Ghost Towns and History May 18, 2019 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter R i m i n i , M o n t a n a Ad for Marshall’s Busy Corner The Home of Good Merchandise– The Roundup Record October 1917 Rimini is perched in the Ten Mile Creek Valley between Red Mountain and Lee Mountain. This settlement, originally known as Young Ireland, was centered around a silver lode discovered in 1864. Possibly taking its name from the Italian town or, from a character in Dante’s Inferno playing in nearby Helena, Rimini it became. Rimini would serve about 100 local mines. Ore would travel by rail to Wickes and later, East Helena for processing generating $7 million in gold, silver, lead and zinc ore. Mining would slow when the Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz price of silver dropped leaving only the Porphyry Dike Mine operating. During World War Two, the town would get a revival of a different type, as a
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 military dog training camp called Camp Rimini. Dogsled teams trained for search and rescue. The bark has quieted down these days. Some residents remain among old cabins, stores and the old schoolhouse. To Get There: Rimini is located southwest of Helena. From US-12, look for the Rimini Sign and take Rimini Road about 7 miles to the old camp. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Havre, Montana. Cottonwood Lutheran Church. The first Lutheran Church services were held at the home of Hilbert Peterson the parents of Arnold Peterson in 1914. Reverend Norby came out by horse and buggy to hold the service. In 1917, 10 families were members of the church. In 1920 a motion was made to buy the Presbyterian Church. Loans were made to do this and this was the beginning of the Cottonwood Lutheran Church. It is located 21 miles on the Wild Horse trail, and it is still standing there today. The pastors from First Lutheran Church came out to preach about once a month in the earlier days and then it got to be twice a month. With the cars it was easier for the people to attend. The members did the cleaning and repairs of the church. The pastors were paid $125 a year and this was raised to $225 in later years. Photo Courtesy of wetcanvas.com The money was paid by the donations of the members, but sometimes this was not enough so the ladies would take over and make money with food sales and selling fancy work. The ladies and families would meet at different homes during the summer and there would be a big crowd as a lot of the people would sit outside as the homes were not large enough to handle the crowd. I can remember the hostess would bake 12 to 15 cakes the day before aid and also served a meal. This was the days before deep freezes so the cakes had to be made fresh. As the younger people started to join the aid they said enough of that and everyone of the members would bring a cake, which was good. The lunch would be sold and that would also bring extra money which was given to the church. We had wooden benches to sit on and then we got wooden chairs and the men would sit on one side of the church and the women and children on the others. There was a big stove for heating on the women's side of the church and if you sat to close it got really warm. Subscribe to our Magazine for just $12 a year! Do you enjoy ghost town stories and photos? Grab yourself a print subscription to our magazine, Ghost Towns of Montana and Beyond! We publish quarterly and feature not just Montana but several other states as well! Also makes a great gift! Visit the following link to order via PayPal: https:// www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_sxclick&hosted_button_id=GHCYS7MES5K9S Or, send check or money order in the amount of $12 to Ghost Towns and History of Montana, LLC, P.O. Box 126, Warm Springs, MT 59756 Be sure to write MAGAZINE on your check. Thank you! After church the women would make coffee and a lunch. The men and children would play ball. The pastors taught us confirmation after services. In those days confirmation did not last very long. The church closed in 1953 as many of the members wanted their children to go to Sunday School and were going to Havre to church. The piano was given to First Lutheran and so was the baptism font. The chairs were sold or given to the members. The bell was sold to Russell Peterson and later his son Mark put it out on the Havre High football field to ring for touchdowns. There was vandalism to the inside of the church and the altar was broken up. This is some of the history of the Cottonwood Lutheran Church as we remember. -From The 85th Anniversary book of First Lutheran.
G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y P a g e 3 Pony, Montana Pony was founded by Tecumseh Smith in 1860-1870. During it’s prime it is rumored to have reached up to 5,000 people, though many people claim that those numbers may have been inflated. Developed as a mining town, the mines around Pony started mining gold and have been open on and off for the last 150 years. Pony is now classified as a living Ghost town as the bank, school, general store and many other buildings have been shut down over the years. Now, he only two remaining businesses are the Pony Bar and the Post Office. Around 150 people still live in this beautiful community. Photo Courtesy of Nancy Nellis Elling-Morris Mill Two coarse rubble stone walls, wooden walls extending above and beyond the stone walls at the rear, and a wooden roof housed this twenty-stamp gold mill built in 1883. Henry Elling (1848-1900) and William W. Morris (18401904) were the mill's original owners. Each of the mill's twenty stamps probably weighed between 500 and 750 pounds. Lifted in sequence by a camshaft, the giant stamps crushed goldbearing quartz into fine sand. The quartz came from Pony area mines, including The Boss Tweed, The Keystone and The ClipPhoto Courtesy of Nancy Nellis Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz per. Once crushed, the ore was placed on one of the mill's four Frue vanners. New technology in 1884, Frue vanners combined a shaking rubber belt with water jets to wash away "gangue" (worthless rock) while leaving the heavier gold-containing particles. The gold-containing particles were then shipped approximately 60 miles north to a smelter at Wickes, where giant roasting furnaces finished the process of isolating the gold. Once the largest operating concentrator in Pony, the mill ran periodically from 1884 until approximately 1926. Today only the east and west walls remain. Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once. Please be sure to share this newsletter with a friend!
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 Minimum Requirements for Ranching ~A wide-brimmed hat, one pair of tight pants and $20 boots from a discount store. New Chicago, Montana was once known as the best stage stop on the Deer Lodge to Missoula run. A double murder, a hotel fire and a nearby railway line would dash hopes for this community. Photos: Freight wagons, New Chicago, Montana Territory from the Mansfield Collection (UM), Current photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz ~At least two head of livestock, preferably cattle (one male, one female). ~A new pickup with automatic transmission, power steering, and a trailer hitch. ~A gun rack for the rear window of the pickup, big enough to hold a walking stick and a rope. ~Two dogs to ride in the bed of the pickup. ~A $40 horse and a $300 saddle. ~A gooseneck trailer, small enough to park in front of the café. ~A little place to keep the cows, on land too poor to grow crops. ~A spool of barbed wire, 3 steel posts, and a bale of hay to haul around in the truck. ~Credit at the bank. ~Credit at the feed store. ~Credit from your father-in-law. ~A good neighbor to feed the dogs and cattle when you are fishing. ~A pair of silver spurs to wear to BBQs. ~A rubber cushion to sit on for four hours at the auction ring every Thursday. ~A second-hand car for feeding the cows when your son-in-law borrows the pickup. ~A good pocket knife, suitable for whittling to pass the time away at the auction ring. ~A good wife who won’t get upset when you walk across the carpet with manure on your boots. ~A good wife who will believe you when you come home at 11pm saying “I’ve been fixing fence”. ~A good wife with a full time job at the courthouse.
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