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Mystery photo number four

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Home of t-shirts, postcards and collectible turd-birds.

Once home to 10,000 people, this former territorial capital now seems to get about that many tourists every day during the summer months. Can you identify it?

For the three-point bonus, name the creek where an event occurred that precipitated the town’s founding.

By the way, if you ever visit this place, please don’t arrive on a Harley, clad in full Harley apparel. Trust me: It’s been done to death.

More along these lines:

Comments

  2. Joan says

    I’m guessing Bannack, Montana. The creek would be Grasshopper Creek where gold was discovered, leading to the founding of the town.

  3. Mark A says

    Can I guess again, especially since I was so far off the first time?

    Is it Virginia City, Montana?

  4. John H. says

    Looks like Mark A. beat me to the name, but I’m going for the bonus: Alder Creek.

    Capitalism fun fact: even though “Elling Gold Exchange” produces results, Google first shows you results for “Selling Gold Exchange” and forces you to click a link to search for the thing you actually wanted to search for in the first place.

    • Dave Knadler says

      John gets three points, for a total of six.

      If you look closely at the photo, you can just make out the word “Montana” — and even better, the zip code.

    • Dave Knadler says

      Grasshopper Creek is associated with the gold strike in Bannack, Montana, which is a real ghost town as opposed to tourist destination. Virginia City’s first gold strike was on Alder Creek.

      Glad to see so many guesses, though.

      For the record, there’s no limit to the number of guesses you can make. It’s just the first correct one that matters.

  7. Sheila says

    Well, I’m way out of my league — and I’m betting on Deb to win — but it’s fun to see the pictures!

  9. Joan says

    I’ll just have to try harder. Now I have a question: exactly what is a turd-bird and why would anyone want to collect them?

    • Dave Knadler says

      It’s an elegant gift that used to be sold in fine souvenir stores throughout the state. The key component is exactly what you’d expect: usually the droppings of a horse or a moose. Here’s a sample:
       

       
      I don’t know if anyone actually collected them, but this is America so my guess would be yes.