Discovery of Last Chance Gulch Opens Helena Gold Era
The Last Chance Gulch gold discovery near Helena drew Miller Cowan Crab and Stanley from Alder Gulch to the Hell Gate region. They panned gold on a little creek now Main Street, leading to Helena’s founding and the birth of Montana's capital. The four prospectors endured rugged travel across the Rocky Mountains before striking colors that launched a booming placer deposit and a new town.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Last Chance Gulch
Helena
Lewis Clark County
Helena Valey
D. J. John Cowan
John
Idol Robert Stanley
Rocky Mountain Continental Divide
Missouri
Blue Mountains
Hell Gate
Marias
Alder Gulch
Miller
Cowan
Crab
Stanley
Main Street
Montana Territory
Virginia City
Kootenai River
Montana
Kootenai
Hell Gate Valley
Jim Coleman
Aldergulch
Blackfoot
Rockies
Captain Fisk
Missouri River
Coleman
Hell Gate River
Ieee
Merton County
Lewis and Clark County
Liver
Jacob Fournais
Quebec
Wolfe
Abraham
Montcalm
Jackson
New Orleans
The
Fur Company
Andrew Cripps
Fournais
Washington
Commonwealth of Montana
Dearborn
Sun River
Marias River
Nevada
Guich
World's Largest Locomotive Inspected Between Glendive and Mandan
The 125 foot long steam locomotive on the Northern Pacific route between Glendive Montana and Mandan North Dakota was inspected by railroad executives and guests. The photo lists numerous Northern Pacific officials and officers from Foley Brothers and various mining and banking entities.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Glendive
Mandan
Mont
Northern Pacific
N. C
Charles Donnelly
Tephen Birch
New York
Helena’s Last Chance diggings spark a city’s birth and lore
The article recounts Miller Cowan Crab and Stanley venturing through the Prickly Pear valley to Last Chance gulch, finding rich but elusive color and the prospect of Helena’s rise. It details early camps, claims rules, and the 1864 naming of Helena after Somerville’s impassioned pledge, shaping Montana mining history.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Scott
Broadway
Rodney
Helena
the City
Montana
Warner, Burns and Company of
Chicago
G. J. Wood
Punkinville
Squashtown
Tomahawk
Tomah
St. Helena
John Somerville
Somerville
J. H. Mills
Thomas E. Cooper
Grafton
Dakota
Thomas Cowan
Georgia
Last Chance
Cowan
Black Hills
D. J. Miller
California
Philadelphia
John Dempsey
Alabama
John Crab
Nelson Gulch
Helena Herald
Fisk Brothers
Jim Whitlatch
Whitlatch Union
Minnesota
Minnesota Man Locates Site of Old Fort Smith
Albert W. Johnson of Marine on St. Croix Minnesota and three Billings men located the old Fort C. F. Smith about 12 miles above St Xavier on the Crow reservation along the Big Horn river. They also identified the Hayfield Fight battle site five miles farther up river with a lone marker. Johnson plans further research in Montana Washington and Oregon ending in Seaside Oregon where Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fort
C. F. Smith
Montana
Bozeman Trail
Albert W. Johnson
Marine-on
Johnson
Northwestern States
Northwestern
Hayfield
LeClair
David Hilger
Minnesota
Michaud LeClair
Edma
Mr. Johnson
Fort Washakie
Wyo
Washington
British Columbia
Oregon
Seaside
Lewis and Clark
Pacific Ocean
W.ining
Rosebud
Rosebud Creek
Custer
Trapper Tommy Sloan Dies at 116 in Guthrie Oklahoma
Tommy Sloan famed as an early day trapper and long time Guthrie resident dies at 116 in Oklahoma. Born December 1812 in Mourneshore Ireland he worked at sea trapper on the Northwest frontier and supervised Northern Pacific railroad construction in Montana. He never drank or used tobacco and twice married, leaving a widower.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tommy Sloan
M. R. Nickens
Guthrie
Oklo
Sloan
Mourneshore
County Down
Ireland
Northwest
Northern Pacific Railroad
Montana
Oklahoma
Onis
Enlis
Also Mentioned on This Page
Moore
Epera Iad
Golch
Kennecott Cor Corporation
Alaska Steamship Company
E. Stevens
Regian
Northern Pac
M. Weyerhaeuser
St. Paul
Presi
Sourney
Prickly Pear Valley
Jackfoot
Last Chance Creek
Taylor & Thompson
Bob” Stanley
J. G. Wood
Shenae Fisk
Holmes
Wood
H. Bruce
C. L. Cu Lorne
Old Fort Smith
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!