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In the final installment of the series, we follow the life of a woman whose unwavering dedication helped preserve the historic town of Bannack, ensuring its stories and its spirit would endure for generations. Across the street from the Methodist church near the middle of town lies the Ovitt Store. Once home to a saloon, a bustling boarding house, and even a bakery, the building found new life in the 1950s when Mrs. Mabel Ovitt took over and turned it into a shop. Mabel was b

The heart of Bannack holds its share of stories, but it’s in the forgotten edges of town where the ghosts whisper loudest. While most ghost towns offer only a few scattered cabins, Bannack tells a fuller story. Some came to strike it rich, digging deep into the earth. Others saw opportunity above ground, opening businesses to serve the miners. And then there were the drifters, drawn by the chaos and chance of a town on the edge of nowhere, chasing drink, cards, and fleeting f

As I rolled down the highway, I was pointed towards "the door through which the world rushed into Montana," according to Lora Anderson-Gale. I'm talking about Bannack, the Montana ghost town that started it all. After resupplying in Dillon for the better part of the day, I booked it over Badger Pass through the white-dusted sagebrush that smattered the rolling hills surrounding me in early November. Bannack is one of the best-preserved ghost towns in the state of Montana. Eac

Barreling out of Helena that morning, I was bound for a piece of history unlike others; it was for sale to the highest bidder. The ghost...

Standing up on that hill beneath the shadow of Mount Belmont was the crown of the town, an old cabin with only its walls still vertical. The dwelling faced east, and the wood stain from long ago had been bleached lighter and lighter with the decades of sun, only holding on in the boards' most porous spots. The front wall with its steep pitch cast a distinct shape upon the hills, and It made me wonder if my young great-grandfather had laid his own eyes on the same structure lo

Standing above the haggard former mining outpost of Garnet, I felt like I was in the foreground of an old Charles Russell painting as the...

I woke up that morning along Howard Lake, under the watchful eye of Elephant Peak and was greeted with a bit of fresh snow on top of an...

I was bound for the heart of Montana mining history—the gulch that would grow to become the richest placer gold strike in all the Rocky...