FEBRUARY 2026 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter From The Yellowstone Monitor , Feb. 13, 1913 “Taking the Cure” at LaDuke Hot Springs-by Robert V. Goss 2009 The spa, defined as the social aspect of using warm water therapeutically, has a long tradition, not only in this country, but in the world at large. The word itself originated from the famous Espa healing springs in Belgium that have been used since the 14th Century. Balneology, the practice of using natural mineral waters for the treatment and cure of various ailments and maladies, extends back in history to at least the Bronze Age, five thousand years ago. Early Roman and Greek societies were well-known for their public baths and the belief in their healing properties. During the 19th century many famous European spas became popular with the well-to-do as social and cultural gathering spaces, in addition to being meccas for health restoration. In this country, Native Americans “took the cure” for thousands of years Photo Courtesy Yellowstone Gateway Museum Collection The LaDuke Hot Springs Spa Ca 1903 with the swing bridge. before white men set foot on these shores. There is evidence that nearly every major hot spring was utilized by local native populations as a healing center and sacred site. Oft-times these places were considered neutral ground where warring tribes could gather in peace. Taking over these once-sacred locales for themselves, European AmerAccessed via: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
P a g e 2 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 icans commercialized this phenomenon of “taking the cure” throughout the eastern United States. Claims were made about these “curative waters” that touted an array of medicinal values that would purportedly benefit a wide variety of ailments, including those of the kidney, bladder, liver, stomach, skin, and nervous diseases. By 1850 resorts such as Saratoga Springs, New York, White Sulfur Springs and Hot Springs in Virginia, and Hot Springs, Arkansas had become celebrated social and cultural “hot spots” for the affluent crowd. Commercial spa development continued to spread and expanded into the West with construction of the trans-continental railroads in the early 1870-80s. Convenient travel to and around Montana became a reality in the mid-1880s and early hot spring developers began courting both the rich and the not-so-famous. Hot spring resorts bubbled up across the state and hot spring spas such as Boulder, Alhambra, Norris, Bozeman (Ferris), and the Broadwater became popular destinations where pleasure-seekers could enjoy the recuperative properties and mingle with society. By the late 1890s, Park County, Montana enjoyed the benefits of two hot spring spas – Hunter’s Hot Springs and Chico Hot Springs, originally Emigrant Warm Springs. Around that time Julius LaDuke pioneered a third resort, LaDuke Hot Springs, which slowly developed just south of what is now Corwin Springs. Located about seven miles north of Gardiner, Montana along the Yellowstone River and Hwy 89, LaDuke Hot Springs still bubble forth just east of the highway and the 145-degree waters flow under the road before merging with the Yellowstone River. Today, an observant traveler may notice the few remaining vestiges of this early resort – crumbling concrete boxes mostly buried alongside the road, covered with boards where wafting plumes of steam emanate through the cracks. Broken blocks of the hotel’s concrete foundations lie amongst the riprap at river’s edge. Just over a hundred years ago a much different scene presented itself. There was no highway or road on the east side of the Yellowstone River, and LaDuke Hot Springs was a popular, albeit short-lived resort community. A simple, two-story board hotel with perhaps a dozen rooms graced the grounds, along with a plunge, soaking tubs, a house, and assorted outbuildings. The concrete boxes collected the hot spring water and diverted it to holding tanks that stored and cooled the water to a comfortable temperature prior to being released into the soaking pools. The only road was on the opposite side of the Yellowstone River and guests accessed the facilities by boat, or in later years via a swinging bridge. According to “Taking the Waters” at LaDuke Hot Springs Resort, by Benjamin and Athna May Porter, Julius J. LaDuke, also known as Jules, was born in Beauharnois, Quebec, Canada in 1842. Born as LeDuc,
