Gallogly Hot Springs, now known as Lost Trail Hot Springs, has long been a secluded stopping place for travellers crossing the Continental Divide at Gibbons Pass. As the old Indian trail climbs about 2,000 feet in just three miles, it is an exceptionally hard trek, and people would stop at the quiet hot springs to rest before starting the long climb over the pass.

There have been residences at the hot springs since 1892, when a woman began building a cabin there so her invalid son could be close to the soothing waters. The woman only stayed about two years and never quite finished her isolated cabin. In 1894, a Mr. Denning became the first person to channel the hot water through a pipe. He diverted it to his cabin, a comfortable one with a stone fireplace about one-quarter mile from the springs. Unfortunately, a tree fell and crushed his cabin one day when he was away, so he too, moved.

The next owners, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Allen, decided to capitalize on the mining boom in nearby Gibbonsville in about 1895. Gibbonsville had blossomed to about 5,000 people, and the Allens decided to build a hotel. They constructed a two-story house with fourteen rooms, but had not yet completed it when the mines ran out and the boom ended.

James Gallogly heard of the place through Mrs. Allen's mother and father, whom he was boarding with in Gibbonsville. An assayer with the mines, he had enough money saved up to buy out the Allen's interest in 1897. The springs were still federal property, so Gallogly had five years to prove up on them. Lonely, he invited his sister Mary A. "Polly" Gallogly to stay with him. Polly had only one arm, but was quite strong enough for the necessary work. They expected their brother Elmer, who was in poor health, to join them, but he owned a drug store in Butte and could not leave it.

Indians still frequented the springs, and Polly liked to tell the story of a passing brave's proposal of marriage. She was doing her chores one day when an old Indian on his horse with an Indian woman behind him rode up. He dismounted and began to talk to Polly. He noticed her missing arm, and for some reason, suddenly asked her to marry him. Polly was astonished, and asked him about the woman on his horse. The brave looked at the woman in surprise, claiming never to have seen her before. Polly politely refused his offer, but speculated for years about whether or not the brave had proposed to the other woman at his last stopping place.

Polly and James were joined by their sister, Martha Blake, and her two children Edgar and Elsie in 1899. By 1907, James was working as a forest ranger, and the family spent summers at the Springs and winters at the Sula Ranger Station. At this time, a new road was built to the Big Store, and the Gallogly road was abandoned, soon becoming rutted and hard to travel.

The Big Store was on the other side of Gibbons Pass. It served high country settlers who lived where the climate was too severe to grow much of anything but hay. Bitterrooters grew vegetables and fruit and transported them over the pass to sell at the Big Store.

A ranch owned by Mr. Waugh, which was directly below the Gallogly place, provided horses for the farmers to pull their wagons over the pass. The three mile trip would take half a day, as the horses had to rest every wagon length. The horses could only go about 25 miles a day, and the nearest house over the hill was 25 or 30 miles away, so the farmers would often spend the night at the springs.

Going down the mountain on the other side was equally difficult for the wagons, and they had to tie a tree trunk to the wagon as a drag to slow it down. The discarded tree trunks became a real problem, so the Galloglys put up a sign "Leave Drag Here" where they wanted the trunks dropped.

The first car to challenge the pass was driven by a Mr. Gibson and a Mr. Brooks in the summer of 1905. They each drove a little two-cylinder Maxwell. With about 10 men pushing and pulling, they reached the halfway tree, a big buckskin pine. This was a common resting point and people had carved their names in it for years. The next attempt was by a Stanley Steamer, which took the route to Anaconda. It was successful, but only by taking two weeks and using a block and tackle.

By 1914, the road which had carried Lewis and Clark over the pass was gone. Mail was delivered to Sula, eight miles from the springs, by stage on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If the family wished to shop in Hamilton, they left the springs in the afternoon, spent the night at the Post Office in Sula, and caught the stage at 7 a.m. They had dinner at the Hammonds Hotel in Darby and reached Hamilton after the stores closed. They would stay the night at the Ravalli Hotel, shop the next day and repeat the trip home, reaching the Post Office at about 6 p.m. and home by 9 or 10 at night. Almost a four-day trip!

Work began on a new highway in 1935, and the road builders made camp at the springs. They also built a new road connecting the springs with the highway. James Gallogly also rebuilt the springs at that time.

The old house was torn down and two small cabins were built for the workmen. Water was piped one-half mile from the springs in new piping. A bath house and a residence were also constructed. In 1941, the pool, dining room and dressing rooms were built. James died not too long after this and the pool was closed to the public for a time. In 1954, a private boys camp was held there and it was not reopened to the public until the 1970s.

Current owner, Mary Dell and Stann Honey, have developed the Springs into a family resort. There are now 10 cabins, including 2 Jacuzzi cabins, an 8 room motel and 18 RV spaces as well as the outdoor pool, indoor hot tub, and dry sauna. The restaurant is known throughout the Bitterroot Valley as a comfortable place to eat with excellent food.

We hope you will enjoy your stay with us in the beautiful Bitterroot Mountains. Ask us about hiking, fishing, and hunting available in the Valley.

Lost Trail Hot Springs Resort . . . Along the Lewis & Clark Trail

In 1803, the lands west of the Mississippi River were unexplored and remained a great mystery. How wide were the mountains? Surely there was a great river that joined another and another until it met the ocean. Who were the native peoples? What flowers grew and what species of trees? Two hundred years ago these were unanswered questions.

With prompting from President Thomas Jefferson, Congress agreed to a western expedition. Jefferson chose his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead it and Lewis chose his friend, William Clark, to head the adventure with him. Lewis, his men, and his Newfoundland dog, Seaman, made their way down the Ohio River in a keelboat--a fifty-five foot barge with great sails. Clark and his slave, York, joined them in Kentucky and from the Ohio River, they met the Mississippi and traveled upstream to Camp Wood near the town of St. Louis.

The expedition numbered forty-five when they left Camp Wood to travel the Missouri River. Plant, animal and mineral specimens were collected and both Lewis and Clark kept detailed journals. They met with the Plains Indians and wintered over at Mandan where Chief Big White shared his knowledge of the West.

It was here that Sacajawea joined the expedition only six weeks after she had given birth to her first child. In the spring, they continued westward with a permanent party of thirty-three. After a cold, damp winter on the Pacific coast where they had hoped to hail a passing ship, they began their eastward trek home. The Corps of Discovery journeyed over 8,000 miles in two years, four months, and nine days.

Lewis went on to become the Governor of Louisiana Territory until his early death at the age of thirty-five, just three years after the expedition. Clark, as a Brigadier General was appointed to the Superintendency of Indian Affairs and lived a long and productive life. Sacajawea returned to the Mandans, but died six years later.