1.
Helena, Montana
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Helena /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ is the capital city of the U. S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. It was founded as a camp during the Montana gold rush. Over $3.6 billion of gold was extracted in the city limits over a duration of two decades, making it one of the wealthiest cities in the United States by the nineteenth century. The concentration of wealth contributed to the prominent, elaborate Victorian architecture. The 2010 census put the population at 28,190 and the Lewis, Helena is the principal city of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Lewis and Clark and Jefferson counties, its population is 77,414 according to the 2015 Census Estimate. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record, professional sports teams include the Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns Tier III Junior A hockey team. The city is served by Helena Regional Airport, the Helena area was long used by various indigenous peoples. Before the introduction of the horse some 300 years ago, and since, other peoples, including the Salish. Yet like the native peoples none of them stayed for long, gold strikes in Idaho Territory in the early 1860s attracted many migrants who initiated major gold rushes at Grasshopper Creek and Alder Gulch in 1862 and 1863 respectively. So many people came that the government created a new territory called Montana in May 1864. These miners prospected far and wide for new gold discoveries. The original camp was named Last Chance by the Four Georgians, by fall, the population had grown to over 200, and some thought the name Last Chance was too crass. On October 30,1864, a group of at least seven self-appointed men met to name the town, authorize the layout of the streets, the first suggestion was Tomah, a word the committee thought had connections to the local Indian people. Other nominations included Pumpkinville and Squashtown, other suggestions were to name the community after various Minnesota towns, such as Winona and Rochester, as a number of settlers had come from Minnesota. Finally, a Scotsman named John Summerville proposed Helena, which he pronounced /həˈliːnə/ hə-LEE-nə in honor of Helena Township, Scott County, Minnesota. This immediately caused an uproar from the former Confederates in the room, who insisted upon the pronunciation /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ HEL-i-nə, after Helena, Arkansas, a town on the Mississippi River. While the name Helena won, the pronunciation varied until approximately 1882 when the /ˈhɛlᵻnə/ HEL-i-nə pronunciation became dominant and has remained so to the present. Later tales of the naming of Helena claimed the name came variously from the island of St. Helena, the townsite was first surveyed in 1865 by Captain John Wood
2.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
3.
University of Kansas
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The University of Kansas, often referred to as KU or Kansas, is a public research university in the U. S. state of Kansas. The main campus in Lawrence, one of the largest college towns in Kansas, is on Mount Oread, two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area, the Edwards Campus in Overland Park, and the universitys medical school and hospital in Kansas City. There are also educational and research sites in Parsons, Topeka, Garden City, Hays, and Leavenworth, the university is one of the 62 members of the Association of American Universities. The university overall employed 2,814 faculty members in fall 2015, on February 20,1863, Kansas Governor Thomas Carney signed into law a bill creating the state university in Lawrence. The law was conditioned upon a gift from Lawrence of a $15,000 endowment fund, if Lawrence failed to meet these conditions, Emporia instead of Lawrence would get the university. The site selected for the university was a known as Mount Oread. Robinson and his wife Sara bestowed the 40-acre site to the State of Kansas in exchange for land elsewhere, the philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence donated $10,000 of the necessary endowment fund, and the citizens of Lawrence raised the remaining cash by issuing notes backed by Governor Carney. On November 2,1863, Governor Carney announced that Lawrence had met the conditions to get the university. The schools Board of Regents held its first meeting in March 1865, work on the first college building began later that year. The university opened for classes on September 12,1866, during World War II, Kansas was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. KU is home to the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, the Beach Center on Disability, Lied Center of Kansas and radio stations KJHK,90.7 FM, and KANU,91.5 FM. The university is host to several including the University of Kansas Natural History Museum. The University of Kansas is a large, state-sponsored university, with five campuses, the university offers more than 345 degree programs. In its 2017 list, U. S. News & World Report ranked KU as tied for 118th place among National Universities and 56th place among public universities. The city management and urban policy program was ranked first in the nation, uSN&WR also ranked several programs in the top 25 among U. S. universities. The Bachelor of Architecture degree was added in 1920, in 1969, the School of Architecture and Urban Design was formed with three programs, architecture, architectural engineering, and urban planning. In 2001 architectural engineering merged with civil and environmental engineering, the design programs from the discontinued School of Fine Arts were merged into the school in 2009 forming the current School of Architecture, Design, and Planning. S in 2012. The University of Kansas School of Business is a business school on the main campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence
4.
