We took a couple of days off from the project and headed to town!
Actually, Helena is a very nice town. There is a great History Museum where we spent a long time. It depicted the Montana area from basically the ice age though today.Unfortunately, flash pictures were not allowed.
The capitol, did allow pictures. It is a very elegant building. Lots of stained glass, and murals.In fact it was the first state capitol to be wired for electricity!
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| From the entrance |
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| Original stained glass that has been though 2 major earthquakes |
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| House of Representatives... note where the Speaker of the House' podium is |
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| Story has it that the artist commissioned for this mural was not too fond of the Speaker at the time. So... every time he rose from his chair he had to turn and face a snarling wolf. |
Next up was the Ghost Town of Elkhorn. South of Helena is the town of Boulder MT. just east of Boulder was the town of Elkhorn. There are still a few living inhabitants, but during it's heyday, there were nearly 2,500 miners pulling gold, silver and lead from the hills.
After driving along a hot, dusty, dirt road for about 15 miles you enter a beautiful canyon with trees, and a stream. Just a little farther and you are there. Judi found the old buildings fascinating. Dan preferred the rusty stuff.
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| Signs are a great thing for telling the story! |
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Look though the bugs on the windshield, and you see the town. And yes, there are still people living here, maybe a half dozen or so.
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| The 2 biggest buildings. The Fraternity Hall on the right, and store/bar on the left. The Fraternity Hall was used for a meeting place as well as community dances. |
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| Inside the Hall. Dan either heard a ghost upstairs, or had a premonition that Judi would be here forever taking pictures! |
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I think the premonition was right-on
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| Part of an old mine |
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| ...from the front. Note the chute |
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Mine shafts. they would go into the side of a hill, then dig down. The above pictures were at the base, probably where they ended up, and pushed the rock out.
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This might be some one's house or cabin today.
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From a burned out house. Note the foundation is rocks mortared together
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Some of the "Newer" cars in town.
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| The "Oldest" car in town |
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| Wooden spokes on the wheels |
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An old stove. Note the stamped date on the upper Right corner. Imagine the effort getting this from Denver to Elkhorn in 1905!
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| Finally figured out why there is a sand dune in the middle of Montana next to a Ghost town. Remember the Lime mortar? Well there are kilns all over the area outside of each town. The settlers would take the rock (limestone) drop them into the kiln from a chute above. The rock would burn and produce lime ash. The ash would get mixed with water to form mortar.The settlers would and mortar together rock to form foundations, fences, or entire houses. The kilns were always outside of town because of the risk of fire. This one was about a mile down the road from Elkhorn. |
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| The beautiful stream that lead the miners up to Elkhorn. |
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| Evidence of one BIG bear |
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Portrait of a "Good" Rattlesnake.
The only good rattlesnake is a dead rattlesnake! |
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This was a long day! If there is this much to see and experience in this area, the entire state would take a lifetime! Not to mention the US.
We are truly blessed to be able to see everything that we can. But it is exhausting! Just ask Dink and Duke!
