APRIL 2024 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter From The Daily Missoulian Aug. 2, 1917 Early Montana Pioneers: The Story of William & Clara Dalton, and their daughter Matilda Dalton My name is David Biegel of EnjoyYourParks.com, and this is the story of my family, beginning with my great great great grandparents, William and Clara Dalton and their daughter Matilda Dalton. Both William and Clara were born and raised in Maine, and were among the earliest pioneers to reach the Montana mining camps of Bannack and Virginia City. In 1862, William and Clara along with their 4 young children, signed on with the First Fisk Wagon Expedition at St. Cloud, Minnesota, and headed to the new mining camp of Bannack, Montana. Led by Captain James L. Fisk, this historic expedition crossed through untamed lands and hostile Indian country to reach the new gold rush town of Bannack Montana, via Fort Benton and Prickly Pear. In December of 1862, the Daltons reached Bannack, Virginia City, Montana in the early 1860s. Matilda Dalton, circa 1864 Accessed via: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Montana, where gold had been discovered just 5 months earlier along Grasshopper Creek. One year later, in 1863, the Daltons moved to Virginia City where gold had just been discovered in Alder Gulch. The Daltons were a part of the history of Montana during its infancy. Their dream of a better life, and their bravery as pioneers, helped lay the bedrock on which the state of Montana was built. This is their story...
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