Lawyer
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A lawyer is a person who practices law, as an advocate, barrister, attorney, counselor or solicitor or chartered legal executive. The role of the lawyer varies greatly across legal jurisdictions, in practice, legal jurisdictions exercise their right to determine who is recognized as being a lawyer. As a result, the meaning of the lawyer may vary from place to place. In Australia, the lawyer is used to refer to both barristers and solicitors. In Canada, the word lawyer refers to individuals who have been called to the bar or. Common law lawyers in Canada are formally and properly called barristers and solicitors, however, in Quebec, civil law advocates often call themselves attorney and sometimes barrister and solicitor in English. The Legal Services Act 2007 defines the activities that may only be performed by a person who is entitled to do so pursuant to the Act. Lawyer is not a protected title, in India, the term lawyer is often colloquially used, but the official term is advocate as prescribed under the Advocates Act,1961. In Scotland, the word refers to a more specific group of legally trained people. It specifically includes advocates and solicitors, in a generic sense, it may also include judges and law-trained support staff. In the United States, the term refers to attorneys who may practice law. It is never used to refer to patent agents or paralegals, in fact, there are regulatory restrictions on non-lawyers like paralegals practicing law. Other nations tend to have terms for the analogous concept. In most countries, particularly civil law countries, there has been a tradition of giving many legal tasks to a variety of civil law notaries, clerks, and scriveners. Several countries that originally had two or more legal professions have since fused or united their professions into a type of lawyer. Most countries in this category are common law countries, though France, in countries with fused professions, a lawyer is usually permitted to carry out all or nearly all the responsibilities listed below. Arguing a clients case before a judge or jury in a court of law is the province of the barrister in England. However, the boundary between barristers and solicitors has evolved, in England today, the barrister monopoly covers only appellate courts, and barristers must compete directly with solicitors in many trial courts
5.
Montana
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Montana /mɒnˈtænə/ is a state in the Western region of the United States. The states name is derived from the Spanish word montaña, Montana has several nicknames, although none official, including Big Sky Country and The Treasure State, and slogans that include Land of the Shining Mountains and more recently The Last Best Place. Montana has a 545-mile border with three Canadian provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the state to do so. It also borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, Montana is ranked 4th in size, but 44th in population and 48th in population density of the 50 United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges, smaller island ranges are found throughout the state. In total,77 named ranges are part of the Rocky Mountains, the eastern half of Montana is characterized by western prairie terrain and badlands. The economy is based on agriculture, including ranching and cereal grain farming. Other significant economic activities include oil, gas, coal and hard rock mining, lumber, the health care, service, and government sectors also are significant to the states economy. Millions of tourists annually visit Glacier National Park, the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, the name Montana comes from the Spanish word Montaña and the Latin word Montana, meaning mountain, or more broadly, mountainous country. Montaña del Norte was the name given by early Spanish explorers to the mountainous region of the west. The name was changed by Representatives Henry Wilson and Benjamin F. Harding, when Ashley presented a bill to establish a temporary government in 1864 for a new territory to be carved out of Idaho, he again chose Montana Territory. This time Rep. Samuel Cox, also of Ohio, objected to the name, Cox complained that the name was a misnomer given most of the territory was not mountainous and that a Native American name would be more appropriate than a Spanish one. Other names such as Shoshone were suggested, but it was decided that the Committee on Territories could name it whatever they wanted, with an area of 147,040 square miles, Montana is slightly larger than Japan. It is the fourth largest state in the United States after Alaska, Texas, and California, the largest landlocked U. S. state, and the worlds 56th largest national state/province subdivision. To the north, Montana shares a 545-mile border with three Canadian provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the state to do so. It borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, the states topography is roughly defined by the Continental Divide, which splits much of the state into distinct eastern and western regions. Most of Montanas 100 or more named mountain ranges are in the western half. The Absaroka and Beartooth ranges in the states south-central part are part of the Central Rocky Mountains
6.