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 the name has been variously spelled as LaDuc and LaDuke. United States Census figures, which sometimes suffer from errors and misinformation, tell a different story. The 1900 census placed his birth as “abt 1840” in Michigan with his father also born in Michigan. In 1910 the census listed his birth in 1849 and his father’s birthplace in France. His mother’s origin was noted as French-Canadian in both instances. The Montana Death Index listed Julius’ birth year as “abt 1849.” For whatever reasons, the information logged by census-takers was inconsistent, at best. According to his family history, Julius LeDuc emigrated from Canada to the United States in the 1870s, and traveled around the west for about a decade. Somewhere during his journeys he met and married Elizabeth Kappes, with whom he sired two children. When she died around 1879, Julius, his two small children, and brother Onesime moved to south-central Colorado, just north of the border with New Mexico. Julius “LaDuce” showed up on the 1880 census in Conejos County with occupation as “lumber dealer,” and living with children Tilda, age 3, and Jeremiah, age 2. In 1883 Julius married Celina “Lena” Bougie, also of French Canadian ancestry. During the next four years the couple had four children, Abbie, Albert, Julius, and Ida. Life appeared satisfactory for the LeDuc family until 1889 when a devastating blow struck the family. Onesime LeDuc was developing a mining claim in the mountains of Conejos County. Early in March he started over the mountains on snow shoes to conduct some business in the town of Conejos. Approaching a small cabin around dark, he asked the occupant, Jose Ortiz, if he could share a meal and rest for the night. Ortiz welcomed him in and after a repast, Onesime, worn out by his journey, fell fast asleep. Ortiz prowled through his guest’s coat pockets and discovered “three handsome gold nuggets, twenty-five dollars in money, a heavy silver watch, and a few trinkets.” Sensing a quick financial opportunity, Ortiz calmly took his axe and murdered the sleeping Leduc. Ortiz fled the scene with his ill-gotten gains, but was later captured, tried, and hung by the neck on July 16, 1889. Later that year Julius and the family packed up and moved out of Colorado, eventually ending up in southwest Montana where they filed mining claims and purchased properties in Park County that included the hot springs. Somewhere along the line Julius changed the family name from LeDuc to LaDuke, no doubt to appear more “American.” The family continued to grow, with Minnie (1889), May (1894), Pearl (1896), Lula (1900), and Lester (1901). Julius LaDuke began developing the hot springs in the 1890s and catered to the local populace which
P a g e 4 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 included hard-working miners across the river in the coal towns of Aldridge and Horr. He also hoped to lure Yellowstone tourists to his resort. The Northern Pacific railroad traveled from Livingston to Cinnabar (Gardiner after 1902) along the west side of the river and stopped at Horr (later renamed Electric) along the route. However, access to LaDuke’s small resort was limited. A formal bridge never crossed the river at LaDuke, and until the Corwin Springs bridge was built in 1908, the closest Yellowstone River bridges were at twenty-eight miles north at Emigrant (Fridley) and seven miles south at Gardiner. Guests to the spa were originally transported across the river in boats or barges and later on a cable ferry, all of which were all to often susceptible to the vagaries of surging river levels. Nonetheless, an ad in the Gardiner Wonderland newspaper from the early 1900s advertised, “First-class boat for ferrying across the river at all times.” A swinging bridge was later added that helped visitors avoid those potential water crossing hazards, however its undulating shakiness was not for the timid of heart. Ads began appearing in the Wonderland around 1901 extolling the curative benefits of visiting the springs. Other ads touted “LaDuke’s Mineral Hot Spring” and “New Large Public Plunge Bath. Private Baths for Both Ladies and Gentlemen.” In 1902 Julius built a two-story wooden hotel so that guests could spend the night in relative comfort. The baths and soaking pools were located just north of the hotel. Several unfortunate events cast a pall over the normally cheerful resort. In June, 1903, a twenty-four year old woman, reportedly from Bozeman, spent her final night at the plunge. Married several times, Mrs. Nora Averill, who also used the names Murphy and Wilson, had been in Jardine with a man named Tinsley, with whom she was reportedly living. She rode down the mountain with her 9-year old son to the Park Hotel in Gardiner where she proceeded to “fill up with booze.” Leaving the boy at the Park Hotel, she took a carriage to LaDuke Springs, very much under the influence of alcohol. Around midnight Julius asked her to leave the pools, whereupon she left and flopped down in a nearby tent that Julius had been occupying. Again, trying to get her to the hotel, she claimed illness and Julius went to get his wife for assistance. Upon their return Mrs. Averill had disappeared, leaving all but her shoes. Extensive searches were conducted the following few days, but her body was never found. A sheriff’s investigation concluded that she had fallen into the river and drowned, and local wags speculated about whether the death was ac
