Bannack

Montana’s first gold rush began near here at Grasshopper Creek in the summer of 1862. Prospectors John White and company camped along the insect-infested banks as they looked for a shortcut to the Deer Lodge valley. They panned the gravel—as was their habit—and found color, touching off Montana’s first gold rush. Miners swarmed to the new placers and a rip-roaring new settlement called Bannack quickly sprang up. The Civil War divided the town into Jeff Davis Gulch and Yankee Flats. By fall its population was 500, eventually rising to 5,000. Upon creation of Montana Territory in 1864, Governor Sidney Edgerton designated Bannack the temporary capital and called the first legislature there in December. But gold discoveries at Alder Gulch stole Bannack’s fickle residents and the territorial capital moved to Virginia City. Bannack was the scene of several vigilante hangings in 1864, including that of its infamous sheriff, Henry Plummer. It was the Beaverhead County seat until 1881 when few people remained. Those who did mined for gold with different methods until 1954 when the State of Montana acquired most of the town. It then became a state park, earning status as a National Historic Landmark in 1961.