Emporia State University
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Emporia State University, often referred to as Emporia State or ESU, is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States, east of the Flint Hills. Established in March 1863 and originally known as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is one of six public universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. Emporia States intercollegiate athletic teams are known as the Hornets with the exception of the womens teams, Emporia State competes in NCAA Division II and has been a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association since 1991. Since joining the NCAA Division II in 1991, the Lady Hornets basketball team is the team to win a NCAA championship. The origins of the university back to 1861, when Kansas became a state. This was because as a provision was included in the Kansas Constitution for a state university, from 1861 to 1863 the question of where the university would be located—Lawrence, Manhattan or Emporia—was debated. In February 1863, Manhattan was made the location of the states land-grant college, leaving only Lawrence and Emporia as candidates. The fact that Lawrence had $10,000 plus interest donated by Amos Lawrence plus 40 acres to donate for the university had great weight with the legislature and Lawrence beat out Emporia by one vote. A few years later, on March 7,1863, the Kansas Legislature passed the act to establish the Kansas State Normal School. Although Emporia State was established in 1863, it was not until February 15,1865 that classes began, the first president of the Kansas Normal School, who was also the schools only teacher, Lyman Beecher Kellogg, taught nearly 20 students in the district school house. The schools first class graduated on June 28,1867, the year the first permanent building was completed, consisted of two women, Mary Jane Watson and Ellen Plumb. The two women were daughters of two persons in Kansas, the first being Judge Watson, a local judge. The United States had many Normal schools in the 19th century, in 1876, the Kansas Legislature passed the Miscellaneous appropriations bill of 1876. The end result was that Leavenworth Normal and Concordia Normal were closed so the funding for normal schools could be directed to Emporia. KSN branched out with locations in Pittsburg and Hays, Kansas, the western branch in Hays opened June 3,1902 and is today known as Fort Hays State University. The Pittsburg branch was opened as the Manual Training Auxiliary School in 1904, today it is Pittsburg State University. In February 1923, the name of the school was changed to the Kansas State Teachers College, in July 1974, the name was changed to Emporia Kansas State College. On April 21,1977, the college became Emporia State University, Dr. Michael Shonrock became Emporia States 16th president on January 3,2012
7.
Jeannette Rankin
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Jeannette Pickering Rankin was an American politician and womens rights advocate, and the first woman to hold national office in the United States. She was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives by the state of Montana in 1916, each of Rankins Congressional terms coincided with initiation of U. S. military intervention in each of the two world wars. She championed the causes of equality and civil rights throughout a career that spanned more than six decades. She was the eldest of six children, including five girls and one brother, Wellington, who would become the states attorney general, and later, an associate justice of the Montana Supreme Court. As an adolescent, Rankin cleaned, sewed, and helped care for her siblings, in addition to sharing in the outdoor work. She helped maintain the machinery, and once single-handedly built a wooden sidewalk for a building owned by her father so that it could be rented. Rankin graduated from school in 1898, and from the University of Montana in 1902 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. With no clear career ambitions, she first tried dressmaking in Missoula, and then furniture design in Boston and she also turned down several marriage proposals. At the age of 28, Rankin moved to San Francisco to take a job in social work, confident that she had found her calling, she enrolled in the New York School of Philanthropy in New York City from 1908 to 1909. She then moved to Spokane, Washington where, after serving as a social worker, she attended the University of Washington. She helped organize the New York Womens Suffrage Party and worked as a lobbyist for the National American Woman Suffrage Association, in November 1910, Washington voters approved an amendment to their state constitution permanently enfranchising women, the fifth state in the Union to do so. In February 1911, Rankin became the first woman to speak before the Montana legislature, in November 1914, Montana passed a similar amendment granting women unrestricted voting rights. Rankin later compared her work in the suffrage movement to the pacifist foreign policy that defined her congressional career. She believed, with many suffragists of the period, that the corruption and dysfunction of the United States government was a result of a lack of feminine participation, as she said at a disarmament conference in the interwar period, The peace problem is a womans problem. The campaign involved traveling long distances to reach the states widely scattered population, Rankin rallied support at train stations, street corners, potluck suppers on ranches, and remote one-room schoolhouses. She was elected on November 7, by over 7,500 votes, shortly after her term began, Congress was called into an extraordinary April session in response to Germanys declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare on all Atlantic shipping. On April 2,1917, President Woodrow Wilson, addressing a joint session, after intense debate, the war resolution came to a vote in the House at 3 oclock in the morning on April 7, Rankin cast one of fifty votes in opposition. I wish to stand for my country, she said, but I cannot vote for war, years later, she would add, I felt the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war, she should say it
8.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
9.
