Gold Rush Towns and the Headwaters of the Missouri

Trip Start Aug 12, 2008
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Trip End Aug 21, 2008

Flag of United States  , Montana,
Sunday, August 17, 2008

I was least excited about the Gold Rush element of this tour, but I have definitely learned more than I ever thought I would about those few short, violent years in the American West. I had never made the connection between young, angry, disenfranchised men coming from the Confederate South to Montana. But here in southwestern Montana, the predominant political view during the War years and many decades following was passionately sympathetic to the Southern cause. The War did not end at Appomatox for these men. Combine this element with the natural westward expansion and hope for land, riches, and a better life, and we have today's history lesson.

We began our day with a quick visit to Robbers Roost, an inn that was used as a meeting place by the Vigilantes beginning with the 1863 gold rush. We then went to Nevada City - a beautifully maintained living museum (a la Williamsburg) where the period costumed guides are knowledgeable and credible. Talk to the sheriff and you really think you're in 1863. Many of Nevada City's buildings have been moved from other locations, but the era is consistent, and the town that has been re-created gives hours of interest. We took a 12 mph steam train ride five miles over to Virginia City, which is much more commercial, but retains a lot of rather macabre history of hangings and vigilantism.

In our transit from here to there, we witnessed a well-preserved section of the Bozeman Trail, the site of so many westward people in a short number of years. We stopped at Beaverhead Mountain, of great importance for Lewis and Clark - this is where Sacagawea recognized her surroundings for the first time of the trip, having been kidnapped from the area some 6 years prior. We ended our day at the Missouri Headwaters State Park at Three Forks, where the Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison Rivers converge into the Missouri, one of the most important sites of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The view from the cliffs is breathtaking.
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