NOVEMBER 2023 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter From The Sanders County IndependentLedger, Nov. 11, 1925 HISTORY OF THE BANNACK CHURCH -by Mrs. R. M. Gregg (From The Dillon Examiner Newspaper, Aug. 25, 1954) A study of the history of this church reveals many interesting things. Not being a Montana Pioneer or a Daughter of a Montana Pioneer, I became Interested in reading and studying the history of Bannack in order to find certain important facts about this church. In fact, I am still reading early Montana history. However, I was surprised to find little about this specific church. The most striking fact I discovered, was that this church has a long history of many religious faiths worshipping and holding services here. This is true even today. And it is our hope that such will be true in the future when Bannack is a Montana State Monument. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Accessed via: montananewspapers.org As you all know, gold was discovered in Bannack in July, 1862. Many people came here soon afterwards in search of potential wealth. In June, 1864, the Rev. George G . Smith, a young and newly ordained Presbyterian minister, came to Bannack. Rev. Smith had intended to go (so he wrote in later years) to Gabon, Africa, as a missionary; but he found that the Board of Presbyterian Missions could more easily obtain missionaries for Africa than for Montana, so he elected to come to Montana Territory. He reveals that no church or Sabbath for that matter was in evidence when he arrived. He brought only a few pounds of luggage with him on the stage. So he served only 18 months with only a small English Bible, without note or comment. He wrote later, however, that in Bannack he found the most intelligent and wide-awake congregation he ever encountered in a rich and full life as a minister of the gospel. He held services in many different buildings in Bannack. The same pattern was followed by many ministers representing
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 different faiths during the early period of Bannack's history. Among these early preachers were Rev Riggins and Rev. William Van Orsdel or, Brother Van as he was affectionately known, the circuit rider. When these two men started their ministry in the Beaverhead and Jefferson area, there were 18 church members but at the end of their first year in this Territory, during which they travelled over 4,000 miles doing the work of the Lord afoot and on horseback, they had 134 new members in the church and they had established eight Sunday Schools. In August of 1873, the battle of the Big Hole was fought and the Indians were on the warpath in this area. They headed for Horse Prairie and Bannack after the battle. On the Sunday after this battle, near hysteria reigned in Bannack. Refugees crowded into the town for protection and assistance. That night a great crowd of people gathered in front of the Bannack courthouse to attend a prayer meeting and to listen to Brother Van’s sermon. Crude barriers had been erected across the main street and grim men stood as volunteer guards. Brother Van preached from the courthouse steps with his Colt 45 strapped across his black frock coat He repeated his scripture lesson from memory the same pasPhoto by Jolene Ewert-Hintz sage which his aunt read to him and to his brothers and sisters on the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg. He that dwelleth in the Secret Place of the most High shall abide under the Shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. When Brother Van prayed that Sunday night, all of Bannack knelt in prayer with him -the bearded sourdough, the gambler, the rancher from Horse Prairie and sad-faced women with babies in their arms. His calm courage was a tonic for all and as he prayed all felt better and all found renewed courage to face whatever the long night ahead might bring. Before the end of his sermon a rider arrived with news that some of the Indians were on Horse Prairie. A group of men were organized, Brother Van among them to ride out and help the men and women still at their ranches in the valley. The Indians nevertheless left some ranch buildings destroyed and some men killed. After this discovery a quiet but quick appeal to General Howard was decided upon at Brother Van’s suggestion. It was made and brought an end to the ravaging of the Indians. When the excitement died down, Brother Van again turned to Bannack and its lack of a church. He was never one to let an opportunity slip by. He enlisted the services of many volunteers from neighboring
