This area once echoed with the sound of creaking wagon wheels, cracking whips, and profanity so intense the mountains vibrated with sulfur! The old wagon road between Montana and Utah passed very close to this rest area. It first saw use in the 1840s and 1850s as the route from the Mormon settlements in Utah to the Deer Lodge Valley, and St. Mary's Mission in the Bitterroot Valley. With the discovery of gold on Grasshopper Creek in 1862 and Alder Gulch in 1863, the road became the main supply and passenger route to southwestern Montana until the Utah & Northern Railroad completed its line to Butte in 1881.

The bulk of the supplies destined for the Montana gold camps came by freight wagons pulled by oxen. The slow, plodding animals could pull a tremendous amount of cargo, often as much as nine tons per wagon set. A set consisted of three linked wagons, (a lead, swing and a trail-end), with each set pulled by up to 24 oxen. The animals were driven by teamsters called bullwhackers, "red-shirted, big-booted, brigand-looking ruffians" skilled in the use of bullwhips and profanity to keep the oxen moving along the trail. Many people recalled hearing the bullwhackers long before actually seeing them. Life on the road for these men was not easy as they had to deal with bad water, bad food, bad weather, lice, and, occasionally, road agents. Oxen could make 10 to 15 miles per day on the road with around trip to Virginia City taking about three months. If the supplies included perishable goods or other groceries that needed to get to the mining camps quickly, then mules or horses were used to pull much smaller wagons than those by oxen. By the early 1860s, stagecoaches also regularly carried passengers between southwestern Montana and Utah. A stagecoach trip to Montana took three days and nights with regular stops at stations strategically located along the road.

Lima is Montana's first railroad town. Established as a division point on the Utah & Northern Railroad in 1880, the town included a substantial depot, roundhouse, machine shop, and a vibrant business district along the tracks that consisted of hotels, restaurants, store, and saloons. Two churches ministered to the community's spiritual needs. In 1889, the Utah & Northern and the Oregon Short Line railroads merged. The Union Pacific absorbed the railroad in 1935. Lima also enjoyed an important position on US Highway 91 in the twentieth century. Along with the old establishments of the railroad era, new businesses, such as motels and service stations, joined them along the highway.

Nothing is more extraordinary and wearisome than the levelness of the road. From Corrine (Utah) to Virginia City you drive along a series of apparently perfectly flat plains, connected with each other by short canyons and valleys. Occasionally the road ascends, but by very easy gradient. There are no precipices, no torrents, no avalanches, no glaciers, nothing grand, terrible or dangerous. The idea that you are crossing the backbone of the continent, and scaling a vast mountain range, appears preposterous. -- Earl of Dunraven, August 1874

Few natural events cause as much fear in people as earthquakes. They remind us that the Earth is always changing and renewing itself and that this sometimes occurs violently and without warning. Earthquakes happen when stored energy is suddenly released by movement along a fault. A fault is a fracture that allows blocks of rocks to slide past each other. Tectonic forces gradually apply stress to the fault but friction along the fault keep the two sides locked in place. Eventually, the stress builds to the point where frictional forces locking the fault are exceeded and opposite sides of the fault suddenly slip past each other, releasing the stored energy. Some of this released energy radiates away from the fault surface as seismic waves, which we feel as an earthquake. The earthquakes in southwestern Montana are part of Intermountain Seismic Belt, a zone of frequent earthquake activity that extends about 800 miles from northwest Montana southward through Yellowstone National Park, through the Salt Lake City area, and all the way to southwestern Utah. A branch of the Intermountain Seismic Belt extends from Yellowstone about 300 miles west of the Idaho-Oregon border. The Intermountain Seismic Belt results from gradual stretching of the North American tectonic plate as it interacts with the Pacific tectonic plate.

