Montana Memories: Visiting Gold Creek
Traveling the back roads of Montana over the last 40 years has taught me many things about the lives of the early pioneers of Montana. Their hardships — their victories and their defeats, etching out a place in our history books.
Over the next few weeks, a series of stories and photos will show those victories and defeats of those strong enough to help build Montana.
This week, our story starts in a small settlement we now know as Gold Creek. Nestled along interstate I-90, just 68 miles east of Missoula. What we find today is the old electrical substation from when the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroad, better known as the Milwaukee Road, electrified the line around 1917. You will also see the old Post Office, built in 1866, and still in operation, farther down the road you will see the old Catholic Church built in 1910.
Some attribute the first discovery of gold in Montana around Gold Creek to Granville Stuart and his brother. Stuart gave credit for finding the gold to Francois Finlay, known as Benetsee, who found “light float gold” somewhere on Gold Creek in 1852. Several mines were started over the years with Conrad Kohrs being the principal owner of the Pioneer mines nearby.
Gold mining is still active along Gold Creek to this day. Old, abandoned gold dredges can still be seen in the area. They are on private property and cannot be accessed without permission. The dredge ponds are still visible.
Gold Creek’s next claim to fame was the last spike ceremony that took place when construction crews working from east and west met just east of the Gold Creek exit. The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that was approved by Congress in 1864 and given 40 million acres of land grants that it used to raise money in Europe for construction costs.
Construction began in 1870 with President Ulysses S. Grant driving in the golden spike on Sept. 8, 1863. It was a grand affair with grandstands and speeches. A second last spike ceremony was held when the Milwaukee Road completed their rail line May 19, 1909, which ran alongside the Northern Pacific line. The 2,300-mile-long railroad was completed at a cost of $60 million, about $1.81 billion in today’s dollars.
East of Gold Creek, along the still active Burlington Northern rail line, a 16-foot granite monument erected Oct. 6, 1917, can be seen from the interstate proclaiming, the “First Gold Discovery in Montana Made Here.”
