Garnet, Montana: Quite ghostly, but not spooky at all
By Tom Adkinson
August 20, 2021

Garnet Ghost Town spreads through a small valley at 5,995 feet elevation in the Garnet Mountains an hour east of Missoula. Image by Tom Adkinson.

GARNET, Montana – If ghosts were real, and if ghost towns were inhabited by ghosts, then Casper the Friendly Ghost would be the perfect tour guide for Garnet.

Casper, who starred in 55 animated cartoons from 1945-1959, would revel floating around this mountain outpost with more than 20 surviving buildings about an hour east of Missoula. Casper could tell tales of miners, dancehall girls, booms and busts in gold and silver, the hard winters, a three-hole outhouse and the less-than-intimidating jail.

The jail was a simple log structure, and the plaque outside explains that it was more of a drunk tank than a real jail. The only recorded inmate was one Frank Kearn, jailed overnight after killing a dog. Alcohol was involved.

Visitors examine a map with detailed descriptions of two dozen protected buildings at Garnet Ghost Town. Image by Tom Adkinson.

Casper, of course, isn’t real. That’s why the story of Garnet (pronounced Darn-It!) is told by the Garnet Preservation Association (GPA), which partners with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to keep what remains from succumbing to the elements. The BLM was given the land that encompasses most of the town’s historic buildings in 1972, and the GPA was created in 1983.

Today, Garnet is recognized as Montana’s most intact ghost town. Its relative isolation helped keep it from disappearing.

In its heyday, Garnet had many of the trappings of Old West mining towns, but it also had an aura of respectability, unlike raucous and violent places such as Deadwood, South Dakota, or a nearby mining camp called Beartown.

The skilled workers who founded Garnet in 1895 showed up in these remote mountains with their families. Instead of shacks, they built houses, although they certainly were rough and uncomfortable.

Everyday products took on extra meaning after they were abandoned when the town’s last residents departed. Image by Tom Adkinson.

The town ultimately had four stores, four hotels, three livery stables, two barber shops, a union hall, a school (enrollment once was 41 children), a butcher shop, a candy shop, a doctor’s office, an assay office and, yes, 13 saloons and some brothels. Mining certainly attracted its share of single men. Population reached 1,000 hardy souls. Some found what they were searching for.

A variety of appliances, household goods and other reminders of everyday life are displayed in a surviving store building. Image by Tom Adkinson.

Gold fever had its roots here in the 1860s. After a gold strike in Bear Gulch in 1865, prospectors began pushing deeper into the Garnet Mountains, which were named for a semi-precious stone common in the region. Discovery of a 32-ounce nugget really fueled the fire.

Silver mining elsewhere lured the miners away at one point, but declining silver prices made gold appealing again in the 1890s. Garnet grew, but good times didn’t last. Mining became more difficult, and veins played out.

By 1905, the population stood at about 150. A fire in the business district in 1912 pushed more people away, and defense industry jobs related to World War I were more attractive than laboring in the long, snowy Montana winters.

There was a brief revival during the Depression when gold prices doubled from $16 to $32 an ounce – the population grew to 250 in 1935 – but World War II made backcountry living unappealing again. Dynamite was needed for the war effort, and defense industry jobs paid real money.

The entrance to what once was a blacksmith shop frames a view of once-bustling Garnet. Image by Tom Adkinson.

Many residents just walked away, abandoning cabins and their furnishings. This status of “arrested decay” is how the BLM and the GPA maintain the town today.

Social distancing apparently wasn’t a major concern in some corners of Garnet. Image by Tom Adkinson.

Garnet is only 40 miles from Missoula, but it’s not necessarily a quick drive. The last 11 miles are on a serpentine gravel road that twists into the mountains and takes you back in time.

Garnet is open all year, but with a catch. When winter arrives, the access road is closed to wheeled traffic, but you are welcome to zip in on a snowmobile or under your own power on cross country skis or snowshoes.

If you want a full ghost town experience, two of the historic cabins are for rent in the winter. You’ll have to manage without cellphones, internet and other amenities, but you might meet Casper.