On August 17, 1959, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Hebgen Lake about 12 miles northeast of here. The earthquake ruptured two faults, the Hebgen Lake fault and the Red Canyon fault, and caused parts of the Hebgen Lake basin to subside as much as 22 feet. The sudden tilting of Hebgen Lake caused a large wave - a seiche - to wash back and forth across the lake overtopping Hebgen Dam and sweeping shoreline cabins off their foundations. It also shook loose a mountainside - the 37 million cubic yard Madison Canyon landslide - that dammed the Madison River to form Earthquake Lake. The landslide buried part of a campground, killing 26 people.

Geo-Facts:

• Montana is one of the more seismically active states in the United States. An average of five earthquakes occur every day. Most are so tiny that a sensitive seismograph is needed to detect them.

• The Hebgen Lake earthquake was felt over an area of 600,000 square miles including all of Montana and from Banff, Canada to Provo, Utah, and from western North Dakota to Seattle, Washington.

• Earthquake strength is measured using the Richter scale, which measures the seismic energy released by a quake and by the Mercalli scale, which measures the intensity by calculating the effects of it on the Earth's surface, humans, and man-made structures.

Geo-Activity:

• Movement along the Hebgen Lake and Red Canyon faults offset the land surface to form a fault scarp that runs like a scar along the north side of Hebgen Lake. Look for these fault scarps at the base of the mountains as you drive east along the Hebgen Lake.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Motoring was an adventure in the early 20th century and people usually didn't travel very far from home. Most roads were choked with dust during the summers, knee-deep in mud in the rainy seasons, and blocked by snowdrifts in the winters. But as more people bought cars, they demanded better roads. Some banded together and formed organizations dedicated to the construction of good roads, which, they believed, increased commerce and made for prosperous communities. One way to prosperity was through tourism. Tourists stayed in local hotels or auto camps, ate in restaurants, and spent money in local businesses. For many communities, like West Yellowstone and Ennis, a good road was just as important as the railroad.

By the mid-1910s, many out-of-state and local promotors established road associations to designate roads that connected important tourist attractions, like Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. The auto associations gave the routes colorful and evocative names, like Yellowstone Trail, Park-to-Park Highway, Electric Highway and Theodore Roosevelt International Highway. In Montana, the roads mainly connected Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, with "laterals" to other important attractions like Little Bighorn Battlefield, By 1925, there were fourteen "named" highways crisscrossing the Treasure State, each with their own colorful symbols blazing the way.

In 1923, businessmen and promoters in Madison, Jefferson, and Silver Bow counties banded together to form the Vigilante Trail Association, one of the last such road organizations formed in Montana. The trail, which conjured images of stalwart pioneers battling dastardly road agents in Montana's mining camps, provided a connection between West Yellowstone and Butte. The Vigilante Trail was marked with a round red, white and blue shield with the dreaded vigilante symbol 3-7-77 featured prominently in the middle. The route passed through country steeped in Montana's early history, including Virginia City and Alder Gulch. The 160-mile road also grazed some of Montana's best fisheries, including the Madison River, "the fisherman's paradise of the West."

Rest In Peace

Taking a break by the side of the road is as old as traveling itself. In the American West, rest areas consisted of wherever you stopped and got down off your horse. Sometimes it meant getting out of a stagecoach and stretching your legs for a bit at a stage station. But with the arrival of the automobile in the early twentieth century, things became a little more complicated. You could still pull over and do what you needed to do, but that practice was discouraged in many areas. Local businesses encouraged motorists to stop in their communities and take advantage of the services they had to offer, but stops in rural areas were still left to the whims of the driver and their passengers.

The MDT constructed its first rest area in 1934. But it was not until 1962 that the department adopted a policy and began planning for rest areas adjacent to the state's Interstate and two-lane highways. The MDT soon adopted a standardized design for restroom buildings surrounded by a park-like setting with picnic shelters, garbage receptacles, benches, and interpretive markers recounting the history of the area. The intent was to "provide small pockets of beauty along our highway in which weary motorists can rest in peace." This rest area was originally developed in 1966.

