P a g e 3 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r many years. In 1933, just short of the end of Prohibition, Birdie was told by the revenue officer that her business must come to an end. Bertie, ever the multi-tasker, busied herself dry cleaning some garments with gasoline while tending to her last batch of the hooch, the gasoline would explode and be the death of dear Birdie. Many Canadian women found their way across the border to circumvent Canada’s law against women owning land. One such woman was Laura Etta Smalley, a schoolteacher who was among the first to acquire land under the Enlarged Homestead Act. On a long Easter weekend in 1910, Laura packed her bags and arrived on the train in Inverness, Montana. The next morning, the land locator took Laura out to find an available claim she could make her own. She found the place she wanted and took the night train to Havre to file. Fortunately, the locator was kind enough to travel with Laura to keep her safe. Laura was the first in line on the first day a person could file under the new Enlarged Homestead Act. She finished out her school term in Canada and then returned to Montana to work on her claim. She purchased a small shack and some provisions in Joplin. She then hired a man and a team of horses to deliver her and the shack to her new home. Laura also secured herself a teaching position in Inverness for the next year. Laura went on to marry Will Bangs in 1914 whom she met while on a walk to church, but she would hold on to her own homestead. Bangs lost his farm in 1926 but the entire family including their four children would make a home on Laura’s land. Today the Bangs farm is a four-generation family operation. Laura Etta Smalley Bangs Courtesy of www.findagrave.com The Elkhorn Mine, first discovered by Peter Wys in 1870, was the namesake for the town of Elkhorn. A.M. Holter turned it into the dominant producing mine of the area after its purchase in 1872. It was owned by such people as A.M. Holter, The London-Swansea Developing Company, John Henry and Frank Longmaid, and several others. The big mill is gone now, along with many other of its old buildings. Its tailings and a few remaining buildings are the only remnants. -Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The Madisonian, May 6, 1910, www.montananewspapers.org
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