Southwest Montana’s Vigilante Trail
2023 Montana Heritage Commission Living History Schedule*
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The War Drags On
May 27–28
The War Between the States drags on, dividing citizens’ loyalties while the hardships of the west unite them in their pursuit of riches and survival.
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News From Home
June 3–4
News of President Lincoln assassination made headlines April 29, 1865! With heavy hearts we swathe the town in black. On a high note, Lee surrendered and the war is over. Our boys are coming home.
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Flour Riots
June 10–11
It’s too early for local wheat harvest and flour supplies waylaid in Salt Lake City!! Prices spiking!! Citizens resorting to hoarding!! Will there be enough flour to get us all through the spring!!? Heaven knows.
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Ways West
June 17–18
While one’s own two legs was a fine way to make it to Nevada City, there were many other options. Everyone has a tale to tell?
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Sowing the Season
June 24–25
The season of darkness is over and the season of sun and labor has begun! Join us as we finish off the last of the winter provisions, begin planting for harvest, and deep clean our homes.
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Independence Day
July 1–2
Now is the day we celebrate our country’s independence. For the first time in a few years we can celebrate it as a whole nation again! Bless our Union boys! Fun and games!! Pies eating contests!! Red!! White!! Blue!!
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Children’s Weekend
July 8–9
Oh, to be a kid again: chores in the morning, then school, then back home for more chores, and then... Oh the fun! Who would’a thought rolling a hoop down the street would be fun?
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Women of the Gulch
July 15–16
Women went west for many reasons and for some the west brought freedom, for others, fear. Find out who’s thriving, who wants to go home, and what do they hope the future will bring for themselves—and their daughters?
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Explore the Trades
July 22–23
The tinsmiths and blacksmiths are moving in. Leather crafting and dying are in demand. Cobblers, weavers, and wheelwrights set up shop. Our little mining camp is growing into a town!
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Modern Medicine?
July 29–30
From amputations to typhoid the doctors and midwives had much to attend to. How does the town respond to the epidemics that sweep through?
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Beyond the Mining Camp
August 5–6
It takes more than miners to make a mining camp a home. A cook to keep him fed, a washerwoman to keep his clothes clean, and an undertaker when the miner settles down for the eternal slumber.
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Making Society
August 12–13
One knows they live in society when there is easy access to entertainment, commerce, and good company.
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Circle of Life—from Birth to Death
August 19–20
The Victorian era’s most important moments, birth, childhood, romance, family, death—a weekend fraught with emotion.
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Should We Stay or Should We Go, Now?
August 26–27
What to do, what to do? Head north to Last Chance Gulch? See what fortune waits back in the reconstructing states? Light out to Oregon? Hunker down for the winter? What would you do?
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Preparing for Winter
September 2–3
As summer breathes its last, colorful breath over the valley and as the shadow of winter creeps down the mountain, the people start to prepare for the long, bitter season of darkness and loss. A season not everyone survives.
Volunteer Training: TBA
Pioneer Museum Experience: June 10–12, July 8–10, August 12–14
