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I thought this all tied together somewhere between Virginia City and Bannock. I did a bit of looking into the history of the Alder Gulch/Virginia City strike, and even spent the night one night, camped out at the foot of ‘boot hill’.

Fascinating area, geology and history.

I thought this all tied together somewhere between Virginia City and Bannock. I did a bit of looking into the history of the Alder Gulch/Virginia City strike, and even spent the night one night, camped out at the foot of ‘boot hill’.

Nice place for a picnic. And the town of Bannock is now a preserved historical site.

Fascinating area, geology and history.

Concur. I became acquainted with the region after a study of the Montana Southern Railway, the last narrow-gauge common carrier RR to be built in the USA. It ran from Divide to Coolidge, MT, from 1919 to 1933.

You'd think with all the narrow-gauge crazies and tourist attractions in Colorado, there'd be more interest in the MS. I guess the area just has too much quiet dignity for that sort of exploitation.

You're standing on the bed of the old Montana Southern Railway, built to transport silver ore from the nearby Elkhorn Mine at Coolidge to Divide, 40 miles northeast. From there, the crushed ore was transferred to the Oregon Short Line and shipped out of state. Believed to be the last narrow-gauge railroad constructed in the Lower 48, the Montana Southern debuted in November 1919 to a great local fanfare. The railroad operated several times a week for only eight short years before the Pettengill Dam ruptured, flooding company facilities at Allentown and washing out major sections of the railroad. It was the last straw for the Montana Southern's financially troubled parent company, the Boston and Montana Mining Company, which owned the surrounding claims. Despite efforts to refinance and reopen both the mines and the railroad, the Montana Southern never ran again.

The Montana Southern Railway was an expensive, difficult undertaking. In just 40 miles, it had to negotiate the narrow, winding Wise River Canyon, dozens of stream crossings along Wise River and steep rolling terrain that marked the last five miles from Mono Creek to Coolidge. Built at a cost of $1.5 million, the railway's 200-foot-long-tunnel, four major trestles and numerous deep cuts and fills represented state-of-the-art engineering. Look for remnants of one of the railroad trestles at Happy Creek, less than a quarter-mile's walk east along the old railroad bed from behind Mono Campground. (Coolidge. Photo by Fred Bridenstine)

I thought this all tied together somewhere between Virginia City and Bannock. I did a bit of looking into the history of the Alder Gulch/Virginia City strike, and even spent the night one night, camped out at the foot of ‘boot hill’.

Nice place for a picnic. And the town of Bannock is now a preserved historical site.

Fascinating area, geology and history.

Concur. I became acquainted with the region after a study of the Montana Southern Railway, the last narrow-gauge common carrier RR to be built in the USA. It ran from Divide to Coolidge, MT, from 1919 to 1933.

You'd think with all the narrow-gauge crazies and tourist attractions in Colorado, there'd be more interest in the MS. I guess the area just has too much quiet dignity for that sort of exploitation.

You're standing on the bed of the old Montana Southern Railway, built to transport silver ore from the nearby Elkhorn Mine at Coolidge to Divide, 40 miles northeast. From there, the crushed ore was transferred to the Oregon Short Line and shipped out of state. Believed to be the last narrow-gauge railroad constructed in the Lower 48, the Montana Southern debuted in November 1919 to a great local fanfare. The railroad operated several times a week for only eight short years before the Pettengill Dam ruptured, flooding company facilities at Allentown and washing out major sections of the railroad. It was the last straw for the Montana Southern's financially troubled parent company, the Boston and Montana Mining Company, which owned the surrounding claims. Despite efforts to refinance and reopen both the mines and the railroad, the Montana Southern never ran again.

The Montana Southern Railway was an expensive, difficult undertaking. In just 40 miles, it had to negotiate the narrow, winding Wise River Canyon, dozens of stream crossings along Wise River and steep rolling terrain that marked the last five miles from Mono Creek to Coolidge. Built at a cost of $1.5 million, the railway's 200-foot-long-tunnel, four major trestles and numerous deep cuts and fills represented state-of-the-art engineering. Look for remnants of one of the railroad trestles at Happy Creek, less than a quarter-mile's walk east along the old railroad bed from behind Mono Campground. (Coolidge. Photo by Fred Bridenstine)