Today, highway rest areas remain an important part of Montana's transportation system. There are currently over fifty rest areas in the state. Like their predecessors, each Montana rest area is unique and provides motorists with a place to take a break, read an interpretive sign or two, and view the state's incredible scenery.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Montana's first gold rush began near here at Grasshopper Creek in the summer of 1862. Prospectors John White and company camped along the insect infested banks as they looked for a shortcut to the Deer Lodge valley. They panned the gravel - as was their habit - and found color, touching off Montana's first gold rush. Miners swarmed to the new placers and a rip-roaring new settlement called Bannack quickly sprang up. The Civil War divided the town into Jeff Davis Gulch and Yankee Flats. By fall its population was 500, eventually rising to 5,000. Upon creation of Montana Territory in 1864, Governor Sidney Edgerton designated Bannack the temporary capital and called the first legislature there in December. But gold discoveries at Alder Gulch stole Bannack's fickle residents and the territorial capital moved to Virginia City. Bannack was the scene of several vigilante hangings in 1864, including that of its infamous sheriff, Henry Plummer. It was the Beaverhead County seat until 1881 when few people remained. Those who did mined for gold with different methods until 1954 when the state of Montana acquired most of the town. It became a state park, earning status as a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Lewis and Clark Trail 1806

First important gold camp 1862

Scene of vigilante activities 1863

First capital Territory of Montana 1864-1865

First county seat of Beaverhead County 1864-1881 In grateful memory of the early pioneers who founded our Commonwealth

Erected 1925 by Montana State Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Lewis and Clark Trail 1806. First Important Gold Camp 1862. Scene of Vigilante Activities 1863. First Capital Territory of Montana 1864-1865. First County Seat of Beaverhead County 1864-1881.

In grateful memory of the early pioneers who founded our commonwealth.

Erected by Montana State Society Daughters of the American Revolution 1925

Erected 1925 by Daughters of the American Revolution Montana State Society.

Bannack epitomizes the tough, primitive towns that sprang up with gold discoveries. Its story also illustrates a century of survival, through boom and bust periods associated with resource extraction and technological advances. On July 28, 1862, prospectors John White and company made a lucky strike, triggering Montana’s first major gold rush. Miners—many from Idaho’s crowded Salmon River diggings—swarmed over the Continental Divide. By spring 1863, Bannack had 3,000 inhabitants. The town saw six vigilante hangings, including that of its infamous sheriff, Henry Plummer. Briefly designated capital of the new Montana Territory in 1864, the first legislature met here in a crude log cabin. While other gold strikes stole Bannack’s initial population, the town rebounded in the 1870s and served as the Beaverhead County seat until 1881. The Masonic Lodge Hall/School (1874), Methodist Church (1877), and the Hotel Meade built as the Beaverhead County courthouse (1875) reflect this period. Evidence of hydraulic, dredge, and hard rock mining interrupt the landscape. Montana’s first quartz claims initiated hard rock mining here in 1862 and stamp mills soon operated alongside placer mining. Changing technologies produced new boom periods and other changes to Bannack. Electrification of the mines in 1930 brought electricity to the town. Despite its varied fortunes, the community held together while local mills operated sporadically until World War II. The State of Montana acquired most of the town in 1954, and a few residents remained until the early 1970s. Bannack features multi-period buildings spanning the primitive 1860s, urbanized 1870s-1880s, and early twentieth century. In 1961, Bannack earned status as a National Historic Landmark.

Erected by Montana National Register Sign Program.

A four-square plan, tapered porch pillars, and flared overhanging eaves reflect the Craftsman style influence that affords this distinctive home a more modern appearance than its contemporary neighbors. Decorative cresting and leaded glass add exterior elegance while fine interior appointments include paneled oak pocket doors, Tuscan columns, an oak staircase, and decorative moldings. Businessman Frank McCleary, who served as assessor, state representative, and senator, built the home circa 1910 for his wife Ella and two children. In 1914, The Red Lodge Picket reported that a profusion of flowers and potted plants adorned the McCleary home as Ella, always a gracious hostess, entertained sixty ladies at a “floral whist party” followed by a midnight supper.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

