September 4, 2004—Historic Helena

I like Helena. It’s a nice town, and just big enough, but not too big. Today is our 16^th anniversary and in celebration we decided to spend some time together wandering the streets and sights of Helena and treat ourselves to lunch out; something we rarely do. 

We started early with the Montana Historical Museum, which mixes fine art with exquisite exhibits chronicling the state’s history, and military memorabilia. For me, the highlight was a huge gallery of Charles M. Russell artwork, including several of his bronzes. Russell is considered by some to be the preeminent chronicler of western life during the late 1800’s and early 1900 Montana. It’s hard to eliminate the flash when taking photos of glass, so I include only some of the better shots here.

Indians played and continued to play a prominent part in Montana history and the museum contains many artifacts, including this hand painted buffalo robe; hand beaded dresses; papoose carriers, arrows from the battle of Little Bighorn; this hat made from the head of a grizzly bear and this most peculiar baby buffalo skin which was used to carry food.

Early life in Montana was hard, as evidenced by this photo of the wife and child of a wheat farmer. Her haunting, worn face, though she was young, is something that moved me to want her picture.

Most wars our country has fought are chronicled with an excellent display of weapons, medals, and script (money). Of special interest to me was a collection of Nazi daggers, both officers and those for the Hitler Youth.

Once we finished with the museum, directly across the street sits Montana’s beautiful state capitol building. Since it was a Saturday, visitation was light and we were allowed to wander just about everywhere through the cavernous interior with its beautiful rotunda. This neoclassical style capitol was constructed in 1899 over a three year period at a cost of $540,000 out of Montana sandstone. Newer wings and additions were added out of granite in the 1920’s, including the chamber for the House of Representatives which is dominated by a stunning painting, Lewis and Clark Meeting Indians at Ross Hole, by Charles Russell, measuring 25’x12’. An interesting side note is that the rotunda exterior is topped with Butte copper, now a green patina with age.

Finished with the capitol and further wandering towards the core of Helena, we stumbled across the first governor’s mansion, built in 1883 with 20 rooms. My old tour book indicated tours were free but we had since learned that they now cost $4. Marc is not a big “tour” person, so we passed and drove on down the hill into old town looking for a place to eat lunch.

Helena’s early history is quite fascinating and the city has gone a long way to preserve its authenticated l800’s look. Gold was discovered just below the Continental Divide in what they euphemistically referred to as Last Chance Gulch by four Georgians in 1864. By 1876 the town had grown to 4,000 inhabitants. Due to the boom and bust nature of its initial settlements, the focal point of Montana moved from strike to strike. The earliest territorial capital of Bannack was almost deserted by the time the center of government moved to Virginia City. In turn, Helena attracted the capital in 1875. Newcomers seemed to realize that riches lay in trade not mining, and the economy here grew quickly.  

Well, Last Chance Gulch is still alive and well and this city capitalizes on it! Downtown is filled with a pedestrian mall highlighting all the old buildings, plus there’s an additional area known as Reeder’s Alley which now houses very small shops and businesses. The reason they are so small is that originally this area was a series of one room brick shanties built in the 1870’s to house the mining bachelors. The last photo shows one of the old homes, now serving as someone’s current home! And beautiful it is, despite the small, small windows!

One tidbit about the old town is that The Gulch remained the main street and its winding path, particularly the one-claim-sized business buildings, still reflects its mining past. Here is an excellent example.

Now it’s about lunch time and we find very few businesses open today, given the Labor Day holiday. Unlike many western states (California and Oregon come to mind) we find other states actually close up businesses on Sundays and holiday weekends! However, we’re in luck as we decide upon the Mediterranean Grill, a beautifully restored interior to an old building and a quirky eastern menu. Marc at first wants to leave—my meat and potatoes man doesn’t find the pita sandwiches and pasta dishes and grape leaves to his liking. We stay however and have one of the most pleasant surprises of our entire trip. This restaurant serves FANTASTIC food! Marc had a delectable chicken Alfredo, which truly was to die for. If you are in Helena, do yourself a favor if you plan to eat out and visit this restaurant located on S. Park Avenue in downtown.

Beyond downtown, up on the west side is Mansion Hill. Some of Montana’s grandest historic homes grace this area, in a plethora of styles, which caused Mark Twain to announce “Queen Anne in front and Mary Ann behind”. In all their opulence, these are what money could buy in Helena during the boom years of 1880-1900 when Helena boasted more millionaires per capita than any other city in the United States. Many of the old homes still have their carriage houses located to the rear of the property.

One last stop brings us to one of the most beautiful churches we’ve ever seen—the Cathedral of St. Helena, begun in 1908 but not completed until 1924. Modeled after Cologne Cathedral, it dominates the skyline with its 230 foot twin spires. The stain glass was fashioned in Germany. Unfortunately, the digital photos I took just do not do this sanctuary justice.

We’ve been in RV parks long enough this week; time to get back to boondocking, as we’re set to leave Helena tomorrow.