Western Montana & Missoula Real Estate Blog & Area Information

A Superior Lifestyle!

27 Reasons to Call Superior Home

Superior Montana is a small town in Northwestern Montana. It's small but has a lot to offer, including the Montana lifestyle.

1.)   The People - with less than 1,000 residents, Superior has a small town hospitality that you just don't find in most communities.

2.)   Healthcare - Superior boasts its own community hospital, clinic, mental health center, physical therapists, massage therapist, pharmacy, assisted living & dentists!

3.)   Location - Located in beautiful Northwestern Montana in Mineral County, along Interstate 90, Superior is only 50 minutes from Missoula, 3 hours from Spokane, WA and 2.5 hours from Glacier National Park.

4.)   Town Amenities - Superior has all the basic services with stores - grocery, antique, hardware, automotive, floral, gift and restaurants, beauty salons, banks, a movie theater, bars, hotels, mechanics, a gym, and more!

5.)   Churches - with more than 9 active churches, there is something for almost everyone.

6.)  Schools - The Superior School system provides education for Kindergarten - 12^th grades and offers a wide variety of programs and extra-curricular activities.

7.)   U.S. Forest Service - More than 82% of land in the county is federally owned, providing you with plenty of room to roam!

8.)   Rivers & Streams - The Clark Fork River flows through downtown Superior and there are more than 80 miles of river and 650 miles of streams in the County, making for plenty of opportunities for fishing, boating & enjoying wildlife.

9.)   Lakes - Mineral County boasts more than 45 pristine mountain lakes, perfect for a day of fishing or an excuse to get out hiking!

10.) Golf - Only 15 minutes from Trestle Creek Golf Course and 50 minutes from 8 golf courses in Missoula makes Superior a haven for avid golfers.

11.) Skiing - Bring your skis, downhill or cross country. Superior is only 45 minutes from Lookout Mountain and close to 4 other ski resorts.

12.) Hiking - Don't forget your hiking boots for the many walking and hiking trails this area has to offer. With more than 400 miles of trails to choose from, you'll never tire of the scenery.

13.) Fishing - With many varieties of fish including rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, northern pike, and experienced area fishing guides, you'll have many fish stories to tell!

14.) Senior Services - An active senior's center with meals, programs, activities and a bi-monthly bus to Missoula.

15.) For Businesses - The Mineral County Chamber of Commerce helps promote tourism in the county while providing networking opportunities for business owners.

16.) Community Groups - Join your favorite community group, we have many to choose from including 4-H, Lions Club, Masonic Organizations, Performing Arts Council, Hospital Guild & Hospital Foundation, Friends of the Library, Historic Society, Quilters Guild, Community Foundation, Political Groups, and more!

17.) Rich History & Museum - Once the location for major gold discoveries, Superior's history is colorful with boomtowns and miners. This history is documented in our local museum that offers tours and information.

18.) Fair & Rodeo - Superior hosts the annual Mineral County Fair and Rodeo in August. You'll be able to view the works of area craftsmen, quilters, 4H students while listening to live music and enjoying the food. The annual rodeo is a big attraction with bull riding, roping, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing and more!

19.) Library - Superior has a community library for all of your reading needs.

20.) Performing Arts - Superior offers many opportunities to enjoy the performing arts with a Performing Arts Council, concerts, plays, and Shakespeare in the Park.

21.) Car Show - The Annual Old School House Rock and Car Show draws a crowd every June with open class entries from Rod, Custom and Specialty cars.

22.) Snowmobiling & ATV's - Mineral County has more than 1,000 miles of off-highway roads for your snowmobiles, ATV's, or for your walking enjoyment.

23.) Abundant Wildlife - Deer, Elk, Black Bear, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, Eagles, Turkeys, Wolves and Coyotes are among the many birds and animals you will find near Superior.

24.) Hunting - Millions of miles of national forest and abundant wildlife make Superior and Mineral County a favorite destination for hunters.

25.) Bicycling - Bicycling is a favorite activity of many area residents, and a favorite place to go is the Hiawatha Bike trail, 45 minutes from Superior at Lookout Mountain.

26.) Whitewater Rafting - People travel from around the world to enjoy the area's rapids, the famous Alberton Gorge is also in Mineral County.

27.) Parks and Community Pool - Superior has several beautiful parks and a community pool - a favorite local hangout in the summer months.

