The Gallivanting Ledets: Sula, MT to Lava Hot Springs, ID-July 19

Headed south and slowly toward home. After nearly two weeks of temps in the 60-70 range, this near 90° stuff isn’t any fun! Our main stop today was at Bannack State Park in Montana. It is as near to a true ghost town as I’ve ever been to as there are only a couple of houses that park personnel live in and all the rest are empty. And at least one is reportedly haunted. It started as a gold rush town in 1862-63 and ebbed and flowed until the 1960’s when nearly everyone was gone from the town. It is now a state park with camping outside of town and main street preserved with many buildings from the early days of the town. It was a wild town in its early days with many shootings and hangings. Even the sheriff and his deputies were hung for being the head of a criminal gang.

Here are pictures from today.

I love old barns!

David checking out one of the buildings in Bannack

This was the first county courthouse in the territory of Montana. When the county seat moved to Dillon, this was bought and remodeled into a hotel. The back part was added on for a kitchen, dining rooms and more rooms upstairs.

What one of the hotel rooms would have looked like.

Beautiful front stairway.

Fancy hinges!

Some of the mining equipment with the hotel in the background

The bankers house. It was definitely the fanciest house on the street.

The Methodist Church, the only structure ever built in Bannack as a place of worship.

David thought the hat holders underneath the seats in the church were a nice touch.

I loved the way this old wood looked.

And I love old wheelbarrows.

One of two jails. In the early days of the town, they had a hard time finding anyone willing to watch prisoners as the men all wanted to be mining for gold, so the jails wasn't used much. Instead the "bad guys" were given a warning, run out of town, or hung.