An Update on Life

Well where to begin, it has been sometime since I have done a post on here. The last blog post about my travels was down to Texas and the Mother road in October. Since then I purchased a 1941 Plymouth which was the last post I made on here. Lots has happened since then one of the biggest was me getting a new job.

Lets start there…

On November 5th of 2018 I became the director of the Owyhee County Museum in Murphy, Idaho. After my summer job ending at the end of September I came back home and had about a month off before starting the new job. I applied for the position back September and had my interview early October. Since starting at the museum which I have been a member of for the past ten years there is lots going on. I have been able to fire up not only the 1915 Model T at the museum but also the 1941 John Deere B tractor. The museum is located in a very small town in Owyhee County. I commute each day about 30 mile along country roads with no traffic which is great because if I had a job in downtown Boise I would be fighting the rush hour traffic mess, it gets worse each year.

Being the director, the boss of a museum was something I didnt think I would be doing at this point in my life. I just graduated Boise State University with my Bachelors in History in 2017 and without a Masters I have began my career in history running a museum. This small but well funded museum by volunteer, donations, members and county support is quite large and has alot going for itself. The museum highlights the history of the county from ranching to mining.

Front of the Owyhee County Museum

Besides being busy running the museum Thanksgiving came and went along with the Christmas holiday.   Both were enjoyable spent with family and Christina. Christina and I have grown closer and continue to work well together. This year in May will mark our 5 years of being together and as we continue on we are getting closer to wanting to move in together and eventually an engagement to follow. Only time will tell to see what

Christina and I under a canopy of Christmas Lights

happens. There is lots to talk about before anything happen and we are taking it slow. I am also still working part time at the Boise Depot as their tour guide. Five years ago I created a historic tour for Parks & Rec. who run the old 1925 Boise Depot as an event center. Each first Sunday I lead a tour of the history and during Christmas there is a special evening open house where I read the Polar Express to all the kids. I even dress as the conductor.

Conductor at the Boise Depot

As for restoration of the Plymouth is concerned it is moving along at a great pace. So far the new white wall tires are on and the inside is being cleaned and improved. By March the car will be ready to roll.

I believe that covers it for now, im sure I left things out but will add photos below of the museum and other highlights in the past months. Not much traveling will happen this year due to my full time job but for sure will be down in Ogden Utah for the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad  on May 10th. There will be a huge event and the largest steam engine in the world there as well.

Until next time..

 

First start of the 1915 Model T in seven years.

1940 JD model B out front of museum. currently being fully restored.

New White wall tires for plymouth

Cleaning our inside of car and prepping it for rust preventive. The car over all is in great shape.

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.

The Center of the West, the Buffalo Bill Museum

A trip to Cody Wyoming would not be totally complete without a visit to not only the famous Irma Hotel but also the Buffalo Bill Center of the West! This large Smithsonian affiliated museum covers five different topics all under one roof. The museum features, the life of William F. Cody, history of the Plains Indians, Natural history of the Yellowstone Eco-system, western art and a large firearm exhibit. This museum will take you all day to see and possible two full days.

I unfortunately only had a full day to spend here so when Christina and I visited on August 22nd we split the museum up to what we wanted to see most .

Christian and I in front of the Museum.

I of course dove into the history of Bill Cody and Christina being a biologist and love of animals headed for the Draper Natural History side of the museum. We both took and hour and half to see those sides of the museum and planned to meet back at the center of the museum and have lunch. The museum is divided by wings and they all attache in the center by a main lobby. After lunch we would both look through the Plains Indian wing and also catch a 30 min show on Birds of Prey out in the back court yard.

 

 

 

Before diving into the history of Buffalo Bill and what I saw at that part of the museum me and Christina both looked at his childhood home which he lived in for only four years of his life. The house sat along side the banks of the Mississippi River in LeClaire, Iowa. the house was built in 1841 by his father and was eventually purchased as a tourist attraction by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and moved to Cody, Wyoming, Buffalo Bill’s adopted hometown, in 1933.

