Camping With the Road Agents or The Vigilantes in Bannack, Montana

Often during my trips through Montana over the years I had wondered just where the big gold discovery on Grasshopper Creek was located.  I had seen the sign along I-15 and envisioned it to be somewhere nearby.  For some reason during my studies of the history of the area I had completely missed any information about Bannack except that it was the Territorial Capital, and had not connected it with the gold rush of 1862.

During one of our trips to visit the sites of  "The Corps of Discovery" (Lewis and Clark Journey) we were looking for a place to camp where it would be fairly cool.  I also wanted to visit "The Big Hole Battlefield (massacre) National Historic Site."  Both of these places were on the same mountain range we would cross in getting to several Lewis and Clark sites. 

There are campgrounds near Bannack State Park, so that seemed a logical choice, and we could visit the Ghost Town as well.  As a result of this visit I learned more history of the area, history which included Road Agents, Vigilantes and secret societies of the era.

The two campgrounds are named after the opposing forces at work in the early years of the area; The Vigilante Campground and The Road Agent Campground.  We opted for the Vigilante Campground partly because it was right there where we could see it.  When my mother saw the authentic Tipi we could pay to stay in she really wanted to, she said  "When will we get another chance?"  So that's what we did, it cost a little more and boy was it roomy and with no floor and space at the bottom it was cold!

I pulled my little car as close as I could, but we had to inflate the air bed then stuff it through the door.  The rangers told us we were cheating, but I can't imagine how much colder it would have been without it.

We spent much of the next morning exploring the ghost town of Bannack. 





There is a small, but nice bookstore/visitor center in what was once the home of a skilled carpenter, George French.  We picked up a brochure to embark on a self- guided tour of the remaining 50 buildings that still stand here in what was once a fourteen mile city of 10,000 people.

Of course Bannack sprang up literally overnight with the discovery of gold, this was not ordinary gold as it was 99% - 99.5% pure and the town started as tents, wagons, and shacks.  In two years it had grown to thousands with more substantial homes, businesses, and organization.  A petition separated the area from Idaho, and the Montana Territory was born with Bannack as the capital. 

 By 1866, however the capital was moved to Virginia City with the discovery of gold there and many moving on to that area. 

Bannack still held the position of Beaverhead County seat, and the stately, brick Meade Hotel was built as the Beaverhead County Courthouse in 1875.  After the county seat was moved to Dillon in 1881 the building was empty until bought and converted to an elegant hotel in 1890.

In 1874, the need for a permanent school house was recognized and the Masonic Society built a new lodge in town which was used for that purpose as well as for the lodge activities.  Today there are about 1,000 masons who belong to Bannack Lodge 3-7-77 and meet there once a year.

Curiously, 3-7-77 was a warning used along with a skull and crossbones by the Vigilantes when visiting suspected outlaws in the middle of the night.  Today Montana State Police wear that number on their uniform shoulder patches.

The Montana Vigilantes were reportedly citizens of Virginia City, Nevada City, and Bannack who organized in December of 1863 after a particularly violent year of robberies and murders, to put an end to the lawlessness of a group of Road Agents who called themselves The Innocents. 

This gang of road agents was supposedly headed by Bannack's sheriff Henry Plummer who had also been appointed in September of that year to US Deputy Marshall of the eastern Idaho Territory and had expanded his reach into the Virginia City area.  (see an interesting article about this mysterious lawman here)

The Vigilantes dispensed their own justice by hanging over 20 men suspected of crimes, including Erastus Yeager who named Plummer as leader of the gang. 

On January 10, 1864 a group of Vigilantes rounded up Plummer and two other men and hanged them at the gallows Plummer himself had had built in the town of Bannack. 

                                                                                                                                        Staircase in Hotel Meade

The Vigilantes ruled the region by violence and intimidation for three more years until the miners warned in March of 1867 that if any more were hanged they would retaliate five to one.  The vigilante days were over.

         The bar in Skinner's Saloon
By 1870 the golden days also ended for Bannack and only a few hundred people remained in town.  Mining was revived several times during the next decades especially in 1895 with the arrival of the electric dredge which still sits in a pond near the creek. By 1940 the community was a ghost town and in 1954 it was saved from complete deterioration when it was declared a state park.  Since then buildings have been undergoing stabilization and preservation.

Although Bannack like Garnet is not being restored and the buildings are not used commercially as they are in Virginia City, there are many activities to enjoy here.  Bannack Days is held the third week-end in July and the Bannack Ghost Walks are the Friday and Saturday before Halloween each year.  During the summer guided tours are available as well as gold panning, and special programs on Saturdays.  A Junior Ranger program is available for the kids, and in the winter there is week-end ice skating on the old dredge pond.