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 cidental or a suicide. Two years later another tragedy struck the family on Saturday, July 23, 1905, when four-year old Lester LaDuke fell into one of the 145-degree springs while walking to the soaking pools. His older sister went to his rescue, pulled him out of the water and removed his near-boiling woolen swim suit. A doctor from Aldridge was brought to render his services, but all their Photo Courtesy of Yellowstone Gateway Museum Collection Another View of the LaDuke Spa. efforts were for naught and the poor “suffering little fellow lingered until Sunday evening when his peaceful spirit took its flight.” He was laid to rest in the Electric Cemetery. Julius operated the resort for a few more years, but the operation was ultimately doomed. Business dwindled due to a variety of circumstances that included labor and financial problems at the nearby coal mines, lack of easy access to the site, the propensity for Yellowstone tourists to travel straight through on the railroad from Livingston to Gardiner, and probably the lack of capital to create a first-class tourist facility. Apparently unable to see a successful future, he sold the hot water rights which eventually ended up in the hands of the company building the new Corwin Springs Hot Springs resort a mile or so to the north. The hot water from LaDuke was channeled to the new resort, where in 1909, Dr. F.E. Corwin, former doctor at Chico Hot Springs, opened an impressive new “modern” hotel and beautiful plunge facility. A steel bridge was constructed across the river that would directly access the railroad and main road. Meanwhile, around 1908-09 Julius and his family moved to Livingston where he had purchased several downtown commercial and residential properties, which included the infamous Bucket of Blood Saloon and the LaDuke Pool Hall. Marital relations deteriorated between Julius and Lena, and by 1914 ugly divorce proceedings were in progress. A news article from an Anaconda newspaper in April claimed that “she (Lena) has treated the defendant [Julius] with contempt, sworn at and abused the defendant, and called him a ‘fool’ and a ‘d____d fool’.” The local Livingston paper featured a melodramatic front page article entitled, “Many Sensational Assertions Made in Answer in LaDuke Case.” One of these assertions was that Lena LaDuke had once ordered her son Albert to shoot her husband. Julius also claimed
P a g e 6 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 that his wife had “been on terms of intimacy with a man in Livingston” and alleged, “that she has threatened to ‘bust’ him and ‘break’ him by securing all his property through a divorce.” Apparently Lena LaDuke followed through on her threats and it was claimed that Julius lost most of his savings and all his residential properties in the divorce. A seemingly broken, embittered, and disillusioned man, Julius eventually became poverty-stricken and was forced to move to the county Poor House where he died December 8, 1927. Aged between 78 and 85, depending on the birth source used, Julius LaDuke was buried in Livingston’s Mountain View Cemetery. Few traces of LaDuke Hot Springs and other early Park County spa resorts remain today. In 1936 Highway 89 was extended to Gardiner along the east side of the Yellowstone River, paving over and forever erasing almost all signs of the short-lived resort. The “new” bridge at Corwin lasted for a century before it was torn down in 2006-07 and replaced by an unimposing concrete structure. The Corwin Hot Springs Resort, which had taken over the water rights from LaDuke Hot Springs, suffered an infernal fate a mere seven years after its establishment, when a fire burned the hotel to the ground on November 30, 1916. The plunge and a few cabins were spared and continued to be used for some years afterwards, but the hotel was never rebuilt. The plunge, unused for many years, with its adobe, fort appearance, still stands, causing passing motorists to wonder about it origins. Hunter’s Hot Springs, located along a dirt road off the beaten path just a few miles north of Springdale, Montana suffered a similar fate. On November 3, 1932, the grand Hotel Dakota, built in 1909, was struck by an inferno that completely destroyed the edifice. Stone walls lining the road that once announced one’s arrival to the posh hotel are the few remaining vestiges of the “hot spot” that was popular for half a century. However, Chico Hot Springs, built around 1900 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has continued to expand and today provides the sole commercial spa in Park County where visitors can still “Take the Cure.”- Contributed by Robert V. Goss Geyser Bob was a stagecoach driver for 30 years (1883-1913) in Yellowstone National Park. He was known as a teller of tall tales and a prevaricator extraordinaire, with just enough truth thrown in to cause many greenhorns, pilgrims, etc., new to the West, to actually believe him. You can read more of his amazing stories and work at geyserbob.com, his new book, YELLOWSTONE JACK is now available, check that out here: https:// www.geyserbob.com/yellowstone-jack-book Sources: Anaconda Standard, 6/29/1903; 7/2/1903; 4/12/1904; 6/8/1904; 12/22/1908; 4/29/1914. Gardiner Wonderland newspaper, 7/2/1903; 7/27/1903; 7/27/1905..
