One last time through the Arch of Yellowstone

Adventures in Yellowstone are coming to an end for me as my summer job comes to a close. I decided to return to the North Entrance to Yellowstone at Gardiner as I was only there once in May and early June. The weather was perfect and felt like fall, with sunny skies and puffy clouds. I wanted to see the Elk that have been hanging out in the Mammoth area and also explore the right of way that the Northern Pacific Railroad took coming into Gardiner.

Overlook from the old Stage Road from Mammoth to Gardiner

When I arrived into Mammoth Hot Springs area it was busy with tourists. The Park has not slowed down much even after Labor Day as the weather has been very calm and clear. I did not see any Elk when I arrived and since I had already seen the hotel and the Fort I decided to head down the hill for Gardiner and have lunch. I remembered that there is the old stage road running from Mammoth to Gardiner and that it is one way, down hill. The old road winds its way steeply down the hills toward the North Entrance.

Tally Ho’ Stagecoach up at the original Mammoth Hotel

It is amazing that the stage coaches used to take passengers from the depot up to the Mammoth Hotel. Not always did you make it as stagecoaches were known to flip over.

I would recommend the dirt road during the summer to anyone with a good clearance car or truck but no small cars. On the way down the road I found a nice looking Pronghorn Deer grazing in the grass and stopped to watch as it crossed right in front of me.

Pronghorn Deer

Once I got into town I parked the car and decided to walk around town and find a place that was not on “Main” street to have lunch. Gardiner Mt. is small town nestled between the Yellowstone River and the Park. Gardiner is famous for being the first entrance to the park and having the Roosevelt Arch, dedicated in 1916 by Teddy Roosevelt himself.

Theodor Roosevelt dedicating the Arch in 1916.

I found lunch down at the end of town against the Yellowstone River at a place called the Iron Horse Bar and Grill. The place had a great feel to it with all the cool vintage signs hanging on the outside and inside of the place. They had the simple tavern food and I decided to have an Elk Burger, not bad different than a bison burger.

Iron Horse Bar and Grill

Inside the Grill

After having a filling lunch I headed out down the old Gardiner road which is part old dirt road town before new highway and part old Northern Pacific Main line into Gardiner. The rail ran out to Gardiner area starting in 1883 and terminated at a place called Cinnabar which is only three miles north west from Gardiner. The reason for the line ending here was due to a miner not wanting to give up his rights to the land for the railroad which kept the line from going all the way into Gardiner for 19 years. Today nothing remains of the train or the town of Cinnabar Mt.

NP train at Cinnabar, MT.

The happening town of Cinnabar, MT.

About ten miles north of town the dirt road that had been following the old NP right of way merges with the with the right of way and you are driving where the tracks used to be. The valley comes together into a tight canyon where both sides of the mountains have been carved out by the Yellowstone River. The area is called Yankee Jim Canyon and the road ends here and no cars can proceed any further. I decided to walk the remainder of the way along the old right of way.

Driving the old rail bed of the Northern Pacific

Only remaining railroad ties on the right of way. Be careful or you will drive right over and miss it!

While exploring this area I noticed right above the railroad ROW was rock walls like from an old road. I discovered that the old road to Gardiner was just about the size of a stage road and found old cans and broken glass along the edge of the road, a unique find.

I headed back in town as the sun was beginning to set and since Mammoth Hotel was just up the hill from town I drove back and had dinner at the dinning hall. Since it was now evening the Elk had come down to graze in the grassy areas around the buildings. Dinner was nice in the dining room and even though it is in the fancy dining room every meal I had out this trip all cost the same it didnt matter if I was in town or in Yellowstone.

Male bull Elk resting in the shade at Mammoth

I spent the night down in Gardiner and the next morning I woke up early as it was down right freezing in the car. I was able to catch the sunrise at the Roosevelt Arch and have breakfast. I had a special tour of the garage building where all the historic stagecoaches and buses that once traveled through the park. The tour was given by an employee of the Yellowstone Park Archive building. The archives has the history from day one of the park. The garage has a great collection and will have to do a post about  the vehicles that I saw. That afternoon I headed back home and had lunch up at the Mammoth Cafe and got to see more Elk grazing the area. Overall the weekend was a nice get away with great September weather. Ill miss being able to go around the park on my days off.

Inside of the garage with the historic equipment.

The forbidding Beartooth Mountains and my trip to Billings, Mt.

My last weekend I headed through Yellowstone Park for the northeast entrance and the Beartooth Mountains where the road climbs up over the pass at 10,974ft. The trip which was round trip at 450 miles since I decided to go as far as Billings Mt. I saw so much and will try to get most of what I saw out. I have included lots of photos since there is no good way to describe the view from almost 11,000ft.

