The Pintler Wilderness Area was designated as a Primitive Area in 1937, and reclassified as a Wilderness Area in 1964. It is administered jointly by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Bitterroot National Forests. The name is derived from the town and its copper mining company and from Charles and Katie Pintler, homesteaders who in 1885 settled along Pintler Creek between the Big Hole National Battlefield and
Wisdom.[1]
Archives for October 2017
Granite Ghost Town
Hector Horton first discovered silver in the general area in 1865. In the autumn of 1872 the Granite mine was discovered by a prospector named Holland. The mine was relocated in 1875. This is one of the best of all ghost camps. This was the richest silver mine on the earth, and it might never have been discovered if a telegram from the east hadn’t been delayed. The miner’s backers thought the venture was hopeless and ordered an end to its operation, but the last blast on the last shift uncovered a bonanza, which yielded $40,000,000.
In the silver panic of 1893, word came to shut the mine down. The mine was deserted for three years, never again would it reach the population it once had of 3,000 miners.
Today there is no one living in the camp. The shell of the Miners’ Union Hall still stands. The roof supports have caved to the bottom floor, the third-floor dance hall, second-floor union offices, and ground-floor saloon/cafe are about to collapse together. The company hospital still stands.
Granite Ghost Town is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon wandering through the old town. There are picnic tables available.
Anaconda Smoke Stack
The Anaconda Smelter Stack is a brick smoke stack, once part of the smelter of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company at Anaconda, Montana in the United States. The stack is 585 feet 1 1⁄2 inches (178.346 m) tall, excluding its foundation. The stack contains 2,464,652 locally manufactured perforated tile bricks, each averaging 2.7 times larger by volume than the size of a normal brick. The lowest 80 feet (24 m) is octagonal in cross section while the rest is circular. The vertices of the octagon point to the cardinal and intercardinal directions, north, northeast, east, etc., while its sides face the secondary-intercardinal directions, north-northeast, east-northeast, etc. Two large rectangular openings are in the octagonal portion, both slightly smaller than a side, on the east-southeast and south-southwest sides. Its circular portion is encircled by many large steel rods for reinforcement. The concrete foundation is stated to be 30 feet (9.1 m) tall, but that is its maximum height on its south-southeast side (it is much shorter on the opposite side). The inside diameter of the stack is 75 ft (23 m) at the bottom and 60 ft (18 m) at the top. The wall thickness ranges from six feet at the bottom to two feet at the top.
After the concrete foundation was completed in May 1918, construction of the stack began on May 23, 1918 and was completed on November 30, 1918. It was built by the Alphons Custodis Chimney Construction Company of New York. At the time it was built, it was the tallest masonry, brickwork structure and chimney of any kind in the world and it remains the world’s tallest and possibly largest free-standing masonry structure.[9] The Washington Monument would easily fit inside except for 1.5 feet (0.5 m) of each corner at its base. It is commonly referred to as ‘The Stack’ and is a well-known landmark in western Montana.
The stack was designed to discharge exhaust gases from the various roasting and smelting furnaces at the smelter. The stack is situated just below the top of a hill. The smelter had a large network of exhaust flues from the furnaces that all fed a main flue. The main flue carried the combined smelter exhaust gases a half-mile up the hill to the stack. The flue system and stack combined to provide a natural draft to carry the smelter exhaust gases, and it was claimed to be capable of handling three to four million cubic feet per minute of gas.
The Anaconda Smelter was demolished after its closure in 1981. The stack alone, however, remains standing because the citizens of Anaconda organized to “Save the Stack,” and in 1986 it was designated a state park. The park is known as Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park. The park has two parts: the viewing/parking area just east of the town of Anaconda and the smoke stack which is about 1.2 miles (1.9 km) southeast of the viewing area. Although the site underwent some environmental cleanup, the general public is not allowed access to the stack itself because the soil around it is still hazardous due to contamination by the toxic metal arsenic as well as copper, cadmium, lead and zinc.
Lone Mountain Ranch Sleigh Ride Dinner
This is one of the best dinner experiences in Big Sky. The sleigh departs from Lone Mountain Ranch and rides through the woods for about 15-20 minutes to the North Fork Cabin. Dinner is prime rib, slow roasted to perfection and is served family style. The evening is filled with great conversation and entertainment. Call (406) 995-4644 or click here as Reservations are a must.
Manhattan, MT
Manhattan, MT is located 20 minutes west of Bozeman with the beautiful backdrop of the Bridger Mountains. If you want to eat where the locals eat, stop in at Sir Scotts Oasis. This steakhouse is one of the best in Montana.