An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day, Part 76

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1014

USA > Idaho > An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day > Part 76

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It was at Moscow that Mr. Shields made the investment that he might have made at Spokane. In March, 1879, he opened up a trade in farm implements in Moscow. In 1882 he added hard- ware stock and in 1885 a lumber yard, and he did a growing, profitable business until 1895. At

that time the whole country was involved in financial difficulty. Banks were failing, shops were shut down, crops failed and productive energy was paralyzed. There were many failures in the new west as a result of these conditions, and Mr. Shields' failure was by no means one of the largest of them. He had been engaged in very extensive business operations for some years. In 1887 he had built the Moscow planing mills, and he owned and operated four sawmills. He had built the works of the Moscow water system and the Moscow electric-light plant. He had built the Idaho University building, the contract price for which was one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and he had built, under contract, some of Idaho's largest public- school buildings, and was thought to be worth at least three hundred thousand dollars. He was literally "driven to the wall" by adverse circum- stances, but his spirit was not broken, nor did his enterprise slumber. The Shields Company, Limited, was organized and incorporated, and Mr. Shields was made its manager. Its success has been noteworthy and it is now one of the strongest concerns of the kind in the state. It occupies a brick block, one hundred and forty by one hundred and twenty-five feet, which Mr. Shields erected in 1890.

There was not a citizen of Moscow who did not sympathize with Mr. Shields in his trouble, and there is not one who is not glad that he is coming to the front again with a pronounced business success that promises well for his future.

Mr. Shields was married in June, 1885, to Miss Sarah A. Henry, a native of Massachusetts, who has borne him four children,-Frederick Milton, Madeline Mary, James Henry and John Lewis. In politics Mr. Shields is a Republican, in reli- gion a Catholic. He was a regent of the State University of Idaho, and in that capacity did much excellent and far-reaching work to advance the cause of public education in his adopted state.

JOSEPH B. HULSE.

Joseph B. Hulse, proprietor of the only photo- graph gallery in Hailey, is a native of Iowa, born in Glenwood, on the 3d of January, 1859. The family, of German origin, was planted on American soil at an early period in the history of New England. The grandfather, Joseph Hulse,

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

was a pioneer settler of the state of Ohio, and his son, Henry A. Hulse, the father of our sub- ject, was born near the old home of Abraham Lincoln, in the vicinity of Springfield, Illinois. Having arrived at years of maturity, he married Caroline Maloon and removed to Iowa, whence he afterward went to Pike's Peak. In 1863 he removed with his family to Denver, Colorado, and in 1866 went to Saline county, Nebraska, settling on a farm' on a tributary of the Blue river, where he remained until 1880. In that year he became a resident of Oregon, taking up his abode near LaGrande, Union county, where he remained until called to the home beyond, in 1893, at the age of fifty-seven years. His widow still resides there and is now fifty-six years of age. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living.

In the public schools Joseph B. Hulse acquired his literary education, pursuing his studies through the fall and winter months, while in the summer season he assisted in the labors of the home farm. In early life he began to learn the art of photography, and in 1889 established a gallery in Alturas, California, where he remained three years, after which he spent nearly a year at Lake View, Oregon. He then went to Mountain Home, and after passing a winter there came to Hailey, in the spring of 1895. Here he opened his art gallery, the only one in the town, and has since conducted a successful business, receiving all the patronage of the entire county in his line.

He does his work in a most artistic manner and after the most approved processes in photog- raphy, and his work gives general satisfaction. This, combined with his reasonable prices and his uniform courtesy to his patrons, has secured him a large and profitable business.

Mr. Hulse voted with the Republican party until 1892, when, on account of his views on the money question, he transferred his allegiance to the Populist party, and in the fall of 1898 was elected on that ticket to the state legislature, receiving a flattering majority. His careful consideration of matters of public moment and his adherence to a course which he believes to be right make him a valued member of the house and a worthy representative of the interests of his constituents.

Socially Mr. Hulse is chief forester of the Modern Woodmen Camp of Hailey. He has in Blaine county a wide acquaintance and many friends, and a home which is a favorite resort with many of the best people of the community. He was married in 1892 to Miss Kittie G. Spar- gur, a native of Reno, Nevada, and a daughter of Henry L. Spargur, an attorney of Alturas, Cali- fornia. Prior to her marriage she was a success- ful teacher in the public schools of California. She is descended from German ancestors, the family having first been founded in New York, whence representatives of the name went to Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hulse have three children,- Amidol A., Henry D. and Joseph B.

