1871 Rocky Mountain Directory and Colorado Gazetteer, comprising a brief history of Colorado up to 1871 … together with a complete and accurate directory and history of Denver, Golden City, Black Hawk, Central City, Nevada, Idaho, and Georgetown.
By mid-May of 2011, my camp site on Lake Santeetlah had been attacked at night several times by small groups of local patriots carrying baseball bats. Apparently, they wanted to drive the supposed sexual predator-crazy man with three dogs out of the county. Then one night about 1:30 AM a long line of pickups was headed toward my campsite. There were far too many patriots coming for me to fight off. I threw my rifle and sleeping bag in the car, screaming at the dogs to jump in. We took a loop road around the convoy just as they arrived … Read more
Some of the first discovered veins, already mentioned in a previous chapter, retained their productiveness. The Gold Hill mine was sold in 1869, since which time to 1884 it produced $2,800,000. It was not until 1878 that the Banner district, north of Quartzburg, in Boise County, began to be really developed. The mines of War Eagle Mountain, in Owyhee County, continued productive. Oro Fino, the first discovery, yielded $2,756,128 in six years, without any considerable cost to its owners. The Elmore, later called the Bannack, in one month in 1868 yielded $500,000, the ore being crushed in a twenty-stamp mill. … Read more
Their names were: Michael Jordan A. J. Miner G. W. Chadwick Cyrus Iba William Phipps Joseph Dorsey Jerome Francisco John Moore J. R. Cain W. Churchill H. R. Wade A. J. Reynolds James Carroll William Duncan Dr A. F. Rudd F. Height W. L. Wade John Gannon M. Conner C. Ward H. W. Prindall D. P. Banes O. H. Purdy J. G. Boone W. T. Carson P. H. Gordon L. G. Gehr and 3 others. In the Silver City Owyhee Avalanche of Jan. 8, 1876, is a notice of the death of Alexander Eddington, an Englishman aged 60, a ‘pioneer … Read more
The men who uncovered the riches of Silver Bow District were, after the original discoverers, W. R. Coggeswell Peter Slater Vernon & Co. C. Solomon M. Johnson Dennis Driscoll J. Baker Robert McMinn Thomas Flood W. R. Crawford Sherman & Co. Henry Rust M. Prettyman Lester Popple W. E. Harris J. La Clair L. Thayer George Popple A. M. Smith C. S. Warren James Beattie George McCausland Wolf & Cowan From the gulches opened by these men was taken, between 1864 and 1869, $l,894,300. Of the Gulches, which lay too high to be worked before the completion of the Pioneer … Read more
Idaho is essentially a mining territory. It was her mines that first stimulated immigration to within her borders, and it is to the results of the mines that her present prosperity is due in a great measure. Now that mining has been reduced to a legitimate occupation, there is less reckless speculation, perhaps, than of old, but more solid, substantial business. The days of stock gambling in mining properties are about over. Science, aided by practical experience, has taught the best methods of treating ores. Capitalists no longer purchase prospects for fabulous prices on the strength of picked specimens or the vicinity of rich claims. It is a fortunate circumstance for Idaho that mining has been for the most part a steady, productive industry, yielding rich returns to the patient and intelligent prospector, and that it has not been necessary to rely on fictitious “booms.”
Prospecting early indicated that the future mineral wealth of Idaho would depend upon quartz mining, and accordingly efforts were early made to develop that feature of Idaho’s principal industry. In the autumn of 1863 it was found that thirty-three claims of gold and silver quartz-mines had been made on the south Boise alone, ail of which promised well. The Ida Elmore, near the head of Bear creek, the first and most famous of the south Boise quartz mines in that year, was discovered in June. In an arastra it yielded two hundred and seventy dollars to the ton of rock; … Read more
The Mountains have ever been the bulwarks of freedom. Valor is born there; virtue is cherished there, and these are the seeds of song and story. No land ever yet had a literature to endure that had not these for its theme, these off-springs of the pure, sweet atmosphere and sublime splendor of inspiring Mountains; and the more glorious the Mountains, the more glorious the song and story. What then may we not prophesy for Idaho when her torn and devastated placer fields all are terraced vineyards, as in Savoy, and the peace and rest of the old pastoral days … Read more
In 1862 the present county of Owyhee was a part of Boise County, which comprised all of the western portion of Washington Territory lying south of what was then called Idaho county, its area being nearly equal to that of Pennsylvania. When Idaho was created a territory by act of congress, March 3, 1863, Boise county became part and parcel of the territory of Idaho, and at the first session of the territorial legislature, held at Lewiston, Idaho, Owyhee County was created, December 31, 1863, out of all territory south of Snake River and west of the Rocky mountains. In … Read more
In 1892 twenty thousand dollars was voted by congress for the improvement of Snake river, and one hundred thousand dollars for the Boise public building. The river and harbor appropriation bill, passed by congress in April, 1896, carried twenty-five thousand dollars for the improvement of the Clearwater River, and five thousand dollars for the Kootenai between Bonner’s ferry and the British boundary. The appropriation for the Boise public building was increased from one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to two hundred thousand dollars and a building site was selected which cost seventeen thousand and five hundred dollars. Of the special … Read more