William Cody’s Childhood home

The museum has it roots dating back to 1927 in a log cabin in downtown Cody that was modeled after Bill Cody’s house at his “TE Ranch” located southwest of town, the museum remained in that location until 1969 when it was relocated to a newly-built wing of the then Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

Original museum

The original log building is still in town and is used as the Cody Visitor Center. The Buffalo Bill Museum’s focus is on the life and times of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Cody lived from 1846 – 1917, witnessing the formation of Yellowstone National Park and settlement of the western frontier.  Mr. Cody was a noted guide, scout, frontiersman, showman, actor, entrepreneur, town founder, and American icon.

William F. Cody “Buffalo Bill”

I found the Cody museum well laid out and also engaging. Many artifacts are on display from Cody’s life. The displays are easy to read and are to the point. Many museum these day struggle with trying to get information across without loosing the reader. Too many displays can have to much text trying to get the history to the visitor and will loose the reader quickly. There were lots to see regarding Bill Cody and it all starts out with his childhood and loosing his father at an early age and then his mother. Cody would set out on the high plains of the west and little did he know that he would become synonymous with the West itself.

Some background….William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody became an American scout, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Iowa Territory, but he lived for several years in his father’s hometown in Toronto Township, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory.

Cody started working at the age of eleven, after his father’s death, and became a rider for the Pony Express at age 14. During the American Civil War, he served the Union from 1863 to the end of the war in 1865. Later he served as a civilian scout for the US Army during the Indian Wars, receiving the Medal of Honor in 1872. Now Cody received the nickname “Buffalo Bill” after the American Civil War, when he had a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. Cody is reported to have killed 4,282 buffalo in eighteen months in 1867 and 1868. Cody and another hunter, Bill Comstock, competed in an eight-hour buffalo-shooting match over the exclusive right to use the name, “Buffalo Bill” which Cody won by killing 68 animals compared to Comstock’s 48.     (Boy those were the days!)

Cody’s guns, hat and jacket from when he was a scout

The legend Buffalo Bill began to spread when he was only twenty-three. Shortly thereafter he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars. He founded Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1883, taking his large company on tours in the United States and, beginning in 1887, to Great Britain and continental Europe. Mr. Cody and his troop of wild west performers got to meet Queen Victoria in 1887, the queen was so impressed by him that she spent her own money and her own craftsmen to make a bar for Cody’s Irma Hotel. (photos of the bar to follow in a special post on the Iram Hotel)

Buffalo Bill meets Queen Victoria and performed for over 20,000 people. Panoramic shot of a large advertising poster.

The Cody museum also has some other unique things on display within the Cody section of the museum, such as the gun that belonged to Wild Bill Hickcock and the gun that was used by the original Lone Ranger. There is also Annie Oakley’s saddle and riding dress.

James B. “Wild Bill” Hickcock’s gun

Lone Rangers gun used by John Hart

I found out that Buffalo Bill performed in every state in the continental U.S. except one and that being Nevada. He performed in many places in Idaho, towns such as Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, Boise, Lewiston, and Sandpoint. I am from the Boise area and had to go down to the office at the museum and find out when the show came to town. I found out that he performed three times in Boise and the entire show was on a train that would arrive and then have two performance days. Shows would take place in the morning and evening. The museum staff not only found the dates on when he performed but also Idaho Statesmen newspaper clippings and were able to print them out! Found out that the show was set up in a square block in the north end neighborhood between 15th and 17th and Sherman. At the time the area had not been developed and was currently being developed by Walter E. Pierce who loaned his land for the show. Living in Idaho all this time and never once have I come across a photo or information that his show ever came to Idaho let alone Boise.

Buffalo Bills Showman gloves and hat

After having lunch in the parking lot we headed back into the museum for the Birds of Prey talk and then walked through the Plains Indian exhibit which was very well done and took you through this history of many different tribes that once lived on the western Plains from Canada to Mexico. The last stop on the tour that day was of course the gift shop to get that souvenir pin and magnet. The museum is open from 8:30-6pm everyday in the summer and we were there from 11-5:30. If you want to learn more about the museum check them out on line here: https://centerofthewest.org/explore/buffalo-bill/

I didn’t even cover all the neat things I saw so ill list some below,

• movie footage of 1910 buffalo Bill Show in New York
• Model of the show and layout performed in Chicago
• Buffalo Bills tent he lived in while on the road
• Bill Cody’s own Beer Stein
• roulette table from the Irma Hotel
• Stagecoach used in the Wild West Show
• Annie Oakley’s saddle and dress
• Pony Express items
• Indian Teepees
• Indian artifacts
• Western Art
• lots of guns

 

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.