I left early from West Yellowstone my destination for the night was Red Lodge, Montana about a 4 hour drive. On the way through the park I was able to see two grizzly bears foraging in the meadow and also two buffalo going head to head in a fight. The Lamar valley this time of year has turned yellow from the trees to the grasses.  It sure felt like autumn as grey clouds and rain moved through the area of Cook City which is just outside of the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone.

The Lamar Valley looking East toward Cook City and the Beartooth Mountains.

Starting in Cook City is the famous Beartooth Highway which takes you over the Beartooth range. The drive was very scenic and quite cold at the top of the pass the day I visited was only 37 and windy. Make sure to pack jackets when traveling over the pass no matter what time you visit as snow can be found year round at the pass. Also if you are not use to high elevation take it easy as the air is quite thin up at 10,000ft. The photos below show what it is like up at the top. After cresting 9,000ft. all trees and shrubs fade away and you are left with a tundra like environment of small grasses only.

View from 10,974ft. up looking south west to Yellowstone

If you look toward the road in the bottom left you can see my car. I hiked up to a large pile of snow. Its not easy hiking at almost 11,000ft.

Once zig-zagging my way down the mountain I found myself in beautiful Red Lodge, Mt. and temperatures around 65! Once grabbing lunch I explored town and found lots of historic homes and the place where the Yellowstone Bus Preservation group is turning an old gas station garage into a museum and showroom for the historic Yellowstone Park Buses. Also in town is a small museum that talks about the town history and how Red Lodge was famous for its extensive coal mines. The Northern Pacific Railroad not only hauled out the coal but also was the main company to use the coal for their steam engines.

Northern Pacific Depot in Red Lodge

The area of Red lodge begins with the United States government signing a treaty with the Crow Nation, ceding the area which now contains Red Lodge, MT to the Crow Indians. Rich coal deposits were found soon after and another treaty in 1880 allowed the area to be settled starting April 11, 1882.

A rail line was constructed into town, and coal shipments began in June 1889. The boundaries of the Crow Reservation were redrawn in 1892, opening the whole area to settlement. From then until the 1930s, coal mining defined the town.

coal line in Red Lodge

By  the late 19th century, many new settlers came to Red Lodge, MT. from around the world. By the mid-1880s, migrants were still outnumbered by large numbers of Native Americans. By 1892 the population reached 1,180.

 

 

 

Billings Ave., Red Lodge Mt.

In 1896, Red Lodge had twenty saloons and, as the library records show, riotous and violent living was characteristic of the town. By 1906 the population had grown to 4,000 and by 1911 this had increased to 5,000.

By 1931, work began on the Beartooth Highway linking Red Lodge to Yellowstone National Park.

Workers taking a lunch break

The highway was constructed by Morrison Knudsen out of Boise, Idaho. The road took five years to build and it officially opened in 1936. From then on Red Lodge developed as a tourist industry town as open pit mining took hold in Montana closing all the underground mining.

 

 

Historic homes in Red Lodge

A friend of mine could not meet me in Red Lodge but he lives in Billings, Mt. which from where I was is only a 1 hour drive north. The drive to Billings takes you along farm land and couple more small towns. I arrived in time to have dinner with him and was surprised at how large Billings is. I was able to spend the night with him and would have some time in the morning to explore town before having to head back home.

Old downtown Billings

Billings is situated on the north side of the Yellowstone River and named after Frederick Billings, Billings was born in 1882 as a rail hub. It was first founded by the Northern Pacific Railroad on a site originally known as Clark’s Fork Bottom. Montana Avenue sprang to life along the railroad. The railroad was the heartbeat of Billings as it grew. The Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Chicago, and Burlington & Quincy railroad companies made regular stops on Montana Avenue.  I explored Montana Ave. and the old Northern Pacific Depot which is currently an event center and hosts many weddings in the baggage side of the building.

outside of NP Depot in Billings

The depot was built in 1909 for use by three railroad companies: Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Designed in the Beaux Arts Eclectic style, the four original buildings included the main depot building, railroad lunch room, postal building and an office building.

Depot Waiting Room

The depot building was designed by the Northern Pacific Railroad’s chief engineer and featured a spacious waiting area for 200 passengers, a gentlemen’s smoking room, a ladies’ waiting room, a baggage area and service offices. These buildings are the center of Billings’ town site district, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

 

However, the train era eventually faded with the ease and speed of highway and airway travel. The last regular Amtrak passenger train left the Depot eastbound in the spring of 1979. The demise of rail travel left many of the early twentieth century buildings in the Depot area vacant and deteriorating. Starting in 1995 restoration began and by 2001 the depot was ready for its first event.

The trip back to West Yellowstone would take me back over the Pass and through Cook City. I stopped on the way and checked out Lake Creek that flows along the roadside before going back into the park which had many trees all turning yellow.

