You had to be careful walking the streets of Virginia City, Montana in early 1863. Murder and robbery seemed a daily event after Bill Fairwether and his five cronies discovered history's richest placer gold strike in nearby Alder Gulch. Within weeks, over 10,000 gold hungry miners poured into the area.

The smell of easy gold brought thieves and murderers out of the woodwork and onto the dusty streets of Virginia City, looking for an easy way to steal a buck. They couldn't have chosen a tougher town to pick on.

Prior to President Grant issuing a city charter, a merchant, pioneer, mason, and cofounder of the town, Paris S. Pfouts acted as mayor. Pfouts built the original mercantile building (that still houses Rank's today) out of native stone and mud. On December 23, 1863, in the basement of that building, behind guarded doors, Pfouts and a resolute group of men met and signed the famous Vigilante Oath. They would not tolerate a terrified citizenry any longer...even if the leader of the road agents was Henry Plummer, Virginia City Sheriff by day.

The Montana Vigilantes hung Plummer and 21 members of his gang. Some of them, on the corral post out back of today's Rank's Mercantile. Mr. Pfouts' building eventually changed hands until C.W. Rank purchased it in 1889.

Today, when you drive into Virginia City to shop at Rank's Mercantile, you'll enter a living ghost town, frozen in time. When the gold ran out, so did most of the people.

The incredibly well preserved Rank's Mercantile and Virginia City offer a true glimpse into the old west Victorian era. Rank's continues to sell the same clothing and gifts they offered nearly 150 years ago. And while you try on a new suit, you can gaze out the back window at the old corral post that brought fear into the hearts of every road agent around.