Bearcreek

What draws people to Bearcreek now is behind its last saloon. After the Yellowstone fires of 1988 emptied the summer, the Bear Creek Saloon began racing pigs on an oval out back, with half of each pot going to scholarships. The Montana Board of Horse Racing sent a cease-and-desist letter, and in 1993 the legislature made pig racing legal in House Bill 433. The Bearcreek Downs fund has given more than $175,000 to Carbon County students, and for 2026 it offered two $8,000 scholarships, opened to Stillwater County as well.

What the plaque says

Bearcreek Platted in 1905 by George Lamport and Robert Leavens, Bearcreek was the center of an extensive underground coal mining district. At its height during World War 1, Bearcreek boasted a population of nearly 2,000 people. The community was ethnically diverse and included Serbians, Scotsmen, Montenegrans, Germans, Italians and Americans. They were served by seven mercantiles, a bank, two hotels, two billiard halls, a brickyard and numerous saloons. The town also boasted concrete sidewalks and an extensive water system. No church was ever built in Bearcreek. Foundations of many of the town s buildings, in addition to some structures themselves, consisted of sandstone quarried in the nearby hill. The local railway, the Montana Wyoming and Southern carried coal from the mines through Bearcreek where it was shipped to communities across Montana. The Lamport Hotel was once located on the foundation to the right of this marker. Built in 1907, it was described as "well furnished...the beds being especially soft and sleep producing. (The) meals are served with a desire to please the guests and no one leaves without a good impression and kindly feelings for the management." The hotel was razed about 1945. In 1943, Montana s worst coal mining disaster at the nearby Smith mine took the lives of 74 men, many of whom lived in Bearcreek. The tragedy hastened the decline of the town. Many buildings in Bearcreek were moved to other communities or demolished, leaving haunting reminders of their presence along Main street. The railroad tracks were removed in 1953 and the last mine closed in the 1970s.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Smith Mine — 1.7 mi
  Rusting buildings beside the highway, all that is left of the mine where Montana's worst coal disaster emptied a valley.
• Beartooth Highway — 15 mi
  A road over the top of the world, built because a coal town's mines closed and it needed tourists instead.

More markers nearby

• Black Gold — 1.5 mi
• The Smith Mine Disaster — 1.5 mi
• The Red Lodge Country — 4.5 mi
• Red Lodge — 4.5 mi