Best Halloween Party Ever

In Kalispell, Montana, on the evening of October 20, 1910 Lettie Conrad and her daughter Alicia were preparing to retire for the evening when a man pounded on the door to alert them to a fire in north side of the house. While Lettie notified the fire department, eighteen year old Alicia tried to fight the fire with one of the mansion’s built in fire hoses. The fire department arrived but not before the house was damaged extensively. At first it looked like the Halloween party that the ladies had been planning would have to be canceled, instead it turned into one of the most unique Halloween parties that Montana has ever seen.
During the next ten days, workmen were busy at the mansion, but not to do repairs, at least not until after Halloween. Carpenters, electricians and others turned the disaster into the best Halloween setting ever. The damaged roof was left open, and rubble was left where it fell.

At midnight, October 31, more than five hundred masked guests were delighted to find Spanish moss, with stuffed bats hanging by threads, suspended from the rafters and banisters of the burned out main hall. To add to the effect, the bats were kept in motion by electric fans. From the un-walled inferno of the main floor, guests wound their way up a spiral staircase, built just for the occasion, to rooms decorated to resemble witches dens with steaming cauldrons, and a sign reading “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.” The third floor, which was only slightly damaged, became paradise, with walls and furniture draped with fishnets with flowers attached. In the true Conrad family tradition of generosity and gracious hospitality, nearly everyone in Kalispell enjoyed music and refreshments until dawn.

Grand Re-Opening of The Yellowstone Gateway Museum

This weekend marks the Grand Re-Opening of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum in Livingston Montana. The museum has been closed for several months to give the place a face-lift and to upgrade the heating and cooling system. The Grand Re-Opening Celebration is scheduled for Saturday, October 29 with a ribbon cutting ceremony by the Park County Commissioners at 10:00 am. Other presentations throughout the day include:

• A Presentation by Norm Miller, Rediscovering the Lewis and Clark Trail at 11:30 am
• Sheep Wagon history Presentation by Don Ellis and Jem Blueher at 1:00 pm
• Visions on the Great Bend of the Yellowstone presented by Shane Doyle at 3:00 pm

Additionally there will be educational programs and entertainment for the kids. All of the days events are free and open to the public

The Yellowstone Gateway Museum is located in the old North Side School at 118 West Chinook Street. The school was built in 1907 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Like most county museums, it’s focus is the history of Park County as well as Yellowstone National Park. The museum takes it’s name from the role Livingston played as the “Original Gateway to Yellowstone National Park.”

Montana Ghost Towns

By definition, a ghost town is a once thriving town with few living inhabitants. Montana has many towns that fit this description, most of them old mining towns who died out when the gold and silver played out or other diggings promised richer returns. There are people, usually those who have little interest in history, think that if you have seen one ghost town you’ve them all, but Montana’s ghost towns are diverse and each has it’s unique story to tell.

Bannack and Virginia City are the best known of Montana’s ghost towns, probably because they are well preserved, protected and easily accessible to everyone. Their histories are also entwined, making them almost sister ghost towns. Bannack is a true ghost town, with no inhabitants except the caretakers who work for the state of Montana. Virginia City is very much alive, being the county seat of Madison County, but it too, is a real ghost town, with buildings that have been there since before Montana became a territory, and with a population of about 130, one could still say there are few inhabitants.

Scattered across the state are other fine examples of ghost towns, not all as accessible as Bannack and Virginia City but worth the effort to visit.
Elkhorn, (the turnoff is between Boulder and Whitehall) flourished during the 1880’s and 1890’s with nearly 2500 citizens.
Pony, near Harrison, is another example of a ghost town that is still living but with remnants of an earlier time.
Marysville, about 30 miles north of Helena, was also a thriving cold camp during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.
Jardine sits in the Mountains above Gardiner, has seen more than one gold rush, but it lies quiet again.There are many other ghost towns, lesser known or not as easily accessible; Castle, Kendall, Landusky, Zortman, Giltedge, Glendale, Comet, Radarsburg, to name a few, that have a tie to the mining history of Montana.

Marysville Meat Market 1886

To explore the histories of these and other Montana ghost towns I recommend these books: Montana Ghost Towns by Donald C. Miller or Montana Mining Ghost Towns, by Barbara Fifer
　
　
To do a little ghost town surfing on the web you can visit:
http://ghosttown.montana.com/
http://www.visitmt.com/experiences/history/ghost_towns/

Things that go bump in the night

While shopping this afternoon I made my usual check of the Montana History book section and I discovered six books about ghost stories and haunted places in Montana. I guess Halloween must be just around the corner. These books claim to contain collections of true events and I am open minded enough to check them out. I will however be reading them during daylight hours, just in case they scary enough to keep me awake at night.

In case you are looking for a little of spooky reading to get in the mood for Halloween, here is the list of the books that I found:

• Haunted Montana and More Haunted Montana both by Karen Stevens
• Spooky Montana by S. E.  Schlosser
• Montana Ghost Stories by Debra D. Munn 
• Montana Chillers and Spirit Tailings: Ghost Tales from Virginia City, Butte and Helena both by Ellen Baumler

Chief Joseph's Surrender at the Bear's Paw Mountains, October 5, 1877

Historical Highway Marker near Chinook, Montana





On October 5, 1877, the Battle of the Bear's Paw ended five days after it began.  The non-treaty Nez Perce Indians trying to reach Canada and their freedom, made it to within forty miles of the Canadian border but the harsh weather and their fatigue wore them down and the Seventh Cavalry prevailed.  It was on that date that Chief Joseph made his famous speech that ended, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."



Chief Joseph



Rolling hills in Blaine County Montana, site of the Battle of the Bear's Paw



Chief Joseph in 1903, about a year before his death.

Recommended reading: Nez Perce summer, 1877 : the U.S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poo crisis / by Greene, Jerome A. published in 2000 by the Montana Historical Society Press; and The flight of the Nez Perce by Brown, Mark Herbert, published by Putnam in 1967















A Movie Recommendation

Over the weekend, my husband and I had a little free time so we decided to watch a movie. Since it was my turn to chose, I went the REDBOX with the hope of finding a good romantic comedy, or at least an action film with a limited amount of gore. Instead, I discovered one of the best movies I have watched in a very long time. The Conspirator, Produced and Directed by Robert Redford dramatized the trial of Mary Suratt, the woman who ran the boarding house that was frequented by John Wilkes Booth before he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. I was immediately drawn into the story. I came away with a reassurance that history is relevant. I believe the movie is rated PG-13.

While I usually focus on Montana history when posting on my blog. I think this movie deserves a mention.