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 mining camp ruffians and the children of prominent mine officials rubbed elbows on the streetcars that took them all to the gardens each week for Children’s Day. Children by the hundreds enjoyed free rides and entertainment, and at the end of the day picked huge bouquets of pansies to take home to their mothers. -Ellen Baumler -Be sure to catch next month’s newsletter for the rest of the story! Ellen Baumler was an award-winning author and Montana historian. A master at linking history with modern-day supernatural events, Ellen's true stories have delighted audiences across the state. The legacy she left behind will be felt for generations to come and we are in debt to her for sharing her extensive knowledge of Montana history in such an entertaining manner. To view and purchase Ellen’s books, visit: http:// ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html Notes: 1. H. G. Merriam (ed.), Way Out West: Recollections and Tales (Norman, OK, 1969), 187. 2. Margaret Ronan, Girl From the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan As told to Margaret Ronan [Ellen Baumler, ed.] (Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 2003). When I began teaching Montana History in 1996, I was trying to find ways to engage my college students in the subject. The students found portions of Mary’s story fascinating and their enthusiasm led me to edit the manuscript. This firsthand reminiscence includes a well-loved chapter on childhood in Virginia City, Montana, and was a journalist for the WILLA Literary Award for Memoir or Essay in 2004. 3. Butts family reminiscence, “The Forgotten Pioneers” (unpublished manuscript in possession of the author), 3. 4. Ronan, Girl From the Gulches, 60. 5. W. F. Sanders II, and Robert T. Taylor (eds.), Biscuits and Badmen: The Sanders’ Story in Their Own Words (Butte, MT: Editorial Review Press, 1983), 25. 6. Homer Thomas to Isabella Thomas, 17 Dec. 1864, Small Collection 837, Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives, Helena, MT. 7. Merriam, Way Out West, 188. 8. Ronan, Girl From the Gulches, 32-3. 9. Ronan, Girl From the Gulches, 32-3. 10. Sanders and Taylor, Biscuits and Badmen, 27. 11. Ronan, Girl From the Gulches, 38-9. 12. Ronan, Girl From the Gulches, 55-6. Vigilante justice seems to make a curious, indelible imprint on a community and continues to make an impression on today’s children. The last vigilante use of Helena’s Hangman’s Tree was the double execution of Arthur Compton and Joseph Wilson, for attempted murder, in 1870. that grisly photo hung in the hall of nearby Jefferson Elementary School until a few years ago. 13. Susan Leaphart (ed.), “Frieda and Belle Fligelman: A Frontier-City Girlhood in the 1890s,” Montana: The Magazine of Western History 32 (Aug. 1982): 87. 14. Elizabeth Farmer Smith, reminiscence, vertical le on Garnet, MT, Montana Historical Society Research Center, Helena. 15. Ronan, Girl From the Gulches, 36-7. 16. Sister Julia Gilmore, S.C.L., We Came North: Centennial Story of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth (St. Meinrad, IN: ?, 1961), 46-8, 295. 17. Don Miller, “Garnet’s Day in the Sun is Done but Restoration Bringing Back Some Life,” Great Falls (MT) Tribune, n.d., vertical File on Garnet, Montana Historical Society Research Center, Helena. 18. Madison County History Association, Pioneer Trails and Trials: Madison County, 1863-1920 (Virginia City?: The Association, 1976), 780. My/Donor Information: SUBSCRIBE TO THE GHOST TOWNS AND HISTORY OF MONTANA NEWSLETTER! Renewal? Y/N Send a Gift to: NAME____________________________________ NAME___________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________ ADDRESS_________________________________ CITY______________________________________ CITY_____________________________________ STATE__________________ZIP________________STATE_________________ ZIP________________ Yearly subscriptions are $19.95 (published monthly). Please make checks payable to Ghost Towns & History of MT, LLC and send with this clipping to P.O. Box 126, Warm Springs, MT 59756
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