Ghost Towns and History November 9, 2018 Ghost Towns and History of Montana Newsletter F a r l i n , M o n t a n a Rich ores were found in this area in 1864 by J.A. Kline when he staked the O.K. lode. It wouldn’t be until years later that the lodes were worked. The Farlin brothers recorded their Indian Queen mine on Christmas Eve in 1875 but their Greenwich lode had been discovered by O.D. Farlin several years earlier and left untouched. By the 1880s, the brothers started working their claims, new and old, which produced silver and copper. When the Utah and Northern Railroad laid track into nearby Dillon a few years later, miners began to arrive in the Birch Creek District. Iron ore was mined at the Magnetic Iron mine to be used for fluxing at the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company’s Smelter in Glendale and smelters in Butte. Soon, more accessible ore was found in Soap Gulch near Melrose and the Birch Creek mine was abandoned. Dillon Tribune– 1892
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 In the late 1890s, the Indian Queen mine was reopened under a series of corporations. During this time the Indian Queen produced half a million pounds of copper and, its share of silver and gold from some 12,000 tons of ore. The boom years in the early 1900s would see the town Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz blossom to 500 people. Farlin became home to a butcher shop, school, general store and post office. Rumor has it that when the owners of the mining company started to struggle in 1906, they skipped town with the payroll. One man tried to return and was promptly hanged by the local miners. With time, the ore quality and quantity declined and the mines and smelter closed for good in 1923. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz The Dillon Tribune, June 10, 1904 BIRCH CREEK- Sunday Was a Great Day in the Mining Camp—It Was Base Ball Day. A p e x June 9 — A splendid game of base ball was played here last Sunday between the Dillon and Farlin and resulted in a victory for Farlin by a score of 15 to 11. Everybody on Birch Greek attended. There was also a large attendance from Dillon. The pitching of Percy Ellis of Farlin and Chester Gilbert was all that could be desired. Kid Rivert of the Dillon Club received a bad blow in the mouth with the ball. Wm. Wilkerson coached for Farlin and Jake Burroughs coached for the Dillon Boys. After the game the visitors were kept busy. Under the guidance of Fred Hooper manager of the home club and Wm. Ellia they were taken through the Indian Queen Mine and had a touch of under ground life. In the evening a swell spread was had at the Giles Hotel and a social dance was given in their honor at Wilkenson Hall. The Dillon boys left for home at midnight well pleased with their visit and the Farlin boys will always be pleased to welcome them back. T. J. Murray acted as umpire. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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 Mae Werning's House in Granite, Montana. The last resident of Granite, Mae Werning, continued to live in the old town, long after all other residents had left. She spent many years as the town’s caretaker and as a water commissioner for Deer Lodge area ranchers. She died in 1969 at the age of 75. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Please be sure to share this newsletter with a friend! Gold Creek, Montana Trapper Francois "Benetsee" Finley first discovered gold in what became "Benetsee Creek" in 1852 when the area was still a part of the Washington Territory. It was renamed Gold Creek by a railroad exploration party who found some flakes in the stream. James and Granville Stuart set up the first sluices in 1862. They sent a letter home to Colorado to their brother, Thomas and started a small rush to Montana. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Get your Ghost Towns of Montana Map! The size of the map is 11 X 17. It features 40 towns with a map on the front side and a little history and specific directions to the towns on the backside. The map is laminated. Visit the following link to order via paypal: https:// www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_sxclick&hosted_button_id=UL6TZCWUUTCWN Or, send check or money order in the amount of $12 to Ghost Towns and History of Montana, LLC, c/o Ghost Towns and History of Montana , P.O. Box 126, Warm Springs, MT 59756 (US orders only, please) Be sure to write MAP on your check. Thank you! Big Hole Breezes– Feb 14, 1902
P a g e 4 M i n e s & M i n i n g G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y The River Press– March 1893 JOHNNY CAKE Take one quart of buttermilk, one teacup of flour, twothirds of a cupful of molasses, a little salt, one tablespoonful of saleratus, one egg (beaten of course). Then stir in Indian meal, but be sure and not put in too much. Leave it thin--so thin that it will almost run. Bake in a tin in any oven, and tolerably quick. If it is not first-rate and light, it will be because you make it too thick with Indian meal. Some people prepare it without the molasses. Reports of Rich Strikes, New Prospects and Mining News Machinery for the Cumberland Smelter at Castle. The Green Copper Company this week hauled out the machinery for a steam hoist. The boiler weighed 12,000 pounds. Two large pumps are among the outfit. The machinery for the Cumberland Smelter, at Castle, reached Livingston last week. It weighs 100,000 pounds. A Gallatin county man named Shepherd has contracted to move all the ore, bullion, machinery and other freight for the Cumberland Company, both ways, between Castle and the railroad. The Company permitted him to receive and deliver freight at any point on the N. P. railroad from Big Timber to Townsend. He chose Livingston. His contract is for one year. It is estimated that it will require twenty-five ten -horse teams to do the work. Wm. Humphrey has shipped all his mule teams to Toston, where he has a contract for hauling ore. He has kept his horses here and is still hauling from the Barker and May & Edna. —Barker Miner. The Townsend Messenger, March 27, 1891 Belt, Montana- Belt Jail. Lewis and Clark or early trappers named nearby Belt Butte for its girdle of rocks. In 1877, John Castner founded the town that would finally be called Belt. Coal brought Castner here, and Fort Benton was the first market for his Castner Coal Company. In 1894, Castner merged his company with the Anaconda Mining Company , whose Great Falls reduction works had already been using Castner's coal. Their mine soon employed a thousand men. The town experienced a boom time and in 1900 was Cascade County's second largest community, with a population above 2,800 including French, Finnish, Slav, German and Swedish immigrants. The sandstone jail was constructed for $1,500 during the boom, when 32 saloons flourished in town. Fire destroyed the Anaconda Mine in 1915, and in 1930 the smelters stopped using coal. While small wagon mines operated and the town served as an agricultural center, Belt's population fell off. The jail itself survived major floods in 1909 and 1953, and a 1976 fire caused by a train derailment. -National Register of Historic Places. The jail now serves as a museum.
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