The problems included racism “coming from all corners of the earth.” The clash of culture caused many fights and murders throughout the west at that time. Being that no law and order had been set up because these mining towns were so far away from the central government, there were no railways. This posed a major problem as they would need to transport gold and supplies into and out of the towns. However the discovery of gold did lead to the development of the Union and Central Pacific railways.
Gold was hard to find, many men, having left their families, found nothing and could not afford the long journey back east. There was no woman; however this led to businesses such as prostitution, bars and saloons being built which brought people and economy to the area.
Granville Stuart (the author of “Dark Days in Bannack”) had discovered gold with his brother James in Gold Creek near Bannack and a few years later gold was discovered in Grasshopper Creek which was later named Bannack. This was one of the first camps to evolve into a town even though it was during the civil war.
Vigilantes had taken control over the town “the Roughs were organised under the leadership of Henry Plummer” whose men killed 102 criminals. The vigilantes hung the sheriff and road agents (who robbed gold wagons headed to banks in the east) although later in 1864, Congress granted territorial status which brought real courts and law.
The courts before this could not handle the crimes the community was committing. Murder, assault and robbery were most common. Most miners spent their entire day hard at work. They had no time to feed themselves, build houses or to keep up with the daily upkeep of the town. This led to the lack of organisation, hygiene and law and order.
After the introduction of law, Entrepreneurs came into town and set up saloons, barber shops, construction companies and general stores. They brought agriculture and created the infrastructure that Bannack needed. As they began to settle, the west became tame and schools were built meaning the miners could bring their families.
In conclusion the difficulties included law and order, clash of culture and finding no gold at all which all led to vigilantes like Henry Plummer and his gang to take the law into their own hands. Although law and order was eventually introduced.