P a g e 6 Helena Helena was established in 1864 following the discovery of gold on the Last Chance Gulch by four miners. The news of the rich ore sparked a gold rush that brought in thousands of miners setting up a mining camp that grew into the modern day, Helena. Although gold ore eventually dried up, Helena had become the Territorial capital in 1875 and had great transport networks and links to all major mining towns in the area and therefore did not decline. Independence 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 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Independence is located in Park County high within the Absaroka Range. The town was set up around the Independence mine in 1889 and was an important supplier to several other mines in the area such as the King Solomon Mine, the Daisy Mine, the Poorman Mine and the Hidden Treasure mine among others. Mining in the town came to an end in the early 1900s and although efforts to revive the mining were underway for a number of years they were not profitable. Today only a few run down structures remain at the site of the town. Philipsburg The town of Philipsburg in Montana was established in 1867. The town developed around the Hope Mill and was named after Philipp Deidesheimer who was responsible for the construction of the mill. Mining in the area attracted thousands of miners who lived in the town but the majority was employees of the St. Louis and Montana Mining Company which had a number of mines and claims nearby. Mining in the area came to an end in the early 1900s. Today only a few remnants of the early mines remain but the town is far from becoming a ghost town. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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