Rocky Fork Town and Electric Company sold this lot and the one next door to F. P. Musser for $84 in 1896. Immediate resale to real estate agent T. P. McDonald for $177 netted Musser a handsome profit. This four-square cottage was either moved or built here by 1898 when the property again changed hands. In 1899, Frances Harney moved into the cottage with her small son. The 1900 census lists her occupation as “landlord.” Mrs. Harney, who was either widowed or divorced, took boarders into her home and after 1912, rented out a small dwelling on the alley as well. Red Lodge businessman Frank Lyle, a longtime boarder, inherited the property in 1937. This cozy cottage is contemporary with a number of similar four-square cottages in the neighborhood. Charming Craftsman style elements including the sunporch and wings added circa 1930 illustrate the changing architectural tastes of Hi Bug residents.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

The manager of the Red Lodge Brewery, Paul Lehrkind, purchased this lot in 1920, likely with the intent of building a home. However, despite efforts to survive Prohibition by manufacturing the “near beer” Bud-O (“Always on Top”), Lehrkind was forced to close the brewery in 1921. He left Red Lodge soon after, selling the property to Walter Helm, a butter-maker at (and later owner of) the Carbon County Creamery. Borrowing $1,500 from the Carbon Building and Loan Association, Walter and his wife Margaret constructed this one-and-one-half-story Craftsman bungalow. The residence is one of the best executed examples of the Craftsman style in Red Lodge. Its careful detailing includes vertical stick work in the main gable, wide overhanging eaves, exposed rafter tails, and angled knee braces. “Battered” square columns support the large, inviting front porch. Craftsman style design emphasized “coziness, comfort, function, and economy” and embraced the idea that “beauty does not imply elaboration.” The results were highly livable homes like this one, which remained in the Helm family until 1971.

Erected by

Montana Historical Society.

The words of those engaged in the Battle of the Rosebud, and the people still affected, tell a narrative of the conflict's significance.

Kase'eetsevo' estanevosehaesta'tanemo (The Fight Where The Girl Saved Her Brother)

Cheyenne warrior Comes-In-Sight had his horse shot from under him, making him an easy target for the soldiers and scouts. Seeing his desperate situation, his sister, Mutsemiuna (Buffalo Calf Road Women), mounted a horse and galloped through a storm of bullets to reach her brother. As friend and foe watched, Comes-In-Sight jumped on the back of her mount and together they escaped to safety. In her honor, the Cheyenne people often refer to the Battle of the Rosebud as "The Fight Where the Girl Saved Her Brother." Mutsimiuna also fought beside her husband, Mo'ohtaveo'kohome (Black Coyote) at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

"As a Cheyenne woman, I am proud to know that our Cheyenne women also fought to protect our land, culture and children. We need to protect the future generations of Cheyenne so we can remain strong." - Emily Walks Alone, Descendent of Buffalo Calf Road Woman, 2005

In their words...

"On June 17, 1876, the troops under General Crook fought...at the head of Rosebud Creek. I was in that engagement, and we fought for 9 o'clock in the morning until 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon. (These were) the same (warriors) that moved over to the Little Big Horn after the fight." - Corporal James Ramer "The Indians proved then and there that they were the best cavalry on earth. In charging up toward us, they exposed little of their persons, hanging on with one arm around the neck and leg over the horse, firing and lancing from underneath the horse's necks, so that there was no part on the Indian at which we would aim." - Captain Anson Mills "It was a big fight. Warriors and enemies of all sorts were there. The Crow Indians were there. Cheyenne, Ogalala, Miniconjous, San Arcs, Hunkpapas, all these tribes were present, fighting together. It was a hard fight, a really big battle. I lived up to my good name and counted five coups. - White Bull, Lakota Sioux "The Indians and the scouts jumped on their horses and just then the Sioux came charging down over the hills. But the troops were not ready to meet the attack, so the Crows met the first charge of the Indians, and I believe it it had not been for the Crows, the Sioux would have killed half of our command before the soldiers were in position to meet 2. Rosebud Battlefield/Where the Girl Saved Her Brother Markers the attack." - Frank Grouard, Scout for the Third Cavalry "When the grass was tall and the horses strong, we broke camp and started across the country to the mouth of the Tongue River. Then Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and all went up the Rosebud. There we had a big fight with General Crook and whipped him..." - Two Moons, Northern Cheyenne "We had beaten the white men soldiers. Our scouts followed them far enough to learn that they were going farther and farther away from us. We did not know of any other soldiers hunting for us...There were feasts and dances in all of the camps." Wooden Leg, Northern Cheyenne.

