Ghost Towns and History October 28, 2019 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter L o u i s v i l l e a n d C h i n a G u l c h , M o n t a n a The townsite of Louisville occupied only 1/2 acre but there were many buildings in and around the town. The post office was open from 3/31/1870 to 6/20/1871, before it was moved up the creek. Louisville lasted until 1/1873, before most buildings were dismantled as the miners moved on up the creek. January 1874, the only thing left was a cabin, saloon, and a jail with three souls and a ghost. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz From the Flathead Courier Newspaper (Polson, MT) Dec. 2, 1926 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz In January 1870, Louisville had 1,000 residents in the area. There were 100 houses, 9 stores, 14 saloons, 1 hotel, 3 bakeries, 2 doctors, 2 drug stores, 1 banker, 2 express houses, 1 dress maker, 3 butcher shops (dealing out about 1500
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 to 1800 pounds of beef a day), 1 shoe maker, 4 blacksmith shops, 2 wash houses, 12 general merchandise stores, 1 brewery, 1 justice of the peace, 2 houses of ill fame, and 2-24 hour restaurants. There were about 150 Chinese up China Gulch, that had been chased out of Moose City, Idaho. They walked through the mountains to Louisville. Some of them only had the clothes on their backs and had to survive the winter. Many died and were buried there, until their friends and relatives dug up the bones and sent them back to China. -Mineral County Historical Society and Museum Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Ringling, Montana. Yes, it was named for one of the Ringling Bros. of circus fame. John Ringling was also the president and builder of the Yellowstone Park and White Sulphur Springs Railroad which eventually became a branch of the Milwaukee railroad. The Ringlings at one time owned over 100,000 acres in the area and even contemplated establishing a circus headquarters here. At one time it was a bustling little town with several businesses as a junction for White Sulphur Springs transfer customers. After several devastating fires, the last in 1931 and the demise of the railroads, Ringling dwindled to a few people and the surrounding ranches. Today it has a post office, school (now a residence), and restaurant and bar. The town was immortalized by Jimmy Buffett when he wrote of the town in his 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! Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz song "Ringling, Ringling" on the "Living and Dying in Three Quarter Time" album. And yes, "Livingston Saturday Night" was about Livingston, Montana down the road a piece. -Excerpted from "The Ultimate Montana Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia"
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 Lion City and Hecla, Montana As the Trapper Mine declined in production around 1877-1878, attention shifted to the other mines located earlier on Lion Mountain. As a result, a community would build up closer to these mines, these new towns would be called Lion City and Hecla. The town of Lion City took its name from the mountain known then as "White Lion Mountain". The "Trapper" or "Bryant District" derived its name from the famous “Trapper Lode” and one of it’s original discoverers, "James A. Bryant", There is much debate as to “who” and “how” Lion Mountain came to be known as "Lion Mountain", "White Lion Mountain", or "Lion Hill". The silver and lead outcrops on this bare, white rock upthrust were discovered shortly after the strikes at Trapper Ridge. Early newspaper accounts refer to this area as White Lion Hill, Lion Mountain, or simply “The Hecla Mines”. Early historians tell the same story over and over again with varying differences in names and circumstances leading up to the naming. The only thing certain in this story is the fact that a lion was involved, or was there? One legend tells of a man by the name of “Joe McCreary” who was out walking in the vicinity of what is now Lion Mountain. Joe came upon what he thought was a mountain lion but in actually, was a white mule belonging to his friend, P. J. Grotevant. In a panic, he ran to camp for help. When the men, who returned to the site with him, discovered that the “Lion was actually a mule, the other miners made sure McCreary would never live it down and named the mountain where the mule was spotted as "Lion Mountain". Another account told by an early historian, Marguerite LaMarche, recalls the story of a man by the name of “Dr. Glick” who would sometimes become visionary when in his cups, which was often enough, one day, dashed in on his friends saying that he had just seen a white lion, several of the fellows took their guns and followed Doc. But the white mountain lion turned out to be an old white horse grazing on the hillside. The most likely culprit of this mountain naming legend was probably a “Dr. Day, as an early Glendale newspaper known as, “The Atlantis” commented, “that Doc Day’s white lion of White Lion Mountain was an ass”. There was indeed, a Dr. Day who spent time on the mountain, prospecting under the employ of Armstrong, Atkins & Co. This Dr. Day along with Harvey prospected for the firm. Why else would any other doctor be roaming along the mountain side if not to tend to mining or prospecting business? This newspaper dated to about 1879-1880 and the information it contained was common knowledge of that time, I am more likely to believe that it was a "Dr. Day" and not the former two names of McCreary and Glick. This mountain commonly known as Lion Mountain was being referred to "White Lion Mountain or White Lion Hill" in early newspapers dated 1874 through 1877. Eventually the “White” would be dropped and the hill would simply be known as “Lion Mountain”.—From our friends at www.glendalemontana.com 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 Confederate Gulch struck in 1864, six months after Last Chance Gulch, where Helena now stands, was discovered. Confederate Gulch contained placer diggings which, up until the discovery of Schoolhouse in Marsh, MT Courtesy of The Montana Memory Project I WONDER by L.W. Lawrence I wonder just how far things can go sometimes. One of our rural schools is in a slightly embarrassing position. It seems that due to the lack of plumbing out there, they had one of these little houses setting out in back of the school. Well, that was as it should be until one day some one either stole or borrowed it. Now that little house is very essential and until some one either returns or replaces the structure it will be highly impractical to hold school. We've seen a lot of them tipped over around Halloween but this is the first time we have ever heard of one being borrowed. -The Mountaineer Newspaper (Big Sandy, MT) July 29, 1948 Ruby Sands, near Nome, Alaska, were the richest ever found on Earth. The gravel on Montana Bar ran as high as $1,000 to the pan. When the first cleanup was made on the bedrock of that bar the flumes were literally clogged with gold. Little more than half a century ago the stretch of gulch was a thriving mining city, the metropolis of eastern Montana, and a rival of Helena. Today only a few time-battered log cabins remain and the once proud and prosperous Diamond City exists only in the memory of a few grizzled Montana pioneers. - The Mineral Independent Newspaper, Nov. 26, 1925. Accessed at: montananewspapers.org Photos: Diamond City c. 1870, current photo of abandoned cabin in the gulch by Jolene Ewert-Hintz W.A.A. to Present Hallowe'en Ball Annual Costume Party In Gym, October 31 The W. A. A. will sponsor the Hallowe'en dance to be held in the gymnasium on October 31. The Hallowe'en dance is an annual occurrence in the school and, according to tradition, it will be a costume dance to which no outside guests are invited. The guests are requested to wear Hallowe'en, half and half, or barn dance costumes. The half and half costumes consist of wearing half one type of outfit with the other half of a different type. Evelyn Kelnofer, chairman of the decoration committee, says that a barn dance idea will be carried out. Pumpkins, corn-stalks and hay will be predominant in the decorations. Serving with her on this committee are Peg Johnson, Maude Ruppel, Sigfrid Helgeland, Ellen Holliday, Mildred Hunter and Anne Oser. Yvonne Halsey is taking the program responsibility. Her ideas are being kept a mystery as she seems to think the best idea is to come and see for oneself. She admitted that a couple of special dances are being arranged. There will be something good to eat, reports Erna Berndt, chairman of the refreshment committee. She has chosen Shirley Barnett, Ethel Edmonds and Norma Knowles to work with her. Everyone is urged to come to this dance and to come in costume. -The Rimrock Echo Newspaper (Billings, MT) October 27, 1938
1 Publizr