Lake Creek flowing east

Lake Creek looking up river to Pilot knob

The park was still quite busy so getting back took time with the traffic but was still able to get into town by 5pm after leaving Cook city at 2pm. Overall the trip was great and being able to meet up with my friend and stay over at his house instead of sleeping in the car made the extra 68 miles to Billings worth it along with seeing the town.

MOR to Discover at the Museum of the Rockies

From dinosaurs to homesteading and lots in between, the Museum of the Rockies offers a an inside look at Montana geologic past along with its pioneering roots.

I took my last trip to Bozeman, Montana yesterday as I am now one month from going home and my summer job ending here in West Yellowstone. After all the trips that I did make to Bozeman I had not yet visited the Museum of the Rockies. I can say that I had a nice time down in the valley and back into summer with temperatures reaching 81 compared to the fall like weather of 70 in West Yellowstone. Up here all the willows and aspen trees have turned yellow and Autumn has arrived for sure.

The hour and 20 minute drive down the hill was uneventful besides seeing the fire that has been slowly burning along the hill side since July 20th of this year. The smoke comes and goes form the Yellowstone valley making tourists complain. When I arrived at the museum I was just in time for the 11am showing of “The Mystery of Dark Matter” playing in the planetarium. The 30 min. show was nice and relaxing. The planetarium also shows “Whats up with the night sky” which talks about what is currently in the sky at night and what to look out for.

After taking in Dark Matter I headed into the museum and their current display on the history of the Guitar.  In the hall they had all kinds of guitars and even as they say the largest playable guitar in the world. I felt like I was at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Hondo H-1 Guitar

They even had a fun display about the history of the “air guitar”. It was just an empty display case but what I found out is that there is a contest in Europe that judges the best air guitarist.

The museum is known for its large displays of dinosaur fossils and the larges T-Rex skull in the world along with displays on geologic time and triceratops skull from birth to old age. Its amazing how large they get. 

T-Rex skulls, some of the largest in the world.

As you wander through time you end up coming into a small display on Native Americans and then in to Montana’s pioneering and early statehood displays.

Display of Montana’s history

The displays range from mining to military to a mail order airplane. Yep at one time you could order one in the mail and as you can imagine some assembly required. The plane came with a Ford Model T engine and the one in the photo above shows a mail order plane that did fly. Also just below the plane is a representation of an old Montana gas station that once sat along the early dirt highways of the state. A cute sign hangs on the front porch which reads……

Another interesting find was a small tin can that was used to store condoms in. I guess back in the day condoms were reusable. Back when the tin was used latex didnt exist so from what I can remember from past history I have stumbled upon is that condoms were made from somewhat of the same material as sausage casing.

Condom tin

Overall the museum took about half a day to walk through and im sure could take more than a day if you really look and watch everything. During the summer there is even a living history farm just next door to the museum that has an old farm hour dating to the 1890s and a blacksmith shop.

If you in the Bozeman area and have time make sure to stop and see a T-Rex dinosaur and a mail order airplane.

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Weekend Trip to Cody, Wyoming, Overview

My last adventure this past weekend took me and my girlfriend to Cody, Wyoming. From West Yellowstone Cody is about a 3 hour drive through Yellowstone and over Sylvan Pass. Cody is the East Entrance to the park and is famous for well, Buffalo Bill Cody! The city was incorporated in 1901. Cody was founded by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, who passed through the region in the 1870s. He was so impressed by the development possibilities of irrigation, rich soil, grand scenery, hunting, and proximity to Yellowstone National Park that he returned in the mid-1890s to start the town. Cody saw so much possibilities in the area that he gave his ranch land to the U.S. Government so that it could be flooded by a great day along the Shoshone River.

We left early from West Yellowstone and arrived by noon time at the Buffalo Bill Dam located just west of downtown Cody. Traveling through the Yellowstone we encountered not to bad traffic for August and saw large heard of buffalo up in the Hayden Valley. The Park is slowing down already and the grasses have turned to yellow and river and streams are slowing. Signs of fall are on their way as now Elk can be seen grazing in the tall late summer grass.

old highway, Corkscrew Bridge

At Sylvan Pass we found the old “Cody Road” below the modern road and saw the famous corkscrew bridge where cars used to go under and over to climb the grade up to the pass which is over 8,500Ft.

Our first stop was the Buffalo Bill Dam originally called the Shoshone Dam since it was located on the Shoshone River. It was a blustery cold day up by the dam and in town as well. Unfortunately my weekend fell right as a cold front blew across Wyoming and the highs were only 58 when in August Cody sees 87.

