Bearmouth is a former town located in Granite County,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. It began as a trading post for the

placer mining Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

camps of Beartown,

Garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

and Coloma, located in the hills north of Bearmouth in Granite County. A pioneer family named Lannen operated the gold exchange and

ferry boat A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

across the

Clark Fork River The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately long. It is named after William Clark of the 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. The largest river by volume in Montana, it ...

. Bearmouth was not a

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

camp, but rather a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

that depended on the survival of other towns that were mining camps. During the late 19th century, enormously rich

ores Ore is natural Rock (geology), rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the ...

from Garnet were brought into Bearmouth to be shipped to

smelters Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zinc. Sm ...

. When Garnet ceased to exist, Bearmouth followed suit. The town, however, was also a main stop for stagecoaches on the old

Mullan Road Mullan Road was the first covered wagon, wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the Inland Empire (Pacific Northwest), Inland of the Pacific Northwest. It was built by United States Army, U.S. Army troops under the command of Lt. John Mullan ( ...

. As such, it had a two-storied, balconied

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

for travelers to spend the night as well as a large

livery stable A livery yard, livery stable or boarding stable, is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on wor ...

, both of which still stand. In September 1841,

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest Pierre Jean De Smet, traveled westward through this area on his way from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, to establish a

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

for the

Flathead Indians The Bitterroot Salish (or Flathead, Salish, Séliš) are a Salish-speaking group of Native Americans, and one of three tribes of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana. The Flathead Reservation is home to ...

in the

Bitterroot Valley The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana, along the Bitterroot River between the Bitterroot Range and Sapphire Mountains, in the Northwestern United States. Geography The valley extends approximately from Lost Trail Pass in I ...

. The nearest town is Drummond, approximately to the east. The nearest large city is

Missoula Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot River, Bitterroot and Blackfoot River (Montana), ...

, about to the west. The next large city to the east is

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

, to the southeast. The ''Hazel Marsh Papers''Hazel Marsh Papers
/ref> is a collection of records from the many Lannen family businesses in Bearmouth. The post office, saloon, and general store ledger books are in the collection as well as financial records and legal documents from Christopher Lannen. School district records and

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise Suffrage, eligible to Voting, vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted ...

s from Bearmouth are also in the collection. The collection also contains photographs and memorabilia and is located at the

Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library is the campus library at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. Completed in 1978 on the east side of campus, the five-story library was funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1979, it was ...

, K. Ross Toole Archives,

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

Notes

Ghost towns in Montana Populated places in Granite County, Montana {{GraniteCountyMT-geo-stub