The reconstructed gallows in the gulch
where Henry Plummer was hanged




IF YOU GO

Directions

Bannack State Park

 located 24 miles southwest of Dillon, Montana

From I - 15

take exit #59 to state hwy 278

travel 17 miles west

turn left (south) on Bannack Bench Road

travel 4 miles on dirt and gravel road

the park entrance is on the left

Hours and Fees

Open in May 8:00 am to dusk

Memorial Day to Labor Day

open 8:00 am - 9:00 pm

Sep 1st - Oct 30th

open 8:00 am to dusk

Nov 1st - Apr 30th

open 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

VISITOR CENTER HOURS

May-Aug

open week-ends only 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Labor Day - Oct 31st

open week-ends only 11:0 am- 5:00 pm

FEES

$5.00 per car not registered in Montana

$3.00 per person bike, walk in, or bus passengers

Free entrance for all Montana residents through vehicle registration

CAMPING

There are two developed campgrounds

near Bannack State Park

open year-round

first come first serve- no reservations

reservations for tipi only

AMENETIES

picnic table

fire ring

trash containers

firewood available

water

restroom (accessible)

The Road Agent Campground

is shaded by big cottonwood trees

The Vigilante Campground

is more suitable for larger RVs

has tipi for rent (accommodates 8 persons)

CAMPING FEES

Regular summer season $15.00 per night per site

Montana senior citizens or

Montana disabled $7.50 per night per site

Oct 1st - Apr 30th  $13.00 per site per night

Montana senior citizens or

Montana disabled $6.50 per site per night

TIPI

Available Mid-May to beginning of Oct

$25.00 per night up to 8 people

call for reservations 406-834-3413

Travel Back in Time at Garnet, Montana

I noticed the ghost town of Garnet, Montana while traveling Hwy 200 from Missoula to Fort Benton in 2002 on my way to canoe the Missouri River.  I knew nothing about it, or what the condition of the gravel road might be, so I elected not to take the chance at the time in my little Honda car.

A few years later I took my mother to Fort Benton, in the meantime I had done some research and knew the car could make it down the road to the parking area.  So on our way to Fort Benton we took this side trip.

Garnet Ghost Town is different in several ways from many western ghost towns, first of all it was family centered although it was a mining town.  Many miners brought their families and established a real community complete with a school which was attended by 40-50 children every year.  Although the town had 13 saloons or bars it was primarily a peaceful settlement, unlike Bannack or Virginia City.  It was settled later in history and that may have been part of the reason for it being more docile.

Most mining towns consisted of single men or men there without their families, but Garnet had many families along with the single men.  Another difference is that Garnet has not been commercialized as Virginia City, NV and Virginia City, Montana have been, it  remains as a ghost town, much as it was when finally abandoned by all full-time residents in about 1947, it is not being restored, but preserved and stabilized.  Most of the buildings were built without a real foundations and are being shored up, and roofs are replaced or repaired to prevent collapse.

After parking in the parking area, a wooden walkway and path take you along a ridge to an overlook of the town built along the hillsides and in a draw below.  At the time we went, there was a fee station on the walkway and we were given a pamphlet for a self-guided tour of the town.  A Visitor Center sits on Main Street in Ole's Tavern where books, post cards, memorabilia, and souvenirs may be purchased.

As we explored the town, it almost felt like we had just stumbled upon it, as it remains so much just as it did when those who had called it home left the community for various reasons.  Some left when the mines played out, others were called into service during WWI or WWII, some left for jobs related to the wars. 

This town actually had three different lives, the first beginning in  the early 1860s simply as an area of placer mining about the same time as Virginia City.  When Doctor Armistead Mitchell built a stamp mill at the head of First Chance Gulch for crushing ore in 1890, many miners returned to the area, as this was a hard rock mining area.  It was not long before Sam Ritchey hit a rich vein in his Nancy Hanks Mine. The town that sprang up was first named Mitchell, and in 1897 the named was changed to Garnet, being named after the brown/red semi-precious stones found in the area.  By 1898 over 1,000 people made their home in the town.

By 1905 the gold and silver was mostly gone, and so were most of the people, only about 150 remained.  Then in 1912 a fire destroyed nearly half of the town and most of these left.


  There was renewed interest after President Roosevelt doubled the price of gold in 1934.  More homes and cabins were built or existing ones shored up.  WWII and the restrictions on the use of dynamite once again struck a death knell and by 1950 Garnet was a ghost town.