Looking down on the face of the dam

The dam took six years to build as it was only worked on during the winter months as each summer large flows from melting snow in Yellowstone would flood the river. The Dam is an impressive structure and when completed was the tallest concrete arch dam in the world. Another blog post just about this dam will need to be written, so much to talk about.

After looking over the dam we headed for town to see what Cody had to offer. The plan was to find a place to camp in or around town so we headed for the local BLM office and Albertsons for lunch and breakfast food. We try to have breakfast or lunch from the cooler instead of a restaurant as any place around Yellowstone is not cheap to eat. After shopping we found thanks to the helpful staff at the BLM offices that a dirt road just 8 miles east of town would provide an area to unload the car and make camp for the two nights we would have in Cody.

Where the road ended camp was made. The vista looking North into endless Wyoming desert.

That evening while exploring town we found a great German restaurant which we were quite surprised to find in a town such as Cody. Christina and I both have German families and we enjoyed the full meal and boots of beer for dinner and homemade dessert.

The place is all family run and makes alot of homemade items. We even got to meet the owner, Chuck. The place is quaint with Germain decor and a small bar that had rope swings instead of bar stools.

After dinner we strolled through town and over to the famous Irma Hotel built in 1904 by William Cody himself and named it after his daughter. At the hotel each summer evening there is a 40min. shootout in the street. The evening we were there it was well attended and its free.

The Irma Hotel

Standing on the porch of the Irma watching the gun fight.

After the show we strolled around town and looked through the western shops on Main street.  As the sun started to set we headed for our campsite we had found earlier and turned in. The next day we planned to spend the day at the Buffalo Bill Museum of the West. Which ill go into more detail in another post but suffice to say we did spend all day at the museum and learned alot about the legend of Buffalo Bill.  The museum is quite large and has five different wings that each highlight different things such as the Plains Indians, Bill Cody, Firearms and natural history.  We were there from 11 to closing at 6pm.

After the museum we headed back to the Irma Hotel to dine in the dining room which originally was the saloon. The large bar is still located in the room and was a gift from Queen Victoria. Dinner was great and they offer a nice buffet with prim rib, baked potatoes and even pasta. After a filling dinner we strolled through town and found ourselves back at the German place for dessert which was a pretzel and more beer. We sat at the bar in the swings and talked with the family who runs the place and closed the place down, 9pm. Check out the place on line here: Gasthaus Cardi   After a long day of looking around the museum and exploring more of Cody we headed back to our camp site and turned in.

On Thursday morning we headed back home since I had to be at work by 5:30 that evening which made our trip to Cody two and half days. We were able to make it to the Lake Hotel in Yellowstone for lunch by noon time only taking us about 2 hours to go from Cody to Yellowstone. The Lake hotel is a great place to have lunch or dinner but be aware that it will take at least and hour or more to eat lunch so make sure you plan for that and enjoy your time at the oldest hotel in the park.

We made it home by 4pm and had great traffic coming back through the park. The trip to Cody was a great break away from Yellowstone and the forested hillsides. The trip also provided many new things to share with all of you from the Buffalo Bill Dam, Irma Hotel and Bill Cody Museum. Each of these will be a new blog post within the coming days. Stay tuned!

If you have any questions about the town of Cody please ask and also check out my Instagram for more photos. Instagram

Yellowstone from the backseat of a 37 Touring Bus.

On August 17-18 was Yellow Bus Weekend put on by “Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust” at the Yellowstone Historic Center in West Yellowstone, Mt. The weekend included presentations on the White Motor Company touring buses that once ran in the park and a raffle drawing to ride in one of the historic buses in the park. The weekend concluded on Saturday afternoon with that special ride in the all original 1937 touring bus. Of course I had to be on that trip and was fortunate enough that my co-worker filled my shift so that not only I could go but also Christina.

What makes the Yellowstone Buses so special is that most of them still run in the park today, unfortunately the ones operated by Xanterra have been totally restored and altered by Ford Motor Co.. There is a small fleet of tour buses dating from the 1920s into the 1930s still running in there original condition. Meaning they still have no powering steering, 6 Volt electrical and stick shift. During the summer months at the museum a 1938 White Motor Company bus is displayed and I am lucky to be able to drive it each day to and from the museum. The bus fleet for Yellowstone was built by White Motor Company in Cleveland, Ohio. The company started building buses in the 1930s, White produced 500 of their small Model 706 buses specifically designed to carry passengers through the major National Parks of the western US. The distinctive vehicles, with roll-back canvas convertible tops, were the product of noted industrial designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, and originally operated in seven National Parks.

