Four Georgians

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Four Georgians were gold prospectors credited with discovering the Last Chance placer strike near Helena, Montana. They were Reginald (Robert) Stanley, John Cowan, D. J. Miller, and John Crab. Only Cowan was actually from Georgia (Acworth); Miller was from Alabama, Crab from Iowa, and Stanley from England. Some think they were called Georgians because of the “Georgian method” of mining, not because of where they came from.

In 1864 they left Alder Gulch near Virginia City to seek new gold, first toward the Kootenai River region, then toward the Little Blackfoot River. They crossed the Continental Divide to Prickly Pear Creek but found little gold, then moved to the Marias River. After six weeks with little success, they returned to Last Chance Gulch, hoping for a final chance. On July 14, 1864, they dug two pits upriver and found flat gold nuggets and gold dust, finally striking it rich. As Crab and Cowan returned to Virginia City for supplies, more prospectors arrived and the Last Chance bonanza began. Stanley later described the moment of finding the nuggets in a quiet, moonlit stream.

In 1867 the four sold their claims and carried about $40,000 of gold dust by wagon to Fort Benton, then by steamboat down the Missouri River to the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, where they cashed in after several years of hard work in the Montana gold fields.