Bannack, Montana

Infobox_nrhp | name =Bannack Historic District
nrhp_type =nhld

---

image_size = 300px
caption = Bannack, Montana: A well preserved ghost town.
nearest_city= Dillon, Montana
locmapin = Montana
area =
built =1862
architect= Unknown
architecture= No Style Listed
designated= July 04, 1961cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=297&ResourceType=District
title=Bannack Historic District |accessdate=2007-10-21|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = U.S. Bureau of Land Management
refnum=66000426

Bannack is a ghost town in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States. Located on the Beaverhead River, approximately mi to km|14 upstream from where the Beaverhead joins with the Red Rock River south of Dillon.

History

Founded in 1862 and named after the local Bannock Indians, it was the site of Montana's first major gold discovery in 1862, and served as the capital of Montana Territory briefly in 1864, until the capital was moved to Virginia City. Bannack continued as a mining town, though with a dwindling population. The last residents left in the 1970s.

At its peak, Bannack had a population of about three thousand. There were three hotels, three bakeries, three blacksmith shops, two stables, two meat markets, a grocery store, a restaurant, a brewery, a billiard hall, and four saloons. Though all of the businesses were built of logs, some had decorative false fronts.

Bannack's sheriff, Henry Plummer, was said to be the head of a gang that was responsible for nearly a hundred deaths; twenty-two men were eventually hanged by a mob (the Vigilance Committee) for their presumed crimes. The last man hanged may have done nothing more than express an opinion that several of those previously hanged had been innocent.

Sixty historic log and frame structures remain standing in Bannack, many quite well-preserved; most can be explored. The site, now the Bannack Historic District, is listed as a National Historic Landmark. The town is presently the site of Bannack State Park.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000426.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Bannack Historic District] |547 KiB |date=September, 1975 |author=Blanche Higgins Schroer |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000426.pdf Accompanying 11 photos, from 1975.] |1.09 MiB ]

References

External links

* [http://www.bannack.org Bannack State Park]
* [http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/bannack.htm Photographs of Bannack]
* [http://www.nezperce.com/banack.html History and photographs]
* [http://www.beaverhead.com/bannack/Vig_Index.htm A detailed account of the Henry Plummer story]
* [http://www.theoutlaws.com/lawmen1.htm Another Henry Plummer account, giving both versions]