Glacier’s Red Buses

Today, Glacier National Park operates 33 of their original 35 buses, where they are referred to as “Red Jammers”, and 8 (of an original 98) have been restored for renewed service in Yellowstone National Park. Glacier National Park’s 33 buses were refurbished by Ford Motor Company and TransGlobal in 2000-2002, while Yellowstone National Park’s eight buses were refurbished by TransGlobal in 2007. Glacier has kept one bus in original condition. Yellowstone has five White buses in original condition, two model 706s and three older units as well. In addition, Gettysburg National Battlefield operates two of Yellowstone’s original buses.

Along with the 1938, 706 model on display at the museum the The Buses of Yellowstone brought another 706 model built only a year earlier in 1937. This Bus along with the other is in art deco style and has a long bold horizontal black stripe running the length of the body and a black oversized teardrop rear fenders are in contrast to the yellow body and chrome radiator shell, bumpers, and door handles.

The bus has a six-cylinder engine which were the latest from White and featured 318 cubic inches and could climb a hill in the Park in 3rd gear! The engine underwent some modification after 1936 but remained essentially similar through 1939.

Standing inside the bus looking toward the back.

Looking down on the front seat and dash board.

Each of the four seats has a grab handle and a roof bow support bar for passengers to hold as they stand to view scenery through the open top. Behind the fourth seat, yet separate from the luggage area, are two compartments where the driver could keep tools, personal belongings, and blankets, and yes we had classic plaid blankets on our trip into the park!

So, about the special trip into the park. We left at 3pm with one full bus of 11 people, each seat can hold four people. We first looped downtown West Yellowstone so everyone could stand up and experience what it was like going through the park back when, unfortunately today the Park service does not allow you to stand up while in a moving vehicle even if it is a historic bus. The top speed of the bus is 35mph, which is a perfect cruising speed to allow you to fully enjoy the views of the park. With the canvas top rolled back you could look way up and see the tall mountains and canyon walls.

Looking out the window of the bus, driving through the Park.

The trip took us up to Madison Jct. then over to the original road which is now Firehole Canyon Drive along the Firehole River. The road is now a one way road as it is only wide enough to have one direction of cars. Once we were on this one way road we were able to stand up as there was no park ranger around to bust us and give us a ticket and really got a feel for what it was like and boy did the early tourists to the park have it made. This was really the way to see Yellowstone.

Our ride did stop at a couple of locations, one was Firehole Falls and another along the Firehole River. We even made it over Gibbon Falls and thats when the rain moved in so the canvas top was rolled back over. Not only did we get to stand and look out but also got the warm and cozy feel of the top on the bus as well. Over all the trip lasted 3 hours and was quite the experience.

Here we are at Firehole Falls. I dressed for the special occasion in my new top hat that I found on my trip to Virginia City.

Everyone on the trip had a grand time and a Big thank you goes out to Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust for preserving these buses and taking the public through the park today. Also thank you to Don and Leo who were our drivers and keepers of the bus, you guys do a great job and bring smiles wherever you go!

The Trust is located out of Red Lodge, Mt. and they host private and public rides over the Beartooth Highway. If you would like to learn more about the Trust follow this link and help them out by donating to their cause! Yellow Bus Preservation Web Site

 

Vintage postcard of Old Faithful and a yellow bus.

Historic Nevada City

Day two of my weekend adventure to Virginia City, Mt. included a ride on the 3ft. narrow gauge train to Nevada City just a mile down the road from Virginia City. Now a train never did come into either town as by the time a railroad built from the main line at Whitehall, Mt. down to Sheridan most of the riches had played out in Both Nevada and Virginia Cities. Many years later in the 1980-90s a small railroad was put in for fun by the wealthy Mr. Charles Bovey. Now Mr. Bovey was an only child and loved history and trains. His wealth came being part of the formation of General Mills. Charles Bovey collected many old buildings from all around western Montana and bought up buildings in Virginia City creating a time capsule of history. Unfortunately Mr. Bovey’s only son was not interested in the history and more into the night life and party lifestyle. His son did not have any kids of his own so once his father died the up keep of the buildings collected by Mr. Bovey and put on display at Nevada City fell into disrepair and finally the son donated the entire land holdings to the state of Montana. When his son passed away there were no more family member’s or even money left to go to the museum.

The train ride was idea of Mr. Bovey and not only did he collect small narrow gauge rolling stock but also full size standard gauge passenger cars and box cars. The small yard and engine house in Nevada City is a quaint step back in time for railroad buffs such as I.

Engine House

The train between the two towns leaves every hour and you can get admission to the museum in Nevada City and ride the train, a great deal! The ride only takes 20 minutes and is narrated. Once arriving in Nevada City you have one hour to look around, definitely not enough time to really see everything, but in this day and age an hour is enough since people just walk through everything. If you wish to take more time you can get your train ticket rescheduled or come back with your car. (I spent two and half hours).