P a g e 7 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 Livingston Enterprise, 5/2/1914; 12/16/1927. Livingston, Montana Polk Guide, 1908-09. Lund, John W., “Taking the Waters,” Geo-Heat Center Montana Death Index, 1860-2007; Julius Laduke. Park County News, 12/16/1927. Porter Benjamin W. & Athna May Porter, “Taking in the Waters at LaDuke Hot Springs Resort.” Expedition Magazine, Vol.50, No.1. San Juan Prospector (Del Norte, Rio Grande County, Colo.) 7/20/1889. San Luis Valley Courier (Alamosa, Costilla County, Colo.) 7/10/1889; 7/17/1889. US Federal Census, Conejos County, Colo., 1880 US Federal Census, Park County, MT, 1900, 1910, 1920 HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY-continued From The Livingston Enterprise, January 1, 1900: FRANK HENRY—Judge Sixth Judicial District. In this great country of the upper Yellowstone, with its vast resources and rapidly growing cities, a young man has been able to accomplish in a decade or two as much perhaps as a man of equal ability can in a lifetime in the over-crowded centers of the East. A knowledge of this fact and a desire to bring about the best results within the least possible time has brought to this region many of the most enterprising young men from the East. Probably no better example of this class of men can be found than in the person of the pioneer—Frank Henry, judge of the Sixth judicial district, comprising Park, Sweet Grass and Carbon counties, Montana. Judge Henry is an Ohioan, born in Dayton in 1855, being the son of James M. and Elizabeth Reid Henry. His father was a Christian minister, and was pastor of one church in Dayton for a period of sixteen years. The subject of our sketch passed his boyhood in Ohio and Indiana, where he received a common school education, which he supplemented by reading and study outside of school, thus preparing himself for any position he might choose. Before attaining his majority he removed to Chillicothe, Missouri, where he at once began the study of law under the instructions of Luther T. Collier, subsequently being admitted to the bar in 1878. In 1879 Mr. Henry was elected city attorney for Chillicothe, which position he filled most creditably. In the year 1883 he came to Montana and entered upon a professional career at Livingston. Here he soon became well and favorably known, and in 1886 was elected prosecuting attorney for Gallatin county, which necessitated his removal to Bozeman. After filling the position nearly two years, he resigned and returned to Livingston. He was the first city attorney of Livingston after its incorporation as a
P a g e 8 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 city in 1889. The following October he was elected judge of the Sixth judicial district, then comprising Gallatin, Park and Meagher counties, his opponent for judicial honors at that time being M. J. Liddell, a native of Louisiana, who had presided as territorial judge of Montana, and who was beaten by several hundred majority. Judge Henry was first elected to the bench in the district as a republican, and twice since, receiving the unanimous vote of all political parties. He is a member of Yellowstone Lodge K. of P., Livingston, which, was organized in 1884, being the first chancellor of the order, of which he has since filled all the chairs. In 1880 Judge Henry married Miss Julia Ballinger, daughter of M. S. Ballinger of Livingston, Montana. They have one child, a son, Merrill. Judge Frank Henry is the only judge in the state, today, who has served continuously since the year 1889, and has been longer on the district court bench than any other judge in the state of Montana. During his career on the bench it is said that he treats every attorney alike, being the most popular judge among the attorneys of Montana. The rapidity with which he expedites business is not excelled by any Montana jurist; furthermore, he was never known to give recesses to permit attorneys to look up law or to procure witnesses. During the October term of court in Livingston, he began the Rockinger murder case on Tuesday morning, following with the Stevens murder case— examining all told one hundred jurors, hearing the testimony of forty-six witnesses, and arguments of eight attorneys—and by 3 o’clock Friday p. m. both cases were completed, thus making a record that has never been equaled. This judicial district has been especially fortunate in its judge, and the past record that he has achieved is one of which any judge may well be proud—all in all, he is unanimously conceded to be an upright, honorable and learned judge, at the same time a guardian of the interests of the taxpayers against any unnecessary expense.-Read More in Next Month’s Issue! Accessed via: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ ©2026 Ghost Towns and History of Montana, LLC. All rights reserved. Residence of Judge Frank Henry
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