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 Early Montana Pioneers: The Story of William & Clara Dalton, and their daughter Matilda Dalton –Continued Main street of Virginia City in the early 1860s. On To Virginia City In May of 1863, gold was struck at Alder Gulch, about 80 miles east of Bannack. This discovery changed the course of history not only for Montana, but also for the Daltons. As did many of the residents of Bannack, the Daltons “followed the gold” and quickly moved to Alder Gulch, where the brand new mining camp by the name of Virginia City awaited them. History was unfolding, but of course no one at the time was aware of it or even thought about it. They were simply chasing their dreams for a better life. And as one might expect, Virginia City immediately became a classic Old West gold rush town just as Bannack did, with all that comes with that: miners, merchants, blacksmiths, missionaries, gamblers, gunfighters, claim jumpers, ladies of the night... and of course murderers and thieves. Gunfights were a daily occurrence in the middle of main street, and thieves were busy robbing and killing innocent people of their gold. Sheriff Henry Plummer and “The Innocents” The acting sheriff of Virginia City was reportedly very meek, quiet and ineffective in curbing the lawlessness. Then in May of 1863, a charming, well-refined 27 year old New England man glowing with charisma by the name of Henry Plummer, road into Virginia City via California, and quickly stepped in as the new sheriff of Virginia City. Soon after Henry Plummer became sheriff, the town of Virginia City as well as the stagecoach road between Virginia City and Bannack, became terrorized by a ruthless gang of road agents who called themselves “The Innocents”. They were responsible for over 100 murders in a single year (1863) as they robbed people of their gold. William Dalton’s Encounter With Henry Plummer on Virginia City's Main Street Matilda Dalton recalls that her father William was walking across the street of Virginia City in the fall of 1863, and encountered Sheriff Henry Plummer. William and his family lived next to the Plummer Farm near Portage City, Wisconsin for 8 years and were not only neighbors but were also friends of the Plummer Family. Henry was just a boy at the time and William remembered him well. On the main street of Virginia City, William spoke to Plummer and talked of their neighboring family farms near Portage City, Wisconsin. Plummer immediately denied knowing William and claimed he had never lived in Wisconsin. Matilda recalled that at dinner that night, her father William told the family that he was completely puzzled why Plummer denied knowing him and why he claimed he’d never lived in Wisconsin. William was 100% pos
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