Family Living in a Gold Mining Town?
"A number of families {living} in well-kept homes...and a school house adequate for the demand will be ready by fall. The buildings of all kinds are more handsome and substantial in construction than one usually finds in new camps."-Silver State Post, 1897

The Garnet mining district prospered from 1896 to 1912, although the town's population began to taper as soon as 1900 when the vein of rich gold in the Nancy Hanks mine suddenly ended.

For its first couple years, the town bustled with more than a thousand people. During the day, miners chiseled far into the rock to follow the high-grade gold deposits that led like arteries to the heart of the mountains. In the evening, many returned home to their wives and children. Weekends featured family picnics, fishing expeditions, card games, and dances in the Miners Union Hall. A strong union in Garnet helped to assure stability along with offering a central gathering place for politics as well as pleasure.

These hard-rock miners differed from the starry-eyed, impatient placer miners of the 1860s-era. They brought with them a wealth of experience, and a determination to invest necessary capital and skills to make a profit. They also brought families, or they married in Garnet. In fact, more married women lived in Garnet than in any other of Montana's early gold-mining towns.

In spite of the family presence, Garnet residents built only a temporary town. They foresaw that the hard-rock era would not last more than a decade or so. No planner mapped out homesites. The town grew willy-nilly beyond the business district on the main street. Despite lacking foundations, the wooden homes still were a big step up from the Beartown shacks.

By 1897, Garnet hosted an impressive set of businesses: 13 saloons, 4 hotels, 2 barber shops, 3 livery stables, 1 candy shop, 1 assay office, 1 butcher shop, 1 doctor's office, and daily stage service to Bearmouth. The Wells Hotel-still standing today-was an elaborate, 2 1/2-story building that rivaled the finest lodging in wealthy Helena.

Thanks to the vigilant lobbying of the women in town, the town also built the one-room Garnet School in 1897. In the fall of that year, 41 students enrolled. One teacher taught grades one through eight. Teachers tended not to stay long in these challenging circumstances.

Family living did not preclude a brisk business for men in the town's saloons and other men-only establishments. What men referred to as "bawdy houses" were never advertised but clearly existed. Harry Hannifen, a former Garnet resident, recalled in a 1982 interview taking "buckets" of beer from one of the saloon to a "woman's house" and marveling at the number of single women there. He was well rewarded by a large tip from the proprietor.


Other Stories
Gold In The Garnets
Chinese Presence
Town of Garnet Named in 1897
Riches Fade
Saving Garnet Ghost Town
Kelly's Saloon
J. K. Wells Hotel
Davey's General Store
Ole's Tavern
Dahl Cabin
Blacksmith Shop
Garnet School
Jail
Miners Union Hall
Adams House
Honeymoon Cabin
Warren Park
Highlights from interview with Mary Jane Morin, June 11, 1999
Letter from Hills Bros. Coffee to Mrs. Adams
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Copyright © 2000, Garnet Preservation Association and Bureau of Land Management of Montana