Lot 1012
A Rare Gold Rush Era Steamship Sign, painted boards with molding, painted copper half-hull steamship model, the sign reading; '1865, 1865! / Ho for the Gold Mines through Bills Lading / given by the Montana & Idaho Transportation Line to Virginia City, Bannock City, Deer Lodge & All Points in the Mining Districts / The steamers of this line leave St. Louis as follows: Deer Lodge, March 4th / Bertrand, March 9th / Benton, March 11th / Yellow Stone, March 18th / Fanny Ogden, April 15th, For Freight or Passage Apply to: John G. Copelin at Office of United States Insurance Co/South East Corner/Main & Olive Streets or Jon McEntire, 72 Commercial St. St. Louis/J. Eager, 41 Broad St. N.Y.' Note: The year 1865 saw a great increase in steamboat traffic up the Missouri River from St. Louis to the Montana Territory due to gold strikes in Deer Lodge Valley, Bannock, and what later became known as Helena. Extensive advertising campaigns in Eastern newspapers and with signs such as this example enticed people to take excursions to the gold fields. One of the steamships noted, Bertrand, hit a snag and sank on April 1, 1865. In 1969 it was excavated with most of its cargo intact. It is now housed in the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge.
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