M O N T A N A H I S T O R Y 2 0 1 4

Gold Rush Days in Montana

On July 28, 1862, John White discovered
gold in the creek waters where Bannack
stands today. It was the beginning for both
Bannack and the State of Montana. The creek
was originally named Willard Creek by the
Lewis and Clark journey when they came
through in 1805. Due to the large amount
of grasshoppers in 1862, it was renamed
Grasshopper Creek.
Bannack quickly became a mining camp
and home to more than 400 people. The
people who rushed to Bannack were not
only miners but, outlaws and businessmen.
Early settlers arrived by wagon, stagecoach,
horse back, steamboat, and even by foot,
in search of gold. Not realizing the hard
Montana winters, many were not ready and
didnt having many supplies. It was hard for
these early pioneers.
In 1863, Bannack became the first capital of
Montana with 3,000 people and it became
a town named after the Bannock Indians.
Washington made a mistake. They thought
the o was an a. So Bannack was the
name which it still is today.
People would use the gold pan in the creek
to find gold. Then take it to the Assay Office
where they would be paid for the finding of
the gold.
In 1864 Virginia City became the capital
and then in 1875 the capital of Montana was
moved once more to Helena. This is still the
capital of Montana today.
M O N T A N A H I S T O R Y 2 0 1 4
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ACROSS
1. People that take law in their own hands.
2. Precious metal found in Bannack & MT.
3. 1st capital of Montana
4. Horses pulled these & people rode
in them.
5. Where people lived while looking for
gold, before it was called a town.
6. Person were called this after breaking
the law & being on the run.
7. Type of mining that used water to
wash dirt away looking for gold.
8. Only brick hotel in town.

1. 2nd capital of Montana.
2. Capital of Montana now.
3. Another name for fast growing town.
4. Creek named after jumping insects in Bannack.
5. Lewis and ________________.
6. Type of mining for gold using wooden boxes &
water running water.
7. Sheriff of Bannack __________ Plummer.
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Bannack
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MONTANA Word Search
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r Assay Office
r Bachelor Row
r Bannock Indians
r Boomtown
r Cyanide
r Dredging
r Gold panning
r Gold Rush
r Hendricks Mill
r Henry Plummer
r Innocents
r Lewis and Clark
r Meade Hotel
r Pioneers
r Settlers
r Willard Creek
M O N T A N A H I S T O R Y 2 0 1 4
Bannack, Montana
_______________________ first discovered gold in creek waters where Bannack
is today. It was on the day of ____________________________. Bannack was
named after the ________________________________. The creek going through
Bannack was first named by ________________________________ and it was called
_______________________. The name changed in 1862 to ______________________
________. The town became a _____________________ almost over night. In 1863,
Bannack became the ____________________________ of Montana with __________
people in town. In 1864 ________________________became the capital and then
in 1875 the capital of Montana finally was moved to _____________________.
In Bannack there was different types of mining. _____________________ was
done by using a small metal pan in the creek to find gold. There were also
_______________________________ made of wood. They were troughs where water
ran down inside the trough and the miners would use screens to sift through the
dirt to find gold. As more gold was discovered in Bannack, they actually dammed
the creek waters and would ________________ the waters for gold. This process
would leave huge piles of rocks at the waters edge. The most harmful of all the
mining was called ________________________ mining, because it used water
pressure to hunt for the gold. In the process of extracting the gold for rocks
they used ________________ which is dangerous to the land, water and humans.
The gold in Bannack was considered special because it was __________________
pure compared to most gold was _______ pure. This was the reason for the huge
amounts of people coming to Bannack. When large numbers of people quickly
went to a place to look for gold it was called a ________________________.
Choose one of theses to fill in the blanks above.
r Copper King r Gold panning r John White
r Henry Plummer r Sluice boxes r 95%
r John Mulan r Dredge r July 28, 1862
r July 4, 1807 r 100% r Virginia City
r Helena r 3,000 r Stage Coach
r Willard Creek r Gold Rush r Cyanide
r Bitterroot River r 99% to 99.5% r Mining Camp
r Grasshopper Creek r Hydraulic r First Capital