Elkhorn - Montana's Most Iconic Ghost Town

My grandfather, born in 1868 in Kentucky, owned a saloon in Elkhorn. The earliest date I know of his owning it was 1895 because we have a bill of lading for Woodford Distilling Company, Woodford, Kentucky dated May 1895 when he had an agreement with the distilling company to receive kegs of Penns Club Rye - which he received in October, December, June and March in 1898 and 1899. My grandfather is said to have had a problem with gambling and drinking. He was always being challenged to play cards and the saloon would sometimes become collateral. One night he almost lost the saloon to a professional gambler. He decided that was no way to live; so he just walked off the next morning. He went to Oregon, took out a homestead - and became a dry land wheat farmer. My dad said grandpa wasn't really very fond of horses. He spent his youth walking the West.

As an Englishman, it's really very interesting to see this kind of history, very different to our own. It's all so recent in America and the quality of the construction is such that things have already almost disappeared when left untouched. There's a pioneering temporary feeling to things. Find a resource, build what's necessary quickly and then when the resource is gone, so are the people and the structures quickly follow. I went on a walk in Yorkshire, England just last week, an abandoned 1809 church was present, dilapidated but still standing, though in its red brick it had an air of modernity. Many churches date back to 1100 in England, this is mainly the Saxon era in England, and those churches still stand today, maintained of course by each generation. History is fascinating and I hope to one day visit the US, I would love to see somewhere like this in person, they are our forefathers after all that made the journey from Europe (UK, France, Holland etc.). Thank you for the video

Hello Tom, did you notice ladies and gentlemen how the story teller (or historical presenter) Mr. Tom removed his hat while visiting the interiors of the halls, that's what draws me so much to his work, respect for those who came before and treating those appurtances with dignity and kind regards. Another well done worthwhile adventure, best wishes to you and your family from N.E. FLA.

Your methods of contextualizing places like this brings so much humanity to your presentations. Highlighting that they're not just piles of rubble, but were homes for some people their entire lives is such a grounding touch that I deeply appreciate.

I never considered that there would be burn marks on the ceiling of a building from lamps. That such a cool detail 👍

The log cabins were usually built by Norwegians, Swedes and Finnish immigrants. They introduced this style of house in the northern territories. I grew up in a log house in Norway, the house was built around 1880, then moved 20 years later around 1900.

People have lived in Elkhorn as long as I can remember. Hard to believe the population was at zero 30 years ago. We lived in the cabin across the street from the Fraternity Hall next to the bowling alley.

As a city dweller you can see old buildings every day. However the history of the common man disappears or is displayed behind glass in public museums. I love seeing the communities you explore and feel such a connection to the history and people.

We visited Elkhorn about 18 years ago when visiting friends in Helena, MT. We spent one whole day visiting Elkhorn and a number of other townsites in the region. In the other communities, all that were left were foundations and cemetaries. That diptheria epidemic spread out to those communnites, too. Our imaginations ran wild trying to picture and appreciate what it must have been like because the lion's share of those headstones and plaques recorded deaths during winter.. The Elkhorn town and those others used to have horrendous winters with several feet of snow assured. Your video has refreshed my imaginings of living in those thin-walled, uninsulated homes and shops with a house full of sick kids and if "lucky", a single doctor to visit everyone for about a 75 mile radius. We are so blessed these days. Thanks for these memories!

So glad to see more of these videos. As someone who loves to explore ghost towns like this, it’s lovely to see it in a compact video form that has all the history of these towns, and the videos you get in all of them is incredible. Thank you so much for doing what you do!

This was really well edited, I appreciated all the subtle background audio effects. Thanks for uploading!

Thank you so much for this video. I visited Elkhorn many times as a child, while I spent my summers in nearby Basin with my grandparents. It was my grandma’s favorite area to pick gooseberries, from which she would make jam, cooked on her wood burning stove. I still have tons of family in the area. I can smell the amazing mountain air…

Never heard of Elkhorn, very interesting video Tom! Aside from liners, I’ve always had a fascination with old ghost towns and abandoned mines.

Great work, especially the little details like overlaying old photos on particular shots - very well done, almost cinematic. Respect as well for literally going the distance and travelling to these places when you can. This stuff is fascinating as a European who usually thinks of towns as places that are just 'there' and have been for centuries.

The county side around the town is stunning beautiful.

In 2013 or early 2014 when I was working for Adecco Staffing I worked the BNSF Mapping Project at Bartlett and West Engineering in Topeka, Kansas. One of the areas I mapped former BNSF properties was Elk Horn. I mapped all the old Northern Pacific right of way through that valley along with the Jefferson County and Helena RR from Boulder to Helena. Sometimes I could only find the original rights of way by finding curving tree lines or straight tree lines. The images of the old hand drawn maps would be lined up and scaled until everything fit. The old mines were fun to match up their spurs, but the ones like at Elk Horn were far easier than the strip pits at Butte and to the Northwest of Boulder.

This video brings back the sadness I felt when walking through that cemetery. Just imagine having to climb that mountain every few days and weeks to bury another child. 😭

you are so AMAZING! this is channel deserves 100,000,000x more views, subs ,and more your videos make me feel like I am back in the day i was their when it all happened. ITS AMAZING!!!!

When I was a small child, 6 or 7, we went to Elkhorn. At that time, the mine was still there and alot more of the homes. My mom sketched some of the buildings and then painted them. We went there at least 3 times. Mom's garden in Helena had big rocks that had sparkly sides, blues, yellows and one red. Beautiful. I played all over the town. We went to the grave yard on top of a mountain above the town. We walked all through it and read all the inscriptions. I loved that ghost town. I am 70 now but have a clear picture of it in my mind. So sad that so many buildings were not saved from collapse. Enjoyed the video.

Growing up in Montana, my Family spent summer weekends packing up the camping gear and driving all over the central and southern MT Rockies, exploring the ghost towns. Some amazing out of the way places, especially northeast of Helena. Thanks for making me really homesick and yet bringing back a lot of great memories. 😊