Virginia City - Montana 2013

9-1-13

This morning I moved 66 miles, to Ruby River Reservoir. The reservoir is located near Virginia City, Montana. It is an old mining town just like its namesake in Nevada. To make it even more complicated there is a Nevada City about two miles from Virginia City. Both, Virginia City and Nevada City, were boom towns in the 1860s when gold was found in Alder Gulch. About 10,000 people lived in the valley in 1864.

Most of the group is here. Two old time WIN members are also here; I have never seen them before.

After setting up the motorhome I went to Nevada City. I was informed that there would be a hanging at 11:00 AM. Since I never had the pleasure witnessing a hanging I made sure not to miss it. First I walked the town.

Some of the buildings are original Nevada City buildings and other buildings came from other towns and were brought to this location by Charlie Bovey and his wife. Both of them were conservationists.

Hangings seemed to be popular in the gold rush days.

Children in period clothing were playing in the yard. 

Since I had more time before the hanging I drove to Virginia City which is about two miles from Nevada City. The buildings in both places are very similar.

The court house is the biggest and best looking building in town. 

The Elks Lodge is a large building too. I did not find out whether it is still a lodge. Not many people live around here to support such a large building. 

After the Virginia visit I went back to Nevada City. Part of the town is a museum. At the entrance is a music hall. For a quarter large machines play old and new songs. The machines are a whole orchestra. 

The buildings represent all the trades which were necessary to form a community. 

In two buildings women were cooking meals. 

There was some shooting and women came out of a building. 

Three men in the bar were talking about a drunken man causing trouble in town. 

A man who hardly could walk appeared and later was joined by a friend. 

They caused a disturbance at the post office. 

After the two got in more trouble one was shot.

The other was told to get on his horse and get out of town, but he was too drunk to do that.

The vigilantes had a fast trial and got him ready to be hanged. 

A few minutes later he was at the gallows. Women pleaded with the vigilantes to spare his life. They removed the chair and the deed was done. 

His wife appeared and gave the vigilantes a lecture. 

The drunkard got up and for the children in the audience it was explained that the man wore a harness and was not harmed. It was a good production. People volunteer on the weekend to do this. Shootouts in some other former mining towns are outright stupid, but here they do it right.

Today I am exactly one year on my own. It still hurts but I am getting along. Being with the group helps. Actually I am not alone in the motorhome. I have an uninvited guest. In one drawer, near the water heater, I found chewed on boxes. I have nuts in them. Catching that little critter is a number one priority.  

9-2-13

On my morning walk I saw the clouds appear. Rain was in the weather forecast.

I went one more time to Virginia City. At the Boot Hill Cemetery are the graves of the five outlaws who robbed people who had found gold. The vigilantes hanged them.

From top of the hill one has a good view of the town. There was no blue sky.

In town tourists were going sightseeing on an old fire truck.

And a stage coach. At 1:00 PM the fire truck and the stage coach were full with customers. 

I got back to the motorhome at 2:00 PM and it started to rain. It was a good time for a nap. At the 5:00 PM circle meeting I was reminded that at 6:00 PM was soup eating time. It was decided last night that everybody should bring something to make a soup. I had forgotten it and it was not mentioned this morning at Hugs and Mugs. When I asked what I could bring it was too late. The soup was cooking already. Bertie made two soups. One was spicy. They both were delicious. Some people brought cookies and other desserts. The rain had stopped and we had a good time.

Curt had found a lot of wood. I cut it to size and we had a large campfire. This was a very good day, our last day at Ruby River Reservoir. Some of us are going south and some will join Chuck and his kayaking group.