Ghost Towns

X2 on Bannack, it is in the MT state park system about 50 buildings are open for tourists.
In the 1880s a charismatic young man appeared in town and ran for the office of Sheriff, he won the election. Unknown to the residents of Bannack he was a convicted felon from CA that had been pardoned by the Governor of CA (murdered the husband of his girlfriend) Now it gets interesting. The sheriff rounded up a group of “bad” guys. Then mysteriously when a miner was going to the town of Virginia City, MT or was just leaving Bannack area he would mysteriously disappear along with his GoldDust! When the Sheriff was the leader of the “Road Agents” who do you go to for help? This was the start of the MT vigilantes.

This brings up the numbers 3-7-77! We have been told that there is nothing in the Official history of MT or the Bannack Masonic Lodge history about the origin of those numbers. Evidently when the vigilantes discovered who a “bad” guy was they would paint those numbers on his cabin or tent. That was code: 3 sevens= 21 plus 3= 24, he had 24 hours to get out of town of or he would be found hanging on the short end of a rope! When the vigilantes captured Henry Plummer (notice the spelling) they held him prisoner in the Jail that he had had built and hung him on his gallows. There are many other theories as to what the numbers mean. Even today on the logos of the MT highway patrol and the MT Air National Guard the numbers 3-7-77 appear.

Google-
Bannack State Park, MT
MT Vigilantes
Henry Plummer, sheriff of Bannack, MT
Origin of the numbers 3-7-77
Bannack Historic Masonic Lodge 3-7-77
While you are at it google- Virginia City, MT and Nevada City, MT (both are living ghost towns, The Hotel in Nevada City has a interesting two story outhouse!

We would go up to Bannack a couple of times every summer, Even tho it is only 23 mi from Dillon on a good paved road it is our style of camping, No off air TV, No off air radio, No hard wired phone service and NO Cell Phone service! (the state park rangers have a radio phone to Dillon for emergencies) The CG is unimproved (a single water spigot and pit toilets) on the banks of Grasshopper Creek. (Fishing) If it isn’t a moon lit nite it is DARK and a zillion stars in the sky! Someplace I have a photo of Alice napping on a recliner and a Deer grazing not 10 feet from her!

If you go South on the dirt road from Bannack about 10 mi you will come to the little village of Grant turning right (west) at Grant will take you to Lehmi Pass only 10 miles or so. (Part of it is paved)

On I-90 between exit 267 and 278 is the town of Three Forks. A few miles out of town is the Missouri Headwaters State Park. The Jefferson River flows north and joins the Madison River also flowing north from YSNP, then a couple hundred feet later the Gallatin River also flowing north from YSNP joins in to form the Headwaters of the Missouri River. Just look at any map and you can see it so it must be true! Now the plot thickens, One of the responsibilities that President Jefferson charged Lewis and Clark with on their journey west was to map and determine the headwaters of the Missouri River. About 10 miles south of the town of Dillon, MT on I-15 is Clark Canyon reservoir, straight west of the reservoir is Lehmi Pass on the continental divide separating ID and MT. (Good paved road except the last few miles are gravel) At the top of the pass there is a spring, on a large rock there is a US Dept of the Interior Plaque that says in part “most distant fountain spring” BUT now the MT F&G and others say that it is actually Browers Spring in the Centennial MT’s south and east of Clark Canyon Res. (East of Monida on I-15) Who is correct? I have been to the top of Lehman pass many times.

Kerwin, Wy. 20 milers or so up the Greybull River from Meeteetse, Wy. Not much left of the old mining town, but beautiful country, and some unique history. A little coal mining town ( Gebo) just north of Thermopolis, Wy.... some old homesites and a small cemetery. There are several abandoned coal mine town sites around the Kemmerer, Wyoming area. Many of these require some off-roading....4WD highly recommended! memtb

Some more in Colorado:

St. Elmo SW of Buena Vista. Graded gravel road primarily following an old railroad grade. You can continue on the road up toward Hancock for another 6 or so miles and there are various mining ruins along the road. Once you cross the creek, there's a trailhead where you can walk to the east portal of the Alpine Tunnel (about three miles).

Bonanza at the NW corner of the San Luis Valley. Graded gravel road but easy driving.

Gothic north of Crested Butte. Just a few buildings here, but the wildflowers in July and August are some of the best anywhere in the nation. Again, an easy graded gravel road.

Marble, CO. The marble quarry here supplied the stones for some of the buildings in D.C. Also do the loop through Redstone on your way here (it's a one lane street on the other side of the river from the highway). Some charcoal kilns right beside the highway. Paved road all the way to Marble.

There are lots of smaller ghost towns above Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek itself has legalized gambling which has kind of changed the complexion of the town. But as employees looked for housing, some other towns like Victor have been preserved and restored to an extent. Lots of paved roads up here and many of the others are well maintained gravel roads.

Same can be said for Blackhawk and Central City. Lots of smaller ghost towns in the surrounding hills.

All along US 550 between Ouray and Silverton there are mining ruins visible across the valley. There are also a few right along the highway like at the view area about 1 1/2 miles north of Red Mountain Pass. If you're serious about seeing lots of ghost towns and mining ruins, rent a jeep in Ouray or Silverton and take a day to explore those back roads. Pretty interesting stuff.

As boogie 4-wheel mentioned, head to Nevada to see a lot of ghost towns without the crowds around.

Thanks folks this info is just what I'm looking for. This summer we have 10 weeks mid June to the end of August to again explore our great country. We figure to be at Mesa Verde NP the end of June to check out the spots we missed on our last visit. I'll add these to my list of other interesting out of the way places we would like to visit, plot their location on my paper maps, yes paper maps, and see what routes pop up.

Check here for more Mt towns https://www.visitmt.com/things-to-do/history/ghost-towns.html

Utah:
1. Stateline, located north of Modena.
2. Frisco
3. Eureka

Montana:
1. Coolidge

Colorado:
1. Leadville area. Gilman and Red Cliff area on hwy 24. The moly mine that is active again north of Leadville on hwy 91. There are a bunch of structures just east and SE if Leadville (go east on 7th right out of town).

If you make it to Nevada...
Gold Hill, south of wendover (it's technically in utah).
A few sights if you make it west of elko (just south of Crescent Valley).

I had a distant cousin that was a Sheriff in Virginia City, MT many years ago. I hope that he was not the one that arranged for the stage coaches from Virginia City to Bannock to be robbed. That sheriff was eventually hanged for his indiscretion. I have not done much research into that history?

Garnet Mt. It's NE of Missoula off Mt 200 a little past Potomac turn on Garnet Range rd. Another off that road is Coloma but that's all fallen down

ReneeG wrote:
Our favorite was Bannack State Park in SW Montana. They have two nice campgrounds there within walking distance of the ghost town and you can get in easily and out. We did and we're towing a 35' FW. Look on Campendium, under Dillon, MT, and you'll see my review.

x2

We were there the day that it reopened after flooding several years ago. The Governor was there and people were dressed in period clothing. There was also live music on several of the porches. We love that place. We once camped there in mid-October and were the only overnight campers.

Our favorite was Bannack State Park in SW Montana. They have two nice campgrounds there within walking distance of the ghost town and you can get in easily and out. We did and we're towing a 35' FW. Look on Campendium, under Dillon, MT, and you'll see my review.