Bannack Montana - Gold to Ghosts Ghost Town

MONTANA LEGENDS

Bannack - Gold to Ghosts

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Bannack, Montana, late 1800's

Bannack, Montana, late 1800's, courtesy Library of Congress

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On July 28, 1862, John White and other members of the “Pikes Peakers” discovered gold in the creek waters where Bannack stands today. It was the beginning for both Bannack and the State of Montana, considered one of the last frontiers. The creek was originally named Willard Creek by the Lewis and Clark Expedition when they came through in 1805. But due to the large grasshopper population in 1862, it was renamed Grasshopper Creek.

The Colorado prospectors filed one of the first gold claims in what was Idaho Territory at the time and, would later become Montana. News of the strike traveled fast and led to the greatest rush to the West since the California Gold Rush in 1848. A mining camp was quickly built, literally springing up overnight. Most of the miners lived in tents, caves, dugouts, shanties, huts, and wagons.

Word spread quickly that Bannack’s gold was unlike other gold. Grasshopper Creek’s gold was 99-99.5% pure, compared to most gold at 95% and miners continued to flood the area. Bannack quickly became known as the New Eldorado of the North and by October the camp was called home to more than 400 prospectors.

The people who rushed to Bannack were not only miners, they also included many deserters of the Civil War, outlaws and businessmen intent on profiting from the many newcomers. These early settlers arrived by wagon, stagecoach, horse back, steamboat, and even by foot, in search of their fortunes. Not anticipating the harsh Montana winter, many came ill-prepared and lacking supplies, creating a great hardship for these early pioneers.

As in most mining towns Bannack’s population consisted of mostly men, with the exception of saloon girls and “painted ladies." For the few wives living in camp, dances were their only social activity and relief from household duties.

By 1863, the settlement had gained some 3,000 residents and applied to the U.S. Government for the name of Bannock, named for the neighboring Indians. However, Washington goofed it up, spelling the name with an “a” – Bannack, which it retains to this day.

In addition to its reputation for gold, Bannack also quickly gained a reputation for lawlessness. The roads in and out of town were home to dozens of road agents, and killings were frequent. In January, 1863, Henry Plummer arrived in Bannack and just months later was elected sheriff in hopes that he might bring some peace to the lawless settlement. What was not known by the citizens of Bannack, was that Plummer was the leader of the largest gang of the area road agents.

This group of bandits referred to themselves as the “Innocents” and grew to include more than 100 men. His contacts as sheriff gave him knowledge of when people were transporting their gold, which he would pass on to his gang.

Henry Plummer

In May 1863 a group of miners discovered gold in Alder Gulch, about eighty miles to the east of Bannack. When they took their gold to Bannack to buy supplies word soon leaked out and many of the area prospectors headed to Alder Gulch, which would soon become the thriving settlement of Virginia City.

The road between Bannack and Virginia City became a very hazardous journey as the road agents targeted the travelers journeying between the two mining camps. The ambitious Sheriff Plummer soon extended his operations to Virginia City when he was appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal for the region of Idaho Territory east of the mountains in August of 1863. Violent holdups became even more commonplace and about a hundred men were murdered during 1863.

As more people began to settle the West, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Sidney Edgerton Chief Justice of the Idaho Territory. Edgerton, his wife Mary, and their four children arrived in Bannack in September of 1863. Soon, Edgerton’s niece, Lucia Darling, taught the first school children in the settlement in the Edgerton’s living room, with twelve children attending.

By December, 1863, the citizens of Bannack and Virginia City had had enough of the violence. Men from Bannack, Virginia City and nearby Nevada City met secretly and organized the Montana Vigilantes. Masked men began to visit suspected outlaws in the middle of the night issuing warnings and tacking up posters featuring a skull-and-crossbones or the "mystic" numbers "3-7-77." While the meaning of these numbers remains elusive, the Montana State Highway patrolmen wear the emblem "3-7-77" on their shoulder patches today.

The vigilantes dispensed rough justice by hanging about twenty-four men. When one such man, by the name of Erastus "Red" Yeager, who was about to be hanged, pointed a finger at Sheriff Henry Plummer as the leader of the gang, all hell broke loose.

Continued Next Page

Vigilante Hanging

Also See:

Ghost Town Ghosts in Bannack, Montana

Bannack Vintage Photo Gallery

Henry Plummer - Sheriff Meets A Noose

Virginia City, Montana - Heart of the Comstock Lode

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From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Ghost Towns of the Northwest, by Norman D. Weis

Travel through the ghost-town country of the Pacific Northwest, guided by the camera and pen of Norman D. Weis. Both well known and obscure towns, with intriguing names such as Comeback Mine Camp, Electric, Ruby, Greenback, Disautel, and Old Todora entice you to explore their secrets. The book explores 62 abandoned towns in the boonies of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. The author has given you a head start in your quest, having explored new angles for information on some of the more familiar ghost-towns, or visiting with old-timers for an offbeat story or two. The enigmas of lesser known areas are unraveled as Weis tells how he located each place, and conducted his on-site study of remains to decipher the town's reason for existence and the cause of its demise.