In the beginning, the entire entire mining district was part of Idaho Territory and until Virginia City became the Montana territorial capitol in 1865, there was no law except that of the miner’s court. On December 19, 1863, Nevada City’s main street was the setting for the miners’ court trial of George Ives who brutally murdered a popular Dutch man named Nicholas Tibalt. The trial, which lasted three days and was attended by as many as 2,000 area residents, finally found that Ives had shot Tibalt before stealing his gold and several mules. After the miner’s jury found Ives guilty, proceedings immediately began to hang him. Within no time, a 40-foot pole was run through the window of an unfinished house nearby and a rope fastened to its end. Just 58 minutes after his conviction, Ive’s life ended on December 21, 1863.   

This first trial, conviction, and execution would become the catalyst for forming the infamous Montana Vigilantes. Within the next month, some 24 men found guilty by the vigilantes would also be hanged in the area.

Nevada City quickly peaked, boasting dozens of businesses and cabins. However, by 1869, the population of the mining camp had already fallen to about 100 people, but still sported three general stores, two saloons, a blacksmith, butcher shop, livery stable, brewery and a Masonic Hall. However by 1876, Nevada City had all but become a ghost town as the miners moved on to new finds.

It is estimated that in the first five years of Alder Gulch’s heydays, some 30-40 million dollars in gold were taken from the district. Although small mining operations continued to work the original claims for several years, no large operations occurred again until 1896, when the Conrey Placer Mining Company was organized to dredge the gulch. Dredges went to work in 1899, and continued for the next 24 years, processing more than 37 million cubic yards of ground along seven miles of Alder Gulch. By the times the dredges ceased to operate in 1923, some ten million dollars in gold had been recovered and in their path, many of Nevada City’s buildings destroyed. The dredges were then disassembled, the equipment sold for salvage and the heavy wooden barges were left to slowly be reclaimed by Mother Nature. Other original Nevada City buildings were destroyed when the highway was built through the area.