along remote Alder Gulch in 1863. Nevada City and Virginia City were the largest. In December, 1863, Nevada City’s main street was the scene of the miner’s court and hanging of George Ives. This event was the . . . — — Map (db m49563) HM
In the top story of his building the Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M. of Montana was formed on January 24th to 29th AL. 5866
Virginia City Lodge No. 43 of Kansas
Montana Lodge No. 9 of Colorado
and
Helena Lodge No. 10 of Colorado
Which are now . . . — — Map (db m49485) HM
Madison County was one of the original nine counties created by the first territorial legislature in 1865. This building, constructed in 1866, served as the county courthouse during Virginia City’s stint as territorial capital (1865-1875). When the . . . — — Map (db m208754) HM
Paris Pfouts, Vigilante president and Virginia City’s first mayor, was instrumental in laying out the town. He and his partner, Samuel Russell, built a log store on this site in summer, 1863. Local hell-raiser Jack Slade was arrested here on March . . . — — Map (db m49484) HM
Eighteen-year-old Winthrop Raymond arrived in Virginia City from Missouri in 1865. He and his brother, Hillhouse, began a business hauling wood and building materials. Winthrop built this home soon after, perhaps on speculation. First owner B. F. . . . — — Map (db m206280) HM
Rounded arches and a tall false front characterize Virginia City's first brick building, built by clothing merchant E. J. Walter in 1875. It is said that construction using locally produced bricks was accomplished as a test before the building of . . . — — Map (db m117100) HM
This narrow frame building may be one of Virginia City’s earliest structures, dating to the summer of 1863 when buildings like this were rented for up to $175 during the initial gold rush. Its odd-sized door appears to have been locally handmade. . . . — — Map (db m49412) HM
The murder trial and subsequent hanging of outlaw George Ives in 1863 won the courageous young prosecutor, Wilbur Fisk Sanders, an indelible place in Montana history. Sanders went on to play a key role in the creation of Montana Territory and served . . . — — Map (db m206281) HM
A notorious dance hall was the original occupant of this 1863 building which encompasses a small cabin of V-notched logs, one of the first built in June of that year. Tall French doors and a few dentils clinging to the facade recall its former dance . . . — — Map (db m49407) HM
Many people have called Virginia City their home and many thousands of others have had the pleasure of visiting this unique town. This would hardly be a place worth visiting, were it not for the tireless efforts of a man unpretentiously known . . . — — Map (db m208661) HM
The Simon (Sim) Ferguson Cabin is a Virginia City prospector's cabin dating back to the 1870s. Likely constructed from logs salvaged from another building in the area, the cabin underwent several modifications during its history, Historic evidence . . . — — Map (db m206355) HM
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