FREEDOM-AIN’T-FREE-BABY (@19671965cuda)

Now a ghost town, Diamond City was a boomtown located near the western slope of the Big Belt Mountains between Helena and Townsend. Settled in 1864, the town’s peak population was 5,000 and was home to the two unnamed miners pictured here. The town provided supplies and entertainment for the miners at Confederate Gulch. Hydraulic mining chewed up land and diverted water in Confederate Gulch to the point where it undermined the buildings in Diamond City. Townspeople eventually relocated the buildings; some footings are still visible today. By 1908, the town was nearly deserted. Fun fact: During the town’s heyday it was the county seat of what was then Meagher County. Today, the area is part of Broadwater County. [MHS #PhotoArchives, PAc 79-62.1, unidentified photographer, Between 1875-1895]