Montana Ghost Towns - August 2005
We have lived within several hours driving time of Western MT for two years now, but had not yet gotten around to exploring the Montana "Gold West Country". We felt it was time, so we determined to do some ghost town hunting and explore Big Sky Country.
The largest store in Wisdom, in a huge grassy valley
near the Idaho border. We stopped to top up the gas (a wise move at any town in
MT) and check out a flea market strung out along the dusty main street.
Bannock Ghost Town, a state park preserved in sterile
glory for the tourists. Bannock was the first Territorial capital, and as such
had some grand buildings, like this one, which started out as the first capital
building and later became a fine hotel for rich folks.
An old wood burning stove sits rusting in the hotel.
View of the town from the hill trail leading to the
cemetery.
A domesticated bull elk along the Big Sheep Creek
Back Country Byway SW of Dillon. "Big Sheep Creek Byway is located near Dell, 24
miles north of the Montana-Idaho state line. The road is mostly two-lane gravel
with a few side roads that lead to the foot of the Rocky Mountains and provide
many opportunities for solitude and exploration. Once past the canyons of the
Tendoy Mountains, the traveler may pass only two or three cars along the entire
route. Passing beneath the high rock cliffs of Big Sheep Canyon, one can look
down into clear, deep pools of spring-fed Big Sheep Creek. Perhaps nowhere else
in America can one see so many trout without leaving the car. Bighorn sheep and
deer are a common sight in the evenings. The Byway provides one with the
opportunity to see this country as it was experienced by prehistoric Indians and
the first mountain men. The Rocky Mountains have hidden this southernmost point
of Montana well, and it remains unchanged for those willing to explore the back
country." (Ed: the "gravel roads" were mythical. They are rutted dirt, and I am
sure they are impassible after a good rain.)
Those are Texas Longhorns... brought up by the first
cattle barons to graze on the vast plains of Montana grass.
At the pass along the Byway, once called the "Bannock
Stage Road", established 1862, to supply the new capital.
John insisted on turning right at the Pass, though
there wasn't more than a rough grassy track leading away. We stopped for a
picnic lunch at the top of the next BIG rise. There was a whole lot of nothing
but grass and rock in all directions. It was very peaceful, windy and a bit
eerie.
Lunching from the tailgate, John in his Idaho Hat,
which served well to protect his bare pate.
A lonesome ruin along the byway.
Jac and Ian along Big Sheep Creek, wondering when we
are going to get off this dirt road!?
The Calf-A Restaurant south of Dillon. It's an old
one-room schoolhouse turned cafe, with pies so good people drive from Washington
to sample them. Sarah and Ian are either looking at the camera, or at the huge
thunderheads building in the distance.
Yep - there's the rain, and the wind. Check out the
flag outside the Calf-A.
Old hotel in Dillon, looking better the further away
you got. We spent about two hours at the Patagonia Outlet Store. John and the
kids spent about 1 hr 50 minutes sitting and staring at the customers....
Delightful ranch in the valley of the Pioneer Mts,
near Polaris.
Looking across the head of the valley at the
Pioneers, in Polaris - simply stunning scenery, and hardly anybody knows about
it. The locals were expecting their first snow "at any time"....this was early
August, remember. You have to like winter to live here, because you don't have
any say in the matter. We stayed two nights in a NF campground, and visited the
Elkhorn Hot Springs to soak our dusty bodies.
An old ruin on the road out of Dillon toward
Yellowstone. Great snake habitat!
An abandoned ranch in he middle of nowhere. At least
there is water.... see the tree?
Whoa! Another dose of Lots of Nothing. John loves
this kind of driving.
Stopped for a pee break, and to look at the tiny
cactuses. We really didn't expect to see them this far north, but perhaps
dryness is the main factor rather than the temperature.
Nevada City, NW of Yellowstone Park. It, and nearby
Silver City, are a terrific collection of old buildings and relics, operated as
a Living History Museum, with folks in period costume making soap or repairing
harnesses. While initially appearing to be touristy and tacky, it is worth the
admission to see all the cool old STUFF. John ate his first ever buffalo burger
here, and didn't understand what the fuss was about. It tasted like beef.
Some of the stuff in the General Store. It is not all
from one period, but a motley collection acquired over the space of many years
from barn sales and bankrupt local businesses.
The trees are engulfing this home. Most of the
buildings were broken down, brought here and reassembled to make a town.
Strolling along the main drag.
The two-story outhouse behind the Nevada City Hotel.
We are not quite sure how the second story is plumbed - it might be dangerous to
use the lower hole....
Jac posing before the nymph in the saloon, with
considerably more clothes.
Another storm rumbles and crackles across the
ranchland. We heard some REALLY loud thunder that just about curled our hair and
shattered our eardrums.
The pool at the Berkeley Pit in Butte. The largest
man-made hole in the ground, visible from space with the naked eye. The water
looks pristine, but the pH is 2.5, so swimming is frowned upon. It is 1600 feet
deep and still filling since they switched off the mine pumps decades ago.
Granite Ghost Town, waaay up a rutted jeep road.
All that remains of the last tenants of the cabin.
The Miner's Union Hall, once three stories of brick
and the proudest building in the town.
Stopped near the old ore refining buildings of
Granite. There were something like 75 hammer mills, steam powered and loud as
hell. If the din continued through the night, the residents must not have gotten
much sleep.
The view from above the hammer mill ruins. It's about
2500 feet to the valley below, a long way by mule.
A female moose grazing a pond along a trout stream
near Missoula.
An isolated but prosperous small ranch.
Searching gravel for raw sapphires at the Sapphire
Gallery in Phillipsburg. We had two choices - drive forever and stand in the
scorching sun at an outdoor sapphire mine, or sort in the cool shop in town.
Next door was a candy store selling by the pound, and an ice cream shop, so it
wasn't a difficult or prolonged decision.
There's one! Sarah and Ian both enjoyed the
afternoon.
Doing another wash of the gravel. The sapphires are
heaviest, and settle to the bottom. Invert the wire mesh sifting tray full of
gravel onto the table, and they are then on top!
Ian displays his haul of sapphires. The hat is
usually the other way around - it is a Sorting Hat at the moment.
The nice lady checking, grading and weighing the
sapphires. We left them there to be fired in a kiln, which brings out the color.
We found a total of 8.3 cts of sapphires! We should receive them soon in the
mail.
Downtown Phillipsburg, a wonderful little town.
This, on the other hand, was the highlight of our
visit to Deer Lodge, a grim town with grim motels and grim inhabitants, and with
only the old territorial prison and the new state prison, and a nifty auto
museum, to brag about. We toured the old prison, and checked out the goods in
the prison hobby store. Some of the hand-made horse harnesses/ bridles have
hundreds of hours in them with incredible beadwork, and prices over $3000. Part
of the profits go to the inmates who made them. We were glad to leave the town.
The original REO Speedwagon, in the Auto Musuem in
Deer Lodge.
A Flying Lady hood ornament.
This odd beast is NOT a Bugatti, in spite of the
ornament on the roof, but a stunt car from the second Mad Max movie. It was very
cool, and John wanted to take it home....
Sarah did not want to get off the carousel in
downtown Missoula.
From Missoula we headed home toward Spokane, but raging forest fires had shut down most roads heading west, including I-90. Since we didn't want to be stuck in Missoula for days, we worked our way around the fires using forest roads and two lane gravel roads, and after waiting 90 minutes in a 7 mile backup of traffic trying to get back on the freeway, we made it home. We want to go back to Montana soon, but north this time, to Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park.
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Updated Dec 13, 2006 |