Why this web site.
You need to know this. |
Wow,
What a DayWe first stopped at Clark Lookout State Park, a small park on the edge of Dillon, MT where Captian Clark of the Discovery Expedition, stood and took three compass readings. So, we know that he stood on that very spot, and it offers a panoramic view of the Beaverhead area.
Then we visited most of the day with the Boyd family, our cousins out west. They were very gracious and hospitible to us and included us in their day of fun. They certainly have a lot of fun together!
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Wes & Tom
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The competition was fierce all day |
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| Wayve & Alexis |
Grandpa Mike & Alexis |
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| Boyd Family |
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I learned from Wayve, that Uncle Cary came to Montana under the employ of the Marion Power Shovel Company to lay the keels of the great dredges that would be working in the Ruby river or Alder Gulch area. She guessed that he came out there in 1908.
After we left the Boyds, we drove up to Twin Bridges and then back down through the Ruby River valley. We hadn't planned this, but low and behold we drive throuh the very area where Uncle Cary had worked. The tailings are still visible and the town of Alder is stil there although it is a ghost town. Now Connie has this "thing" for ghost towns and by golly she got to see a real ghost town. Also, there in Alder there is a museum that covers the mining that took place there. They have a dredge on display, although it is not one that mined there. It was built later in 1938 and worked in Idaho, but was brought to the Alder museum for display.
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From Montana
Heritage Commision web site: "In 1897, the Conrey Placer Mining Co. began using the new
placer mining technology of dredging. Four huge dredges were
eventually built and the installation of high voltage power
lines, brought in to power the dredges, made electrical
history in Alder Gulch. Dredging continues into the 1930's.
At the beginning of World War II, however, gold was declared
a "nonessential mineral," and dynamiting was discontinued.
While a few small placer and hard rock operations continue
even today, Virginia City's economy has depended upon tourism
since the beginning of the Bovey's restoration efforts in the
1940's.
The area near Virginia and Nevada Cities in Alder Gulch
held the richest placer gold deposits in Montana, and some
say richer than anywhere on earth. According to research done
in the 1920's, over one hundred million dollars worth of gold
had been removed from the gulch. At today's prices, Alder
Gulch has yielded over two and a half billion dollars worth
of gold." |
On the way out of Virginia City, we drove through the Madison Valley on down to |
