Pa g e 6 Gho s t T o w n s a n d Hi st o r y o f Mo n t a n a N e w s l e t t er For the first several years of placer mining along Alder Gulch, miners used hand tools such as sluice boxes to separate the gold from the gravels. In 1867, hydraulicking was introduced to the area. Jets of pressurized water washed down the dirt, leaving behind piles of rocks and hydraulic cuts. The timber on the surrounding hillsides was clear-cut to provide building materials, mine timber, and fuel. From 1898 through 1922, large floating dredges chewed up the ground, destroying several communities in their path and leaving behind distinctive tailings and dredge ponds as far upstream as Virginia City. Smaller dryland dredges returned to the gulch in the 1930s, after a rise in the price of gold. The town of Virginia City itself, unlike many other mining communities, was never dug up and destroyed because it had not been established on top of gold-bearing gravels. All of the original town of Nevada City west of the Highway was eradicated by dredging operations in the early 1900s. Today many historic cabins have been moved to the site where Nevada City once existed. You can get an idea of what it would have been like to live in the Alder Gulch area during the 1860s by visiting the Nevada City Museum on weekends during the summer months where daily life is reenacted through the Living History program. Lode mining in the upper section of Alder Gulch began at the community known as Summit. A number of mills concentrated ore from these mines in the 1860s and 1870s. Lode mining was never as productive as placer mining but it was somewhat revitalized in the years following 1881, due to the arrival of a railroad to Montana; the introduction of improved milling processes; and an increased demand for silver. By 1910 most of the lode claims were being worked by small crews of leasers. A branch-line railroad reached Alder in 1901, but it did not extend the additional ten miles to Virginia City because the tracks would have interfered with the dredging operations underway at that time. Lode mining revived again in the 1930s when the price of gold rose significantly. All mining for gold in Alder Gulch closed down temporarily in 1942, however, because of a war-time prohibition on gold mining. The mining activity along Alder Gulch had far-reaching effects. It stimulated the formation of government on all levels, the increase in settlement and use of the northern Rockies, and the evolution of regional transportation systems. Gold from Alder Gulch contributed to the national economy both during and after the Civil War. The town of Virginia City moved quickly through the phases of settlement, camp, and town, having around 5,000 inhabitants at its peak. These phases encompassed tents, log cabins, vernacular frame buildings, and commercial buildings with false fronts, plus (at least in Virginia City) high-style residences and commercial buildings. Substantial business blocks reflected the residents' belief in the permanence of the mining district and the towns along Alder Gulch. The layered remnants of each phase are evident in the buildings that remain today. Remodeling, additions and other modifications bear witness to the town’s unfolding history.
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