On May 26, 1863, six men from Bannack seeking gold and town sites along the Yellowstone—William Fairweather, Henry Edgar, Thomas Cover, Barney Hughes, Micheal Sweeney, and Harry Rogers—found a rich placer gold deposit in Alder Gulch after falling behind James Stewart's Yellowstone Expedition, encountering a Crow tribe, and turning into the mountains away from the Madison River. Fairweather and Edgar tested the cold creek beside their camp and recognized the strike in what Edgar named Alder Creek. Although small amounts of gold had been found in this region of Idaho Territory during the early 1850's, this discovery drew thousands of prospectors, helped create settlements all along the gulch, and influenced Montana's future with the creation of Montana Territory in 1864. Cover and Edgar helped establish the town site of Varina, soon renamed Virginia, while Summit stood at the upper end of the gulch and Junction City at the lower end of the fourteen-mile city. Virginia City became central in location and importance, established closely after Nevada City, with both claiming priority. On March 5, 1868, Secretary of the Treasury H. McCulloch reported that Alder Gulch had produced more gold than all the others and that within three years of the start of mining operations, $30,000,000 had been taken from it. The second panel follows John D. Ellingsen, born in Great Falls, Montana, on May 17, 1947, whose early exposure to preserved Montana buildings and a 1952 trip to Virginia City inspired a lifelong commitment to historic preservation. Beginning work with Charles Bovey on March 15, 1972, Ellingsen served as curator and carried out a wide range of restoration and preservation work in Virginia and Nevada Cities, continuing after Charles Bovey's death in 1978 and Sue Bovey's death in 1988. He later helped secure state purchase of the Bovey properties after legislative efforts that failed in 1995 but succeeded in 1997 with House Bill 14. That purchase saved Virginia and Nevada Cities from being sold off piecemeal, preserving 250 buildings, 160 acres, and over a million artifacts for $6.5 million. Ellingsen, later curator emeritus, earned advanced training in history, architecture, and archaeology and received numerous preservation honors while continuing to live in Nevada City and care for Montana's past.