Helena succeeded the other gold camps of Bannack and Virginia City as the territorial capital in 1875. It became the state capital in 1889 after a hotly contested fight between “copper kings” William A. Clark and Marcus Daly. The city owes its existence to “The Georgians,” four weary and discouraged Southern prospectors, who in 1864 stumbled down a gulch and grimly dubbed it “Last Chance Gulch,” only to find gold where the city's main street now runs. Learn More...