Placer Mines, Delta, Idaho.

CHAPTER XXIX.

MINES AND MINING.

DAHO is essentially a mining territory. It was her mines that first stimulated immigra- tion 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. Capi- talists no longer purchase prospects for fabulous prices on the strength of picked specimens or the vicinity of rich claims. It is a fortunate circum - stance for Idaho that mining has been for the most part a steady, productive industry, yielding rich returns to the patient and intelligent pros- pector, and that it has not been necessary to rely on fictitious "booms."

As in the case of mining countries generally, the placer mines first attracted attention. The placers of Boise basin, Salmon river, and other localities had yielded rich returns. But it is within a comparatively recent period that quartz mining has become as general as at present in southern and central Idaho. Even now in well known mining regions there are many miles as yet unexplored.

The minerals of Idaho are gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, plumbago, quicksilver, coal, and others. There are also mountains of sulphur, productive salt springs, quarries of the finest marble and building stone, large deposits of mica, and various varieties of semi-precious stones. Her precious-metal belt is three hundred and fifty miles long, and from ten to one hundred and fifty miles wide.

DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

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 discov- eries 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. A. F. Parker, of Eagle City, he says:

I am not at all surprised at the discovery of nume- rous rich gold deposits in your mountains, because both on the waters of the St. Joseph and the Coeur d'Alene, when there many years ago, I frequently noticed vast masses of quartz strewing the ground. particularly on the St. Joseph river, and wide veins of quartz projecting at numerous points along the line of my road along the Coeur d'Alene, all of which indicated the presence of gold. Nay, more: I now recall quite vividly the fact that one of my herders and hunters, a man by the name of Moise, coming into camp one day with a handful of coarse gold. which he said he found on the waters of the north fork of the Coeur d'Alene while out hunting for our expedition. This was in 1858 or 1859. The members of my expedition were composed very largely of old miners from California, and having had more or less experience in noticing the indication of mineral de- posits, their universal verdict was that the entire coun- try, from Coeur d'Alene lake on toward and including the east slope of the Rocky mountains, was one vast gold-bearing country, and I was always nervous as to the possible discovery of gold along the line of my road; and I am now frank to say that I did nothing to encourage its discovery at that time, for I feared that any rich discovery would lead to a general stam- pede of my men from my expedition, and thus destroy the probable consummation of my work during the time within which I desired to complete the same. I then regarded it as of the first importance to myself and to the public to open a base line from the plains of the Spokane on the west to the plains of the Mis- souri on the east, from which other lines could be subsequently opened, and by means of which the cor- rect geography of the country could be delineated. My object at that time was to ascertain whether there was a practicable railroad line through the valleys, and if there existed any practicable pass in the main range

421

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of the Rocky mountains through which, in connection with the proper approaches thereto, we could carry a wagon road, to be followed by a railroad line, and I did not hesitate to make all other considerations sec- ondary or subordinate thereto, believing then, and knowing now, that if a railroad line was projected and completed through the valleys and the passes of the Rocky mountains, between the forty-fifth and forty- eighth parallels of latitude, all other developments would naturally and necessarily soon follow.

A romantic tale is told of the discoveries which led to the Oro Fino excitement in 1860. Tra- dition relates that a Nez Perce Indian, in 1860, informed Captain E. D. Pierce that while himself and two companions were camping at night among the defiles of his native mountains, an apparition in the shape of a brilliant star sud- denly burst forth from among the cliffs. They believed it to be the eye of the Great Spirit, and when daylight had given them sufficient courage they sought the spot and found a glittering ball that looked like glass, embodied in the solid rock. The Indians believed it to be "great medicine," but could not get it from its resting place. With his ardent imagination fired by such a tale, Captain Pierce organized a company, and with the hope of finding the "eye of their Manitou," explored the mountains in the country of the Nez Perces.

