Well!This is one blog entry that I seem to be unable to write. Either the photos I had ready for posting disappear from my storage drives or I hit a writer's block or some other events prevent me from trying .... I would gladly call this situation "one of those" except .... I know exactly why this is happening.
The ghosts! I will tell you more about them in just a few minutes - I certainly dare to hope not to lose more stuff by then.
I wrote the following a long, long time ago - just before all of my photos disappeared from all my storage drives - and I have 3 (fortunately I kept my SD cards and they are still intact) :
Yes, welcome to the past.
It seems that nothing much changed in Virginia City, Montana, since the 1860's when the city buzzed with life. Just like the neighboring Nevada City this town also sprung to life when the gold miners invaded Alder Gulch. The valley had been renamed to Fourteen Mile City then because of the number of settlements established there in a very short span of time.
Virginia City was the largest one.
And just like the rest of those settlements, it did not live very long. After a decade of placer gold mining the claims seemed to be depleted and most miners moved on. The city froze in time.
Now here we are, some 150 years later, exploring the ghost town so lovingly preserved and restored by dedicated people (Charles and Sue Bovey for starts) and organizations.
We are walking the boardwalks that once echoed the footsteps of the first inhabitants; the every-day folks and their families, the miners, the shopkeepers, the schoolchildren ....bankers, hookers, vigilantes...
Only over a hundred locals but nearly ten times as many tourists make these walk boards sing again.
The boards are original (we have been told).
Henry Ford was born in July 1863 and it would take the additional 32 years for the world to see his first experimental automobile.
But what an appropriate place to display one of his later models with him and Virgina City sharing the B-day year - 1863.
A word of caution for all the photographers:
Yes, you may stand in the middle of the road (just kidding, uhhhh .... maybe).
...BUT make sure that you get there early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The 1 p.m. sun in Virginia City is merciless when it comes to shadows and highlights.
...AND make sure that you do not buy a cheap-cheap polarizing filter - like I did.
My skies turned out to be anything but blue.
Speaking of Photographers - this gentleman will take you back to
the bygone times.We loved his shop with hundreds of hats and other props, Be who or what you want: even Calamity Jane who roamed this country a century and a half ago.
Hungry/ Thirsty? There are several Cafes offering excellent food. Or just grab a sandwich and continue exploring - there is more than just the main street - just make sure to have enough time. Boy, do I sound like a marketing agent (which I am not) ?
There is an interesting sign next to a deep, narrow building. It looks and reads like a story of a strong woman. I learn, for the first time, about Sarah Bickford and her dealings with life.
A deep narrow building lures us in with its open door.
The story has it that in those initial lawless years there was lot of mischief and little law.
The citizens had no other choice but to take the justice into their own hands thus forming groups of "law-serving" citizens, chasing the robbers and the murderers and .... who knows what else was going on. These people were known as vigilantes; some were for real, some apparently played both sides ....
Their trials were swift and the results predictable.
And though they usually got it right, sometimes they hanged an innocent man.
I get goose bumps just thinking about all this. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/montana-vigilantes-hang-jack-slade
One day 5 criminals were tried and hanged in this building and that's where my ghosts come in. We had been told that the building is haunted and once in a while .....................
This is what happened:
After visiting the Hangman's Building we tiptoed out to check the venue next door.A master hat-maker was just skillfully steaming a really nice felt hat into an old-time shape. We watched him work, clicking the shutters and pressing the video buttons. The hatter finished his work, got up and said:
"Have you seen the house next door?"
"Oh, yes, we have indeed."
"And, did you see the ghost?"
U-hhhhh. Okay, lets play along....
"No we have not seen any .... guess they got scared just looking at us."
"Seriously. Come with me now."
He gave us no chance to reply. Before we exchanged our glances, he stood inside the Hangman's Building.
"There" He turned to Judy, his arm extending towards the rafters.
"See?"
"See what?"
"The shadow."
"None."
It was an interesting game; he told us about a girl who, just like us, took the pictures and when she got home there was a ghost there, peeking at her from her computer screen.
"Nothing here".
"Well, maybe look into that corner over there."
We did and we clicked away fully expecting not to find anything.
But the feeling was there - just being in the place and guided by a powerful story teller amounted to an experience of its own.
One more thing got my attention:stuck down in the corner of a vitrine was a copy of the famous recruitment poster.
It is an extremely strong picture.
