Life in the early Wild West was anything but orderly, and religion didn’t play much of a role—at least not at first. In gold rush towns like present-day Montana's Bannack and Virginia City during the 1860s, daily life revolved around mining, money, and staying alive. Churches were nowhere to be found, and faith, if it existed at all, was something people kept to themselves.
Gold, Lawlessness, and Survival
Bannack sprang to life in 1862 with
the discovery of gold along Grasshopper Creek. It was the first territorial
capital of Montana and one of the most dangerous towns west of the Mississippi.
Virginia City followed in 1863, growing rapidly after a major gold strike in
Alder Gulch.
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| Log house in Bannack, Montana |
In those early years, these weren’t towns so much as improvised camps full of makeshift cabins, gambling halls, brothels, saloons, and gunfights. Law enforcement was either corrupt or nonexistent, and vigilante justice quickly became the only reliable form of order. Some historians tell an opposite story, but the whole truth lies buried in boot hill. Either way, the situation was not good.
Faith—at least organized or public
religious practice—was conspicuously absent. Historian K. Ross Toole described
Bannack during its boom as “a place where whiskey was more common than bread,
and where a man might be killed for his boots.” Churches were not only
missing—they were largely unwanted by the rowdy, transient population.
What
the Historical Record Tells Us
A rare first-hand account comes from
Emily R. Meredith, one of the few women in Bannack in 1863. In a letter
to her father dated April 30, she described a town overrun by lawlessness and
“immorality,” with no mention of churches or spiritual gatherings. Her focus
was on the absence of decency, not the presence of faith.
“There are many men here, but little
order or kindness… The Sabbath is not observed, and the saloons are always
full. I have not seen a Bible since my arrival.”
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| Saloon in Bannack, Montana |
This silence about religion speaks volumes. In places like Bannack and Virginia City, religious life didn't take root until several years after the initial gold rush, when families began to settle and look toward permanence.
When
Faith Arrived—And How
It wasn’t until 1866 that the
first church service was held in Virginia City—three years after its founding.
The Methodist Episcopal Church is often cited as the first formal
religious institution in the area, and it began under the leadership of
Reverend George Comfort. Prior to that, there were a few small prayer meetings
or informal gatherings, often led by women or laypeople in their homes. But
they were the exception, not the norm.
It’s also important to note that, even when churches were established, their presence didn’t immediately transform these towns into moral beacons. Saloons still outnumbered sanctuaries, and church attendance was sporadic, especially among single miners and drifters.
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| Hangman's Building in Virginia City, Montana |
Why
This Matters for Historical Fiction
For readers—and especially writers—of
Christian western historical fiction, this reality offers a more nuanced and
compelling setting than the myth of a devout frontier. The early Montana camps
weren’t filled with outward expressions of faith. Instead, if belief existed,
it was often quiet, personal, and hidden under the daily demands of survival.
Characters shaped by this
environment would wrestle with moral ambiguity, witness brutality, and find
themselves far from the support systems of traditional religious life. Faith,
if it emerged at all, would be hard-won—tested in isolation, forged through
suffering, and practiced without the comfort of a church community.
That’s the kind of faith that rings true.
Bringing
History to Life—Responsibly
Many romanticized depictions of the
West paint mining camps as places where faith always rode alongside the wagon
wheels. The truth is more complicated. Faith didn’t lead the way—it often
trailed behind, arriving only after greed had run its course and violence had
exhausted itself.
But that doesn’t mean God was
absent. It simply means that, in these early years, faith had no steeple.
It flickered quietly in rare personal moments, waiting for a foothold in a land
that had little room for it.
Sources
& Further Reading:
- Montana Historical Society Archives: Letters from Emily
R. Meredith (1863)
- Montana: An Uncommon Land by K. Ross Toole
- A Decent, Orderly Lynching by Frederick Allen
- Montana Women’s History Project: Manuscript collections
and diaries from early female settlers
About Janalyn Voigt
Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.
Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.
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