The history of Sheridan dates back to the late 1850s and the early 1860s and unless events and people that and struggled here are recorded, they will pass into oblivion.  Before the newspapers, tales were often repeated, but few could speak with accuracy.

In the beginning, Sheridan was off the main trail routes, but it was of interest to the trapper.  When those who had come to Virginia City in the quest of gold and riches found that many of their dreams were not going to materialize, they began to look elsewhere.  Many decided to try and find new locations where gold might be hidden.  This led to other industries of agriculture and lumber as well as mining for minerals other than gold.  The little hamlet probably began its growth when two Canadian Frenchmen, Mar Perrault and Frank Birrer, built a cabin on the present site where the Ruby Hotel now stands.

Located at the foot hills of the jagged Tobacco Root Mountains, Sheridan’s 2010 census population records 642 residents within the city limits.  Many of the founding father’s descendants still claim it as home.

We are beginning to document some of the storied history of the Ruby Valley and of Sheridan. Whether its about Robbers Roost, Sheriff Henry Plummers Gang or Harvard Universities investment in the Conrey placer mining company in Alder - this area encapsulates how the west was won.

Who is Sheridan?

The story goes that a group of ranchers named the town after Phil Sheridan, a prominent general in the Civil War.  It became official when the first post office was established in 1866.

General Phil Sheridan

The town of Sheridan Montana was named after General Sheridan. No one is quite sure why - perhaps it was the that it was founded right after the end of the Civil War and "lil" Phil, as the General was known,  was quite popular. It could also have been a political statement. With the nearby town of Alder in the middle of a gold rush - many ex-confederate soldiers (among others) were in the area. Could it have been a statement to indicate that the town people were firmly on the side of the Union Army? General Sheridan did make his mark in the area. He was mainly responsible for telling President Grant that no railroad should be allowed to lay their tracks into the Lamar valley of the newly formed Yellowstone Park. He also was the one to bring the military into Yellowstone - to protect it against the increasing number of poachers. No statue of General Sheridan exists in Sheridan (yet) so this one comes from his birthplace in the middle of Greenwich Village, New York City.

Sheridan Montana is not the only place named after 'lil' Phil. At least nine other towns in the US have his name.  In nearby Yellowstone National Park there is Mount Sheridan.

General Philip Henry Sheridan, (1831-1888) - A short biography

Sheridan's Ride

by Thomas Buchanan Read

Up from the South, at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore,
Like a herald in haste to the chieftain's door,
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.

And wider still those billows of war
Thundered along the horizon's bar;
And louder yet into Winchester rolled
The roar of that red sea uncontrolled,
Making the blood of the listener cold,
As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray,
With Sheridan twenty miles away.

But there is a road from Winchester town,
A good, broad highway leading down:
And there, through the flush of the morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night
Was seen to pass, as with eagle flight;
As if he knew the terrible need,
He stretched away with his utmost speed.
Hills rose and fell, but his heart was gay,
With Sheridan fifteen miles away.

Still sprang from those swift hoofs, thundering south,
The dust like smoke from the cannon's mouth,
Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster,
Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster.
The heart of the steed and the heart of the master
Were beating like prisoners assaulting their walls,
Impatient to be where the battle-field calls;
Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play,
With Sheridan only ten miles away.

Under his spurning feet, the road
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed,
And the landscape sped away behind
Like an ocean flying before the wind;
And the steed, like a barque fed with furnace ire,
Swept on, with his wild eye full of fire;
But, lo! he is nearing his heart's desire;
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray,
With Sheridan only five miles away.

The first that the general saw were the groups
Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops;
What was to be done? what to do?--a glance told him both.
Then striking his spurs with a terrible oath,
He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas,
And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because
The sight of the master compelled it to pause.
With foam and with dust the black charger was gray;
By the flash of his eye, and his red nostril's play,
He seemed to the whole great army to say:
"I have brought you Sheridan all the way
From Winchester down to save the day."

Hurrah! hurrah for Sheridan!
Hurrah! hurrah for horse and man!
And when their statues are placed on high
Under the dome of the Union sky,
The American soldier's Temple of Fame,
There, with the glorious general's name,
Be it said, in letters both bold and bright:
"Here is the steed that saved the day
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester--twenty miles away!"

Books on Phil Sheridan

The Memoirs of General P. H. Sheridan	Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, Vol. 1
Little Phil: The Story of General Philip Henry Sheridan	Phil Sheridan and His Army

Sources

"Philip Sheridan." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Nov 2006, 00:46 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 Nov 2006

"Who Was Who In The Civil War" by Stewart Sifakis New York: Facts on File Publications., 1988

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/union-generals/sheridan/general-sheridan-civil-war.htm

Ruby Valley History

May 26, 1864 Brandon Town misses by one vote

Brandon Town at the mouth of Mill Creek east of Sheridan, came within one vote of being the first capital of Montana Territory in 1865, during the wheeling and dealing of the 20 delegates assembled in Bannack for that purpose.

Brandon Town - complete article

Shoshoni Indians - As far as we can tell this area was frequented by the Shoshoni Indians. Perhaps as a summer hunting grounds. The Ruby River was at one time named the Passamari meaning "water of the cotton groves". Perhaps most well known of the Shoshoni tribe was Sacagawea, the Shoshoni women who helped Lewis and Clark on their momenteous journey. It was nearby at Beaverhead rock that she first recognized the land of her people. This photograph of a roadside marker can be found outside of Twin Bridges as you head west on Melrose Road. There are four rockpiles that mark what is thought ot be gravesites. About 1 mile out of town on the north side of the road.

1866

The town of Sheridan is named after General Phil Sheridan of the Union Army. Read a chronology and history including the famous poem Sheridan's Ride by Thomas Buchanan Read .

Robbers Roost

This was also known as Daly’s roadhouse and was the hangout for the “innocents” The innocents were part of Sheriff Henry Plummer’s gang. The gang made their living picking the pockets of travelers, back in 1864 when gold was pouring out of Alder; Henry Plummer was the Sheriff out of Bannack, the first territorial capital of Montana.

Travel Highway 287, approximately 2 miles south of Sheridan. MAP

Resources:

Links:

Museums in Virginia City, Nevada City, and Twin Bridges

Timeline of the Ruby Valley by Google

Montana Heritage Commission

Pioneer Trials and Trails: 1863 - 1920 by Madison County Historical Society

Available for perusal at Twin Bridges Public Library and Twin Bridges Museum

Sheridan Public Library

Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman