The townsite was first surveyed in 1865 by Captain John Wood. However, many of the original streets followed the disordered paths of the miners, going around claims and following the winding gulch. As a result, not many city blocks are consistent in size, rather they have an irregular variety of shapes and sizes.
In 1870, Henry D. Washburn, having been appointed Surveyor General of Montana in 1869, organized the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in Helena to explore the areas that would become Yellowstone National Park. Mount Washburn, situated within the park, is namedafter him. Members of the expedition included Helena residents: Judge Cornelius Hedges-U.S. Attorney, Montana Territory, Truman C. Everts-former U.S. Assesor for the Montana Territory , Warren C. Gillette-Helena merchant, Samuel T. Hauser-President of the First National Bank, Helena, Montana;later a Governer of the Montana Territory , Walter Trumball-son of U. S. Senator Lyman Trumball (Illinois), Benjamin C. Stickney Jr.-Helena merchant and Nathaniel P. Langford, then former U.S. Collector of Internal Revenue for Montana Territory. Langford helped Washburn organize the expedition and later helped publicize the remarkable Yellowstone region. In May 1872 after the park’s creation, Langford was named its first superintendent.
By 1888, about 50 millionaires lived in Helena, more per capita than any city in the world. About $3.6 billion (in today’s dollars) of gold was taken from Last Chance Gulch over a 20-year period. The Last Chance Placer is one of the most famous placers in the western United States. Most of the production occurred before 1868 and much of the placer is now underneath the streets and buildings of Helena (but even as late as the 1970s, when repairs were being made to a Bank, a vein of placer gold was found under the Bank’s foundation). This large density of wealth made for a large amount of culture, much of which still exists and is also evidenced in the varied architecture of the city and its Victorian neighborhoods.
The official symbol of Helena is a drawing of “The Guardian of the Gulch”, a wooden fire watch tower built in 1886, that still stands on “Tower Hill” overlooking the historic downtown district. This fire tower replaced a series of observation buildings, the original being a flimsy watch stand built in 1870 on the same site, built in response to a series of annihilating fires: April 1869, November 1869, October 1871, August 1872 and January 1874 that swept through the early mining camp.
Free Relocation Packages for Helena, MT
