Golden Nuggets from a Montana Ghost Town
Adventures in Preservation’s first conservation project in Bannack, Montana.
Guest post by Lindy Keith*
Montana landed on my “bucket list” about 1975, researching a school project. Everything in the landscape was so different from my native Mid-Atlantic coastal woodlands. The clincher was an article on Lewis and Clark finding the headwaters of the Missouri in western Montana. When Adventures in Preservation (AiP)** offered a preservation project, there was no debate about whether my husband Brian and I were going!
The motto of Montana “Oro Y Plata,” plainly tells us what drew the early settlers to an un-tamed wilderness — gold and silver. Although, after spending a day in Butte, you have to wonder why the motto wasn’t “Gold and Copper.”
Gold was first discovered in Bannack in 1862. From panning to hydraulic mining, then on to dredging, Bannack grew and shrank with each technical innovation up until the early 1940s. After World War II, gold prices fell and Bannack began a decline of jobs and population. As early as 1940, historians and concerned citizens stepped in to preserve the mining heritage, culminating in the creation of the Bannack State Park in 1954. Structures have been lost to fire, flood, and time, but what remains are the original buildings of the first Territorial Capital. The buildings are rough and simple; the land isolated and beautifully stark. What did you have to leave behind, to think this was the right place for a new beginning?
AIP volunteers — or jammers — came to assist the Bannack Park team with preservation of two specific maintenance priorities. Adding eight full-time people more than quadrupled the amount of work that park staff could accomplish in a week, effectively taking two whole buildings off the work plan. Jammers applied period appropriate wood preservatives (boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits), removed compromised daubing, added new or additional chinking, and spread new mortar/daub. (Non-traditional chinking has been documented at Bannack including a pair orange-brown polyester Levi “jeans,” which truly deserved to be stuffed into a hole in the wall….)
Applying mortar to wood is exactly the same as applying it to stone, except completely different. The stone grabs the mortar differently than dry wood. Even with the application of the oil-based preservative, the dryness of the wood was a challenge. Because the lines of mortar daub alternate with the logs, the joints had to slope so water could flow down the sides of the building without pooling on the wood. The same sloping detail was needed around the chinking, some of which had maddening narrow gaps that were tough to close.
Daytime summer temps reach the high 80s; nighttime winter temps creep towards/below zero. Captured in a topographical bowl between two mountain ranges, Bannack has little rain, moisture primarily comes from winter snows. During the week, humidity hovered around zero, maybe less. The conditions were in stark contrast to the September 2018 Dunans’ Castle project. In Argyll, we covered the mortar so the rain wouldn’t turn it to soup. In Bannack, we covered the mortar with damp cloths trying to keep it from drying out!
A healthy sized prairie rattler staked his claim to a lane of the park access road one morning. Ground squirrels and rabbits live in the sagebrush. Magpies, raptors, swallows, and deer were spotted, but no bears. Standing on the edge of the cemetery hill overlooking Bannack, it is possible not only to see how the landscape was scarred and changed by mining, but also the harsh beauty of a place that continues to draw people to it today. There are few photos that can do justice to the constantly changing sky.
Everyone enjoyed the humor, skills, and experience of the Bannack Park team. Dan B. of the Bannack staff, shared his first-hand experience with the site and buildings. Jeff C., on loan from the Montana Heritage Association, shared expert knowledge of mortar chemistry and the interaction of mortar with wood and weather; Kate M., Historic Preservation Officer for the Great Falls/Cascade region, worked alongside the jammers at each step; Jeff M, our preservation consultant, has worked for years in the region, including as the preservation officer for Virginia City. There was ample time for tutoring on the fine art of applying mortar/daub, and for one-on-one discussion about preservation topics (including politics and funding).
The Group ended the week with a trip to Virginia City, accompanied by a brief, but welcome rainstorm. Virginia City has active commercial entities, interpreters, and a resident population to influence the investment and maintenance priorities. Bannack was abandoned, but represents a moment in time and history, where the imagination of the visitors tells the story. These two cities represent two very different philosophies about “preservation!”
The AIP — Bannack State Park partnership will continue for two more years, providing a unique opportunity to make an impact preserving a slice of the history of America’s westward expansion. Proximity to Yellowstone National Park is a plus. (Although, Brian and I headed in other direction to see those Missouri Headwaters.) Butte and The Mining Museum of America make a worthwhile day trip for understanding the economic and environmental impact of mining on Montana lands and peoples.
* About the author, Lindy Keith
Bannack was my second preservation project with AIP. I am a veteran of two very damp weeks at Dunans Castle in September 2018, accompanied by husband and daughter. Between the waves of rain, I acquired basic stone mortar skills, helped clear the drains on the Dunan’s bridge, and helped rebuild portions of the ha-ha wall. Returning to Dunans in September 2019 with husband and son, after which I will continue my relentless campaign to recruit friends and family to future AIP projects.
** About Adventures in Preservation (AiP)
Adventures in Preservation (AiP) is a non-profit connecting people and preservation through enriching cultural heritage travel and hands-on education. AiP was founded in 2001 by two women with a great love of historic buildings and a strong desire to travel and understand the world. While perusing the travel section of the Boulder Bookstore, the Volunteer Vacation section suddenly brought everything into focus. Judith Broeker and Jamie Donahoe combined their goal of saving historic buildings with the concept of experiential travel, and created AiP’s hands-on preservation vacations.
Work started on several sites in the U.S., and as word spread, requests for help began to pour in from around the world, underscoring the great potential of using volunteers to restore historic buildings. In supporting community-based preservation initiatives, we discovered that our love of old buildings could translate into environmental and economic sustainability for communities.
AiP is picking up the pace! As our hands-on experiential travel becomes more popular, we have new projects, new partners and initiatives to keep you excited and involved.
