Masonic Lodge and School House
The first schools in Bannack were subscription schools – essentially private schools with parents paying tuition for their children to attend.
In 1874, Bannack Masonic Lodge No. 16 built a combination lodge and school building. The school was a public school serving students in K through 8th grade. It finally closed in the 1950s. The school was on the bottom floor and the lodge on the second.
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Bannack, Montana was founded in 1862 after a major gold discovery. It served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly during the civil war. The last residents left in the 1970s.
“Images from Bannack” are from July 30, 2010, our third visit to Bannack.
Graeter House – (above) Augustus Graeter and his wife, Emily Drury were married in Nebraska in 1860 and arrived in Bannack in 1862. In partnership with A. J. Smith, they constructed the Smith – Graeter Ditch in 1863 to provide water for mining. The ditch, along with others, helped sustain and contributed to the expansion of mining operations in Bannack. In 1897, his company built the gold dredge, which operated along Grasshopper Creek until 1902.
Turner House – Like most buildings in Bannack, this cabin saw many different uses over the years. This house was last owned by the Turner family before being acquired by the State of Montana. Arthur Contway purchased the building in the early 1900s and it served as his residence, Post Office, barbershop and had the only telephone in town for some time.
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Bannack, Montana was founded in 1862 after a major gold discovery. It served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly during the civil war. The last residents left in the 1970s.
“Images from Bannack” are from July 30, 2010, our third visit to Bannack.
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Bannack, Montana was founded in 1862 after a major gold discovery. It served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly during the civil war. The last residents left in the 1970s.
“Images from Bannack” are from July 30, 2010, our third visit to Bannack.
A view through a Bannack window.
Wallpaper inside the Bannack State Park visitor center.
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Bannack, Montana was founded in 1862 after a major gold discovery. It served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly during the civil war. The last residents left in the 1970s.
“Images from Bannack” are from July 30, 2010, our third visit to Bannack.
A Sundancer Class C motorhome at Bannack State Park, Montana.
A view from the Bannack State Park visitor parking lot.
The State Park visitor center building, below, was once owned and occupied by carpenter George French.
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Bannack, Montana was founded in 1862 after a major gold discovery. It served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly during the civil war. The last residents left in the 1970s.
“Images from Bannack” are from July 30, 2010, our third visit to Bannack.
I am returning to “working” through the images from our summer trip.
The Yankee Fork gold dredge is one of the mining attractions along Idaho’s Yankee Fork River, between Bonanza City and Custer. When we first visited the area in the 1970s, it was a closed relic. Today, it has been restored to the point that tours are available for those who are interested.
Beginning in 1872, the valley floor of the Yankee Fork River was hand placered in the search for gold. Years later, tests showed that gold still remained in the deep gravels of the stream bed. In 1939, a gold dredge was purchased by the Snake River Mining Company and hauled to the Yankee Fork for assembly. Before it was shutdown in 1952, the dredge recovered more than $1,200,000 in gold from about 6,000,000 cubic yards of gravel.
Today, the dredge still sits where it stopped operation after all of the claims owned by the company had been dredged. The path taken by the dredge up the stream bed left large piles of gravel on which little grows. In a satellite image showing the dredge, the piles form rows where the dredge’s stacker belt deposited the gravel after processing.
In operation, small particles of gold and silver from naturally disintegrated ore were scooped up by the bucketline (see image on left for scale).
The dredge has a chain of 71 buckets, each wighing just over a ton. Each pin holding the chain together weighs 195 lbs. The bucket mechanism can be raised and lowered and moved left and right. It can dig 37 feet deep.
Yankee Fork Historic District, Idaho, July 28, 2010.
Bonanza City, laid out in 1877, was the Yankee Fork’s first mining camp, with pack trails converging from Ketchum, Stanley, Loon Creek and Challis. At its peak, Bonanza had over 600 residents, a rectangular grid of streets, and provided city services such as community wells.
An underground water system piped water for drinking and fire protection throughout the town. Despite this foresight, fires in 1889 and 1897 devastated portions of Bonanza. The loss of business due to the fires and the increased activity at Custer encouraged many to relocate. Today little is left of Bonanza with the exception of a few buildings and the Forest Service Guard Station constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934.
Bonanza, Idaho
Yankee Fork Historic District, July 28, 2010
The Bonanza Cemetery provides an example of the many ethnic groups attracted to the Yankee Fork. Despite the harsh living conditions, the promise of good times and prosperity brought immigrants from many countries. Cornish people, referred to as “cousin jacks,” worked for the English owners of the Custer mine. Austrian crews built roads and many Italians lived at Bayhorse. The Custer County census of 1890 indicates sizable populations of Canadian, German, English, Irish, Italian, and Swedish residents. The largest single ethnic group found in the Yankee Fork Mining District came from China. Though prejudice kept the Chinese from working at most mines, they worked unwanted placer claims, operated laundries, or worked as cooks…. most Chinese initially buried here were later disinterred by relatives and friends and returned to their homeland.
from sign at cemetery
Sego Lily, Calochortus nuttallii, the state flower of Utah.
Insect getting nectar from wild rose.
Lizzie King and her husbands on Boothill
Lizzie and Richard King lived in Bonanza where Richard worked in real estate. A heated argument with a business partner left Richard dead and Lizzie alone.
Lizzie and close friend Charles Franklin purchased the gravesite for Richard and two more next to it, presumably for themselves. Soon, Charles and Lizzie began courting and a wedding seemed eminent.
To everyone’s surprise, Lizzie married Robert Hawthorne, a newcomer to Bonanza. Six days later, both were found shot to death. Soon after, Franklin left the area for a secluded cabin near Stanley where, years later, he was discovered dead. Clutched in his hand was a locket which held the picture of Lizzie King.
Due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Lizzie King, Bonanza residents chose to bury their loved ones elsewhere, leaving Lizzie and her husbands alone on Boothill.
from sign on Boothill
On July 26, we moved from Arco, Idaho to Bull Trout Campground, about 26 miles down the road west of Stanley. The campground is next to two lakes, Bull Trout Lake and Martin Lake. Our campsite was in the newer section of the campground and was just a short walk from the smaller of the two lakes.
We didn’t get over to the larger lake – Bull Trout – other than driving the loops to see what the other campsites looked like. We walked the short distance to Martin Lake and hiked all the way around it.
The campground was 1.9 miles down a very dry dirt road whose surface was like powder. Fortunately, it rained that night. The rain washed the worst of the dust off the car and there was very little road dust for the rest of our stay.
The campground elevation is 6900 ft in a mixed growth forest of Douglas fir and lodgepole pine. Wildflowers are plentiful.
July 29, 2010 posts:
July 25, 2010, Arco, Idaho
After a day trip with crystal clear skies for most of the day, it turned cloudy and very blustery as we were getting back to the campground. 