Montana Territory
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The Montana Territory was organized out of the existing Idaho Territory by Act of Congress and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 26,1864. The areas east of the Continental Divide had been part of the Nebraska Territory. The part of the Oregon Territory that became part of Montana had been split off as part of the Washington Territory and they successfully implemented the boundary change that won the Flathead and Bitterroot valleys for Montana Territory. The boundaries of the territory did not change during its existence and it was admitted to the Union as the State of Montana on November 8,1889. The act of Congress of 1864 creating Montana, known as the Organic Act and it established executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, however, the federal government held a dominant role in administering the new territory. Particularly, the Congress reserved the right to any laws passed by the citizen-elected territorial legislature. S. The citizens of the territory elected an assembly, consisting of a Council and House of Representatives. Citizens also elected a delegate to Congress as strictly an advisor to the U. S. House of Representatives. The territorial government was meant to provide a ground for a future move to statehood, allowing time for an areas institutions to mature. The governor served a term, unless removed by the President. Duties of the office included 1) the faithful execution of the laws, 2) to serve as the commander-in-chief of the militia, the governor also had to approve or veto laws within three days of passage by the territorial legislative assembly. Parties Dem Democratic Rep Republican The secretary of the territory served a four-year term, importantly, the secretary also served as acting governor in case of the death, removal, resignation, or absence of the governor from the territory. Parties Dem Democratic Rep Republican The eligible citizens of Montana Territory voted for a delegate to Congress, electing them to a two-year term. The territorial delegate had a seat in the House of Representatives and, as any other representative, participated in debates, State created from the Territory of Montana, State of Montana,1889 William F. Wheeler, U. S. Marshal of the Montana Territory An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Montana, archived from the original on January 12,2007. Malone, Michael P. Roeder, Richard B, lang, William L. Montana, a history of two centuries. An Illustrated History of the State of Montana, owings, Ralph E. Montana Directory of Public Affairs, 1864-1955. Ann Arbor, MI, Edwards Bothers, Inc, delegates to the U. S. Congress, History and Current Status
10.
Sidney Edgerton
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Sidney Edgerton was a politician, lawyer, judge and teacher from Ohio. He served during the American Civil War, as a Squirrel Hunter, during this time, Edgerton served as a U. S. Congressman. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln appointed him the first Chief justice of the Idaho Territorial Court, Edgerton lobbied for the creation of separate territories, out of the Idaho Territory, and in 1864, Abraham Lincoln appointed Edgerton as the first Territorial Governor of Montana. During his term as Territorial Governor, he was an member of the infamous Montana Vigilantes. He was a child that was not expected to survive. He survived and, eventually, moved to Ohio and he became a lawyer, and was involved in both the Free Soil Party and the Republican Party. After John Browns raid on Harpers Ferry, Edgerton was invited, by Browns family and he never was able to meet with Brown. He had a career as a politician, and after his term ended in the Territory of Montana. He served as a lawyer in his state until his death in 1900. Edgerton was born in Cazenovia, New York, on August 17,1818 and his parents were Amos and Zerviah Edgerton, both of Connecticut. Zerviah was a cousin of millionaire philanthropist Anson Greene Phelps, as a child, Edgerton was so sickly and frail that burial clothes were prepared for him. Whereas the young Edgerton avoided death, the same could not be said for his father, Amos Edgerton died when Sidney was still an infant. Left with six children to raise, Zerviah Edgerton struggled to maintain her family, by age eight, young Sidney was out of the home and working himself through school. He eventually attended the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, New York, where his cousin taught, in 1844, he moved to Ohio and began working in the law office of Rufus P. Spalding. Edgerton also taught in an academy in Tallmadge, Ohio the same year and he studied law and graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1845. The next year Edgerton was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Akron, during this time, Edgerton declared himself an Agnostic. He married Mary Wright of Tallmadge on May 18,1848, Edgerton was a delegate to the convention that formed the Free Soil Party, in 1848. He then served as prosecuting attorney of Summit County, Ohio, later in 1856, Edgerton was a delegate to the first Republican National Convention
11.
