This Cache is part of the Helena, Montana GeoExpedition. The GeoExpedition 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.
A "micro" hidden on the historic backstretch of Helena Downs.
Horseracing as a sport is as old as the most ancient civilizations, recorded in the earliest written records. Chariot and mounted horse racing were included in the Greek Olympics as early as 638 BC. Twelfth century crusaders planted the seeds of modern racing when these English knights returned home with Arab horses. The importation of Arab stallions to be bred with English mares over the course of the next four centuries produced faster horses with greater endurance and prompted the nobility to begin private wagers for two-horse races.
Horse racing achieved professional status in the early eighteenth century during the reign of Queen Anne. Racecourses soon dotted England and wagering among spectators made the sport profitable for owners with the best horses. Breeding programs took advantage of methods stemming from new scientific investigations during this century’s Age of Enlightenment.
British colonists brought horses and the sport of horse racing to the New World. In 1665, Long Island was the site of the first American racecourse. But while racing was a favorite pastime among the colonists, the sport was unorganized until 1745 when Governor Sam Ogle of Maryland organized the first regulated race at Annapolis. This organized race prompted breeding programs using English pedigreed horses. The Revolutionary War ended the importation of British stock. After the war, importation of English breeding stock began again in earnest, especially in the southern states.
Native Americans brought horses into Montana in the 1700s, and racing from that time was a common sport. The tiny town of Racetrack near Deer Lodge takes its name from the long straightaway where, according to local tradition, Indians raced their ponies. It is likely that native people brought the first thoroughbreds into Montana. Billy Bay, a Kentucky thoroughbred stallion, is one of the first to appear by name in the written record. Several sources mention the famous Billy Bay, reputedly taken from the area north of Salt Lake and brought to the territory by Blackfeet. Trader Malcolm Clarke, whose wife was a Piegan Indian, and likely acquired the horse through his in-laws. Money, furs, and other valuables had been staked on Billy Bay in inter-tribal races.
Horse racing was a popular sport among the miners from the very beginning, and races in the streets of the mining camps were common past times. Mrs. Jack Slade purchased Billy Bay from Malcolm Clarke and was a frequent contender in the weekly Sunday races held in the streets of Virginia City. In fact, it was on Billy Bay that Virginia Slade made her famous, futile ride to save the life of her husband, hanged by the vigilantes in March of 1864.
If a person owned a fast horse, he would travel around to the mining camps looking for challengers and wagers. Johnny Grant, who brought horses into the Deer Lodge Valley he acquired from immigrants along the Oregon Trail, made these circuits. In November of 1864, Grant advertised in the Montana Post that his mare, Limber Belle, would race anywhere in the territory.
The construction of the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds and the founding of the Territorial Fairs in Helena are of great historical import to the colorful history of racing in Montana. The Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds track brought larger purses and the first organized races. Entries grew to include a wide geographic area. The facility was also the first and only regulation one-mile racetrack in the state.
Constructed in 1870, the historic racetrack at the Montana State Fairgrounds constitutes a significant link to the proud history of horseracing in the city of Helena, and throughout the state of Montana. One of the earliest regulation tracks to be built, the resource has a long and important history as the center of recreational racing in the area. As the location of the first organized and regulation races in the state, the fairgrounds track is the place where the colorful and important history of Montana horseracing got its start. Throughout the late 1800s, Helena’s track was intrinsic to the state’s racing circuit, where breeders, horses and jockeys influenced the national racing scene. Throughout the years, and especially during the State Fair’s heydays between 1870 and 1932, racing at the track was attractive to elite thoroughbred aficionados as well as standardbred enthusiasts.
From the south side of the track, spectators enjoy a panoramic view of the Helena valley and the magnificent sight of the Sleeping Giant (also known as Beartooth Mountain) against the northern skyline. The oval, mile-long track is situated east/west with moderate turns at either end. The backstretch is on the north. The home stretch on the south, where the horses exert their greatest effort, is 2 furlongs (¼ mile). The width of the track is about 75 feet; ample room for six to eight sulkies to travel abreast down the stretch. The surface of the track is soil and is banked and elevated. The grass infield was open space to accommodate full view of the entire track. A rail of sturdy 4 x 4s on wooden posts, originally painted a crisp white, defines the track. Historically, a wooden rail defined the edges of the track, but the existing rail is likely not of historic age. A historic, graded dirt roadway surrounds the track at the east end. Its width is sufficient to accommodate motor vehicles, and it is set below the grade of the track.
This cache is placed just off the historic backstretch of Helena Downs. A visit to the area will allow you to get a feel for the setting and the historic track. You can access the hide from any direction, but the best one is to walk the track itself from the south side. Please bring your own pencil or pen!!!
Info included in the cache description was taken from the application for National Register of Historic Places, US Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service.
Congrats to rockymountaingirls on their first FTF at Helena Downs!