Looking for info re my g-grandfather, WILLIAM HENRY RUSK. According to family lore, at age 22, he left north GA in 1859 to prospect for gold in the west with three other young men and one older man named (James?) COWAN. These four Georgians were gone for quite a while and were about to give up when they decided to try their luck one more time at a place named "Last Chance Gulch." I don't know if they named it this or not or where it was. They struck it rich!! In fact, on his way back to GA, he was just about arrested in towns in the west because he had so much gold in his saddlebags on his way to the mint in Denver. Also, the lore states that he and his four friends built the first log cabin in what would later become Helena, Montana. William Rusk returned to GA to marry the girl who had waited to marry him. I don't know if the others stayed or not, but I don't think so, because a large portrait of this Cowan gentleman, complete with a LONG, white beard always hung in my grandparents' home. The picture had belonged to William Henry Rusk, and it must have been taken after the trip was over for Cowan to be so white-haired. Has anyone ever heard of a specific "Last Chance Gulch"? How about knowledge of the founding of Helena by some GA men? Wouldn't he had to have found all this gold in California and just been coming back to GA to be in Montana? Or, could he have found this gold in Montana? Surely would appreciate any help with tracing his steps. Suzanne in Atlanta _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]