John Bonan was not only featured in The Boulder Monitor this year, he is also part of a short documentary on Elkhorn — a film that will be submitted to the Sedona Film Festival.
At the same time, the Monitor story, which indicated that obtaining enough firewood to withstand the winter in Elkhorn is an ongoing concern, has left Bonan well-supplied this year.
Bonan recently reported that Marks Lumber in Clancy, and Doug McCauley of the Boulder Valley, delivered wood to his small cabin in Elkhorn — a former mining outpost about 20 miles from Boulder.
“See, there is still good journalism,” said Bonan about the firewood deliveries that resulted from the June 24 Monitor story by summer intern Dante Filpula Ankney.
Bonan also reported that the summer was particularly busy, and as a result, some of his prize rock specimens were stolen. He is currently waiting on a neighbor to return so they can review the security video for suspects.
Bonan said that if the rocks are returned, no further action will be taken.
Bonan collects rocks that he offers tourists for a donation, and likes to give them to the children that visit Elkhorn. He lives in a cabin built by his grandfather across from Fraternity Hall and Gillian Hall — the main attractions at Montana’s smallest state park.
Filmmaker Doug Chester said he met Bonan about five years ago when he visited Elkhorn, and has been to the ghost town dozens of times since.
Chester, who is originally from Bozeman, said he started his film, which is about 18 minutes long, around the same time that the Monitor was working on its story.
The Elkhorn video is one of several that Chester filmed this summer about Montana ghost towns. Chester said the Sedona Film Festival is in February.
“They get several thousand entries and it would be lucky to be selected,” said Chester.
The video, titled “The Last Stop Elkhorn, Montana John Bonan Ghost Town,” can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaleuOhnubU
