Criterion Hall - One of Alder Gulch's many notorious 1860's dance halls once occupied the site of this reconstruction in Nevada City, Montana. A news item in the Montana Post in December, 1864 reported three sisters with the last name of Canary, ages about 12, 10, and just one-year old, begging in the streets of Virginia City while their father, a gambler was conducting business in a place like this. Coinciding circumstances and dates make it likely that the oldest daughter was Martha Canary, later famous as Calamity Jane. By the 1870's dance halls had fallen from favor, and Criterion Hall was converted into a livery stable. Photo by Kathy Alexander.