(US Army)

1325 Combined Fighting Forces:

978 Cavalry & Infantry 176 Crow Warriors 86 Shoshone Warriors 65 Montana Prospectors 20 Packers

5 Correspondents & Reporters

Killed: 9 Soldiers 1 Indian Scout 6 Crow & Shoshone

• ---------------- (Indians) 1200 (estimated)

Combined Fighting Forces:

Warriors of the Northern Cheyenne, Sioux & Arapahoe

Killed (estimated): 25 Sioux 1 Northern Cheyenne (Black Sun) "I do not wish to be an old man.

This day is mine to die."

Black Sun's War Song at the Rosebud

July 8, 1806

The Way It Used To Be... Way Back

Just over two hundred years ago...

We proceeded down Willards Creek on the S.W. Side about 11 miles...The Country through which we passed to day was diversified high dry and uneaven Stoney open plains and low bottoms very boggy with high mountains on the tops and North sides of which there was Snow, great quantities of the Species of hyssop (sagebrush) & shrubs common the Missouri Plains are scattered in this Valleys and hill sides. The road which we have traveled from travellers rest Creek to this place an excellent road. ...Shields killed an antelope. -- William Clark, July 8, 1806

The Land Seems Timeless

The elevation here is about 6,100 feet (1,859 m above sea level). The granite peak of Baldy Mountain to the northeast - Sacajawea's landmark for the route of the expedition in this area - is 10,568 ft (3,221 m). The native plants and animals of 200 years ago can still be seen here. The July nights are still "remarkably Cold," as Clark described them. Little has changed since the time of Sacajawea's ancestors - who came to this place long before she guided the Corps of Discovery and William Clark here. If she were here today, Sacajawea would easily recognize this place. Yet, the Pioneer Mountains aren't quite like they used to be, and things here will be different in the future. In the scope of geology time, this landscape is dynamic and rapidly changing.

But Way Back...47 Million Year Ago?

How different Clark's journal entries might have been at that time! 47 million years ago, there were no Pioneer Mountains. This was the edge of the Renova Basin, draining to the east. No snow, no sagebrush, no antelope. Fossils show the climate was tropical.

Raising the Pioneers

The Pioneer Mountains started rising about four million years ago - and they are still rising. About 17 million years ago, the earth's crust in this region began to extend, or stretch. It is becoming thinner and more flexible, allowing the super-hot molten magma of the aesthenosphere to bulge upward. This causes blocks of crust to move up or down along faults, which are like cracks in the earth's crust.

The crust in this region has broken along northwest-trending normal faults, and the rising blocks are building the Pioneer Mountains, while adjoining blocks have dropped down, deepening the valleys.

At Fault: Earthquakes

As blocks of the earth's crust move up and down along a fault, the rocks are stretched, and energy is released as an earthquake. The place the rocks break is called the epicenter of the quake. It can be thousands of feet or even miles below the surface along a fault. The more energy is released, the higher the magnitude of the earthquake. A person might pass a lifetime here without experiencing an earthquake, but in the millions of years of geologic time, earthquakes here are common.

The formation of a vigilante group in 1863-1864 was not new to the frontier of America West. Over forty vigilante movements occurred between 1850 and 1879 during the period of Civil War violence and the uneasy settlement of the western frontier. Present day Montana, however, was the most significant vigilante territory.

