Last Chance Tour Train and Tizer GardensMiner

Four miners had been looking for gold all through the west and had decided to pack it up and return to their homes in the east.  On the morning they were going to leave they said that they would give it one last chance and struck one of the largest gold finds ever.  The area of town where the gold was found is known as Last Chance Gulch.  In the late eighteen hundreds there were more millionaires per capita in Helena than anywhere else in the country.  The men's only club admitted you only if you were a millionaire and there is a whole section of town that has beautiful mansions from this early period in Helena's history.

We picked Bill and Lois up and went to find the tour "train" that leaves from the Montana Historical Museum.  After riding around the Capital complex a few times, we finally found the ticket booth and a place to park.  The train consists of the engine and four cars that hold sixteen people each and is driven on the roads, not tracks.  The four of us had the last car to ourselves.

Ted on the Tour Train

Statue Outside Museum

The tour starts by meandering through the Capital complex and then past the new governor's home before heading up to the  mansion section of the city and eventually past the old governor's home. 

Capital Building

Montana in Flowers

New Governor's House

Old Governor's House

Other than the houses, buildings of note were the St. Helena Cathedral with its really tall spires, the Civic Center, a former mosque, and the houses of Reeder Alley, a restored miner's village from gold rush days.  We also drove up through the walking mall, a two block section of shops and restaurants that is pedestrian only (except for the tour train, I guess). The tour took about an hour and was interesting and informative.  

One of the Mansions

Another Mansion with Very Different Architecture 

St. Helena Cathedral

Each Story has an Extra Window on the Corner

Miners on the Pedestrian Mall

Miner's House on Reeder's Alley

One note of interest was that the state had a vote as to whether Helena or Anaconda would become the capital of the state.  Helena won by two votes.  It wasn't until years later that the ballots were found in a hidden room below what had been the sheriff's home at the time.  The ballots were recounted and Helena had not won.  By this time, the capital building had been constructed and it was too late to change the capital.

After the tour, we went to a sports store to try and find Bill and Lois sweatshirts as they hadn't brought any with them.  We went to the health food store next door, bought lunch and sat outside to eat before heading down to Jefferson City to see the Tizer Gardens.  The  six acres of gardens are on either side of Prickly Pear Creek.  The narrow, fast flowing creek winds through the gardens with numerous little bridges crossing it.  The paths lead up the side of a hill on one side with numerous smaller gardens and hidden spots along the way.  Throughout the gardens are chairs where people can sit and listen to the brook while looking at the spectacular display of plantings.  Some gardens are wild and some cultivated but surprisingly for so early in the season, many were in bloom.  Because we are at a similar latitude as Maine, many of the plants were the same as I had in my perennial gardens in Wiscasset.  Also throughout the gardens were little bird houses, gnomes, fairies and other items that added dimension to the gardens.  Ted and Bill did a lot of sitting and meditating while Lois and I wandered through the gardens taking way too many pictures.  Lois kept bending over to pull weeds.  She just couldn't help it.

Prickly Pear Creek 

Ted and Bill Sitting by Brook

Lois With Ceramic Bells and Ivy

Miniature Bird Houses

Stuffed Jeans With Flowers

Resting by the Brook Again

More Formal Gardens

Another Garden Ornament

Poppies

These Irises Smell Just Like My Mother's

After we left the gardens and on our way back to Helena, we stopped at Mark's Lumber where Tim works.  He gave us a tour of the lumber yard and then a tour of the building that houses the offices.  The post and beam building was built with no nails and was decorated with the types of products that they sell.  Some of the doors and cabinets were stunning.  Most of the doors were made of alder, a tree that is small and a nuisance in the east grows larger and has a unique beauty when grown in the west.

Bonnie had dinner ready when we returned and then she and Tim rode their bicycles to the pedestrian mall downtown where we met them at the Big Dipper for ice cream.  We took Bill and Lois home and were back at the campground for a relatively early night.