Looking at it I started to think of the Mothers of all these young men who never returned home.
Yes, welcome to the past.It seems that nothing much changed in Virginia City, Montana, since the 1860's when the city buzzed with life. Just like the neighboring Nevada City this town also sprung to life when the gold miners invaded Alder Gulch. The valley had been renamed to Fourteen Mile City then because of the number of settlements established there in a very short span of time.
Virginia City was the largest one.
And just like the rest of those settlements, it did not live very long. After a decade of placer gold mining the claims seemed to be depleted and most miners moved on. The city froze in time.
Now here we are, some 150 years later, exploring the ghost town so lovingly preserved and restored by dedicated people (Charles and Sue Bovey for starts) and organizations.We are walking the boardwalks that once echoed the footsteps of the first inhabitants; the every-day folks and their families, the miners, the shopkeepers, the schoolchildren ....bankers, hookers, vigilantes...
Only over a hundred locals but nearly ten times as many tourists make these walk boards sing again.
The boards are original (we have been told).
Henry Ford was born in July 1863 and it would take the additional 32 years for the world to see his first experimental automobile.But what an appropriate place to display one of his later models with him and Virgina City sharing the B-day year - 1863.
A word of caution for all the photographers:
Yes, you may stand in the middle of the road (just kidding, uhhhh .... maybe).
...BUT make sure that you get there early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The 1 p.m. sun in Virginia City is merciless when it comes to shadows and highlights.
...AND make sure that you do not buy a cheap-cheap polarizing filter - like I did.
My skies turned out to be anything but blue.
the bygone times.We loved his shop with hundreds of hats and other props, Be who or what you want: even Calamity Jane who roamed this country a century and a half ago.
Hungry/ Thirsty? There are several Cafes offering excellent food. Or just grab a sandwich and continue exploring - there is more than just the main street - just make sure to have enough time. Boy, do I sound like a marketing agent (which I am not) ?There is an interesting sign next to a deep, narrow building. It looks and reads like a story of a strong woman. I learn, for the first time, about Sarah Bickford and her dealings with life.
A deep narrow building lures us in with its open door.
The story has it that in those initial lawless years there was lot of mischief and little law.The citizens had no other choice but to take the justice into their own hands thus forming groups of "law-serving" citizens, chasing the robbers and the murderers and .... who knows what else was going on. These people were known as vigilantes; some were for real, some apparently played both sides ....
Their trials were swift and the results predictable.
And though they usually got it right, sometimes they hanged an innocent man.
I get goose bumps just thinking about all this. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/montana-vigilantes-hang-jack-slade
One day 5 criminals were tried and hanged in this building and that's where my ghosts come in. We had been told that the building is haunted and once in a while .....................
This is what happened:
After visiting the Hangman's Building we tiptoed out to check the venue next door.A master hat-maker was just skillfully steaming a really nice felt hat into an old-time shape. We watched him work, clicking the shutters and pressing the video buttons. The hatter finished his work, got up and said:
"Have you seen the house next door?"
"Oh, yes, we have indeed."
"And, did you see the ghost?"
U-hhhhh. Okay, lets play along....
"No we have not seen any .... guess they got scared just looking at us."
"Seriously. Come with me now."
"There" He turned to Judy, his arm extending towards the rafters.
"See?"
"See what?"
"The shadow."
"None."
It was an interesting game; he told us about a girl who, just like us, took the pictures and when she got home there was a ghost there, peeking at her from her computer screen.
"Nothing here".
"Well, maybe look into that corner over there."
We did and we clicked away fully expecting not to find anything.
But the feeling was there - just being in the place and guided by a powerful story teller amounted to an experience of its own.
One more thing got my attention:stuck down in the corner of a vitrine was a copy of the famous recruitment poster. It is an extremely strong picture.
Looking at it I started to think of the Mothers of all these young men who never returned home.
I shook my head and walked out, thinking about everything this building represents. Confusing stuff, the human life.
I began to write all about this in July!
And then .... I LOST THE FILES! That's when I started to think about the ghosts....
There you have it. I hope to have broken the spell, so we can FINALLY get to Yellowstone National Park. It is not very far away.
I began to write all about this in July!
And then .... I LOST THE FILES! That's when I started to think about the ghosts....
There you have it. I hope to have broken the spell, so we can FINALLY get to Yellowstone National Park. It is not very far away.
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