March 1863 Congress divided the massive Washington Territory and created Idaho Territory, itself a huge 325,000 square mile area. Idaho Territory contained what we now call Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. The federal government was preoccupied with war, and Congress had adjourned without appropriating any money for the new government, and without providing it any civil or criminal laws.

New settlers, lured by the gold rush to the eastern regions of Idaho Territory that included Bannack and Adler Gulch, found themselves with little government. Physically remote, with slow communications and no federal soldiers, the area harbored men who threatened residents' lives and property.

As the movement of people, goods and gold increased in the area, especially between Alder Gulch and Bannack, travel became a real hazard. Road Agents began to ambush and rob travelers who were known to be carrying gold or money, sometimes with fatal results, as with Nicholas Tiebolt.

Tiebolt's murder precipitated the trial, conviction and hanging of suspected road agent George Ives. A compact was drawn up two days after the trial, with two dozen men signing the oath, including some who captured George Ives and brought him to Nevada City for trial. Ives death avenging the killing of Tiebolt triggered an urgency in many of the men in the gold camps to form an honorable group with duties of law enforcement, to rein in the lawlessness they witnessed around them. The Vigilance Committee in Alder Gulch was established to rid the communities of such menaces for the benefit of public order.

This new Vigilance Committee united many town leaders who were provoked by the rash of recent stagecoach robberies and frustrated with an ineffective legal system. The Vigilance Committee included a president, and executive officer, secretary, treasurer, and an executive committee. The president appointed captains for each of the mining districts, who formed companies and chose their lieutenants. Together, captains and lieutenants chose honest men to join them. The leadership was meant to remain secret. With bylaws to guide them, the Vigilantes felt a duty to conduct their own hearings with swift justice, hanging or banishment, to follow.

Sidney Edgarton, Chief Justice of Idaho Territory, soon led a delegation to lobby Congress to divide Idaho Territory and create Montana Territory, believing it would make both territories more governable. Edgerton brought gold dust and nuggets to Washington to demonstrate the wealth of the region knowing the Union needed the gold reserve and tax revenues to support the war effort. President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill into law creating Montana, Territory on May 26, 1864 and appointed Sidney Edgarton as governor.

By July 1864, settled in Bannack, Governor Sidney Edgerton called for the rule of law and appointed territorial officials. He commissioned a census that counted nearly 16,000 residents, with about 11,500 of them in the towns of Virginia City and Alder Gulch. With Edgerton wanting to remain in Bannack and not exerting much control over areas where law enforcement was inadequate, the bulk of Montana's population living in Alder Gulch was still far from regulatory control. There seemed an unspoken consent by some in the newly formed government that the vigilantes could continue to impose justice without laws, ridding the territory of troublemakers without the expense of time or money for trials.

In December 1864 a governmental framework was begun as the first Legislative Assembly met in Bannack. It passed 700 pages of laws and chose Virginia City as the new capital of Montana Territory. Also in December of that year, the first federal court in Montana Territory was set up by Chief Justice Hezekiah Hosmer in the dining room of a Virginia City hotel, The Planters House. Hosmer convened a grand jury and charged them with their duties, including a directive to indict the Vigilantes on chargers of murder if they acted again. Hosmer gave the Vigilantes formal notice to cease their activities or face the consequences, and the notice was printed in the Montana Post December 10, 1864 for all to see. The Vigilantes stopped for a while.

The Montana vigilante movement began with the Vigilance Committee in Alder Gulch and Bannack in late 1863 and in 1864. Vigilantism spread northward to Helena in 1865 and continued into the 1870's with the Committee of Safety. By April 30, 1870, those two movements had targeted fifty-seven men, carrying out fifty-seven hangings. In 1879 Helena's Committee of Safety revived a posting of "3-7-77" meant to warn undesirables to leave town. A third group lead by Granville Stuart in central and eastern Montana, called "Stuart's Stranglers", formed in 1884. Lynching continued through statehood, into the 20th century, when Frank Little was hanged in 1917 in Butte, with a "3-7-77" sign on his back

Vigilance

Committee - Oath & Bylaws

"We the undersigned uniting ourselves in a party for laudable purpos of arresting thievs & murderers & recovering stolen property do pledge ourselves upon our scared honor each to all others & solemnly swear that we will reveal no secrets, violate no laws of right & never desert each other or or standards of justice so help us God as witness our hand & seal this 23 of December AD 1863."

