Continuing west, we stayed 2 nights in Garrison, MT and made a day trip to city of Helena.
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| Helena - Montana State Capitol |
We took a trolley-train ride tour to hear about the rich history and see the beautiful historic mansions and buildings of Helena. The streets wind around in a haphazard fashion since they were built following a creek (since dried up) and mining claims (since gone bust). The main street is called Last Chance Gulch because, as the story goes, three fella's from out east came to Montana to prospect for gold and strike it rich. Well, they didn't find any gold and decided to use the last of their money to buy supplies and head back east. The night before they left, while camping by this creek, one of the fella's said "well this is our last chance, so we might as well look for some gold". They starting panning in the creek and HALLAILUAH, THEY FOUND GOLD! The 3 guys staked their claim and ended up pulling out $3 million dollars worth of gold...at $3/an ounce. The gold found in Last Chance Gulch started a gold rush and Helena ended up with the most millionaires in the Montana Territory.
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| "I'm just resting my eyes." |
Osburn, ID - Sept. 14 & 15
GOLD TO SILVER
Today we continued on our way to the panhandle of Northeast Idaho and stayed at Blue Anchor RV Park in Osburn, ID. Osburn is in the heart of silver country with the town of Wallace, ID just a few miles down the road. Wallace is still a thriving community and all the buildings in the town have been designated historic landmarks. After 1900, Wallace became one of the world's richest mining districts. By 2011, the district had produced over 1.3 billion ounces of silver and today they still mine silver, lead and zinc. They expect to take another billion ounces of silver out of the mountains.
DA HO'S IN IDAHO
We meandered around the streets of Wallace and stopped for a guided tour at the Oasis Bordello Museum. January 1988, Ginger, the madam of the Oasis Hotel (the last of 13 Bordellos in Wallace), got a call from the sheriff warning her that Feds were in town. Ginger and her girls grabbed some clothes and a few things they might need for a couple of days and cleared out, leaving everything else behind. Ginger and her girls were too afraid to return to Wallace, so the Oasis has been frozen in time with clothing, furnishings and personal items still in place as they were that day in January 1988. Ginger moved to California and eventually sold her hotel, with the new owner turning it into a tourist attraction and museum. As it turned out, the Feds weren't interested in Ginger's business, they were in Wallace to investigate the sheriff who was on the take for gambling, drugs, and prostitution.
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| "I gotta see THIS!" The green door on the left is the "hotel" entrance. |
CHURCH AND CONFESSION
Sunday we drove further north along rivers, lakes, and through the beautiful mountains of the Idaho Panhandle. We stopped in Cataldo, ID at The Old Mission State Park. The Mission was built by the Coeur d'Alene Indians and Jesuit Missionaries in 1850. The Mission and Parrish House have been restored and are open for viewing.
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| The Old Mission "rose like a miracle in an almost total wilderness where even log houses were rare..." |
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| Inside the mission. |
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| My first time going to confession. |
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