Ghost Town! Coolidge, Montana 

Very cool 👍... It always amazes me to stumble across some huge abandoned equipment in the wilderness. I had a friend who moved to Montana year's ago. He and his wife bought an old homestead built in the late 1800's. There was a old storage building on the property that he turned into a garage. He noticed that it was always very drafty. One day he decided to replace a few rotted out floor boards. When he pulled up the boards he noticed a 3ft. diameter hole with air howling through it. Come to find out that this out building was covering up an old mine ventilation shaft several hundred feet deep!! He built a steel gate to cover the hole but was very careful exploring the property there after. Have you and Linda ever discovered any old uncovered mine shafts or abandoned Wells? Safe travels Perry

Enjoyed your adventure and presentation, as I always do! Couple things came to memory as you talked about the pile of cans and icehouse. Many years ago the small townships in Northern Wisconsin would have a location deep in the woods for the locals to dispose of their garbage, trash, ect. It was called, The Dump. Rightfully, so. When we wanted some evening entertainment, the family would load up in the car and drive to The Dump, to watch the black bears come to scavenge for food. We enjoyed the wildlife. After cleaning all the fish we caught, we’d wrap in butcher paper and then again in newspapers to preserve the fish from freezer burn. In the winter after a long days work, I remember my parents, resting on the davenport/sofa reading the daily newspaper. When they’d finish reading, they would lay the paper across their body to keep warm and take a snooze before time for bed. The paper was insulting against their body heat. Thanks for rekindling wonderful memories 💕

Interesting vlog. I really enjoy wandering around these old ghost towns. Reminds me of my teenage years growing up in Alaska. I’ve explored many old mining camps and roadhouses. In the early 60s most of the old buildings were still standing. Usually the dump was quite away away from the camp because of bears. I always scrounged around in them looking for intact coffee cans and old log cabin syrup cans. I should have collected some of the old bottles. One mining camp in a valley called Nome Creek was an old gold dredge. There were several buildings where the old mining trail came in. I used to camp out in the old headquarters building while hunting. There were no windows left but other than that the building was intact. It had a good working wood stove and kept most of the rain out. Even had old tables to use. The dredge was several miles down the creek but still intact. When they ran out of gold they just abandoned the dredge. Interesting machinery in the dredge and old engines sitting in various places along the tailings. I have no idea what they were used for. Now that camp is gone. I think someone set the main building on fire. The dredge is still there but badly vandalized. The old roadhouses we used to camp in have now been cut up for firewood or burned down. So sad to see the loss of this history. I live in Idaho now and there is no lack of old mining camps and historical places to explore. Thanks for a great video.

Wow! Thanks for sharing. So interesting. You guys look great by the way🙌🏽🙌🏽😊

I want to move to a ghost town..... but THEY WON'T ALLOW PEOPLE TO DO IT..... they call it "public lands" but NO PUBLIC ALLOWED.....geeeez