For more information on Mineral County, Montana including the towns of Superior, St. Regis, Deborgia, Haugen, Saltese, Alberton, and Lozeau, visit www.mymineralcounty.com. 

Copyright - Kevin & Monica Ray, Access Realty. All Rights Reserved

Superior Montana Real Estate Overview

Short Video of Superior MT

The Superior Vista Trail - Views Worth Hiking For

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Kevin & Monica Ray are real estate sales and marketing professionals for Access Realty in beautiful Western Montana. For more information on Western Montana, they can be reached at 406-207-1185 or online at www.YourMT.com. Their office is located at 102 River Street, Superior MT 59872.

We spent this past weekend at Missoula Lake above Superior with my parents. Missoula Lake is a beautiful alpine lake full of cutthroat and rainbow trout, although they are difficult to catch. It's only a short walk from the road and there are great camping spots above. When we were there, the first winter snows had already hit and there was about 1/2" of snow on the ground and a dusting on the trees. The drive to the lake was beautiful as well with the trees just changing color and seeing bright bursts of yellow and small red bushes on the side of the road.

Above Missoula Lake, you will find the Stateline Trail that separates Montana & Idaho. This is a beautiful walk and you can look down at Missoula Lake as well as on both sides of the trail you will see millions of miles of pristine wilderness and trees.

To get to Missoula Lake, from the Superior Exit on I-90, take the frontage road on the south side, south. Proceed 1.4 miles to Cedar Creek Road. Turn south again and continue up for 23.6 miles to Missoula Lake. There is a half mile dirt road that goes near the lake. Further up the road is a larger camping area with anther trailhead. Both access the lake.

For more information on Mineral County, Montana including the towns of Superior, St. Regis, Deborgia, Haugen, Saltese, Alberton, and Lozeau, visit www.mymineralcounty.com.

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Kevin & Monica Ray are real estate sales and marketing professionals for Access Realty in beautiful Western Montana. For more information on Western Montana, they can be reached at 406-207-1185 or online at www.YourMT.com.

Superior has a colorful Wild West history with a Gold Rush and Boomtowns that sprang up around the area. We have a local museum and historical society that was able to provide me with some great information on the history of the area.

Cedar Creek Gold Rush

The discovery of gold and the ensuing stampede into Mineral County's Cedar Creek gulch took place more than 100 years ago. Time has dimmed much of the story, but it is known that Cedar had all the elements of greed, violence and rowdiness found in gold mining camps.

French-Canadian Louis Barrette, disgusted with his luck in the Northern Idaho gold fields and looking around for better prospect enroute to the largely French-Canadian settlement of Frenchtown, Barrette rode parallel of the St. Joe River to its headwaters in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains.As he followed along the summit trail, he spotted a basin on the Montana side that looked promising, to his gold prospector's eye.

It was not until the next fall that Barrette finally returned. He and his partner, Basil Lanthier, climbed into the steep, cedar-crowded gulch with several pack and saddle horses loaded with enough supplies to last them several weeks. Their departure from Frenchtown was not a secret, thus many eyes would be watchful for any indications that their trip was a success. And indeed, they did find gold, on October 9,1869.

The Colorful Scene

Somehow (there are various versions) the news slipped and the rush was on. Once word got past Frenchtown, men (there were no women in Cedar this early) poured in from all over the territory, Northern Idaho, the surrounding states and even the West Coast. The news of the strike traveled so fast that it is estimated that 1,000 men from Idaho and Montana wintered at the gulch. From Missoula one correspondent to the "New North-West" wrote, "Missoula has been wild for a week." The result, he said, was that "Hotel keepers, merchants, clerks, idle men and loafers, all are gone..."

This frantic mob rushing into such an isolated spot presented some very real problems in the way of lack of shelter and food shortages. Packers soon poured into the snow-packed drainage with beans (50 cents a pound), bacon (75 cents a pound) and gumboots ($18 a pair). Housing was of the roughest sort-canvas shelters and brush hovels. The territory's papers warned the determined stampedists to go "well clad, blanketed and pursed."

But food shortages and inclement weather could not shake loose those who suffered from "Cedar fever," and in a few weeks the gulch was staked out with anywhere from 1,700 to 2,500 claims.

By summer, the high water receded in the creeks and the nearby Missoula (now Clark Fork) River, and sluicing of the winter's diggings began. Although the merchants and saloonkeepers were raking in the most money, Cedar's miners scratched out enough gold to stay alive, and some even more.

