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 Christmas Holidays at Virginia City Montana in the Golden Days of '68. Holidays in the Rocky Mountains, (wrote a visitor in Virginia City, to the New York Tribune under date of January 4, 1868), are the most festive of all our festive occasions. Dull care is thrown far in the background and business is subordinated to social and general enjoyment. Christmas was one of the balmiest days I ever witnessed in any climate. I sat most of the day in an office with the windows and doors open and fire would have been uncomfortable. The air was soft as eastern spring and the sun shone out upon the hills and cliffs with such warmth as to start their winter crowns of snow in murmuring streamlets down their rugged sides. The city was gay throughout. The mines had poured forth their sturdy men to have a holiday frolic, and "The Pony," (the chief saloon) had crowded tables from early morning until the “wee sma’ hours” told that another Christmas had departed. The street auctions were unusually lively; the stores were swarming with customers of all classes from the unshorn and unshaven mountaineer to the fashionable belle; the “sports” had their lively games, and billiards attracted nearly all the dignitaries of state to try their skill. Sumptuous dinners were spread in various uninviting-looking shanties, and fair hands and fascinating faces inside made guests forget the rude architecture that encircled them. In the evening mine host, Chapin, of the Planters, gave a ball, and one hundred Jolly people responded. Tickets were twenty dollars each, but the supply was unequal to the demand. A second floor over one of the large store rooms was fitted up most tastefully for the occasion. Evergreens and flowers were festooned around the walls and the Stars and Stripes hung in graceful folds over the orchestra. For the first time in the far west I found nearly as many ladies as men at the ball; but they varied rather more in their ages than is usual in eastern gatherings of the kind. Young misses of ten and twelve years not infrequently aided to fill up the dance; while my partner in the only active participation I had in the ball (the promenade to supper) was a grandmother who owned to nearly sixty winters. Supper came at midnight and it would have done credit to any eastern town of thrice our population. Oyster soup opened the course—the oysters having been shipped three thousand miles. Elegant salads, delicious pellies, game of all kinds, candies manufactured into temples and monuments, almost every variety of fruits, and sparkling wines, combined to tempt the appetite. While there was freedom from the severe exactions of social rules in the east, there was the most scrupulous care on the part of all to restrain social freedom within the bounds of propriety. After an hour at the table the middle-aged portion of the party returned to the ball-room, while the old folks and little retired to their homes. Altogether it was one of the most agreeable gatherings I have ever witnessed; and it was enjoyed by most of Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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