Millie Ringold

”OLD YOGO” | Judith Basin County

Millie Ringold’s journey from slavery to emancipation to gold prospector, boarding house proprietor, and long-time resident of the Yogo Mining District of central Montana was set on course when her employer — a U.S. Army general — relocated from Washington D.C. to Fort Benton, Montana Territory.

In 1879, word arrived in Fort Benton of a gold strike in Yogo Creek, and Ringold wasted no time. She left for Yogo City with a wagon, two mules, a load of provisions, and a barrel of whiskey. While profiting handsomely from her mining claim, Ringold also ran a boarding house for travelers through the area. She maintained an immaculate house and dining room, complete with white linen tablecloths and polished silver, even after the town was all but deserted. Near the end of her life, Ringold’s rheumatism took her to Great Falls for medical care. However, she refused to stay and returned to her mountain home in “Old Yogo,” where she died in 1906.

MONTANA’S AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE RESOURCES PROJECT

Black community members have been and continue to be a significant part of Montana’s history, and contributed greatly to Montana’s culture, economy, and religious life since the earliest days of non-Indigenous presence. Montana’s African American Heritage Resources Project seeks to identify, document, and disseminate Black Montana’s experiences and contexts. This project strives to make this understudied aspect of our state’s history more visible, widely known, and to recognize that Montana history is Black history.