It is said that over 3,000 men visited the place within the first year. The 1870 census of the Cedar Creek area showed 1,587 white people, 30 Chinese, 20 Indians, and nine Blacks. A total of 50 saloonkeepers and nine bartenders were listed. The 1870 census, coincidentally the gold rush's most prosperous period, reveals the Cedar miners' real and personal property amounted to about $340,000. At least this was the claimed value. Since miners are known to be tight-lipped about their yields, the actual amount was probably much higher.

But by summer the steep, ravine-sided Louiseville became Cedar's hub, leaving the lower town to the brushfires that burned away most of its traces. Hurdy-gurdy houses, gambling dens, four bankers anxious to profit on an exchange of gold dust into greenbacks, shootouts -all were part of Louiseville's panorama. Men like Hugh O'Neal, John Ritchie, Alex Mayhew and W.J. McCormick all who hailed from Virginia City, added to the colorful scene.

Yet, even Louiseville, with its fancy two-story Louiseville House, hotel, assorted restaurants, 14 saloons and "two houses of ill-fame" succumbed to the same fate as Cedar Junction. As the year passed, the 600 to 1,000 in population pushed upstream or across the ridges. Miners became increasingly convinced that the paying gold deposits lay in the upper gulch. Many of Louiseville's 200 buildings lost their timbers to the flumes that later lined the creek.

A letter from 'Norman' to the Missoula and Cedar Creek "Pioneer," published in Missoula by Joseph Magee and I.H. Morison, described his town, saying:

"In every direction windlasses, shaft-houses, piles of mining timbers meet the eye; while walking through the town, one must pursue a serpentine course to avoid the huge piles of headings, or dumps of pay-dirt that obstruct the main, and only, street of the place."

Search for Colors Elsewhere

By 1873 things in Cedar were looking as if all the gold had been found. Prospectors began in earnest to search for colors elsewhere, and they found them in the neighboring gulch of Trout Creek. The "Missoulian" claimed that prospects of 25 cents to a pan were found.

With the new discovery just over the hill, it was easy for the miners to pack up and drop into the near-by gulch. But for some, the Trout find was only a confirmation that more gold could be found in Cedar, and they stayed behind.

End of Cedar Creek's Gold Rush Heyday

Although a few lived a charmed life due to Cedar Creek, many other Cedar men and women did not. They faded away from life as they did from Cedar when the end came. Most were lost and forgotten in the shuffle of building the West.

Even the results of their labor are unknown. How much gold was taken out of Cedar from 1869 to 1874? Will Cave, who lived at Forest City during its heyday, said $4 million worth. Other estimates range from $2 million to $10 million.

But the exact monetary value of the gold Cedar Creek gave up during those years will remain secret. The miners seldom revealed the contents of their poke then, and they sure are not telling now.

For more information on Mineral County, Montana including the towns of Superior, St. Regis, Deborgia, Haugen, Saltese, Alberton, and Lozeau, visit www.mymineralcounty.com. 

-Source: Mineral County Museum and Mineral County History by the Mineral County Historical Society

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Kevin & Monica Ray are real estate sales and marketing professionals for Access Realty in beautiful Western Montana. For more information on Western Montana, they can be reached at 406-207-1185 or online at www.YourMT.com.

The Mineral County Performing Arts Council (MCPAC) was organized in 2006 as a public non-profit organization to foster cultural arts throughout Mineral County.  MCPAC is pleased to announce that it will be holding its first public performance on August 11, 2007  at 7:00 p.m. with a community concert at the Superior Baptist Church. The concert will feature live music from three of the area's most talented musicians:

• Jodi Marshall - the Northwest's renowned jazz pianist and recipient of the Missoula Cultural Council Award for her contribution to the arts.

• Laura Loge - with family ties in St. Regis, is a gifted soprano whose performances encompass a wide variety of opera roles as well as concert repertoire.

• Scott Billadeau - Superior's own accomplished pianist, conductor and composer who was nominated for a regional Emmy award for his work with PBS.

Admission is no cost to the community, although freewill offerings will be accepted. MCPAC is a Public Benefit Corporation organized "not for profit" under Title 35, Chapter 2 M.C.A. to receive and administer funds exclusively for entertainment, educational, charitable and benevolent purposes without pecuniary gain or profit, incidental or otherwise, to its members.