Towns of the Old West

[NancyNGA]

Creede, Colorado

"The 1890 discovery of a hefty silver deposit at the Holy Moses Mine by Nicholas C. Creede lead to the nearly overnight boom of early Creede. “Creede Camp” consisted of several settlements including Stumptown, Jimtown (present-day Creede), Amethyst, Weaver, Sunnyside, and Bachelor. A colorful array of characters spent time in Creede including Bob Ford who killed Jesse James, gamblers “Poker” Alice Tubbs and Martha Jane “Calamity Jane” Burke, Marshall William “Bat” Masterson, and scoundrel Jefferson “Soapy” Smith. "

Silver mine, 1906

 

[Mrs. Robinson]

Bodie, California

I had a high school friend who,after graduation,became very interested in ghost towns. She and her husband would spend most weekends off exploring them. They named their first son Bodie.

 

[Mrs. Robinson]

I had a high school friend who,after graduation,became very interested in ghost towns. She and her husband would spend most weekends off exploring them. They named their first son Bodie.

Ooops,I`m wrong. Just found him on FB. They spelled it Bodey. But I do remember they got the name from the ghost town.

 

[NancyNGA]

Leadville, Colorado

1882

The Grand Ice Palace Of 1896

Constructed as a tourist attraction. "A crew of 250 men worked around the clock to construct the 58,000 square-foot palace. Girders, trusses and massive amounts of timber were erected as the palace frame. 5,000 tons of ice would be needed. Hand sawed ice blocks were placed on sleighs and hauled from as far away as Palmer Lake near Colorado Springs, some 75 miles away."

"The palace held a skating rink, a restaurant, a ball room, a dance floor, gaming rooms and a carousel house. Despite special trains filled with visitors, the Ice Palace was a financial disaster for its investors, so they abandoned plans to build one each winter."

 

[Meanderer]

Bannack, Montana - From Gold to Ghosts

 

[NancyNGA]

Bannack had quite a history, Meanderer. I often wonder if there were ever quiet times out West. It seems we only hear about the violence. Maybe some things never change.

 

[NancyNGA]

Chandler, Lincoln County, Oklahoma
Not exactly cowboy country, and cotton is not as sexy as gold and silver, but the town did have its share of drama.

"Lincoln county’s first bank holdup happened on July 31, 1894, when five outlaws made their way to downtown Chandler and tied their horses in the alley behind the Lincoln County Bank. When the armed bandits entered the bank, its president, O. B. Kee, told them, 'There is the money, gentlemen. Help yourselves.' The thieves took only $107 and overlooked another $300 on the counter. The daring daylight robbery made front page news because it also included a murder, a shootout, a possible lynching and an attempted jailbreak. ... "

More here

(Unable to date these 2 pictures )

Cotton wagons on main street

"On March 30, 1897, Chandler suffered a devastating blow when a tornado completely wiped out the business area and many of the new homes constructed near it. Within a just a few minutes, every building that lay within a four-block-wide area was leveled. Fourteen people were killed and scores of others injured."

 

[Roadwarrior]

Walked through this very hotel, it is supposed to be haunted, there was a cool looking wood stove in the kitchen area, it wasn't a Monarch but it was quite cool, Further on was the saloon/barbershop, across the street was the school house with old time merry-go-round, above the school was the Mason lodge. You couldn't go in the lodge but could see through the windows. On that same side of the street was the sod jail. Across from the jail was the Methodist church all in all it was an interesting ghost town. About 20 miles east of Bannack was a way station with signs explaining the vigilantes and the secret code 3-7-77. The story about 'Sheriff Plummer' was posted in the saloon.

 

[NancyNGA]

Walked through this very hotel, it is supposed to be haunted, there was a cool looking wood stove in the kitchen area, it wasn't a Monarch but it was quite cool, Further on was the saloon/barbershop, across the street was the school house with old time merry-go-round, above the school was the Mason lodge. You couldn't go in the lodge but could see through the windows. On that same side of the street was the sod jail. Across from the jail was the Methodist church all in all it was an interesting ghost town. About 20 miles east of Bannack was a way station with signs explaining the vigilantes and the secret code 3-7-77. The story about 'Sheriff Plummer' was posted in the saloon.

Thanks for the description Roadwarrior. It's great to hear from someone who has been to these places.

 

[Roadwarrior]

Another old west landmark, the first Wyoming Territorial Prison in Rawlins, Wy, Below is one of their more famous residents, Big Nose George to the right of him is what is left of him after his hanging. Story has it the lawman who was involved with his chase & capture had those shoes made out of his skin, I don't know if it's true but that is the legend. It's been closed as a prison since 1981,

George Parrott, also known as Big Nose George, Big beak Parrott, George Manuse and George Warden, was a cattle rustler and highwayman in the American Wild West in the late 19th century. His skin was made into a pair of shoes after his lynching and part of his skull was used as an ashtray.

 

[NancyNGA]

Rawlins, Wyoming

Front Street, as viewed from the grounds of the Union Pacific passenger depot, approx. 1884.

(~1907)
​..

