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Nevada City only grew to about 1/5 the size of Virginia City but it was home to several placer miners. A group known as the Vigilantes rose to bring some order, often by means of a hanging. As the population rose, so did the violence. Virginia City was even home to Montana’s first telegraph. Large buildings, restaurants, stores and saloons also served the transportation hub. A two-room schoolhouse served 81 inquisitive pupils.
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Replaced with over 1,000 permanent structures. By 1868, the makeshift camps and shanties had been Virginia City won the title of Territorial Capital of Montana in 1865 but lost that accreditation ten years later.
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Lode mining would see a revival in the 1930s when the price of gold rose. Local mills concentrated ore from local lode mines in the 1860s and 1870s. Dredging operations would follow into the 1920s, destroying many communities in its path. Hydraulicking was introduced in 1867, a technique that breaks down banks of gravel by the impact of powerful jets of water. Placer mining would continue for the next few years producing some $30 million. Sure enough, the men were able to pan out $180 of gold. Putting rattlesnakes down his shirt and throttling a medicine man with a medicine bush were just some of his antics.Īfter the altercation, while making their camp, Fairweather noticed some rimrock that caught his eye. Edgar’s diary tells us that Fairweather pulled some fancy tricks to ensure their escape. Word has it that the group of prospectors were captured by a local band of Crow Indians along their trip. Camps like Virginia City, Nevada City, Adobe Town, Junction City and Summit, among others would thrive along the 14 mile stretch of road. They would find it on and once the secret was out, 10,000 people would flood the area, all with the same mission. As nearby Bannack’s placers started to run out, Henry Edgar, Bill Sweeney, William Fairweather and a few other prospectors were on the hunt for more of the shiny stuff. Placer gold strikes along Alder Gulch in the early 1860s would produce mining camps all along that gulch comprising what became known as the “fourteen mile city”.