Montana oil and mining journal., 1939-11-11
Bv JEAN MOORE

By JEAN MOORE
The year 1865 was an exciting
enc In Montana. Stampedes had
been made 10 many parts Of this
great gold-bearing country and
prospeotOrs were ever seeking new
terrft0ry IN which to try their luck
A new stampede spelled auven-
ture and meant renewed hopes for
naanv who had so far failed In
their attempts 20 strike tt rich SO,
vhen news Of the discovery of gold
an Rear and xix creeks came
through se various Montana min
ing camps, another stampede was
started.
Many, who had arrived too late in
other camps to obtain the more de-
sarable ground, or who had not peen
endowed with the good luck OF their
Reiphbors. welcomed the opportunity
for another chance and Immediately
took advantage Of 1t. Gold pans ana
household necessities were hastily
packed and all headed for what was
hoped would prove TO be another FL
dorado. In fact, so many respon1Saea
10 the call that upon their arrival tney
found themselves restricted to claims
not exceeding 200 feet in length.
Prosecutors literally fell over one an
ether In their efforts to coax the
precious yellow metal from the ground
la which 1t had been buried Tor so
long. Hardly had the stampede begun
until Bear and Elk creeks were mar
toring a population OF approximately
5000 people: and soon a new mining
ca1np came into existence on Bear
creek which was chriStened Bear
town" The camp of Beartown was
erected as quickly as possible ana was
not intended to be substantial ana
permanent town, but was ouiit Ior
temporary business center and
necessary shelter against the coming
Of ! Montana winter. Log cabins were
Quickly built and the crudest OF shan
ties and leantoS were thrown togetner.
Some. who begrudged even the loss
of a few days work on their Claims,
contented themselves with a snlan
dugout juSt large to accommodate
small stove and bunk. sun oIneLs
were satisfied to sleep underneath
their wagons until the first blizzard OF
tI1e winter forced them to seek warmer
quarters. Small stores were set up ana
the high prices which prevailed IN
tFe early mining camps were asked
and received Saloons averaged one 10
every fifth house and whisky, conSlo-
cred by many as the only man IS urhK,
was poured over the bar at the rate
af 80 cents a drink in gold dust Sup |
plies were shipped in by OK ana mule
team. sleighs replacing the wagons
When deem SHOWS made the use Of |
them impossible The majority OF the
saloons also contained gaming tables
over which the Suave professional
gambler presided, competing with tne
saloon keeper for the miners gold, ana |
few were SO lucky as to leave with I
gold dust m their pokeS once tney
had accepted the invitation to set"
in a game The successful miner also
received a hearty welcome from the
hIIrCv-guray girls and they proved to
be merry companions until tne laSp
ounce of gold dust had been snaKen
from his poke.
center for Bear and Elk creeks, Bear
town acquired for itself the reputa-
tion of being one of the widest camps
of the day.
Reynolds City Was Next
AS the miners worked farther up Elk
creek 1t finally became necessary Tor
them to have another camp and this
new camp became known as "Rey-
nolds City" Reynolds City was an
exact duplicate of Beartown with the
same happy -go-lucky type OF citizens
and rustic buildings AS IN bearSoWn,
high prices and high wages went hand
in hand and the only language spoken
was mining talk Although its pay
streaks on an average did not rate as
nigh as those on Elk creek, several of
the more prosperous bars were de-
cidedIy over average. One claim was
reported to have produced $4,000 per
running foot While the gold from
both creeks was so similar In color
that It was impossible to distinguish
gold from one creek from the gold
from the other when 1t became mixed,
vet much OF the Bear creek gold was 4
In the form of nuggets, while the ma
iority of the Elk creek gold was repre-
sented by small flakes. One of the
first nuggets taken from Bear creek
territory weighed 30 ounces. Currency s
was made up almost entirely of gold
dust In each camp Fortunes we're
quickly made and quickly spent. A few
who were satisfied to hang on to their S
savings were rewarded by being able a
to retire on their savings, but the
majority believed IN the old adage
that tomorrow takes care OF itself a
and when the two camps ceased 10 n
exist, they found themselves nl-pre- II
pared to meet the future financially, e
with pokeS and pockets as empty as r
when they had first arrived. o
For four short and prosperous years v
Beartown and her sister camp, Rey- n
lolds City, played Lady Bountiful to 81
thousands Of miners and then quite a
suddenly Mother Nature refused TO C,
rield any more Of her treasures. Re Al
uctant to leave the beautiful country is
where for a time they had Jared so q
veil, some of the miners decided to d
prospect virgin ground nearby and 1t CT
vas as q reward for their efforts that a
many claims were staked which later b,
developed into good producing II
lroperties. IL
AS new claims continued to be "
taxed, two more camps Sprang UP tr
bout two miles apart and the names 1t
Soloma and Garnet given them. Co N
oma was situated IN the center Of In
til