Spend The Night at The Meade?
Bannack Montana Ghost Town
Founded in 1862 and named after the local Bannock Indians, Bannack was the site of a major gold discovery in 1862, and served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly in 1864, until the capital was moved to Virginia City. Bannack continued as a mining town, though with a dwindling population. The last residents left in the 1970s.
At its peak, Bannack had a population of about ten thousand. Extremely remote, it was connected to the rest of the world only by the Montana Trail. There were three hotels, three bakeries, three blacksmith shops, two stables, two meat markets, a grocery store, a restaurant, a brewery, a billiard hall, and four saloons. Though all of the businesses were built of logs, some had decorative false fronts.
Among the town's founders was Dr. Erasmus Darwin Leavitt, a physician born in Cornish, New Hampshire, who gave up medicine for a time to become a gold miner. Dr. Leavitt arrived in Bannack in 1862, and alternately practiced medicine and mined for gold with pick and shovel.
Bannack's sheriff, Henry Plummer, was accused by some of secretly leading a ruthless band of road agents, with early accounts claiming that this gang was responsible for over a hundred murders in the Virginia City and Bannack gold fields and trails to Salt Lake City. However, because only eight deaths are historically documented, some modern historians have called into question the exact nature of Plummer's gang, while others deny the existence of the gang altogether. In any case, Plummer and two compatriots, both deputies, were hanged, without trial, at Bannack on January 10, 1864. A number of Plummer's associates were lynched and others banished on pain of death if they ever returned. Twenty-two individuals were accused, informally tried, and hanged by the Vigilance Committee (the Montana Vigilantes) of Bannack and Virginia City. Nathaniel Pitt Langford, the first superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, was a member of that vigilance committee.
Situated approximately 10 miles from the modern-day town of Dillon, Bannack now operates as a State Park and National Historic Landmark. History buffs will be enamored. While it continued to serve as a mining town for decades, Bannack was fully abandoned as of the 1970s. Today, its history and urban legends make it a spooky ghost town. The town is known as a site for ample paranormal activity. From murder to public executions, Bannack hosted a variety of dark and bizarre events throughout its heyday. Along with the neighboring town of Virginia City, Bannack also served as the site of many prosecutions and public lynchings. Ghosts of these events are said to linger.
Data above a combination of Wiki and Only In Your State.
More photos of The Meade and others of Bannack will follow!
Spend The Night at The Meade?
Bannack Montana Ghost Town
Founded in 1862 and named after the local Bannock Indians, Bannack was the site of a major gold discovery in 1862, and served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly in 1864, until the capital was moved to Virginia City. Bannack continued as a mining town, though with a dwindling population. The last residents left in the 1970s.
At its peak, Bannack had a population of about ten thousand. Extremely remote, it was connected to the rest of the world only by the Montana Trail. There were three hotels, three bakeries, three blacksmith shops, two stables, two meat markets, a grocery store, a restaurant, a brewery, a billiard hall, and four saloons. Though all of the businesses were built of logs, some had decorative false fronts.
Among the town's founders was Dr. Erasmus Darwin Leavitt, a physician born in Cornish, New Hampshire, who gave up medicine for a time to become a gold miner. Dr. Leavitt arrived in Bannack in 1862, and alternately practiced medicine and mined for gold with pick and shovel.
Bannack's sheriff, Henry Plummer, was accused by some of secretly leading a ruthless band of road agents, with early accounts claiming that this gang was responsible for over a hundred murders in the Virginia City and Bannack gold fields and trails to Salt Lake City. However, because only eight deaths are historically documented, some modern historians have called into question the exact nature of Plummer's gang, while others deny the existence of the gang altogether. In any case, Plummer and two compatriots, both deputies, were hanged, without trial, at Bannack on January 10, 1864. A number of Plummer's associates were lynched and others banished on pain of death if they ever returned. Twenty-two individuals were accused, informally tried, and hanged by the Vigilance Committee (the Montana Vigilantes) of Bannack and Virginia City. Nathaniel Pitt Langford, the first superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, was a member of that vigilance committee.
Situated approximately 10 miles from the modern-day town of Dillon, Bannack now operates as a State Park and National Historic Landmark. History buffs will be enamored. While it continued to serve as a mining town for decades, Bannack was fully abandoned as of the 1970s. Today, its history and urban legends make it a spooky ghost town. The town is known as a site for ample paranormal activity. From murder to public executions, Bannack hosted a variety of dark and bizarre events throughout its heyday. Along with the neighboring town of Virginia City, Bannack also served as the site of many prosecutions and public lynchings. Ghosts of these events are said to linger.
Data above a combination of Wiki and Only In Your State.
More photos of The Meade and others of Bannack will follow!