We owned Elkhorn Hotsprings from 1977 to the1980s. You get to that from the other side. I have heard there is a paved road to it from Wise River. When we were there, it was a dirt road and in winter, only passable by snow mobile. In the summer it required a high clearance 4 wheel drive. Down in Polaris, was the post office which was at that time was in the Melcher home which is across the street from the Polar Bar. That bar was only open when you honked your horn. The owner would come from the Melcher house and open it, sell you some drinks and close when you left. lol When we got our mail, it was in an empty beer box and our address was PO Box ELK which was written on the side of the box. hahaha You have to love small towns. hahaha When we had the resort, almost all of coolage was still standing. Most of it was destroyed by the owners a restaurant in Idaho. They came and tore down (stole) the mine for the lumber for their restuarant. I know the name of the place was, "The Mine" at the time. But am not sure what it is called or what town it was in either. I wish I knew so I could pass on some bad publicity for their thievery. The mill you see only in concrete structures was all there as well as the tram up and down from the top of the mine down to where you were standing there. Also the track for the ore cars from the mine and to the mill was all there. Most of those cabins you walked past when you were walking up the supply road were all standing. There was a bank and assay office still standing too. There was a lot of core samples still in the assay office. That photo on the pamphlet you showed of the mill building is what it looked like when I had Elkhorn Hot Springs. The only difference is that the building had no paint on it. The gold never ran out in Elkhorm Mine. The mine got so deep that even when they used steel beams, the walls would caved in and collapsed under the weight and that is why the mine closed. When I was there, the internal workings of the mill were still there too. I do have some photos of the mine I could email to you if you are intested. Let me know in a reply comment and I will send them. There are a lot of mines in the area. Elkhorn Mine was just the biggest one. Also they built a hydroelectric plant and dam for Elkhorn mine but one winter that washed out. They had a railroad to the mine too and you can hike into the trees and find the tressels if you have time and if they are still there. There is a lake a lot further up the canyon. Several miles further up. Probably where the water is coming from. That lake is one of the few places you can fish and get Golden Trout. If you climb Mount Baldy, you can see the lake off the north side of the top of the mountain. I don't know if you got down to Bannack but it was 100% still there when we owned the resort. It was not a tourist trap like it was the last time I saw it. It was just an abandon ghost town at the time. The grave yard was still there and the graves of the crooked sheriff and his outlaw gang members were still marked with the original wooden grave markers. My brother and I used to go rabibit hunting near there in the winters and always came home with dinner. The big drum near the end of your video layed on it's side like that but with a slight down hill angle toward the end opposite the gears. That would break it up into smaller pieces then it went through. From ther eit would go into one vat and then the next. They used long belts that looked to be made of a very thick canvas. (about 1/2 inch thicvck) The belts were still there. It looked like they just shut everything off and walked away. They sent the tailings through the drum you saw and then into two big vats about 3 times that big as that drum. Into one vat and then in to the next. The vats stood up and tailings were dropped in from above. The vats still had water and tailings in them when I was there. In the bottom of the vats were huge flat round stones like thick pancakes. The stones were about 18 inches thick and just fit inside the huge vats. They rotated the huge stones and they ground the tailings up even more.

All that work, abandoned in place. Economic forces are mighty indeed. Thanks for the tour.

I wonder, if that house still in better shape wasn't a caretaker house. Maybe federal, maybe state, maybe corporation, maybe private holding. But caretaker nonetheless, the people who left last. Just a guess. Great video as usual! :)

Interesting history Read of Coolidge on the Montana Government’s website. Thank you for sharing. I marked it on maps to visit. Peace

The institutional sized cans most likely came from the Communal Eating Hall they pointed out on the info board. Takes a lot of Big Bean Cans to feed 300 miners! They must have been cooking all day !

Although obviously maintained and occupied "recently", no way I would have gone up those stairs! You tune up your danger sensor at all? 😬

I pulled the fine book off my books shelf collection on ghost towns .. Coolidge is not in this fine book .. Ghost Towns of Montana by Donald C. Miller . Interesting i thought but maybe he ran out of space or time .. But you covered it very well, makes me want to go explore it and capture it on film ..It was just a thought i had that i would read about it also but not in this book ..

We loved this travel video by you and Linda. Me and the husband watch each new one that y'all make and post. It's so great to see places in the states that we will probably never get to in person and learn the history about those places. Montana is so pretty and This place was beautiful. I like hearing Linda tell what y'all see in person. We are old school age and so many of the items y'all come across, bring back lots of memories of things that were in our long ago time era, Woodstoves, kitchen cupboards, etc. I loved the past video y'all made of Linda showing how to bake a cake in a pot. I'd love to see more of her ideas for easy camp cooking. Y'alls videos are so enjoyable to see and learn from. Thanks for sharing and God's blessings to you both.

It’s a shame many people don’t respect places of interest, and feel it’s ok to graffiti. Your right, they do feel they are important. Thanks for sharing.

Very interesting. It amazes me how much is left after 100 years. I'm wondering if low humidity preserves things longer. Thank you.

Interesting video. by the next 50 yrs or so most of it will be returned back to nature with a lot more trees. The big wheel at the end looks like a water powered wheel. A dam might have been built somewhere along the creek close to the pump house i guess.

Temple was likely a Masonic Temple, most MT mining towns had one.

Always liked exploring old ghost towns, get a sense of history; of times gone by.

How are you doing keeping the mice away from your vehicle?

Some of that is so far gone it is kind of a blight. Doesn't take long for nature to reclaim it I guess.

Kinda sad isn't it? Love the history. I don't know what you two think about Sasquatch, but toward the beginning of the video, I saw what looked like possible tree bows, trees bent over, and secured in place. The tops are either stuck into the ground, something placed on the end to hold it down, or the tip wedged under a root system. If you don't know the signs, you won't know what to look for. Tree bows, tree structures, X's, and occasionally, rock stacks or structures. Have you ever had any strange experiences, lights in the woods, rocks, pinecones, nuts, or even logs thrown? Maybe you don't want to broach the subject! Personally, I find it very intriguing. Thanks for the walk. It was beautiful!

Brake place for a metal detector find buried and forgotten gold

Great video. I enjoy ghost towns. Be safe out there.

Just like Bodie, Ca. but buildings are still standing there.

I have a Ghost Town book on the entire state of Montana which is excellent history.. You both did very well on this with great camera work and descriptions of what you find .. Makes me wonder in this towns heyday how many folks called this home at it's peak ... Well done you both .. Keep making your videos of history like this one ... I just love history like this ..

Cans might indicate a boarding house? Thanks for taking us! I always imagine what the people were like, where they came from and where they eventually settled for the long term. Ten thousand stories that perhaps lay buried in yet undiscovered diaries and journals housed in one of Montana’s colleges or university’s.👍🇺🇸🤠🙏✝️

What camera do you use? Great picture quality! So many cans. Very interesting about the ice house. Thanks for taking me back in time again.

Hey you two! I ran into you that day and had a brief conversation. I was going in when you were coming out. I asked if there were any in tact ruins! Fun to see you on RU-vid. And nice video!

Are people allowed to use metal detectors in those areas

That is the Mayor's house..The only dwelling the state still keeps up.

Boy that water sure was clear...great video

Beautiful documentary. I hope you'll treat us to many more. Thank you!

Wow there was no recycling in those days lol

Have you guys ever had a grizzly encounter in your home state? Once just outside the park I grabbed my fly rod and as my wife read her book I went stomping through the willows along the river. After about a half mile I happened upon hugh bear tracks. I had totally forgotten that I was not on Cedar mountain. Scared the heck out of me!

It seems that Impactful statements always jump out at me. Thank you Linda. At about 19:25 in the video you made a powerful ear catcher statement. You said (This is,,,,, what it is). I love the pause in the statement. I thought you know, that's just like we humans, we are, what we are. But then again, we are what we choose to be. God bless.

Nice place to be in the summer. TA KE CARE..

Amazingly folks could live without a wallmart or cell service. Nice area. Leave trash long enouph and it becomes interesting. Lol

This was a very fitting video for the holiday coming up! Ghost town and goblins! Kinda sad seeing all of those old buildings, but man that was some good looking boards on that building! I love lumber, when my sweetheart was still here our fav place to visit was our local saw mills. I just love to smell all of that wood being cut, pine, oak, popular, cedar all of it! Thanks for letting me tag along! Blessings

At 9: 23 looks like remains of a sawmill .

