This Cache is part of the Helena, Montana GeoExpedition. GeoExpeditionMT spans the scenic Helena area from the heights of MacDonald Pass, through historic downtown gulch then south to Boulder and the Elkhorn Ghost Town. View GeoExpedition rules and DOWNLOAD a PASSPORT here.
The side photo is of the Power Mansion - 3 blocks down (East) Power Street from the hide location. Located on the NW corner of Power and Harrison Streets.
In the 1860's Helena was a rough mining camp. Unlike the neighboring communities of Elkhorn, Bannack, Confederate Gulch and numerous other camps it was not destined to become a "Ghost Town". By the 1880's, Helena was the banking capital of the northwest as well as the hub of a mining industry rapidly growing in sophistication. Helena had a well developed sense of place as a vital mining community and soon wrestled the seat of government from Virginia City.
By 1900 the "Queen City" openly boasted of having more millionaires per capita than any other city in the country! Fortunes were made in this ebullient town. Whether they were made by rough miners or sophisticated "easterners", when it came time to marry many went east and wooed and won lovely, well educated and often wealthy young ladies. For their brides they built handsome homes on the hillsides both to the east, and (primarily) to the west of the gulch. They employed famous and well-trained architect-builders and hired skilled artisans to construct their homes. There was a strong feeling of establishment - of building a home to serve future generations.
These homes were built during the Victorian period, and the architecture of this period is called Eclectic, meaning "borrowed." The builders of these stately homes on Helena's west side borrowed many styles from European architecture. It was a period of Renaissance revival and the Victorians mixed freely Gothic, Romanesque, and Italianate styles so that there is rarely a "pure" style in the homes. Mark Twain once said that Helena's homes were "Queen Anne in the front and Mary Ann behind."
The location of the cache is on the western edge of the "Mansion District". You can pick up walking maps of the nearby historic homes in this area at the Montana Historical Society; (406/444-2694). Or you can visit this site prior to your hunt to get the street addresses and pertinent histories of many west side homes:http://montanahistorywiki.pbworks.com/w/page/21639658/Helena%20Historic%20District%20Contributing%20Properties. When possible I'll include some walking maps in the cache that you can use in the area.
The cache container is hidden just off a short path connecting the neighborhood with the community walking path that is an abandoned section of Le Grande Cannon BLVD. The cache is hidden low to the ground and is large enough for most travel bugs, GeoCoins and small swag items. This path is a city owned access between Mt. Helena and the homes of the upper west side. Follow the BLVD in either direction and you'll soon find a trailhead into the city park. Enjoy the hunt, the neighborhood, the view, the history, the park and the people you might meet! Thanks for hunting this one down. FTF prize is a Buffalo nickel pendent in a handmade leather draw sack.