Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-02-28
Johnny Kern Tended His Sweetheart's
Grave for More Than SO Lonely Years

Among the mountains south Of Butte,
where tan peaks are crowned with
perpetual sn0w, amid which the storm
clouds of summer are wont to gather
In huge inky pillows, preparatory to
assauIting Summit valley beneath,
where the nineralIzed mountain peaks
are often the targets for electrical
bombardments that light the sky with
vicious. iagged flashes which fleck
huge chunks from the sides Of rugged
bOulders, and spell death for those who
dare to venture within the electrically
charged zone, stands the ghost city
Of Highland.
Amid these surroundings, backed by
the towering peak Of Red mountain
appropriately named-surrounded by
dense forest and fortified against APP
preach on all sides by deep. wooded
ravines, brush-covered slopes, almost
perpendicular declivities, and in win
ter by snowdrifts 30 feet deep, the old
town, its last citizen dead, its remain
ing cabins given up to snakes, bats,
owls and mice, drowSes in the sunlight
or shivers under the fierce blasts OF
mountain winter, each day bringing
nearer the time when its last vestige
of human habitation will have van
ished and the site alone remain.
Highland is a historic town. 1t
loomed large in the early history of
the western part of Montana. It is
only 20 miles from Butte, airline, and
40 miles away by the most Travelled
road, and yet because of its compare
tive inaccessibility, this famous old
mining camp of the sixties has almost
ceased to be even memory among
the people on whom its ruins look
down.
1t is off the line of continental
travel The attention of tourists has
never been called to 1t. 1t now has
no claim to distinction save that it
is a ghost city. Such places are no
novelty to the people of the west.
Its Last Citizen
Highland City fell into decay in 1857.
Except for hardy few who were
filled to the brim with the matchless
faith of the born prospector, Highland
has been a deserted city, saturated
with colorful memories, for more than
So years.
One by one the tiny remnant of its
once numerous and virile population
succumbed to times whitening hand
and crossed the great divide" until
at last the bugle Of the Boy Scouts
sounded taps for the last survivor,
Johnny Kern, and Highland knows
the sound of human voice no more.
In the Snow-covered streets old fire
hydrants stand, bent and dilapidated,
rllstling into nothingneSs. A half-dozen
log houses with boarded or broken
windows are the sole remnants of a
town that once housed thousands.
In the streets coyotes may be heard
singing their weird songs as though |
even these denizens Of the wild were |
oppressed with the utter loneliness. In
the snow, the chance visitor will find
catlike tracks that tell Of the visits |
of mountain lions which, with coyotes
and iackrabbits, are the chief inhab-
itants of the surrounding wilds.
If one tarries bit amid the desola- ]
ton he viii find himself warily ap-
preached by bright-eyed bushy tailed
squirrel, which oddly enough seems
to meet friendly advances at
least halfway and which, If given a
crust, will sit up like grenadier to
beg for more.
In Bygone Days
Here, in bygone days, when the west
was young and full Of romance, more
than 5000 adventures are said to
have congregated. AS one views the
scanty ruins that still survive 1t Is
difficult to believe that there could |
have been so many. The streams IN
those days were rich in nuggets and !
gold dust, the gold was of high
grade and the four quarters OF the
earth sent their quotas with pick and
pan to gather up the prodigal richness
Of Montanas high hills.
Here, too came the merchant, the
liquor dealer, the gambler and pander-
err, the variety show and the dance
hall staffs
Whether prospector or liquor dealer, |
gambler or merchant, they were men
who had been tried in the crucible OF
western hardships and we're, In the
main, possessed of certain virtues
which cast sort of glamour over their
vices.
In the days when 'the weaklings
died and towards stayed at home"
only the most fearless and rugged OF
the trailblazers won their way to
Highland City. They were men Of I'M
doubted courage; the swift ups and
downs OF western Hfe-today mil
lionaire in embryo, tomorrow q pauper
had made them open-handed and
For the most part they were
young and full Of energy.
The crack Of the Indian rifle was
still common when Highland City mus !
tered its hosts within its log cabins
and dreamed Of metropolitan greatness
for itself. Human life was held cheaply.
Among the rotting headboards In the
old cemetery still stands one on which