Landscapes

 "Castle Ghosts"

Notes from the Artist:

First there was gold, with prospectors scrambling to California in the rush of 1849. As those fields played out, hordes followed the discoveries throughout the West. Along the way claims for other mineral bonanzas were filed. Silver was discovered in the Montana's Castle Mountains in the 1880’s, twenty years after the boom in Bannack and Virginia City, Montana. Soon the mountains were buzzing with the activity of many mines, the largest called the Cumberland.

There was a plan to build a railroad spur line to Castle to haul out the ore. The timing couldn’t have been worse. The price of silver dropped in 1892, ending the hopes for Castle’s railway and eventually the town itself. By the mid 1890’s, the town was pretty much deserted, a ghost town.

Many of the buildings were gone when I saw Castle a hundred years later. It was a cold, blustery autumn day. The winds were creating all manner of strange noises in the abandoned shells of the town. The thought crossed my mind that I was in the company of the ghosts of Castle. When I drew this piece, I wanted to show the history of the mining, so it’s there in the clouds.

Barbara Coppock

   hand colored etching by Barbara Coppock          Return to Map...

image size:  5x14 unframed price:  $135

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