Chapter Six PowerPoint Montana’s Gold and Silver Boom -1862-1893

The Rush to Montana Began in the 1848 with the discovery of Gold in California Prospectors worked an area until it was “Played Out” or, it no longer yielded gold 1850’s – Gold Discovered in Montana Created the “Boom and Bust” – a new economic cycle or pattern in Montana. Now gold is the new currency instead of furs or trade goods.

The Major Players Benetsee – discovered small amount of gold in Deer Lodge Valley John White – found gold at Grasshopper Creek Bill Fairweather – discovered gold and named the area Alder Gulch Four Georgians – Last Chance Gulch Charles McClure – Granite Mountain (Silver Mine) -Deer Lodge Valley – Not much gold, just enough to get people talking -Grasshopper Creek named because there were so many grasshoppers, much more gold, sparked excitement and attracted 400 miners in one summer -

Grasshopper Creek was later named… Bannack, after nearby “Bannock” Indians The town grew so fast because it was the first major gold strike in Montana Produced $5 Million in gold in the first year ($90 Million today)

Alder Gulch – An Accident Bill Fairweather stumbled upon the richest gold discovery in Montana “Fourteen-Mile City” a stretch of towns 14 miles long along Alder Gulch (the largest is Virginia City)

Last Chance Gulch “Four Georgians” got their name because they came up with a gold- panning technique called the ______________________. Georgian Method

Mining Specifics Stamp Mill – where large rocks were crushed into sand Placer Mining – separating loose gold and nuggets from dirt, sand and gravel in a creek bed Panning – separating gold from gravel in a shallow pan

Mining Jobs Miner 1. Under 30 2. Worked long days 3. Very few struck it rich

Mining Jobs Prospector – people who searched for gold Granville (and James) Stewart, prospectors who discovered gold at Gold Creek

Mining Jobs Assayer – determined the value or quality of gold

Attracting and blending cultures Mining brought people from the following cultures to Montana in search for gold: -Chinese, German, Dutch, British, Irish Indians vs. Non-Indians: the biggest difference of opinion between the two was that Non-Indians believed in private ownership of land. With new cultures, brings prejudice and racism. This is where we begin to see “No Indians” and “No Chinese” signs posted at businesses.

Governing a New Land New government was established in Montana Sidney Edgerton: Chief Justice of Idaho Territory Edgerton convinced Congress to make Montana a territory by explaining how valuable the gold fields were Miner’s Court: established because miners were too far away from established governments

Territory vs. State Differences between a territory and a state: 1. territory has a smaller population 2. leaders of a territory were appointed by the federal government 3. territorial representatives could not vote in the US Congress

How different cultures fit in… New territory created a problem for Indians because they were not protected under any of the new laws Any Indian could be punished for committing a crime, but Indians had no representation if a crime was committed against them by a white person. The only racial or ethnic group to have the law exclude them from Montana was the Chinese

Gold, then Silver Silver boom in Butte – 1870’s Getting silver and gold out of rock – Quartz Mining Quartz Mining – how miners recovered gold from rocks Discovery of Silver in Butte lead to people outside of Montana wanting to move here

Quartz Mining vs. Placer Mining Took more workers Required large equipment Was more expensive to operate