Before going into the museum across the street I explored the end of the line and yard area for the train. There are a line of vintage passenger cars dating over 100 years old along with a Milwaukee Road and Great Northern passenger cars. At the official end of the line is the engine house with a full size steam locomotive that used to run on the line between the two towns. Unfortunately the boiler has a crack in it and at this point it will never run again.

1910 Baldwin Locomotive

Across from the railroad is the living history museum of Nevada City. Most buildings on the complex were moved to the area and set up in a town fashion. Only one house is original to Nevada City and is only there because the lady who was born and raised in the house refused to sell out to the dredging company. She would later die in the house and because of her actions she saved her house and the old town of Nevada City from being obliterated by dredge mining.

Nevada City Museum, photo of the main street above the post has a collection of preserved historic buildings from the first school house in Montana to blacksmiths shops and sheriff office and a two story outhouse! The first building you enter when coming into the complex is a room filled with player pianos and 1900’s musical organs. Most of them still work and for a quarter or two you can listen. One of them was used in a dance hall while others were for carousels in fairs or amusement parks. Ill do a separate post just about the Gavioli organs since Mr. Bovey bought the entire four story building in New York and brought all the contents to Nevada City.

Vocalion Reed Organ Ca. 1890s

If you would like to hear one of the organs play click here: Listen to the Organ      

In Nevada City there is a small rustic hotel that you can stay at along with a sweet shop and small cafe. Overall you can spend a day and pack a lunch and explore the complex and sit on the front porch of the old house and just enjoy a relaxing afternoon. Both towns are quite and dont get that many tourists. A great escape from the hub bub of Yellowstone. I finally packed up and left Virginia City around 4pm for home, a perfect little get away for the weekend.

Montana’s Old West

I stumbled into Virginia City, Montana after a early afternoon thunderstorm. I knew by the look of things this town still had that old west Montana feel. This was the place where gold fever had run rampant through the valleys and gulches providing men with untold riches and hardships. My weekend in Virginia City would be a perfect get away from West Yellowstone.
Virginia City is located about an hours drive north westerly from West Yellowstone. I had seen the brochures and flyers talking about how Virginia City is a time capsule of the old west. The flyers were correct, all of Main Street has its original stores and businesses. Most of the stores have everything inside them sometimes the owner literally just walked away and left everything as it was. The town was bought building by building in the 1950’s by Charles Bovey and his wife. Mr. Bovey stabilized the old buildings and in time created a time capsule of the old west. There are modern cafes and shops located inside the buildings and Virginia City is still the county seat with a marvelous court house. The town has kept its small town charm and does still have current residences.

To give you some background on Virginia City, gold was discovered on May 26 of 1863 by a group of men returning from a exploration party in the area. William H Fairweather, Henry Edgar, Thomas W Cover, Michael Sweeney, and Harry Rogers found gold nuggets in the creek flowing through Alder Gulch. Once discovering the gold they headed back to Bannock, Montana to pick up more supplies. The towns folk noticed that these men left Bannock broke and little supplies and yet now were eating steak dinners and buying up lots of supplies. When the men five men headed out of town and back to the Gulch half the town of Bannock also followed and the gold rush of Virginia City began. Alder gulch has produced over $100 million in gold. Size in production considered it ranks as the worlds richest placer gold gulches.

Today gold mining is no more and only one mining company is still in the gulch, mostly mining garnets. The town has never been a ghost town being continuously inhabited since 1863. Today it is a living history working town and great place if you want to loose the tourists of Yellowstone. My weekend trip was to spend a night in Virginia City and take the small narrow gauge train to Nevada city which is a full living history museum created by Mr. Bovey.  I arrived by noon time and walked up and down the the main streets checking out the historic buildings. One of the more impressive buildings in town is the old court house.

Virginia City Court House

The building is still in use as a court house and recently went under restoration. Once climbing up the front steps you walk inside to be greeted on the right side by an impressive staircase that spirals up to the second floor. On the second floor of the court house is the court room and other offices.

 

 

Front entry of the Court House

Other interesting buildings in town include the hangman’s building and general store. The hangman’s building started construction in 1863 and by January 14, 1864 the building was only partly finished. The log walls were up and a heavy main beam to support the roof has been erected, but there was no roof. On that morning, the vigilantes captured five criminals and were determined to see them punished. A short trial was held in front of the Virginia hotel, diagonally across the street. The men’s guilt was without question in their crimes judge to be devastating nature. The five murderers were marched to the unfinished building. After a period of last requests the death sentence was given. Their lives were not spared and clubfoot George Lane died first, the road agents were placed on the sidewalk in front of the building after the hanging and we’re buried on a boot hill by their friends.

model of the hanging taking place. You can still see the beam of wood when going inside the building.