At it's peak in 1896, the Nancy Hanks Mine produced $690,000 in gold, silver and copper; 90% being in gold.  The town then had a school, 13 saloons and bars, 4 hotels, a chinese laundry, a candy and cigar shop,  4 stores, 2 barber shops, a butcher shop, a union hall, where many dances and other festivities were held, and a doctor's office.  There were about 50 active mines in the area, some right beneath the townsite.  It is estimated that from 1897 - 1917 over $950,000 worth of minerals were mined, an estimated 60,000 ounces of gold, 50,000 ounces of silver and 60,000 ounces of copper.

Today Garnet is enjoying it's third life as it is stabilized, celebrated, and visited by those whose ancestory is connected to it's history, and those who just enjoy strolling through.  Who knows?  Perhaps the high price of gold today will give it a fourth life.

There are 30 buildings remaining ranging from rough and tumble miner shacks, to the once elegant Wells Hotel.  My favorite was the Samuel Adams home, Mrs Adams was the postmistress in the early 1900s and her home had a nice flower garden complete with a trellis on the side to access the out house.  The hotel had a double outhouse I assume a his and hers which was accessed by guests by way of steps in the back.

Single men could stay on the third floor where lines were drawn to show where each one could roll out their bedroll.

  I had always wondered why those old hotels had a door on the second floor with no steps or balcony and had assumed some structure was missing.  I learned that all that was missing was the huge log or rafter boom that was used to hoist guests' luggage upstairs.

There are two cabins in Garnet that may be rented during the winter, neither has plumbing or electricity and are used by volunteers working at the site in the summer time.  Besides touring the buildings and oohing and aahing over all of the authentic furnishings and other contents you can take a sort of scavenger hunt after obtaining the letterbox challenge at the visitor center, there is a similar activitiy for the kids, using the treasure map.

Besides the town of Garnet, we also visited the Sand Park Cemetery, and I regret we did not visit the Mountain View Mine located nearby.  Hwy 200 by itself is a treat to travel through the tall pines and peaceful
towns, I saw many nice places to camp and hope to go back.

IF YOU GO

Directions

From Missoula, Montana

get on hwy 200 toward Bonner

continue southeast through Bonner

staying on hwy 200 watch for the Garnet Ghost Town sign

about 30 miles east of Missoula turn onto

Garnet Range Road between mile markers 22 and 23

Take the gravel and dirt road about 12 miles to the parking area

There is handicapped parking closer to town if needed

Hours, Fees, etc

Garnet is administered by the BLM Missoula Field Office

and the Garnet Preservation Association

The fee money is used to preserve the site

Open year round

Wheeled vehicles can access the road

from May1 - Jan 1

During winter access is limited to snow mobiles

and skiers

Even during late fall there may be considerable snow

it is advised you park in the parking area and

ski or snowshoe to town

$3.00 per person 15 and older

The Visitor Center is open during

summer months 10:00am - 5:00pm

Pets are allowed as long as they are leashed

There is a lottery for the 2 cabin rentals

Information here

CAMPING

camping is allowed on all public lands for 14 days

You can obtain a map of public lands from the

BLM Missoula Field Office

3255 Fort Missoula Rd

Missoula, MT   59804

Phone (406) 329-3914

Placid Lake State Park

North of hwy 200,

33 miles east of Missoula

take rte 83 to the north then 3 miles west

on a county road

41 sites

flush and vault toilets

picnic tables

fire rings

drinking water

fishing

boating

canoeing

boat launch

LIMITED to RVs or trailers 25 ft and under

ALL sites are first come first serve

$15.00 per night

$13 Oct 1 - Apr 30

Pets ARE allowed throughout, on leash

Placid Lake State Park Official Website

http://fwp.mt.gov/parks/visit/

There are several campgrounds

near Seeley Lake just north of Placid Lake

Salmon Lake State Park

open May 1 - Sep 30

33 miles east of Missoula, Mt

turn north on hwy 83

drive 7 miles north on hwy 83

to State Park which is on the west side of the road

20 campsites

restroom

drinking water

picnic tables

fire grates

electric hook up at disabled site only $5.00 extra

Pets allowed throughout on leash

RVs and trailers 25 ft and under ONLY

14 day limit

$15.00 per site per night

Boat dock

boat ramp

amphitheater with programs in summer

wildlife viewing

fishing

boating

bird watching

RECREATION

hwy 83 is a scenic byway and

goes north and west to Flathead Lake

with many camping opportunities along the way