The road to Jardine starts in Gardiner, Montana, less than a mile away from the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone and heads up into the Absaroka Mountains. And as if you were traveling back in time, the road turns from pavement into dirt about 50 yards into your journey and reveals a treasure trove of ancient artifacts to the observant eye.
At first glance, we thought we’d come upon an old, abandoned house, but a walk around the side proved us wrong. Someone definitely lives here, they just don’t want visitors. But a look down into the valley behind us revealed a real abandoned house, too remote for us to hike out to on a whim.
Old bones live on here. In more ways than one.
An unincorporated Montana village, Jardine was named after one A.C. Jardine, who founded the Jardine Mining Co. in 1917. A prospector named Joe Brown had discovered gold in the hills above Gardiner in 1892, and the formal mine produced about 10 tons of gold before folding in 1943.
Not much remains of the town of Jardine. There are stories here to be told, but few folks to tell them. All that’s left are a bunch of mysteries, and some signposts to guide your exploration.
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So interesting! These old bones make me think of the sad stories they might tell of people who had all their hopes and dreams dashed in the harsh reality of an unsettled land.