Helena, Montana

After such a long day driving yesterday, I opted to stay an extra day here in Helena. I remembered this community much smaller; it's grown so much since the kids and I were here nearly 18 years ago. I think I could live here. 

Today I spent the day here in town checking out the historical spots. I gather back in the 1880's there were 4 men who had come west to find gold. Originally they weren't very successful, but did try - Last Chance at the Gulch, and found gold! Mr. Chessman, one of the miners, realized that mining wasn't the business to be in, but supplying the miners was. He did quite well for many years. At that time, hydraulic mining was growing fast, and there was a huge need for more water to operate the systems. 

Mr. Chessman bought up land and brought in a stream. Later, the reservoir was named after him. One of the original mansions he built in 1888 became the Governor's Mansion in 1912, for Governor Stewart, a middle class man from Virginia City. The tour shared a wealth of information. It seems when Mr. Chessman built the house he was so proud of his steam pipes, he left the pipes exposed. It was built with a Queen Anne style - a home without a single line of symmetry with one window on each side of the door. 

I guess the curators have had the three daughters from former Governor Stewart arrive at the mansion doors and tour their home. They shared amazing details with the volunteers. They talked about their fainting couch where their mother sat and the horn chair in dad's study. There were numerous paintings hanging, but not with hooks like we do today. I guess the fancy molding around the ceiling in that time was in fact called - picture molding, meant to hang pictures from it with a wire. The governor's wife, Marjorie, remembered one time she could hear water upstairs. Seeing that they had the only flushing toilet in town, she investigated. To her surprise, her daughter had line at back servants' entrance -charging  1 cent a flush. I guess the state charged building taxes based on the number of doors a house had. No wonder the girls had to go out the window to hang the American flag each day. ( what do you think this thing is? ) Sshhhh. it's a rat trap. They had a huge fire in the Gulch that burned out many houses and endangered the barns, too. 

After the mansion, I walked up to St. Helena's Cathedral. It was beautiful. From the history, it is on the same scale as a cathedral in Vienna, Austria. I saw that one when I was there. :-)

After that, I headed to the Walking Mall, located just a few streets from the cathedral. I came upon a yarn store with great wools and even a silk mix I couldn't pass it up. Latte and vanilla biscotti was lunch and yummy. Beautiful purple flowers are planted in the center of the Walking Mall and are breathtaking. 

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at Albertson's to buy a frozen dinner. I never made it to the frozen section, because I spent well over 25 minutes at the deli talking with  student who moved from Phoenix, Arizona and another lady with her daughter sharing they came from San Francisco. I learned so much about the area. I went to Carroll College to wrap up the evening, listening to a symphonic concert and watching the fireworks. It seems they have concerts in the park, just like we do in Acton. 

I'm done for the night. Tomorrow, Sunday, I'll head into Calgary. So I can be frugal, I can RECEIVE UNLIMITED texts, but I have LIMITED REPLIES. So if you want to send me a message and you don't want me to reply - this is the time. He he he 
Phone calls are expensive, so there will be none unless there's an emergency until next Sunday, 7/24 when I come back into the country. I'll keep updating the blog with hotel internet access. 

Lots of hugs :-)