A group of men called the vigilantes took law and order into their hands for about seven weeks because the sheriff and his group of men were robbing prospectors of  their gold as they headed out of town. People had, had enough and a group of men formed to stop the “road agents” as these robbers were called. These men called themselves the vigilantes. During a seven weeks that the vigilantes were in charge they hung about 24 men and brought order to western Montana.

Just down the street from the Hangmans building is a general store that has been a general store from its beginnings in the early 1870s. The store sells everything from magnets and postcards to some grocery items and a large collection of reproduction antique clothing. You can find women’s bonnet, Victorian dresses, and old hats. I myself found a top hat and after purchasing such hat I headed back to the car, parked near the train depot at the end of town. I decided to drive Alder creek to explore the area and look for a place to camp that night. I wound up driving in seven miles and found three mine shafts boring into the side of the mountain. Two of them looked in good shape and was able to walk inside one of the mines. As soon as I walked in the temperature cooled and found a long shaft heading strait into the darkness. On the floor of the mine was still logs used to nail down the mine rail. I did not venture too far in as I did not have a good flashlight with me. The other one located not too far from the one I went into, had been mined more recently since a modern day electrical panel was still outside of the portal. This mine had a fence and rock slide in front and I was unable to go inside but from my echo into the mine I could tell it went in a long ways. The dirt road up Alder creek takes you up into the forest and 1,000ft. up. When I was driving up I rounded a corner and startled a black bear which took off running up the hill, I was not excepting that.

After exploring the mines I headed back to town and checked out the point of discovery where those four men found the gold in the creek. The creek area today in and around Virginia city has been destroyed by dredge mining. large dredgers came through the area some of them carving out rock all the way down to the bed rock. These dredgers left behind tailing piles and totally reshaped the creek. At the point of discovery there is a large stone monument talking on the discovery of gold in the creek. The area is easily accessible by car or stagecoach. In downtown Virginia City there is a Wells Fargo style stagecoach that will take you from town down to the creek to see the monument.

I decided to have a dinner in town at the Virginia city café and then partake in an old-fashioned hard scoop ice cream. The town cleared out by the evening time and most the tourists were gone and leaving the quiet Main Street and the old-fashioned glowing lamp street lights. I decided to camp in town in the large dirt parking lot next to the train depot. The next day was going to be exploring Nevada City which is only a mile down the road.

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Goin out with bells on

“Ill be there with bells on”, is a common response when a person gets invited to a party. The phrase originated in the late 19th/early 20th centuries and most of the early citations of it suggest a US origin. The meaning of the saying is that you are happy to come to the party and could have additional ornamentation on. Going out with bells on is always a good idea when hiking in bear country and when I set out on my hike last night my hiking stick was adorned with bells. You never want to sneak up on an animal especially a bear.

West Yellowstone as you can imagine is surrounded by natural beauty and wildlife. Just outside most peoples front or back door you can quickly escape into the forest and loose all your cares. It is really great for stress relief until you find yourself startling a black bear or a grizzly bear. If you are a serious back country hiker then you not only carry lots of water but also bear spray. Bear spray is like pepper spray for bears and can deter a charging grizzly bear away form you, saving your life. If you are not a big time hiker but still find yourself on short hikes here and there its best to hike in groups and make noise.

There really is nothing quite like finding yourself in forest where you can hear your thoughts as you rest on a log but when you continue hiking the sound of comfort should come from the bells on your hiking stick.My hiking stick is nothing much but an old branch I found on one of my hikes that had a perfect place for my hand. I attached some old silver bells from my Christmas stash and away I go. Last night I found myself following the snowmobile trail that runs north from downtown West Yellowstone out to the Gallatin Mountain Range. The trail runs just behind my place which is the last house before the highway goes up and over into the mountains. I didnt worry about running into any bears in the area being mid July now, but I have seen deer up on the ridge. There is another actual hiking trail behind me called “Fir Ridge Trail” which will take you from the road all the way into Yellowstone National Park and does have bear warning signs posted.

When working and driving 70mph along the main road back and forth to town each day for work you kind of miss the forest. The everyday commute makes things all blend in. I remind myself of where I live with these short hikes as within a few short steps im surrounded by fresh mountain air, aspen and pine trees. The snowmobile trail rides up and over the ridge behind and drops down to follow the main road to Bozeman before riding up again into the hills. During the summer the trail sees few ATV’s, just enough to make two dirt paths for me to walk along. In about 30 minutes I can be up and beyond looking down on where I just walked and seeing over the ridge line and the valley of West Yellowstone.

Looking South back to West Yellowstone. Far mountains in the distance is the Continental Divide and Idaho.

