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 new company began mining operations immediately and turned a profit. The mine’s renewed success would be short-lived though. In August of 1942, the U.S. was thoroughly engaged in World War II and in great need of reallocating resources to help the war effort. As a result, the War Production Board mandated gold mining operations across the country be shutdown to focus on mining natural resources needed Photo by @exploringwithesch for the war. Unfortunately, this government mandate essentially sealed the fate of this historic mine, leaving its buildings and machinery to sit and rot in Montana’s harsh seasonal weather conditions. Recently, (as of 2020), the Montana Ghost Town Preservation Society published a newsletter briefly detailing the history of the Green Campbell Mine and claiming that a group known as the “Kennecott Exploration Company” was testing in and around the old mine to see if it could potentially be reopened with minimal servicing. Whether the Green Campbell Mine reopens or not, it remains a wonderful relic of the town of Silver Star, and a significant piece of Montana’s rich mining history. - @exploringwithesch Photo by @exploringwithesch If you enjoy abandoned and/or historical media, please consider joining me in the adventure on Instagram, Facebook, Atlas Obscura & YouTube: @exploringwithesch Robert’s Lookout was established as a crows nest lookout in a tree in 1920. In 1924 the wooden 6 x 6 cab and the 40 foot tower were built. The lookout sat on Roberts Mountain just west of Fortine. Locals called it “Shorty’s Lookout” for Ross “Shorty” Young who was stationed there from 1924 to 1943. He was a trapper, a brick mason, a machinist, gunsmith, and cook par excellence. Young’s usual Forest Service duties were maintaining trails and repairing telephone lines before spending the fire season on the lookout. After the fire season, he constructed new trails until the work season was over. The tower was last used in 1962 and moved to the Tobacco Valley Museum in 1979 after it was donated to the museum by the Forest Service. –Thank you to Terry Divoky for coordinating with Darris Flanagan to complete an interpretive sign to help tell the story of this lookout. –Courtesy of The Northwest Montana Lookout Association, For more info, visit their website at: https://www.nwmt-ffla.org/ Photo by @exploringwithesch Photo Courtesy NMLA
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