Editing Neihart, Montana (section)

==History==
[[File:Old Building Neihart (8037155558).jpg|thumb|right|Old building in Neihart]]
On October 20, 1879,<ref name="Miller67">Miller, p. 67.</ref> E.A. "Buck" Barker and Patrick Hughes, two [[prospecting|prospectors]], discovered [[silver]] ore on Galena Creek in the Little Belt Mountains.<ref name="Fifer76">Fifer, p. 76.</ref> The mining towns of Barker, Galena Creek, and Hughesville soon sprang up in the area.<ref name="Miller67" /><ref name="Fifer76" /> Among the many small mining camps which were erected was Jericho, which soon went bust.<ref name="Miller165">Miller, p. 165.</ref> In July 1881, three prospectors from Barker—James LeRoy Neihart, John O'Brien, and Richard Harley<ref name="Aarstad">Aarstad, et al., p. 191.</ref>—discovered silver near the present-day town of Neihart<ref name="Miller67" /> and established the Queen of the Mountains Mine.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLwNAAAAYAAJ&dq=Neihart+July+1881&pg=PA402 Weed, p. 402.]</ref> When the news reached Barker, several parties of prospectors headed for the area<ref name="Weed403">[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLwNAAAAYAAJ&dq=Neihart+July+1881&pg=PA403 Weed, p. 403.]</ref> and established a new mining camp on Belt Creek named Canyon City.<ref name="Fifer77" /> Canyon City was later renamed Neihart after the aforementioned James LeRoy Neihart,<ref name="Weed403" /> who was also an uncle of poet [[John Neihardt]].<ref name="Federal271" /> The mining district was never formally organized, but for many years{{specify|date=June 2020}} was called the "Montana District".<ref name="Weed403" /> More than 40 mines operated in the area over the next 75 years.<ref name="Federal271" />

In 1882, the town was large enough for the United States Post Office Department to establish a post office there.<ref name="Fifer77" /> A road to White Sulphur Springs was constructed shortly thereafter, although ore was packed out by [[mule]] to Barker and [[Smelting|smelted]] there.<ref name="Fifer77" /><ref name="Weed403" /> When the Barker smelter closed in 1883, a new smelter was built close to Neihart at the Mountain Chief Mine in 1885.<ref name="Fifer78">Fifer, p. 78.</ref> By this time, the town featured a blacksmith's shop, a boarding house, restaurants, two [[bar (establishment)|saloons]], and stables.<ref name="Fifer78" /> About 50 houses had been built in Neihart, although many residents still lived in tents.<ref name="Fifer78" /> From 1882 to 1929, about $16 million in silver was taken out of the area around Neihart.<ref name="Aarstad" /><ref name="Fifer78" /> The Galt and Broadwater mines were dug in 1883, and a year later the Ball and Mountain Chief mines were in operation.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLwNAAAAYAAJ&dq=Neihart+July+1881&pg=PA404 Weed, p. 403-404.]</ref> The M and I, Rochester, and Silver Dyke mines also opened near Neihart.<ref name="Federal271" /> Despite the area's rich ore deposits, investment in mining in the Neihart region remained low due to the expense of ore extraction.<ref name="Fifer78" /><ref name="Weed404">[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLwNAAAAYAAJ&dq=Neihart+July+1881&pg=PA404 Weed, p. 404.]</ref>  In 1887, these early mines largely shut down, as most of the richest and easily accessible veins of ore had been exhausted.<ref name="Weed404" /> By 1890, Neihart was almost deserted.

On November 15, 1891, a spur of the [[Montana Central Railway]] reached Neihart, and a strong mining boom began.<ref name="Fifer78" /> Now even low-grade ore could be easily and cheaply shipped to the huge smelter in [[Great Falls, Montana|Great Falls]].<ref name="Weed404" /> The [[Panic of 1893]] wiped out the area's mining economy, but the town continued to exist.<ref name="Fifer78" /> This was largely because some mines, such as the Benton, Big Seven, and Florence, continued in operation.<ref name="Weed404" />

Neihart went through a series of booms and busts over the next half-century.  Mining booms occurred during and after [[World War I]], in 1929, and in 1935.<ref name="Fifer78" /> The 1935 boom was built primarily around [[zinc]] mining, and Neihart continued to be a major source for zinc during [[World War II]].<ref name="Federal271" /><ref name="Aarstad" /> In 1939, the town's population was 168.<ref name="Federal271" /> After World War II, the rail spur was abandoned and the track removed.

Portions of Neihart have been abandoned, and [[ghost town]] ruins can be seen in the city's outer limits,<ref name="tent62">Soderberg and Soderberg, p. 62.</ref> among them being Wu Tang's former laundry and drug store.<ref name="tent62" /> The remains of Jericho can also still be found in Neihart.<ref name="Miller165" />