Ghost Towns and History November 22, 2019 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter Z O R T M A N , M O N T A N A From the Madisonian Newspaper (V.C) Nov. 18, 1909 Prospecting in the Little Rockies began sometime in the late 1860s. Local Native Americans likely already knew about the gold but were trying to protect their land from a rush to the area. Time passed and as more explorers searched the area, the secret was out. As soon as gold was discovered in 1884, miners arrived in mass. But when placer gold was exhausted, the boom was over as quickly as it had started. The next rush began when Pike Landusky and soon after, Pete Zortman, would strike their rich claims. Zortman and his partner constructed a mill on Ruby Gulch in 1904 that used cyanide leach to extract the gold. Zortman’s population reached 200. The ruby produced as much as $14,000 per day in gold. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Townsend Tranchant, Nov. 28, 1884 Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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