Thomas Francis Meagher
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Thomas Francis Meagher was an Irish nationalist and leader of the Young Irelanders in the Rebellion of 1848. After being convicted of sedition, he was first sentenced to death, in 1852 he escaped and made his way to the United States, where he settled in New York City. There Meagher studied law, worked as a journalist, and traveled to present lectures on the Irish cause and he married for a second time in New York. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Meagher joined the U. S. Army and he was most notable for recruiting and leading the Irish Brigade, and encouraging support among Irish immigrants for the Union. He had one surviving son, born in Ireland from his first wife after Meagher was in the United States, following the Civil War, Meagher was appointed acting governor of the Montana Territory. In 1867, Meagher drowned in the swift-running Missouri River after falling from a steamboat at Fort Benton, timothy Egan, author of a 2016 biography on Meagher, has suggested that the governor was murdered by Montana opponents. Thomas Francis Meagher was born in what is now The Granville Hotel on the Quay in Waterford City, from the age of two he lived with his family at nearby Number 19, The Mall. His father, Thomas Meagher, was a merchant who had retired to enter politics. He was twice elected Mayor of the City, which he represented in Parliament from August 1847 to March 1857. He had lived in the city since he was a young man, the senior Meagher was born in St Johns, Newfoundland. His father, also named Thomas, had emigrated as a man from County Tipperary just before the turn of the 18th century. Starting as a farmer, the grandfather Meagher became a trader, and advanced to merchant, Newfoundland was the only British colony where the Irish constituted a majority of the population. The senior Thomas Meagher married the widow Mary Crotty and he established a prosperous trade between St. Johns and Waterford, Ireland. Later, the grandfather placed his eldest son Thomas in Waterford to represent their business interests, with the son Thomas move to Waterford, the Meagher family had come full circle, returning to Ireland to prosper. The son Thomas became a merchant in Waterford, whose economic success was followed by political office. Thomas Francis Meaghers mother, Alicia Quan, was the second eldest daughter of Thomas Quan and her father was a partner in the trading and shipping firm known as Wye, Cashen and Quan of Waterford. She died when Meagher was three and a years old, after the birth of twin girls. Meagher had four siblings, a brother Henry and three sisters, only his older sister Christine Mary lived past childhood
12.
Virginia City, Montana
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Virginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. In 1961 the town and the area were designated a National Historic Landmark District. The population was 190 at the 2010 census, in May 1863, a group of prospectors was headed toward the Yellowstone River and instead came upon a party of the Crow tribe and was forced to return to Bannack. On May 26,1863, Bill Fairweather and Henry Edgar discovered gold near Alder Creek, the prospectors could not keep the site a secret and were followed on their return to the gold bearing site. A mining district was set up in order to formulate rules about individual gold claims, on June 16,1863 under the name of Verina the township was formed a mile south of the gold fields. The name was intended to honor Varina Howell Davis, the first, Verina, although in Union territory, was founded by men whose loyalties were thoroughly Confederate. Upon registration of the name, a Connecticut judge, G. G. Bissell, objected to their choice, within weeks Virginia City was a boomtown of thousands of prospectors and fortune seekers in the midst of a gold rush. The remote region of the Idaho Territory was without law enforcement or justice system with the exception of miners courts, road agents as they became known were ultimately responsible for up to 100 deaths in the region in 1863 and 1864. This resulted in the formation of the Vigilance committee of Alder Gulch, up to 15 road agents were hanged by the vigilantes in December 1863 and January 1864, including the sheriff of Bannack, Montana and alleged leader of the road agent gang, Henry Plummer. The Montana Territory was organized out of the existing Idaho Territory by Act of Congress, although Bannack was the first territorial capital, the territorial legislature moved the capital to Virginia City on February 7,1865. It remained the capital until April 19,1875 when it moved to Helena, Montana, thomas Dimsdale began publication of Montanas first newspaper, the Montana Post, in Virginia City on August 27,1864. Montanas first public school was established in Virginia City in March 1866, in the 1940s, Charles and Sue Bovey began buying the town, putting much needed maintenance into failing structures. The ghost town of Virginia City began to be restored for tourism in the 1950s, most of the city is now owned by the state government and is a National Historic Landmark operated as an open-air museum. Of the nearly three hundred structures in town, almost half were built prior to 1900, buildings in their original condition with Old West period displays and information plaques stand next to thoroughly modern diners and other amenities. The Historic District of Virginia City and Nevada City is currently operated by the Montana Historic Commission and is the top state-owned tourist attraction in Montana, the Commission operates gold panning, a historic hotel, and the longest continuously operating live summer theater company in the western United States. Virginia City also has a Boothill Cemetery, there is also the 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge Alder Gulch Short Line Railroad, which transports passengers by rail to the nearby ghost town of Nevada City, Montana, and back. Sarah Bickford, African American businesswoman, owned a utility company, john Bozeman, prospector, merchant, founder of Bozeman, Montana and Bozeman Trail. Calamity Jane lived here for some time, helen M. Duncan, geologist and paleontologist, grew up in Virginia City