Was there a hole in the ground where that big log with the root ball exposed came from. If not, I know what put that up there. It looks like to me something has been helping to demolish those buildings to the ground. Wouldn’t you think some would still be standing a little more than they are even after all of that time. I guarantee you wouldn’t want to camp out there, you would probably get visitors in the night you wouldn’t want to see. Definitely a ghost town and more. Take care and you two are brave to make a daytime trip up to that place. Good video

Linda's so cute, my grandmother always said "that's it!" Meaning end of story. She grew up in the Pyrenees Mtns in Spain.

HI, Y'ALL. THIS LOOKS LIKE A VERY NICE CAMPGROUND WITH STRUCTURES INSTEAD OF TENTS AND RVs.. I LIKE THIS TOWN... THIS SHOW IS 26 MINUTES AND IT TAKES ME AN HOUR TO WATCH IT. I KEEP PAUSING AND REWINDING THE FILM TO LOOK AT YOUR FANTASTIK CAMERA WORK.. DAMN YUR GOOD AT IT.. THANKS TO YOU AND LINDA BOTH.. NOW I LOOK FOR YOUR NEXT ONE,..

Very intresting....I really want to see it some day soon....thax so much for the adventures!

Turning on your flashlight may have given more light in the house u were in. Just a thought. Ahh, you felt my comment coming. Flashlight some help. Thank you for sharing.

There must be a national law: when a human site is abandoned all human garbage, traces of human and their man-made refuged and junk should all be removed. There should be an adjustable clean up deposit fee required for those who leave without clearing out their garbage. I don't see those infractions into nature as historical no more than bear scat--at least the latter is recycled and good for the land.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. You had the place to yourself too. Did they have a cemetery? Those are always interesting to go through too.

Thank you for sharing this. this time was so different than our's. But it was a better time. To me life was good there. the air was better and not so much trouble. A very peaceful time. i love it.

I loved the video which makes me miss Montana so much as I had a Great Aunt that buildings all over her farm and as a child that I did not appreciated the history of those buildings and now I expect those buildings are gone.

That poured concrete structure did not look at all as old as the fallen wood buildings. I's say there was some kind of activity there within the last 40 years.

I wouldn't call it untouched. There has been much vandalized and raided for private collections. Not too many years ago the owners of the mill sold all the wood structure to be torn down and used to build a multitude of mansions for the rich. The mill had the distinction of the largest wooden structure in the state. Too many of our magnificent structures have been either torn down or burned in the name of progress.

In a way it is sad to see the dreams and efforts of people come to an abrupt end. The log structures seem to have lasted longer than the framework buildings. Miners are tough and know that veins can play out and it’s time to move on. Thanks for sharing you trip to the Elkhorn Mine.

Did you see where all the tailings were? That sawdust insulation works pretty good. My X's family had an old ranch on what was left of the Holt Stage Road, and the house and bunkhouse had foot thick walls with smaller windows. Cool in the summer, warm in the winter. All the cans is something! Shows the lack of concern for the environment back then. We see it in all the lakes and waterways around Seattle where the old shipyards just dumped barrels of chemicals, oils, solvents, over the sides of the docks. We have a couple super fund sites right here. The mess is so much that I guess they simply plan to let time do the work.

Very interesting video . I enjoyed your journey around the place and telling us how things worked .

Great meeting you guys here in Nevada. Have safe travels and maybe we’ll catch up to again.

If there's going to be a gold rush believe me I'm going to show up... But I'll be the guy selling shovels

Another place to explore in the future. I'll be travelling to see Bannack State Park next week, also the Taco Bus in Dillon, but unfortunately won't have the time this trip to travel and see Coolidge as this will just be a quick overnighter. Thanks again for sharing your travels.

What does your campsite look like with your cargocamper?

been there lots .all the way to the top

Fun place to visit. Thank you. The place with the 2nd floor was way better constructed and appears to be somewhat newer.

I dug all over central Montana, never really found much but sure had fun!

Awesome ghost town I've been there to. Thank for sharing your time. Hey keep Oregon in your prayers fire's are bad.

