Train Wreck at Boulder

At four o’clock on the afternoon of October 15, 1890, a train laden with ore on the Northern Pacific’s Helena, Boulder Valley & Butte Railroad chugged south along its rugged route from Helena to Boulder. Samuel T. Hauser filed articles of incorporation, with himself as president, and financed the line, built in 1887. Although intended to enter Butte, the line never extended to Butte and ended at Calvin. On that October day in 1890, the locomotive, four freight cars full of ore, and a caboose made its way up the nine miles to the summit of Boulder Hill at the Zenith station. This rugged route consisted of three short tunnels, several wooden trestles on a 3 percent grade, and several sixteen-degree curves. The train was moving at no more than ten miles per hour as regulations required. As the train passed over the first bridge south of the Zenith station, the trestle collapsed beneath it and the train fell into the ravine below.

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2006-26.23

The caboose and one of the ore cars landed upright. Miraculously the only injury was a broken arm, but for engineer H. H. Mayhew and his seven-man crew, the accident was a horrific event. Mayhew was so traumatized he could not work and sued the railroad. He used his five thousand dollar settlement to open a cigar store in Anaconda.

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2006-26.24

Northern Pacific investigators determined that the bridge design was not faulty. Rather, after the trestle was constructed, workers forgot to tighten the bolts. Northern Pacific maintenance crews spent the next several weeks tightening bolts on all the other trestles on the Helena, Boulder Valley & Butte line.

Montana Historical Society Photograph Archives, PAc 2006-26.22

Friday Photo: Boulder Hot Springs

One dark evening a few years ago a group assembled on the stairway of the unused wing at the historic Boulder Hot Springs Hotel. There were a dozen adult students, led by Patrick Marsolek of Helena, who wanted to practice their intuitive skills. None of the participants knew the history of the hot springs, which stretched back to the mid-nineteenth century.

A postcard view of Boulder Hot Springs in the 1940s.
From the collection of Kennon Baird via Helena As She Was

The property manager allowed the group access to the long-abandoned wing. After exploring the dark corridors and many rooms with flashlights, the students gathered on the stairway which led to this unused area. The idea was to share their individual impressions. While women made up most of the group, there were several men. Each of the male students claimed that they felt a seductive female presence. Although historically unsubstantiated, locals claim prostitutes once worked in a portion of this wing. Even more eerie were the impressions of at least half the other students who said they heard children’s laughter, children running in the corridors, and balls bouncing down the hallways. None of the students knew that after the destructive Helena earthquakes in 1935, Boulder Hot Springs opened this wing to St. Joseph’s Children’s Home. The children lived at the hotel for a year while the orphanage was repaired. Finally one last student remained to share her experience. She had curled up comfortably in a corner of the landing. As she stood, she commented, “I feel just like a cat and I need to stretch.” A hotel staff member heard this comment and looked incredulously at the woman. “Oh my goodness,” she exclaimed. “You were curled up in our elderly cat’s favorite napping place. She died right there last week.”