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 communities and the grateful citizens of Bannack and as a result the building in which we are meeting today was constructed. All gave of their money and time to accomplish this goal. The plot of ground on which this building was erected was purchased from the Trask family for $50 by the Methodists and a deed to this effect, dated November 12, 1877 is recorded in the courthouse in Dillon. The first services to be held in this building was a memorial service for those murdered by the Indians on Horse prairie. -Accessed via www.montananewspapers.org Thanksgiving in December President Andrew Johnson, courtesy Library of Congress The first official observance of Thanksgiving after the creation of Montana Territory came in 1865. Although President Lincoln had established the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day, following Lincoln’s assassination, President Johnson chose December 7 as the day of official observance. Residents of the mining camps paused in their relentless search for golden treasure and gave thanks for their good luck and for the end of the Civil War. Virginia City businesses closed. There were private celebrations and culinary preparations in many homes and restaurants. The Montana Post reported that sleighs were gliding merrily around town all day, men hobnobbed at the bars, and there was a singing party in the governor’s office. The next year, 1866, at Last Chance, celebrations were more community oriented. Young ladies put on their pretties and attended the Firemen’s Ball on Thanksgiving Eve at the Young America Hall. Markets were well supplied for Thanksgiving Day feasts. Shoppers could choose elk, deer, bear, sage hens, grouse, and pheasant. There was no mention of turkeys, however, at Thanksgiving tables on that particular holiday. – Ellen Baumler Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz This Helena meat market on Bridge Street offered mostly wild game in 1869. Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, 954-179 Ellen Baumler is 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. She lives in Helena in a century-old house with her husband, Mark, and its resident spirits. To view and purchase Ellen’s books, visit: http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html
P a g e 4 Fair Drug & Assayers Supplies By Richard I. Gibson Scott Robert Fair was born November 26, 1857, in St. John, New Brunswick, to parents who were natives of Ireland. Fairville, today a neighborhood in St. John, was named for his father, the first resident there. Scott Robert began to study pharmacy in Boston when in his late teens. After working in Boston and New York, he came to Montana about 1889. By 1893 he had established (with assayer Olof Bergstron) a drug store and assay supply outlet at 137 East Park, on the northwest corner with Arizona Street. He at least dabbled in mining, establishing the Mayflower Mine south of Whitehall—which by about 1896 he had sold to W.A. Clark for a reported $150,000. The Mayflower went on to produce more than 225,000 ounces of gold and 875,000 ounces of silver for Clark and later the Anaconda Company, a total value of around $3 million by 1961, most of it in 1896-1901. New owners in the 2000s have been testing and drilling to evaluate re-opening the Mayflower. 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 Fair was closely connected with W.A. Clark. In addition to the sale of the mine, his partner Bergstron was the assayer for the Colorado Smelting & Mining Company, of which Clark was vice-president. In February 1900, Fair was summoned to Washington. D.C., to testify in the Senate hearings related to Clark’s alleged bribery of the Montana legislature to “buy” that Senate seat. Fair was asked directly whether he told Montana legislator Thomas Normoyle that $10,000 was his if Normoyle would vote for Clark. Fair denied that, and other suggestions, strenuously—but Normoyle insisted that he had in fact made such an offer, in Fair’s establishment at 115 East Park Street. The upshot of the hearing was the Senate’s refusal to seat Clark; he resigned from the position before he could be ousted, then famously got his friend the Lieutenant Governor of Montana, in the absence of the Governor, to appoint him to that now-vacant seat. That ploy failed as well, but Clark was finally elected and seated in the U.S. Senate in 1901. Invoice, dated Dec. 30, 1900, to The Butte General Electric Co., purchased 45¢ worth of tubing and paid the bill 1/17/1901.
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 1901 Advertisement When he began the drug store at 137 E. Park, Fair lived at 408 West Quartz (a house that I can see out my window as I type this) with his brother George F., who dealt in real estate. By 1896, he and his wife Caroline were living at 606 West Park, and in 1897-98, they relocated to a new home at 221 N. Excelsior which would stay in the family at least until 1963. About the same time, they occupied the new building at 115 East Park that would house the drug and assay company for two decades. Among the products available at Fair’s Drug was a special “pneumonia mixture,” touted as a cure and sold to treat miners’ consumption (silicosis). The Fairs participated in Butte’s high society. Caroline Fair attended affairs with Mrs. A.H. Heilbronner, Mrs. Reno Sales (he was chief geologist for the Anaconda Company) and many others. S. Robert Fair died May 20, 1914. His widow Caroline and son George R. continued to run the Fair Drug and Assay Supply Co., but in 1918 they moved the operation a block to the east, to the corner storefront in the new Arizona Hotel on the southeast corner of Park and Arizona. The drug store address was 200 E. Park. In 1918 George was living at 628 W. Quartz. Caroline, Robert’s widow, died in 1944. Her daughters Katherine, Caroline (McCarthy), and Nellie (McDaniel) lived in Butte until the 1960s. Katherine died in September 1963, when she was living at 317½ N. Alabama Street. The Fairs continued to run the drug store in the Arizona Hotel until about 1936-37, when Ben Gunnary took over. The original drug store building, 115 E. Park, served as the Union Grill for most of the 1930s and was known as Frank’s Café in 1954. In the late 1950s and early 1960s both 115 E. Park (Jim’s Trading Post) and the Arizona Hotel corner store were used furniture shops. The Arizona Hotel was demolished about 1965, and the west half of the 100 block of East Park was removed in 1967-68. About 1971 the Burger Crown restaurant was built on the site of the Arizona Hotel. The Burger Crown burned May 4, 1975, and today that space is the parking lot for Sparky’s Garage Restaurant. About 1969, the present building went up on the site of 115 E. Park and that half of the block. It held Currie’s Tire & Appliance Center for years, and many still refer to it as the tire store. Where it stands today, in 1900 there were nine store1907 Advertisement Arizona Hotel c. 1919 fronts on Park and five more on Wyoming, plus various outbuildings. Among the businesses were a tent
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 manufacturing factory, two restaurants, a Chinese tailor, two saloons, one bakery, an auto dealer, a hat shop, a sausage factory, a liquor store, and a cleaner. Sources: The Story of Butte, Butte Bystander, April 15, 1897 (source of main photo), in Gibson’s collection; The History of Montana, by Helen Fitzgerald Sanders, Volume 3, 1913; Congressional Record, Montana Senatorial Election Hearings, Feb. 5, 1900; Anaconda Standard, May 21-22, 1914; August 12, 1912; June 30, 1907; March 24, 1901; Sept. 21, 1963; Advertisement from Souvenir History of the Butte Fire Dept., 1901, Butte Public Library scan; Invoice, dated Dec. 30, 1900, to The Butte General Electric Co., purchased 45¢ worth of tubing and paid the bill 1/17/1901, via Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History (Ft Missoula); City Directories; Sanborn maps. Richard Gibson is a geologist. His career has ranged from analyzing kidney stones to 35 years in oil exploration. Butte's history, architecture, and people captured his interest like he thought nothing could, and have expanded his life significantly. He’s still passionate about geology, but now he’s passionate about Butte, too. His book "What Things Are Made Of" came out in March 2011; his writing blog focuses on it. The Butte History blog contains interesting stories discovered in Butte, Montana, which are documented in "Lost Butte, Montana," from The History Press. Check out more great stories from Richard by visiting his sites: http://buttehistory.blogspot.com/ http://butte-anacondanhld.blogspot.com/ https://www.verdigrisproject.org/butte-americas-story Flint Creek Falls and Georgetown Dam The fertile meadows would not be in this valley if it wasn’t for the creeks that flowed into Flint Creek and part of that water source is from the Georgetown area. First known as Georgetown Flats and then known as the mining camp of Georgetown, the area was flooded when the Flint Creek Dam was built by The Montana Water, Electric Power and Mining Company. The company was owned by Paul Fusz et al, at the time the dam was completed. They bought out the previous owners and incorporated in May of 1899 with principal stockholders being: Paul A. Fusz, M. Rumsey, C. Jagels and L.M. Rumsey. These same persons were large stockholders in the Granite Bi-Metallic Consolidated Mining Company. The work of utilizing the water of Flint Creek was originally commenced in 1891. The expected outcome was to form a reservoir that would hold millions of cubic feet of water. At that time a crew of over 200 men were employed on the ditch and flume. The dam was built of solid masonry and was started at bedrock then extended from rim to rim of the canyon. A crew of fifty carpenters was hired at the town of Bonner in October 1899 to frame timbers for the Power House. The October 13, 1899 Mail, detailed the following: “The company is confident that it can depend upon about 3,000 inches of water for use from the Georgetown flats to the falls. To utilize this a covered plank flume nearly 6,600 feet long has been constructed. The flume is three and one-half by four feet in the clear and there are two tunnels, one 350 feet long and the other 700 feet. At the end of the flume is a penstock or tank with a capacity of 35,000
