Garnet, Montana: The Gold Camp a Shallow Vein and a Fire Hollowed Out

Summary

Garnet sits in the Garnet Range of western Montana, northeast of Missoula, where prospectors had worked placer gold along the gulches since the 1860s before the hard-rock boom of the mid-1890s gave rise to the town. The settlement coalesced in 1895 around a stamp mill built at First Chance Gulch — reportedly by Dr. Armistead Mitchell, for whom the camp was first named Mitchell — and was renamed Garnet in 1897 after the garnet stones found in the surrounding range. Within a few years it became the commercial center for a cluster of hard-rock mines high in the timbered mountains.

The town's growth was rapid. The rich strike made by prospector Sam Ritchey at his Nancy Hanks Mine — named for Abraham Lincoln's mother — west of town helped touch off the rush, and by January 1898 nearly a thousand people lived in Garnet. The town carried four stores, four hotels, three livery stables, a school, a doctor's office, an assay office, a union hall, and some thirteen saloons. The merchant Frank A. Davey, whose store opened around 1898 and sold everything from dry goods and jewelry to mining tools and meat, became one of the town's enduring figures. For a brief period Garnet was a busy, family-oriented mining community rather than a rough transient camp.

Garnet's gold, however, was relatively shallow and the rich ore did not last. By 1900 the population had fallen to about 300, and by 1905 many of the mines were abandoned and only around 150 people remained; in all, roughly $950,000 in gold was recovered from the district's mines by about 1917. A fire in 1912 destroyed much of the commercial district, and with the town already shrinking there was little will or money to rebuild what had burned. Garnet slipped toward ghost-town status well before the First World War.

A brief revival came in the 1930s, when higher Depression-era gold prices drew a small number of miners back to rework the old ground, but the resurgence was modest and short-lived, and the town was largely empty again by the 1940s as remaining residents left for wartime jobs. Since 1970 Garnet has been administered by the federal Bureau of Land Management together with the volunteer Garnet Preservation Association; more than thirty structures survive, the site draws on the order of 16,000 visitors a year, and it is promoted as Montana's best-preserved ghost town.

Timeline

The Boom

Placer miners had worked the gulches of the Garnet Range since the 1860s, but the town itself grew out of the hard-rock gold boom of the mid-1890s, when rich quartz veins were developed in the high country. A stamp mill built at First Chance Gulch in 1895 drew a camp first known as Mitchell, renamed Garnet in 1897. The rich strike made by prospector Sam Ritchey at the Nancy Hanks Mine — which he named for Abraham Lincoln's mother — helped trigger a rush of miners into the district.

Garnet rose quickly into a substantial community. By January 1898 its population approached a thousand, and the town carried four stores, four hotels, three livery stables, two barber shops, a school, a doctor's office, an assay office, a union hall, and thirteen saloons serving the miners and their families. Frank A. Davey, whose store opened around 1898 selling dry goods, clothing, jewelry, hardware, and mining tools and for a time housing the post office, became one of the town's lasting personalities and would remain long after most others had gone. For a few years Garnet functioned as a genuine, settled mining town in a region better known for transient camps.

Why It Died

Garnet's prosperity rested on gold that proved relatively shallow and quickly exhausted. The rich near-surface ore that had drawn the rush gave out within a few years: by 1900 the population had fallen to about 300, and by 1905 many of the mines were abandoned and only around 150 people remained. Roughly $950,000 in gold was extracted from the district's mines by about 1917.

A fire in 1912 swept through and destroyed much of the commercial district. Because the town was already in steep decline, the burned buildings were largely not rebuilt — there was neither the population nor the money to justify it — and the fire effectively accelerated Garnet toward abandonment. A modest revival arrived in the 1930s, when the Depression-era rise in gold prices made it worthwhile to rework the old ground, and a small number of miners returned for a time. That resurgence was limited and temporary, however, and once it faded — with the remaining residents leaving for defense-related work — Garnet was largely deserted again by the 1940s.

Contributing Factors

What Remains Today

More than thirty structures survive at Garnet, including cabins, hotels, Davey's store, and other frame buildings, preserved by the Bureau of Land Management together with the volunteer Garnet Preservation Association. The Garnet Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, encompassing dozens of contributing buildings, structures, and sites across the townsite. The relatively undisturbed state of the remaining buildings — a result of the town's quiet abandonment rather than demolition — makes Garnet one of the most intact ghost towns in Montana, drawing on the order of 16,000 visitors a year.

The site is reached by a gravel mountain road and is open to the public seasonally, with a visitor center and interpretive information. In an unusual arrangement, the BLM rents out a couple of the historic cabins to visitors during the winter, when the road is accessible only by ski, snowshoe, or snowmobile. Garnet is actively promoted as a heritage destination and stands as a well-documented example of a hard-rock gold camp that rose, briefly thrived, burned, faded, briefly revived, and was preserved.

Lessons

References

• Garnet, Montana Wikipedia
• Garnet Ghost Town Bureau of Land Management
• Garnet Preservation Association Garnet Preservation Association