Montana Genealogist & Property Historian Ciara Pares Kempf

04/06/2026

Poking around the Pioneers yesterday, and located these remnants of an old mine tramway. Couldn't locate the mine itself, which might still be above snowline. Spring is showing it's face on the south sides of the peaks!

04/03/2026

So who actually lived in Coolidge? Come find out on April 8, when I get to peel back the curtains on the life behind the ghost town! Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives at noon, doors closed when chairs are filled so come early!
https://buttearchives.org/event/brown-bag-lunch-series-coolidge-the-life-behind-the-ghost-town-ciara-pares-kempf-and-ayme-swartz/

03/02/2026

Big thanks to Duncan Adams for the article on Coolidge and my interpretive tour efforts in the Outdoors section in newspapers across the state! Where did you see it? The Montana Standard, the Billings Gazette, the Missoulian or the Helena Independent?

02/13/2026

The Divide Grange has invited the Big Hole Valley Historical Society to present a history of Divide! Their meeting at the Divide Grange Hall on February 22 will feature Tim Fay revealing a plethora of stories and research on this important Big Hole community. See you at 2 pm!

11/20/2025

Thank you to all who joined me for a chat about Coolidge last night at the Big Hole Watershed meeting! Some great questions asked, and we're building momentum for the future. If you missed it, keep an eye out for additional talks on "the life behind the ghost town" coming in 2026!

07/07/2025

Butte has always offered stellar contributions to the state for the 4th of July, from this stunning dress to the epic "biggest in Montana" fireworks shows over the M today.

Anna LaChapelle wearing the Statue of Liberty costume she wore the day she met William A. Clark at a 4th of July Parade in Butte, Montana. (c. 1893)

06/08/2025

All you Justin Posey treasure hunters, don't risk it! Remember the treasure is supposed to be less than a mile from the trailhead and don't venture into open mine shafts.

06/08/2025

The Montana Hotel in Anaconda was owned by Copper King Marcus Daly. It originally boasted four floors and 185 rooms in 1888, but two were removed in the 1970s "urban revitalization" which took so many historic buildings from Anaconda's downtown. A previous owner gutted the building, and sold off all the original fixtures. The Anaconda Restoration Foundation has been slowly repurchasing hotel pieces and restoring the building, including refurbishing and reinstalling a number of original square tile stained glass windows this year.

05/26/2025

In good news for history buffs everywhere, the low life that stole items from the
In good news for historians everywhere, the lowlife who stole artifacts from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center last year has been caught and charged!
https://www.krtv.com/news/crime-and-courts/suspect-charged-with-stealing-from-lewis-clark-interpretive-center

05/21/2025

How did Ni**le Peak get its name? Sounds like Maggie Baggs, the wife of rancher George Baggs, had a habit of bossing around her cowboys. While her range boss and a competing outfit's top hand were riding summer range near Hahn's Peak, Colorado, one referred to this prominent k**b as "Maggie's Ni**le." He received a horsewhipping at Maggie's hand for the monicker, but it stuck, and today the name refers both to this peak and one on the Baggs' former winter range in Wyoming.

Let's be clear Maggie was a badass, but not half the slt the legends make her out to be. She legally married and divorced each of her four husbands, and just because George left the rumor she was screwing his employees doesn't make it true! George was no peach: he was an unashamed racist, tried to murder a guy with his bare hands, and would've cheated Maggie out of her half of the ranch if she hadn't taken him to court.

04/30/2025

The Montana State Hospital was begun in 1877 as a private hospital for the mentally ill. The 1880 census showed 45 patients total, defined as either "insane" or "idiotic," words no longer in use today. Two of these patients were women (one white, one Black). In addition to the warden, the hospital employed 2 female housekeepers, 3 male laborers, 1 "Chinese laundry man" and 1 "Chinese cook," but apparently no nurses or other medical personnel.

03/30/2025

Thank you to everyone who came out in support of the Big Hole Historical Society and my lecture at the Divide Grange last weekend. I love hearing memories of Ruby!