Montana History
Assuredly, mining played a significant role in Montana's history. With the
discovery of gold in several different gulches came boom towns across the state. As
population started to increase people thought it should become its own territory and it did
in 1864. Twenty five years later it became a state. Alder Gulch, Confederate Gulch, and
Last Chance Gulch are clearly the gold strikes that contributed to Montana becoming a
territory and eventually a state.
Alder Gulch was founded in 1863 by Bill Fairweather and Henry Edgar. The
party from Idaho also included Barney Hughes, Tim Cover, Henry Rodgers, and Bill
Sweeney. They were going to the Yellowstone Valley to find gold until they came across
some unfriendly Crow Indians so returned to Bannack. That night while waiting for
dinner Bill Fairweather went down to the creek to pan for gold. His first panning brought
out "$5.10 worth of gold." (Fogarty 130.) News of the find spread quickly to Bannack.
The slogan that was heard around town was "five dollars to the pan and shallow
diggings." (Fogarty 131.) It was undoubtedly the richest gold strike in Montana yielding
over 40 million dollars. Alder Gulch is located between Virginia City, which was once
the capital, and Nevada City. By the 1870's most of the gold had been extracted. A
company led by Gordon McKay and other Boston investors came into the gulch and dug
out the low-grade gold. Consequently, the gulch was basically dead.
Confederate Gulch was founded in the summer of 1864. The town that was built
around the gulch was called Diamond City, which is located 30 miles east of Helena in
the Big Belt Mountains. The placer fields here were much richer then Alder Gulch but
not as many in number. It was a hard gulch to work because the bedrock was deep, in
addition water was limited and boulders were immense. Thus the miners turned their
attention to other areas.
Last Chance Gulch was founded in July 14, 1864 in present day Helena. Over 19
million dollars was taken out of the gulch. There were many different parties that
searched for gold in the gulch and certainly the most important of all was the one led by
John Cowan. His party had an unsuccessful year. Starting in Kottenais country they had
Power is a great privilege to have and a person can take advantage of the power if they have it. Getting the privilege of power can be abused and misused depending on the person it is given to. Sometimes if the power lands in the wrong person’s hands they can use it to benefit themselves. In the novel called Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, the power of the law is being abused in the situations occurring throughout the book. Having power and privileges can make a great impact on your life and other people’s lives and give you a variety of advantages.
In 1775 Boone and 30 other woodsmen were hired to improve the trails between the Carolinas and the west. The resulting route reached into the heart of Kentucky and became known as the "Wilderness Road." That same year Boone built a fort and village called Booneborough in Kentucky, and moved his family over the Wilderness Trail to their new home.
sq mi , and is mainly in NE Arizona but extends into NW New Mexico and SE Utah. Many
Crooks, cristine. "Traveling to the gold fields." library.alaska.gov. Alaska department of education and Early development. Web. 2 Mar 2014. .
population, and many scorned it taking pride in violating its laws. It provided for large
When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first explored Montana in the early 1800s, they were awestruck by the open plains and delighted by the wide range of animals that roamed the land. After reaching the Great Falls, which is on the Missouri River in what is now Montana (Av2 books). Lewis wrote in his journal that it was “the grandest sight” that he had “ever beheld.” Today much of the landscape the Lewis and Clark crossed remains unchanged. The dense forest, rugged mountains, and rushing rivers are still abundant with fish and other wildlife.
Loyalty is one of the ethics that is instilled in a person at a young age. Loyalty can range from loyalty to a family member, friend, teammate, ect. In Larry Watson's, Montana 1948, the summer of 1948 tests the loyalty of each character and is told through the eyes of a young boy, David. The picture was clear to David when Marie was Murdered. Through this tragic event David was able to read each family member determining whether they were loyal or whether they would betray.
The expansion to the western lands of the United States created a number of benefits for the economy and its citizens. With the expansion to these lands, Americans gained the added land area along with the resources that the land possessed. One of these valuable resources that attracted Americans to the West was gold. During the mid-1800s, gold was discovered in northeastern California. This inspired a movement of many Americans to leave their homes to settle in the West in the hope of discovering gold. This gold rush attracted primarily single men into the uncharted western lands.
In 1799 young Conrad Reed, a 12 year old boy, found a big shiny rock in Little Meadow Creek on the family farm in Cabarrus county North Carolina. Conrad lugged it home but the Reed family had no idea what it was and used it as a clunky door stop. Thinking that it must be some kind of metal, John Reed, Conrad’s father, took it to Concord North Carolina to have a silver smith look at it. The silver smith was unable to identify it as gold. John Reed hauled it back home. Three years later in 1802 he took the rock to Fayetteville North Carolina where a jeweler recognized it for what it was right away. The jeweler asked him if could smelt it down to a bar for him, John agreed. When John returned to the jeweler had a gold brick measuring six to eight inches long. It’s hard to believe but John Reed had no idea of the metals worth. The jeweler asked him what he wanted for it and John thought that a week’s wages would be fair so he sold it to the jeweler for $3.50. It is rumored that John purchased a calico dress for his wife and some coffee beans with his wi...
Most of the settlers’ time was devoted to searches for gold instead of the stabilization of
Martel, Lynn. “History Glitters in Yukon; Lure of the Klondike Gold Rush Continues to Draw Conclusions to the North.” The Vancouver Sun April 28, 2012. ProQuest. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
For example they traded meet,accessories, valuables, fruits ,vegetables ,clothing and many other interesting things. They would trade with different tribes that had what they wanted. They also lived in dome structures.The Miners are also known as “The Forty-Niners”. They traveled to california for the goldfields in 1849 so they earned the name Forty-Niners. The vast majority of forty-niners were Americans however, many were from Europe. Every time a rumor of a gold strike was reported a boomtown would spring up. Why was this? It was because lots of people wanted gold and if they had gold they had power. That is a lot of things people wanted back then and still happens up to this day.Gold miners also lived in mining camps. Life in the mining camp was difficult, and crime and murder were common occurrences in the early years of the Gold
... Rush, there were a few that prospered. One of these people was a cook named Jenny Wimmer. She became very wealthy due to the discovery of the first gold nugget which was found at the bottom of her boiling pot. A few months after her discovery, over 20,000 people went searching for gold in that area.
The Gold Rush was one of the most influential times in California History. During the four years from 1848-1852, 400,000 new people flooded into the state. People from many countries and social classes moved to California, and many of them settled in San Francisco. All this diversity in one place created a very interesting dynamic. California during the Gold Rush, was a place of colliding ideals. The 49ers came from a very structured kind of life to a place where one was free to make up her own rules.
We were surrounded by old trees and spotted lots of cacti. We would also see a few squirrels here and there. Our trail had a view of the other side of the mountain which was stunning. We