The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-04-23

outward appearances, almost forgot
ten. The lettering on the old head
boards Chose which have not fallen
into the hands of vandals), feint and
almost undecipherable, tells the
names and dates Of the death of for
gotten people who came out West to
the beck and call of the mirage of
gold, lured on TO oblivion. One of
these reads Cor did read), Nellie
Paget, age %, shot April %, 1854"
One wonders who Nellie was, where
she hailed from, who caused her
death, and if someone in the eastern
country is still wondering what fate
met a sister or a sweetheart. She lies
there forgotten, a link in the chain
which helped to build the splendid
state of Montana. Though her part
may have been sOrdid, it helped as
much as did the many other charac-
tiers Of the early mining towns.
Each summer, tourists from every
section of the country visit the old
capital to lei the graves Of the road
agents who 7 buried on the hill
back of the town, and to view the
scenes of raids of the stored Henry
Plummer and his band of desper-
ADDE'S. 1t is %deplorable that much
havoc has, in recent years, been
wrought by vandals and ~sO-caIled
souvenir hunters. The Beaverhead
County Chapter Of Sons and Daught-
ers Of the Revolution have, during
the past several months, been instru.
mental in placing markers which de.
signate the more important points Of
historic interest in old Bannack vic
unity, and others are contemplated.
Bannack is located about 80 miles
from the town of Dillon in Beaver
head county. 1t still stands Tin part
a monument to Montana's turbulen-
placer mining era and the site of thu
seat Of the states first territorial
government.
J, The Ashes Of Hopes Fires
About ten miles west of the cit,
= of Helena, lies the barren site of OLE
Montana City, once a thriving gOI,
camp and a claimant for the homo
! of being capital Of the Treasure state
, In the early '6Os after the discover,
' of Last Chance Gulch and the found
ing Of Helena, the diggings at MOI
tana City attracted many miners an
J prospectOrs.
. A town sprang up which aspired t
r be the greatest city in the Rock
3 Mountain region. Men built home
r there and sought wives to keep hOus
! for them while the husbands tOile
: to wrest fortunes from the creek bot
L toms and reefs nearby. The huma
e drama of life RAJ staged there ami
. primitive, picturesque surrounding
Hopes for fortune rose and declined
until, heartsick and discouraged, tn
people of the settlement gradual
abandoned their homes and WeI
2 elsewhere to seek the favor OF Dam
: Fortune, in other camps Of the teri
tory, where, in those days, richie
! were to be had overnight il the go
|, Of luck smiled upon the seeker.
For a few years, prOspectOrs col
= tinued to live there, lonely, but sti
Hoping aginst hope for the bi
strike that never came to MOntau
City. Time and the elements final
g had their way, and gradually Natur
= working with her tools Of wind an
: rain, heat Of the sun and biting col
of the winter storm, attacked Il
habitatiOns that had been built I
" men, until one by one, they fell
ruins.
.di Today there stands not a vestige
o. the town that once existed. Eve
nstick of timber has gone and Il
lt ground is as though it had new.
le known the houses Of men, and e
cept for the record Of historic inC
dents left by the town In its passin
4 Montana City is a completely forge
I, ten camp.
he The Spectres That Haunt Butte
D. Butte, the greatest mining camp
rs the world, too, has ga its immedia
IN territory, the ghosts Of the ear
sh days. Far up q snOW-bound ravi1
e-l some 20 miles south Of the city
k Butte amid all the loneliness OF
.e- wilderness, stands q relic, or rath
"a q crumbling landmark of the site
be q once prosperous city but viii
et is nov little more than 6 haEy me.