For this hike I did about 2.5 miles round trip which didnt seem like I had really gone that far. I left at 7:40 and returned by 9:15pm. It was a great evening hike and really did me good, after just completed a 9 hour job sitting all day at a desk checking people in can get tiring and boring after just completing two days of 10 hour shifts (dealing with the public can have its own wears). On my walk I didnt see one animal and not that many mosquitoes, maybe the bells worked. The next time you feel kind meh take hike. It can really be just what the doctor order.

 

“Speak softly and carry a stick with bells”

 

Union Pacific & Yellowstone

For the summer I work at the 1909 Union Pacific train depot that has now been turned into a museum of Yellowstone transportation history. The Union Pacific Railroad serviced the west entrance to Yellowstone for 71 years with passenger and freight. I mentioned passenger service first since the main reason the railroad came to the area was to serve the national park. Passenger trains started arriving on June 11, 1908 and continued every summer season from then on till 1960.

The Union Pacific wanted to get in on the revenue that the Northern Pacific was banking on by servicing the North Entrance to the park at Gardiner, Mt. The UP started their Yellowstone Branch Line in Idaho Falls and ran it through the farming communities of Rexburg and St. Anthony. When the line reached the town of Ashton, Idaho the rails dropped into the Warm River Canyon and proceeded to climb the grade up into the Island Park area. The rails left the gentle farm land behind and entered thick Pondarosa Pine trees. As the line headed for Yellowstone the tracks crossed the Idaho/ Montana border at Reas Pass which is also the continental divide at 7,990ft.

The rails came right up to the park boundary and ended, 107 miles later from Idaho Falls. Here the railroad constructed a depot, baggage building and dining hall. Over the years new buildings and additions to the complex took place such as bunk house and generator building. The town of West Yellowstone started its life at the same time as the railroad in 1908. prior to this the area at best had a stage stop.

By 1926, the UP hired Gilbert Stanley Underwood to design a new larger Dining Hall to serve all the people arriving by train. Underwood’s design of using all native materials from the area became known as rustic architecture. The new dining hall could seat up to 500 people at one time. Trains from Salt Lake City, Utah departed at 8pm for West Yellowstone and arrived at the dining hall by 7:05am the next day. Here passengers were greeted by the “Beanery Queens” these ladies could dish out fast and efficient service to all who eat in the dining hall. The kitchen, bakery, butcher shop, and scullery could put out 2,000 fresh rolls, 18 prime ribs of beef and 100 brook trout for breakfast and dinner combined. The building still stands and is in all original condition. Its currently open to visitors during the museums guided tours or can be rented for special events.

Coming to the National Park in the early 1900’s were for the rich as train tickets and lodging in the park was not cheap. Once trains dropped you off at the park then you would take a stagecoach or bus into the park. train tickets that included a stay at a lodge in the park could run as high as $75 and when the average person only made at best $40 a month you could see that this area was a play ground for the rich. In 1915, one year before the first automobile entered the Yellowstone the park had just over 32,000 visitors out of that 29,000 came by rail. The railroads were making good money on the tourist trade. Yellowstone Park at one time had five different railroads servicing each entrance to the park. You had Gardiner, Mt., Gallatin Gateway, Mt., West Yellowstone, Mt., Lander Wy., and Cody, Wy. all had railroad terminus’s dropping people off for the park.

Running the railroad from Idaho Falls to West Yellowstone was not easy and the line only saw service from mid March to early November. Between those months the line was snowed shut and each March the “spring Campaign” took place where a rotary snow plow took seven or more days to clear 57 miles of track up and over the pass. At the Reas Pass the train crew could see snow as deep as 13-18ft and just over 6ft. in town. Passenger trains rolled into town from mid June through Mid September. By the late 1950s taking the train from Chicago to L.A. would cost $14.50 but most people were coming in their cars which finally hurt business enough to stop running passenger trains. The last train left at the end of September of 1960. Freight trains continued to serve the community of West Yellowstone until that was no longer profitable in 1979. The rails were scrapped out from West Yellowstone in 1981 back to Ashton, ID where they still remain as a agriculture railroad serving the local towns in the farming valley.

Today the former UP complex and buildings are owned and maintained by the city of West Yellowstone. The railroad right of way from Ashton to West Yellowstone has been turned into a ATV and hiking trail. Here and there you can still see remnants of the railroads presence.

The union pacific going to West Yellowstone was the most popular route to Yellowstone national park since it reached the park boundary and because convenient train service was available from so many cities both on the west coast and in the mid west. It was also the last route to provide passenger train service to the park boundary. What was once the only reliable source of transportation to Yellowstone and most western National Parks is now part of the history books as almost no park is served by any railroad today. Make sure to visit the old UP complex in West Yellowstone, Mt. the next time you come to see the park. Without the railroads the parks would not be the way they are now.