When we arrived, we scoped out the place. Just below Nevada City we watched 5 deer prance through an idyllic setting, a stream with beavers and ducks.
Virginia City and Nevada City, both on Alder Creek in Montana, came to life in 1863 when one guy just passing through found a chunk of gold in the creek. Within months, a "14 mile city" grew, and Virginia City went from a population of 0 to 30,000. Today, Both Nevada City and Virginia City are registered as historic landmarks, as are many of the buildings. During the summer, actors in period costume populate the two towns to take visitors back to the 1860's. We arrived after Labor Day, so no such luck, but enjoyed it anyway. It was less crowded, which is always a good thing.
Lee and I met a fellow who was born and raised in Virginia City (which today has a population of 143) who suggested we drive on a dirt road that led up the canyon above the town. So we did. We first met several cows:
We found a mining operation for sale, which included 8 claims from the Bureau of Land Management. Would anyone like to buy a gold mining operation? It's that light green building against the hillside.
Further up, we found a couple of abandoned mines:
Sometimes the road went along the stream, sometimes we were above the stream:
At one point there was a small lake, bordered by wildflowers:
We saw lots of tailings, or piles of rocks that placer miners had removed from the stream bed:
We actually met a man along the road, shoveling dirt from the road cut. He had two pails, and was hunting for gold. He said it was a good way to keep out of trouble on the weekends. Lee asked him if he had found any gold yet, and the guy said he had unearthed a 1/2 ounce.
There are still 2 or 3 active mines on Alder Creek. The man who was born and raised in Virginia City (the one I mentioned earlier) told us the "mother lode" (the vein of gold in the rock) has never been found, so some are still hopeful and still searching.
Nevada City is the smaller of the two towns, but charming in its own way:
Virginia City is a little more elegant, but sometimes rustic:
We ended the day with a visit to the graveyard, on the hill above the town. Here is the view:
Here is one of the grave markers. Montana was not yet a state in 1863-64, and towns had their own brand of justice. In Virgina City, this brand was called "The Vigilantes".
