Editing Virginia City, Montana (section)

===Founding===
[[File:Thomas Francis Meagher House Virginia City Montana.jpg|thumb|left|190px|Thomas Francis Meagher House, Virginia City]]
In May 1863, a group of prospectors were headed toward the [[Yellowstone River]] and instead came upon a party of the [[Crow people]] and were forced to return to [[Bannack, Montana|Bannack]]. On May 26, 1863, Bill Fairweather and Henry Edgar discovered [[gold]] near Alder Creek.<ref>{{cite book|last=Malone |first=Michael P. |title=Montana-A History of Two Centuries |author2=Roeder, Richard B. |author3=Lang, William L.  |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle, WA |isbn=0-295-97129-0 |year=1991 |pages=65–66}}</ref> 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, the township was formed under the name of "Verina" a mile south of the gold fields. The name was intended to honor [[Varina Howell|Varina Howell Davis]], the first and only [[First Lady]] of the [[Confederate States of America]] during the [[American Civil War]]. Verina, although in [[Union (American Civil War)|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 and recorded it as Virginia City.<ref name=Dillion2>{{cite book |author=Dillion, Mark C. |title=Montana Vigilantes 1863-1870 Gold, Guns and Gallows |chapter=The Rise and Dominance of the "Fourteen-Mile City" at Alder Gulch |pages=8–20 |publisher=Utah State University Press |location=Logan, UT |year=2013 |isbn=9780874219197}}</ref>

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' court]]s. In late 1863, the great wealth in the region, lack of a justice system and the insecure means of travel gave rise to serious criminal activity, especially robbery and murder along the trails and roads of the region. "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 and the infamous [[Montana Vigilantes]]. Up to 15 road agents were hanged by the [[vigilante]]s in December 1863 and January 1864, including the sheriff of [[Bannack, Montana|Bannack]] and alleged leader of the road agent gang, [[Henry Plummer]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Dillon, Mark C. |title=Montana Vigilantes 1863-1870 Gold, Guns and Gallows  |publisher=Utah State University Press |location=Logan, UT |year=2013 |isbn=9780874219197}}</ref>
[[File:Virginia City, Montana from Alder Gulch in the late 1890s by Charles Roscoe Savage (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Virginia City, Montana, from Alder Gulch in the late 1890s, by Charles Roscoe Savage]]
The [[Montana Territory]] was organized out of the existing [[Idaho Territory]] by Act of [[United States Congress|Congress]] and signed into law by [[President Abraham Lincoln]] on May 26, 1864.<ref name="Montana Territory">{{cite web | url = http://courts.mt.gov/library/organic.pdf | title = An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Montana | publisher = [[Thirty-sixth United States Congress]] | date = May 26, 1864 | access-date = January 20, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070112223516/http://courts.mt.gov/library/organic.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = January 12, 2007}}</ref> Although Bannack was the first territorial capital, the territorial legislature moved the capital to Virginia City on February 7, 1865.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Jeffrey J. |title=Montana Book of Days |publisher=Historic Montana Publishing |location=Missoula, MT |year=2003 |page=40 |isbn=0966335562}}</ref> It remained the capital until April 19, 1875, when it moved to [[Helena, Montana|Helena]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Parry |first=Ellis Roberts |title=Montana Dateline |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |location=Guilford, CT |year=2001 |isbn=156044956X |page=81}}</ref> Thomas Dimsdale began publication of Montana's first newspaper, the ''Montana Post'', in Virginia City on August 27, 1864.<ref>{{cite book |last=Parry |first=Ellis Roberts |title=Montana Dateline |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |location=Guilford, CT |year=2001 |isbn=156044956X |page=186}}</ref>  Montana's first public school was established in Virginia City in March 1866.<ref>{{cite book |last=Parry |first=Ellis Roberts |title=Montana Dateline |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |location=Guilford, CT |year=2001 |isbn=156044956X |page=51}}</ref>

[[File:Gilbert Brewery Virginia City Montana.jpg|thumb|right|190px|Gilbert Brewery, Wallace Street, Virginia City, founded in 1866 by Henry S. Gilbert (1833–1902)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv41728|title=Gilbert Brewing Company records - Archives West|website=archiveswest.orbiscascade.org}}</ref>]]