 

[Roadwarrior]

This pic is what was called the big fill on the last leg of the Transcontinental Railway, if you were to go to the top of the hill above the big fill you would look down on the plant I worked at for 35 years, the Golden Spike is further around the curve about a mile. The Southern Pacific didn't want to blast through a tunnel to complete that section & hook up with UP, it was all about land & money.

My father as stated rode fence in that same area, he mentioned that he knew where a burial site was where many oriental workers were buried. I never ventured there, it would have been eerie but I can only imagine that it has been vandalized & scoured by many treasure hunters with their shovels & metal detectors.

 

[NancyNGA]

"The Big Fill was built by the Central Pacific to cross a 500 foot ravine. It had taken two months for the Mormon contractors to complete the rock and dirt structure. In 36 days, and just 150 feet to the east, the Union Pacific built a trestle 85 feet high to cross the same ravine. Rickety at best, the trestle was used only 6-8 months, after which time the rails were moved to The Fill. It had been completed only five days before the Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory, and within a few years the trestle was gone; it was dismantled and the timbers used elsewhere."

The old trestle, apparently in 1869

http://cowbird.com/story/142529/Trestles_And_Fill_At_Promontory/

 

[Roadwarrior]

Yer right! I don't know what I was thinking, it was the Central Pacific not Southern Pacific.

 

[Meanderer]

Ruby Arizona: Our Best Ghost Town(VIDEO)


Book

Ruby was a mining town in the early years of the last century. The mine produced gold, silver, zinc, and copper and was, for a time, highly profitable.
In the 1930's, Ruby’s population was about 1,200, with 150 students attending the school. The Post Office was established in 1912, and general store owner, Julius Andrews, named the town after his wife.
In the early 1920's, there were two double murders here. The mine closed in 1940 and, by the next year, the town was mostly abandoned.

 

[NancyNGA]

... In the early 1920's, there were two double murders here. The mine closed in 1940 and, by the next year, the town was mostly abandoned.

The old Ruby, AZ, jailhouse. That ought to hold 'em!

 

[NancyNGA]

Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood South Dakota..Resting place of Wildbill Hickok and Calamity Jane..
.
View attachment 51962

"The discovery of gold in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874 set off one of the great gold rushes in America. In 1876, miners moved into the northern Black Hills. That’s where they came across a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold and Deadwood was born."

Practically overnight, the tiny gold camp boomed into a town that played by its own rules that attracted outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers along with the gold seekers. Wild Bill Hickok was one of those men who came looking for fortune. But just a few short weeks after arriving, he was gunned down while holding a poker hand of aces and eights – forever after known as the Dead Man’s Hand."

A couple of these pictures have been posted before (in a different thread).

Newer photo

 

[Aunt Bea]

Nice archive of old photos.

https://www.archives.gov/research/american-west#towns

 

[Meanderer]

Calico, California – Revived From A Desert Grave

Three miles north of Interstate-15, midway between Barstow and Yermo, California sits the historic and restored ghost town of Calico, California.

It all began in 1875 when roving prospectors first found silver on the south slope of the Calico Mountains. However, it wasn’t until some five years later that additional ore discoveries worth $400 to $500 per ton brought about a small rush and the filing of many claims.

In the spring of 1881 came the discovery of the Silver King, Calico’s richest mine, and less than a year later the new settlement supported several businesses on a commercial street flanked by tents and adobe buildings on a narrow mesa between Wall Street Canyon and Odessa Canyon. It took its name from the myriad of colors in the mountains which are the backdrop for the town.

The weekly Calico Print appeared in October 1882 and a local stamp mill was built to begin working ores.

But in the spring of 1883, many of the local miners left Calico when borax was discovered three miles east at Borate. Later the same year, a fire destroyed much of the camp, but Calico again boomed in 1884 as additional silver discoveries were made. Gaining a population of some 2,500, the town supported two dozen saloons and gambling dives that never closed, as well as more legitimate establishments such as a church, a public school, a dance school and a literary society, along with dozens of retail businesses.

After 1884 many of the mines consolidated and late in 1888, the Oro Grande Mining Company erected an even larger stamp mill at a cost of $250,000 on the north bank of the Mojave River. Soon it connected the stamp mill, near Daggett, to the Silver King mine by the ten mile narrow-gauge Calico Railroad.

By the late 1800’s, Calico was bustling with prospectors searching their fortunes and the Calico Mining District became one of the richest in the state.

 

[NancyNGA]

... In the spring of 1881 came the discovery of the Silver King, Calico’s richest mine ...

Original crew, Silver King Mine, Calico, CA (circa 1885)

 

[RadishRose]

I'm so glad I finally caught up with this thread! The photos and links are amazing! My thanks to everyone who posted these wonderful, historical images here.

 

[NancyNGA]

Winslow, Arizona, looking east. Atlantic and Pacific Railway cars on converging tracks in the foreground, ca. 1890.

 

[NancyNGA]

Eureka, Colorado, 1873

Old gold mining town

"By 1875, Eureka had a post office. Although the community grew steadily — not like a boomtown — it quickly declined after 1939, when the Sunnyside Mill closed for the last time. Today, the only remaining structure is the Eureka jail, which has been restored. "

Sunnyside Mill, 1929