Funny how Native Americans never left a mess when they moved on. Thanks for sharing!

thanks for showing us this,

Thank you for the tour....r

Hey, I didn't see or hear the rock chuck that was there when we went! Very cool place.

Interesting, thanks. Larry Miller San Diego Ca

This is off subject but I can’t find one of your old vids. We have an enclosed trailer with the rotating bar lock for the door. You had a vid where you mentioned that the part that bolts to the trailer could be purchased. I checked at the 1 dealer in my area that sells enclosed trailers and was told they don’t carry them and can’t get them. This seemed rather strange because they do repair work as well as selling the trailers. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

We always look forward to seeing your videos. Love to be there with ya but why didn’t you do any metal detecting? Love to run a few pans in the river!

My mother moved to California in 1985. We traveled hwy 70 until St. George Utah. Didn't know that gas was 110 miles from Colorado at Green River. Got off at Cisco Utah in search of gas. Pulled off into a driveway but no one there. I blew the horn and someone finally showed up. Got my gas. The person who sold it to me said only 12 persons still worked there for the railroad. Cisco was becoming a modern day ghost town due to hwy 70 pulling traffic away from the town.

Fantastic! 👍🇨🇦😉

What a beautifully crafted video ... I love your style, narration and pace. And your knowledge about these historic places is fantastic. Thank you!

Cool place.

Very cool vid, I really like Montana in the spring an summer, thx.

Do you ever try gold panning in those old mining towns?

Downtown Coolidge

The way the walls failed with the roof pushing them out says they must not of used collar ties. You can see that around here with old barns like that. Collar ties a very important item sometimes forgotten before trusses were invented.

What a beautiful trip! Thank you.

Man leaves his junk everywhere ! 🧹🧹🧹

Montana is a wonderful place with history!

Really enjoy your channel, it’s nice seeing an older couple on here, someone more relatable, and the content is really good. You are my kind of people, coffee all day! Thanks!

Great video.

Thanks for showing us this town and the road entry. I would like to visit this town next year on our trip to Montana. I appreciate your leaving everything as you found it for those of us following you. I wish everyone would be so kind and not be souvenir hunters; it destroys the history of the town to remove articles. I expect the metal detector folks would find lots of tin cans. Thanks for taking us along and enjoy your travels.

COOL, Just watch out for those NAILS.

I’m really enjoying y’all’s channel. Hi from Texas, God Bless!

Nice tour, thanks.

hike up to the upper mine its worth it

I enjoyed this video so much thank you for doing these walkthrough Ghost Town walkthrough history videos. I get to see things I wouldn't get to see.. love this video love love love it👍🏻👍🏻❤

Have you been to the ghost town near Sheridan MT? Its a rough drive up Mill Creek road but I've driven my skoolie up to it several times. Some amazing camping spots along the creek all the way up to Branham lakes at the end. Beautiful area!

Great video Rick & Linda , Jo-Ann and I really enjoyed this one. That one cabin at around the 12:00 time stamp looks like it could be restored. We love places like this. JT

Once the roof goes that's it.

Wonder if they ran up on Sasquatch?

That house you were in looks like the last one some one lived in maybe 1930 or 1940. Glad you lost weight to be light as a feather to go up the stairs 😊 Loved this video it was great to go with you. Kind of sad that the town wasn't kept up, but like you said it's not a tourist trap and your able to use your imagination and enjoy the quiet. Take care and stay safe 🤗🐞

Nice video! Really interesting and entertaining. I’ve lived in Montana my whole life and didn’t know about this ghost town

Thanks for taking us on another great adventure! I have my little Runaway camper now but still need a more reliable vehicle to pull it with. When I get it, I'm heading west to see these beautiful places.

They’ve had their first snow this year

Wow I am going to be putting this ghost town on my list.

Love the ghost town videos!

Been there because i found it on Google maps and by coincidence i went camping really close to it. I loved it there.

Been to that one too! There’s a place to dig crystals close by

Absolutely gorgeous, gorgeous scenery!