rk in front of Peter T’s bank there is a very nice metal sculpture of an elk hunter and horses being menaced by bears—hungry bears after the elk meat on the pack animal.Veteran’s Park near The Reel Decoy Restaurant where we ate last night flies a huge American flag that can be seen from all over town. The towns website declares: “In the heart of the Madison Valley, this country is truly the best of the west. The Indians called this valley, "the Land of the Shining Mountains," the locals call it Heaven.”The site continues: “An authentic western town, Ennis is surrounded by three ranges of the Rocky Mountains and three million acres of the Beaverhead National Forest. This is Lewis and Clark country. It is also a true part of the Treasure State. Gold was discovered here in the 1860's and rubies can still be found in the Ruby Valley only 20 miles from Ennis.”
William Ennis, a freight hauler serving the gold fields founded the city named after him in this scenic location along the Madison. The fabled rubies, however, are really garnet a pretty semi-precious stone.
The town’s web site also has a great history section with pictures:
http://www.ennismontana.org/historic_points.htm
Next stop Virginia City just a short 20 mile ride west over Virginia City Pass to where gold was discovered in Alder Creek by William Fairweather who also founded the Fairweather hotel. The hotel is still open, and is being painted, somewhat haphazardly, by a crew from Ameri-Corps today. The dry climate has preserved the wooden structures in this town for more than 100 years, but they still need maintenance.
The grave of Fairweather is in the Virginia City cemetery on a bluff above town near Boothill cemetery where those hanged by the Vigilantes rest. There lilacs are in bloom. We left Virginia City to tour the gold dredging sites and visit Nevada City a few miles away.
The restored gold rush village of Nevada City sits on the site of the gold rush town by the same name. A foundation has rescued 17 of the
original buildings and added another 30 from all over the West to create an authentic replica of a gold rush town. There is a music hall that came from Canyon Lodge in Yellowstone Park, a hotel (still functioning) that was once a stage station, a one-room school, post office and assorted other buildings. There is even a 2-story outhouse. Fun.Returning to Virginia City, we purchased tickets to see the Virginia City Players production of Dracula’s Daughters: A Family Comedy. While waiting for show time we visited the local stores, went to the museum to see Club-foot Johnson’s mummified foot and the marker from his grave—history buffs will remember that Club-foot was hanged by the infamous Vigilantes. We learned a lot about this town’s history. The Vigilante calling card, 3-7-77, appears today on the Montana Highway Patrol badge. For more on that try wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-7-77
The extraordinary cast of the Players put on a great show that the audience of young cam
pers and tourists applauded with enthusiasm. On this second night of the summer season the actors were enthusiastic if not always sure of their lines; the set manager came on stage a couple of times to correct small problems. The play was followed by intermission and a variety show featuring the cast. The rousing finale was "Montana the Beautiful" with many of the audience joining in. Great show.This is the 60th year of the Players. When we bought our tickets Katie the stage manager asked me if I had been here before. I answered yes, but said it was long ago. She asked if I know any players—the name Ben Tone popped into my head. He was a founding actor, later taught at Montana State, and is still living in Ennis. He is 85 years old. I was active in the Montana State College theater group while a student at MSC in the 50’s. A group of us went down to see Ben and friends who had joined the Players for the summer. Break a Leg, Players.
Return to Ennis in daylight, 9:30PM, to get ready for tomorrows travel through Bozeman to Billings.
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