P a g e 5 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 ing their trek across uncharted country on their way to Fort Benton, Montana. William described himself as a “farmer” on the Fort Abercrombie register. It is not known what type of work William did at the gold rush towns of Bannack and Virginia City, but one can speculate he was a prospector since he was not likely a merchant. And keep in mind he was not a young man at the age of 65. On To Fort Benton, Then Finally To Bannack The First Fisk Wagon Expedition then entered Fort Union on August 9, 1862, which was located near the border of Montana and North Dakota. One month later they reached Fort Benton, Montana, on September 5, 1862, where Captain Fisk's obligation to the U.S. Government who funded the expedition was now complete. Captain Fisk was then instructed to sell the equipment at Walla Walla, so he then unofficially accompanied the emigrants to Walla Walla, which ended up being only a fraction of the original party. 82 members split off the First Fisk Wagon Expedition at Fort Benton and headed for Prickly Pear Creek, Montana. Some stayed there to prospect for gold, whereas the rest of the party continued onward to Bannack, where the action was. This small group of pioneers included Nathaniel P. Langford (future head of the Montana Vigilantes and Yellowstone Park's first superintendent), and the Dalton Family. They reached Bannack on a cold day in December, 1862, just months after gold was discovered at Bannack, Montana along Grasshopper Creek on July 28, 1862. The Daltons lived in Bannack for approximately one year. Bannack Montana was exactly what you would picture a brand new Old West gold rush town to be like, with canvas tents everywhere, and new buildings being built everyday along the main street as businesses were popping up everywhere, such as saloons, stables, general stores and inns. There were miners, merchants, missionaries, blacksmiths, innkeepers, gamblers, ladies of the night, gunfighters, and of course robbers, thieves and murderers. Hardly a place for a family with young children to call home, but the Daltons endured and made the best of it. Freemasons and the First Fisk Wagon Expedition Another interesting note is that according to the staff at Fort Abercrombie, there were three Freemasons on the First Fisk Expedition. One of these Masons was Nathaniel P. Langford, who later led expeditions into Yellowstone Park and became Yellowstone Park’s first superintendent in 1877. Nathanial P. Langford was also instrumental in the formation of the Montana Vigilantes in Virginia City in 1863. The other Freemasons on record were George Charlton and George Gere. It was those three men of the First Fisk Wagon Expedition, that held the first official Masonic meeting in the Territory of Montana where the expedition camped along the Mullan Road at Mullan Pass on September 23, 1862. In December, they then finally reached Bannack, Montana. Bannack, Montana, early 1860s
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