One of the things I like about my nomadic lifestyle is the ability to frequently explore new grounds, and I enjoy poking around old historic ruins when I find them.
In 2021, I was fishing the Madison River in Montana, and I was based for a few days out of the Ruby Creek BLM campsite, which is about 20 miles south of Ennis. One day I decided to scout for access to the river upstream of the campsite, by riding down Ruby Creek Rd to see what I could see.
It turned out that the road wound back into the mountains rather than back to the river, but there were a couple of really amazing ruins along the way. The first homestead is probably one of the most intact examples I’ve ever come across. Only the porch roof had collapsed off the back of the house.
I’m not sure who owns the property, but it was not fenced or marked private. My various maps show it outside the boundary of the Beaverhead – Deerlodge National Forest, and the BLM maps show it outside the boundary of their territory. Perhaps state land?
There are some signs as to when it last was a going concern. There is a tended grave with the name Dale, for a baby boy and girl that didn’t make it, circa 1917. Reading some history of the homesteading era in Montana illustrated just how hard things could get…
Unfortunately, the glory years of Montana homesteading were brief. In 1917, dry weather returned to the state. By 1918, a drought had spread across the central and eastern part of the state. Farm output dropped drastically, wildfires caused destruction, cattle suffered and died. Temperatures soared, and broken up top soil blew away in savage dust storms. The spread of the 1918 flu epidemic, combined with the end of increased food demand for World War I, spelled the end of the homesteading boom in Montana. Economic hardship hit the area, thousands lost their farms, and most of those who had come to settle during the period fled the state.
Montana History Portal – http://www.mtmemory.org
There is an old car that’s rusting away, some sort of 1940’s American iron. I can’t suss out what make or model it was, but a two door would be an unusual choice for a family busting rocks to dig an irrigation ditch for the orchard that they had planted. Perhaps the car was dropped there long after the people had departed this gorgeous patch of valley floor. I can’t imagine how hard things must have got to abandon this property to a bank or to just walk away. Inconceivable!
There is an intact workshop just behind the house that has a forge and benches, with a door that’s large enough to drive a car inside. I can definitely see me working on an old Alfa Romeo in there.
About a mile further south is another set of ruins, with a similar irrigated plot of plantings that I assume were an orchard of some type. There were no fruits growing that I could see, but maybe that’s part of why the properties were abandoned? The homestead to the south is in worse shape, with only the foundations remaining, though the root cellar entry was built of stone and still stands. So much labor invested into these places.
You can stand on the old foundation and look north to see the first homestead across the green grass of the valley, with darker green swaths of plantings that could have been wind breaks. The irrigation ditches are easy to pick out in the overhead Google imagery.
Maybe the best part about this piece of an old American dream how totally unmolested it is. No graffiti, no trash. OK, the car is shot up a bit, but it’s Montana for God’s sake. What do you expect? If you choose to pay a visit, please be respectful. Take only pictures, leave only footprints.
Know anything about the history of this location? Please share it with us in the comments below!
Here’s a few links to learn more about early homesteading history in Montana.
TRAVELINGWITHTOOLS 
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