Bear Lake County is the smallest in Idaho, yet one of the richest, and one of the very few counties comparatively free from public indebtedness. The natural wealth of the little domain is about as happily diversified as its residents could wish. It has mountains on either side rich in minerals, timber and building stone, which have recently been developed to a greater extent than during all the years of its settlement. The county was settled by Mormons in the year 1863, and for a number of years afterward their residence continued under circumstances of the most forbidding and discouraging … Read more
Presbyterianism In Idaho The history of Presbyterianism in Idaho embraces three separate histories: that of the work among the Nez Perces, that of the work among the whites in the Panhandle, and that of the work in the southern section of the state. The work among the Nez Perces had its beginning in 1836, when Rev. Henry H. Spalding, the friend and companion of Marcus Whitman, established a mission station at Lapwai on the Clearwater, twelve miles above the present city of Lewiston. When the Whitman’s were massacred in 1847 Mr. Spalding and his wife were also marked as victims, … Read more
It is reported that gold was discovered by a French Canadian in Pend d’Oreille river, in 1852. Two years later General Lander found gold while exploring the route for a military road from the Columbia to Fort Bridger. The earliest discoveries of which we have any authentic record, however, were probably made by members of the party with that veteran pioneer and path-finder, Captain John Mullan, the originator of the now famous Mullan road from Fort Benton to Walla Walla, a distance of six hundred and twenty-four miles. In a letter dated Washington, D. C, June 4, 1884, to Mr. … Read more
The Tip-Top Mine is a gold property. It is situated twelve miles west of Hailey, Blaine county, in the center of what is known as the gold belt. The mine is thoroughly developed by an inclined shaft three hundred feet in depth, passing through three levels, from which project several wings. The ore is obtained to the extent of five hundred feet, with an average width of the tunnel from five to six feet. The ore consists of gold in iron and copper pyrites. The value of the gold is one ounce to the ton. A twenty-stamp mill is in process … Read more
Pierce City Gold Camp is now attracting considerable attention from capitalists. Ohio parties have purchased an interest in the Golden Gate Mining Company’s property, and are now carrying on work there. The Milling & Mining Company also have a five-stamp mill on their property three miles from Pierce City, have begun the milling of ore, and good results have been obtained. Some sixty thousand dollars in gold has been extracted by a three-stamp mill owned by the Dunn Brothers on adjoining property. The character of the ore in this camp is mostly free milling gold quartz. The Chapman group of gold-quartz … Read more
The Silver King Mining Company was organized under the laws of New Jersey, by Philadelphia parties, with Henry Tevis as president. They have two groups of mines. The Davitt, a silver-lead property, is located on Deer creek, a tributary of Wood River. The ore occurs in a granite formation. A large and continuous seam has produced a great deal of silver and lead. It was operated with a shaft; but a snow-slide ruined the hoist and operations were abandoned. The company also owns the Silver King, a group of four claims located four miles above Sawtooth on the Salmon river, in … Read more
The mines of Alturas Senator Mining Company are situated at Galena, Blaine County, Idaho, comprising ten claims, the most promising of which are the Senate and Gladwater. At one time these mines were yielding well, but, because of the decline in silver, operations were discontinued and the smelter dismantled. Some development is contemplated in this year, 1899. The company is composed of wealthy men in New York. Lewis Edwards, the president, and Dr. Barron, the president of the Carpenter Steel Works of New York, are the principal factors. The Ashland Group Mining Company have four silver-lead claims at Muldoon and two … Read more
The Ontario Group Of Mines, which are now owned by Michael Carey, state senator, are located on Warm Spring creek, twelve miles west of Ketchum, in Blaine county, Idaho. They yield galena ore silver and lead and the veins extend east and west, dipping toward the south, and average from three to three and a half feet in width. The ore has an average yield of forty per cent, lead, eighty ounces of silver and three dollars in gold to the ton. These mines are worked by tunnels, which thus afford drainage and permit the ore to be run out … Read more
On War Eagle Mountain, a mile and a half southeast of Silver City, are a group of about twenty mines, in one of the richest belts in that section of the state, a belt which has afforded material to render Silver City famous throughout the civilized world. The Poorman mine has a production record of three million dollars, and other properties of the group as Bell Pick, Oso, Illinois Central, Jackson and Silver Cord have all been good producers. The Poorman mine was discovered in 1865, and between July 9 and October 1, 1866, there was shipped from it the … Read more
The Red Cloud Group Of Mines is situated on Deer creek, a tributary of Wood river, about twelve miles in a northwesterly direction from the town of Hailey, in Mineral Hill mining district, Blaine county, and is owned by Lyttleton Price, of Hailey, and Pittsburg parties. These mines were discovered by Orin Porter, E. H. Porter and James L. Mason, in 1880. The present owners purchased them in 1889, organized what was known as the Red Cloud Mining Company, and worked these properties for several years, paying in dividends ten thousand dollars per month, approximating in the total two hundred thousand … Read more