By Jeff McNeish and the Carbon County Historical Society

Paperback
Arcadia Publishing: December 2, 2009
English
Page length: 128 pages

ISBN-13: 978-0738570419

Taken from the back cover:

Memories of Montana’s Bear Creek Valley flicker briefly to life each February on the anniversary of its darkest day. It is remembered as the site of Montana’s worst coal mining accident, which claimed the lives of 75 miners, but the valley was so much more. For decades it was Montana’s “cold basket,” housing to towns, dozens of coal mines, and a population equaling that of neighboring Red Lodge. Businesses included a movie theater, dry goods store, grocery stores, hotels, hospitals, butchers, banks, bars, and union halls, all serving residents with pan-European origins. It’s schools produced championship sports teams and community leaders. Gone, but not forgotten, Bear Creek Valley lives on in this book.

About the author:

Local historian a Jeff McNeish, lecture and author of the three-volume the Smith Mine Disaster Chronicles, preserves the stories of this region in an ongoing labor of love stemming from over a century of family history in the area. The extraordinary vintage images in this book tell him an amazing place and time in Montana’s history and our presented thanks to the efforts of the Carbon County Historical Society and like-minded individuals who refuse to let the memory of this remarkable place fade.

About the publisher:

The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns, and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.