Alder, MT 59710

Greater Ruby Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture

County: Madison

Alder is located in Madison County 9 miles west of Virginia City along Hwy 287 near the junction with US 287.  The gateway to the Upper Ruby Valley and the Ruby River Reservoir, it is also near Beaverhead National Forest.  Alder takes its name from the creek named by Henry Edgar in 1863.  The post office started in 1863.  B.F. Chambers established a sawmill in the early 1880s, and by 1884 the community had water-powered sawmills, two churches, two general stores, cotton gins, a district school, and forty residents.   

Alder was once a shipping point for Virginia City ore.  In the early 1900s the Confrey Placer Mining Company, which was operating an extensive dredging project, was influential in getting the Northern Pacific Railroad  to build a rail line from Whitehall to Alder to transport the dredged gold and other precious minerals from the nearby hills of the Ruby Valley. The town is home to Robber’s Roost, (an old saloon) which now sits in the yard of a private farm.  It is open to the public and features an antique store and museum.  Hold-up gangs used to hang out here during the early gold rush days when stagecoaches made regular runs between Bannack and Virginia City.

Alder was one of the greatest gold producers of all time. The site of the largest placer gold strike in world history was discovered in May 1863 by prospectors on their way to Bannack but who were waylaid by Indians. It produced $10,000,000 during the first year.  A year later the boom town of Virginia City had a population of 10,000.  People lived in makeshift tents and shacks, with every third construction a saloon.  The gulch was named Alder Mining District of Fairweather in 1863, exactly one year after gold was discovered.  The discoveries of Alder Gulch drew people away from Bannack, reducing the population, making Virginia City the territorial capital.

Alder has a gem mine open to the public. Folks go south of town to search for garnets and other stones.

Red Rock Mine and Garnet Gallery

Upper Canyon Outfitters

Ruby River Reservoir

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