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.

Small town Historical Society making a come back.

The Kuna Historical Society has seen it’s better days and it’s ups and downs. Now this year and next the society is wanting to get out their in the community and grow.

I recently wrote an article for the small town I live in, Kuna, Idaho. I have been working with the society for awhile now trying to get them back on their feet. Recently I wrote a newsletter for the society and now being put out in downtown business. I can see lots of good things coming for this society but it will take time and good leadership.

Read the article here: https://www.idahopress.com/kuna/community/kuna-history-is-making-a-comeback-with-the-kuna-historical/article_1840b370-1597-522e-8157-db9c39340eaf.html#tncms-source=article-nav-next

Trip to Butte, Part III, World Mining Museum

The last installment to the to my trip is the highlight of the World of Mining Museum located behind Montana Tec. University. My trip to Butte only lasted about a full day and half as I had to head back to West Yellowstone Wednesday evening. As in my last post I mentioned that I had camped up on Homestake Pass next to the old Northern Pacific Mainline now abandoned which Ill go into on a separate post. For now I want to focus on the tour of the mine that I got while visiting the museum and wrap of the overall trip.

During Wednesday morning I had time to kill in Butte since my mine tour that I had reserved on line a week before was at 2:30pm. I decided to check out the old depots in town. The town of Butte has two railroad depots, both no longer in use. The town itself was served by three different railroads at one time. The Union Pacific, Northern Pacific and Milwaukee Road. The first depot I visited was the old Northern Pacific Depot built in 1906. This Depot is now an event center and I was not able to get inside. The other Depot was the former Milwaukee Road station. This beautiful depot is now the local TV and Radio building. This depot was built in 1916 and had passenger service until the 1950s when the building was converted for the TV station. (Ill go into deeper history and explorations on separate posts).

After killing about three hours exploring and have lunch I headed for the World Mining Museum. This wonderful museum has a full small replica of a western town from the blacksmith shop to the local drug store. This museum is highly recommended for all ages. If you register before you arrive for an underground mine tour, since they fill up fast you can either go down 60ft or 100ft. below in the Orphan Girl Mine. Now this is an authentic mine including the 100-foot-tall headframe and the Hoist House, which houses exhibits as well as original equipment. You can climb into the cages that were crammed with six or seven miners for their daily trip 2700-feet down the shaft. From the time it was located in 1875 until it was purchased by Marcus Daly and associates in 1879, ownership of fractional shares in the Orphan Girl Mine changed hands faster than the ante in a poker game. The Orphan Girl eventually operated to a depth of over 3,000 feet. While not a huge producer according to Butte standards, by 1944 hardrock miners had removed a respectable 7,626,540 ounces of silver as well as lead and zinc from her depths. Cool temperatures between 55 and 65 degrees made the Orphan Girl, affectionately nicknamed “Orphan Annie” or “the Girl” a desirable place to work unlike some other mines where temperatures could top 100 degrees. By the end of the 1920s, the Anaconda Company owned the Girl which operated until the 1950s. In 1965, the Girl became the site of the World Museum of Mining.

The tour led me down an incline entrance, with my hard hat and light along with a jacket the tour of 13 of us proceeded down to the 60ft level and then eventually the 100ft. Most of the mine today is flooded by ground water and is no longer open. The tour was fascinating and full of history. You could ring the bell to tell the hoist operator to send a cage down to you or to take you up to a different level by using a mores code. The tour guide also let people operate a mine car that was used to haul the ore down the tracks through the tunnels to the hoist area to be taken out. Just like Indiana Jones.. ha ha.

The tour lasted about two hours and was well worth the money. Once finished and above ground I was free to explore the rest of the museum including the hoist house. After spending the rest of the afternoon there I walked out just at closing time and headed for dinner and the store to pick up grocery’s since in the town of West Yellowstone is limited and sometimes expensive. The overall trip was a success and had a wonderful time exploring the area. I hope to be back again next month to explore more of Homestake Pass. Ill be doing more in depth  posts on things I saw in and around Butte so make sure to watch for those.

If you want to see more photos of the trip check out my Instagram Site