Bearcreek, Montana is a nearly forgotten mining town that's being resurrected as one of the safest and most desirable places to live. The promise of employment with Smith Coal Mining Company in the early 1900's lured emigrant families from all nationalities: Italian, Croatian, English, Irish, Polish, Welsh - just to name a few. Today, as in the 1900's, Bearcreek is experiencing an influx of new residents, not looking to secure mining jobs, but desiring to retire in this popular valley and take opportunity to explore the pristine wilderness of beautiful Montana. Come with pockets full of money - land is expensive here !!
A small, western town bursting with history, Bearcreek is very close in proximity to the Beartooth Mountain Range - aka Snowy Mountains - and neighbouring, legendary Red Lodge, another historical historical mining township. Below are a few photos of the Beartooth Mountains.
Hoo boy - I'm sure I will burn for this - I had nothing in my photo archive so I borrowed these from another website. I lived in Montana for 20 years and being very proud of this state, I wanted to share the splendor of this mountain range with you.
The first time I visited Bearcreek Cemetery, it was a very emotional experience for me. Historically, it's a memorial to many souls, men, women and children from all races. I wonder how it would have been back in the day to live in this town, where everyone spoke a different language - a mix of cultural differences. And because it was a mining town - these men from different backgrounds had to get along and work as a team deep in that mine shaft, as their lives depended on it. I took these black and white images about seven years ago with my trusty 35 mm film camera - a Pentax K1000.
In the distance lies urban Bearcreek. Concealed just beyond those low hills and at the base of that big mountain range is Red lodge and the gateway to the Beartooth Mountains Pass. The pass is usually snowed in until the latter part of May - sometimes until early June. The drive is spectacular and will take you into Wyoming and some of the best trout fishing in the world.
I hope you don't think me too morbid for posting images of headstones - but I wanted to show you the history and diversity of people and children buried here. Two significant things happened in this area in the early 1900's. The first one - around 1918, the the most virulent flu epidemic in history passed through, killing approximately 5000 souls in Montana. I noticed many inscriptions of babies and toddlers on the tombstones - children struck down by this flu. Many families journeying to the west coast, with destinations of Oregon, Washington and California, in just a matter of a few days, lost family to the pandemic - many left behind, laid to rest in this dry basin, brimming with sagebrush and dashed dreams.
Secondly, in 1943, an explosion in the Smith Mine, claimed the lives of 74 men - three miners escaped alive. After the closure of the mine, Bearcreek more or less faded away. Houses were demolished or moved away bit by bit until there was not much left of the once thriving community. Today, the town has a heartbeat once again. At the back of the cemetery, you will find a memorial tombstone to all the men who lost their lives in this mining tragedy. I was touched by the lovely, composed angel who stands in the middle of this graveyard. With bowed head, eyes looking downward - she serenely watches and waits for a miracle.
I happened to catch a lightening strike in the distance - just on the horizon. If you ever visit Bearcreek, you will sense a spiritual energy in this valley, of melancholy memories as well as hope for new beginnings.