Official Oath of Allegiance of the Vigilance Committee of Virginia City and Alder Gulch area

"It shall be the duty of members to attach themselves to some company and whenever any criminal act shall come to their (a member's) knowledge to inform his Captain or Lieutenant of the same, when the officers so informed shall call together the members of his Company, (unless the Company has chosen a committee for such purpose) when they shall proceed to investigate a case, and elicit facts and should the said company conclude that the person charged with any offense should be be punished by the committee, the Captain or Lieutenant will first take steps to arrest the Criminal and then report the same with proof to the Chief who will thereupon call a meeting of the Executive Committee and the judgement of such Executive Committee shall be final."

"The only punishment that shall be inflicted by this Committee is death." from Vigilance Committee Bylaws

Targets of the Vigilance Committee - Hangings in Virginia City or Nevada City

• George Lane - January 14, 1864 - Virginia City

• Frank Parish - January 14, 1864 - Virginia City

• Hayes Lyons - January 14, 1864 - Virginia City

• Jack Gallagher - January 14, 1864 - Virginia City

• Boone Helm - January 14, 1864 - Virginia City

• Unknown - February 17, 1864 - Virginia City

• J.A. "Jack" Slade - March 10, 1864 - Virginia City

• James Brady - June 15, 1864 - Nevada City

• John Dolan - September 17, 1864 - Nevada City

• John Morgan - September 27, 1865 - Virginia City

• John Jackson - September 27, 1865 - Virginia City

• Rosenbaum - February 1867 - Nevada City

• Charles Wilson - September 25, 1867 - Virginia City

The Montana Vigilante Activities Movement was from 1864-1870 that resulted into 57 shootings and hangings across Idaho, Utah and Montana. -- "A Decent Orderly Lynching, The Montana Vigilantes" -- Fredereck Allen

Erected by Montana Heritage Commission, Montana History Foundation.

The murder trial and subsequent hanging of outlaw George Ives in 1863 won the courageous young prosecutor, Wilbur Fisk Sanders, an indelible place in Montana history. Sanders went on to play a key role in the creation of Montana Territory and served in the first Territorial Legislature. Acclaimed for his fiery speeches and passionate dedication to Montana's welfare, Sanders later gained national prominence as one of the state's first two senators (1890-1893). The Sanders family moved into this Carpenter Gothic style cottage in 1867. It must have been an oasis of refinement at a time when precious amenities like window glass were shipped by steamboat and freight wagon to the remote frontier. Indeed, Mrs. Sanders was said to have spread her fine carpets over dirt until the wood flooring could be laid. The interior has been lovingly maintained by its few owners and features original hand-grained woodwork, wood floors, window latches with porcelain insets and other cast hardware. This landmark home, reputedly Montana's oldest constantly inhabited residence, appears today almost as it did in the 1860s.

Erected by

Montana Historical Society.

The livestock trade was big business in emerging gold towns across the West. In the 1860s when livestock was essential to transportation, owners of liveries (stables) and corrals stood to profit far more than any gold digger. James Gray and Justus Cooke ran the Elephant Auction House here from summer 1863 to fall 1864. A long, sloped porch roof once extended from this building far into Wallace Street, providing shade for the auctioneer and attracting many passers-by. This corner was already the busiest in town, and at auction time pandemonium ensued as crowds of buyers and spectators blocked the street with horses and wagons. After several traffic jams and accidents, city officials outlawed the sale of livestock on Virginia City’s main streets. After the auction house moved, the porch was dismantled, and for the next forty years the building held various stores and offices. It was demolished with its neighbor before 1922, but Charles Bovey reconstructed it in 1948 to house antique fire department equipment. A gift shop has occupied the building since the late 1990s.

Erected by Montana Historical Society

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