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 gallons, to be built. From the penstock a pipe 38 inches in diameter and about 1,500 feet in length will extend down mountainside to the power house. The penstock will be about 200 feet higher than the power house…[the fall of water is expected to create energy equal to about 2,500 horsepower]. Pelton water wheels …are high pressure and capable of a like number of generators. The power will be transmitted to the mill of the Granite Bi-Metallic Consolidated Company a distance of seven miles, over heavy copper wires and will be put into use by means of an electric motor at the mill. The site of the power station is a short distance below the Flint Creek falls and is almost perfect for the purpose…the company expects to have power generated by next February. The contract for lumber to be used in the construction of the powerhouse has been awarded and the electrical machinery is now being built by the Westinghouse Company. A large shipment of insulators has already arrived at the depot and the work of setting the poles will be commenced at once and be completed before the frost will interfere. The heavy copper wires which are to convey the powerful electric current will also be strung before snow falls and most of the outdoor work will be completed before the first of the year…Ultimately the electricity generated at Flint Creek falls will be utilized in the operation of the company mines at Granite and in lighting that town.” Thomas Stuart Mill Remains from The Circle Banner article in 1924 The dream became reality when power was finally generated in 1901. Remnants of the flume are still visible along the walls of the Flint Creek gorge and this little power plant furnished the Company and the local area well. Although a money pit, an upgraded plant continues to provide power. There were at least four ranches on Georgetown Flats before the dam was built. The Pullar Brother’s, Ike and John Sanders and W.T. Hull were relocated to Upper Rock Creek, apparently by Paul Fusz obtaining the Rock Creek ranch sites and consummating a trade. Also located on the southeast side was the remains of the Thomas Stuart Mill, built in 1873 and 1874 by Stuart and O.B. Whitford. The milling venture was said to be a loss to the men of at least $25,000 as their mine failed to yield high grade ore. This area is now known as the Stuart Bay. Thomas was the younger brother of James and Granville Stuart. The mill, built without any nails was still partially standing in 1924. -Courtesy of the Granite County History Blog The purpose of the Granite County History Blog (https://granitecountyhistory.blogspot.com/) is to share and seek information on the history of Granite County, Montana. In a few cases our topics will lap over into adjacent counties as mining districts especially do not respect the later boundaries imposed by politicians! It is a project of members of the Granite County Historical Society, an organization founded in 1978 by the late Barry Engrav of Philipsburg and now comprised of 8 members dedicated to preserving and interpreting historical documents, artifacts, and sites in the greater Philipsburg area. Our goal is to interest current residents, folks with family roots, and those with an academic interest in the area to add their knowledge to this blog as an ongoing project to deepen and in some cases correct the narrative of the people and events that shaped history in this part of Montana. The recent explosion of scanned historical documents onto the internet is making it possible to greatly speed up historical research, refine historical chronology, and deepen historical interpretation. Perhaps we are entering into a "golden age" of research into our past! Anyone with an interest in the Philipsburg area or Montana history is invited to discuss the topics of our posts, as well as their own data and sources, which we hope will create an ongoing dialogue about the area now known as Granite County.
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 The Dillon Tribune NewspaperDecember 05, 1885: Grand Ball at Bannack Neatly printed invitations have been issued for a grand Christmas ball, to be given by the Masons of Bannack on Christmas evening. The annual balls given at Bannack are always first-class, and the forthcoming one will be up to the old, established standard. The ball will be given under the auspices of the following committees of gentlemen: On Invitation: F.L. Graves and Geo M. Brown- Bannack, Geo W. Dart and Thos E. Jones- Dillon, C.W. Turner- Glendale. On Reception: Pat Dempsey, Jas Harby, John Carhart, A.F. Graeter, T.F. Hamilton. On Arrangements: Jas Barrett, A.F. Sears, M.S. Herr, W.R. Wright, L.A. Harkness. On Decoration: J. C. Steger, Jas Ferster, D.E. Metlen. Floor Committee: F.W. Panish, I.W. Crary, Jos. Shineberger. Floor Managers: Rufe Matthews, G.L. Batchelder. GRANGE BALL AT GALLATIN CITY The Gallatin county people- those who love terpsichorean sports more especially- are preparing to have a jolly time. The Three Forks Grange will give a grand ball at Budd’s hotel, Gallatin City, on the evening of November 12th. We are requested to state that good music and excellent accommodations will be provided. Tickets, including supper, $3.00. We acknowledge the receipt of a complimentary ticket from Mr. Stephen Allen, Secretary of the Grange, and if possible a representative of the Herald will endeavor to be present.- Helena Weekly Herald, Nov. 4, 1875, accessed via Photo: Gallatin City Hotel by Jolene Ewert-Hintz www.chroniclingamerica.org We understand that the Grange Ball at the Gallatin City Hotel Friday night last was a grand success. The party was sumptuously entertained by our friend Budd, proprietor of the hotel. -Bozeman Avant Courier, Nov. 19, 1875, accessed via www.chroniclingamerica.org Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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