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Updated: February 9, 2026

Virginia City & Nevada City Quiz

Test what you learned about Virginia City and Nevada City, Montana: gold discoveries, vigilantes, Chinese immigrants, mining methods, and how the towns were saved.

Quiz: Montana Gold Rush Towns

Question 1

1. Why did Virginia City grow so quickly in 1863?

Question 2

2. What made Virginia City different from many other gold rush towns?

Question 3

3. What was the Vigilance Committee in Virginia City and nearby camps?

Question 4

4. What do many modern historians think about the old stories that Sheriff Henry Plummer led a huge outlaw gang?

Question 5

5. What was the purpose of the numbers "3-7-77" used by the Vigilantes?

Question 6

6. How did Chinese immigrants usually take part in mining around Virginia City?

Question 7

7. What was the Joss House in Virginia City?s Chinatown?

Question 8

8. Which mining method left long piles of gravel, or tailings, along Alder Gulch that are still visible today?

Question 9

9. What important role did Charles Bovey play in the history of Virginia City and Nevada City?

Question 10

10. What is one reason historians and archaeologists still study Virginia City and Nevada City today?


Updated: February 9, 2026


Updated: February 19, 2026

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