He was accompanied by W. F. Bassett, Thomas Walters, Jonathan Smith, and John and James Dodge. The Indians distrusted them, however, and refused to permit them to make further search. Thev would doubtless have had to leave the country had not a Nez Perce squaw come to their relief and piloted them through to the north fork of the Clearwater and the Palouse country, cutting a trail for days through the small cedars, reaching a mountain meadow, where they stopped to rest. While there Bassett went to a stream and tried the soil for gold, finding about three cents in his first panful of dirt. This is said to be the discovery that resulted in the afterwards famous Oro Fino mines. After taking out about eighty dollars, they returned to Walla Walla. Sergeant J. C. Smith, of that place, thereupon fitted ont a party and started for the mines, reaching there in November, 1860. In the following March Smith made his way out on snow-shoes, taking with him eight hundred dollars in gold-dust. This

dust was shipped to Portland, where it caused a blaze of excitement.

During 1861 and 1862 the rush continued. Steamers arrived at Portland from San Francisco and Victoria loaded down with freight and pas- sengers for the new gold-fields. New mining regions were constantly discovered. In the spring of 1861 Pierce City was founded and named in honor of Captain Pierce. The Elk City mines were discovered early in 1861 by parties front Oro Fino. Florence was discovered in the fol- lowing autumn. In August, 1862, James Warren and others located claims in what was thereafter known as Warren's Diggings. These last named are all on the tributaries of the Salmon river. Warren's never caused the rush and excitement that attended the discovery of Florence. The latter, it is claimed, was found by a greenhorn, one of a party of seven hunters. The recklessness characteristic of new mining camps found full play here. Thirty men were killed in the first year; shooting and cutting were every-day matters. Prices were abnormal.

The Walla Walla Statesman, in chronicling the event, gives the following description of the discovery of the Salmon river mines in 1861: "S. F. Ledyard arrived last evening from the Salmon river mines, and from him it is learned that some six hundred miners would winter there; that some two hundred had gone to the south side of the river, where two streams head that empty into the Salmon, some thirty miles southeast of the present mining camp. Coarse gold is found, and as high as one hundred dollars per day to the man has been taken out. The big mining claim of the old locality belongs to Mr. Weiser, of Oregon, from where two thousand six hundred and eighty dollars were taken on the 20th, with rockers. On the 21st three thousand three hundred and sixty dollars were taken out with the same machines. Other claims were pay- ing from two to five pounds per day. Flour has fallen to fifty cents per pound, and beef at from fifteen to twenty-five cents is to be found in abundance. Most of the mines are supplied till the first of June. Mr. Ledyard met between Slate creek and Walla Walla, en route to the mines, three hundred and ninety-four packs and two hundred and fifty head of beef cattle."

The same journal on December 13, 1861, gives

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

the following account of the new diggings: "The tide of immigration to Salmon river flows steadily onward. During the week past not less than two hundred and twenty-five pack-animals, heavily laden with provisions, have left this city (Walla Walla) for the mines. If the mines arc one-half so rich as they are said to be, we may safely calculate that many of these trains will return as heavily laden with gold-dust as they are now with provisions. The late news from Salmon river seems to have given the gold fever to everybody in this immediate neighborhood. A number of persons from Florence City have arrived in this place during the week, and all bring the most extravagant reports as to the richness of the mines. A report in relation to a rich strike made by Mr. Bridges, of Oregon City, seems to come well authenticated. The first day he worked on his claim, near Baboon Gulch, he took fifty-seven ounces; the second day he took one hundred and fifty-seven ounces; third day, two hundred and fourteen ounces; and the fourth dav, two hundred ounces in two hours. One gentleman informs us that diggings have been found on the bars of the Salmon river which yield from twenty-five cents to two dollars and fifty cents to the pan, and that on claims in the Salmon river diggings have been found where 'ounces' won't describe them and where they say the gulches are 'full of gold.' The discoverer of Baboon Gulch arrived in this city yesterday, bringing with him sixty pounds of gold-dust; and Mr. Jacob Weiser is on his way in with a mule loaded with gold-dust."

Such glowing descriptions nearly forty years ago had their inevitable effects, while the more substantial argument was adduced in the fact that $1.750,000 in gold-dust was exported from this region that year. According to Mr. Elliott, during April, 1862, three thousand persons left Portland, by steamer, for the mines, and by the last of May it was estimated that between twenty and twenty-five thousand persons had reached or were on their way to and near the mines east of the Cascade mountains. The yield accounted for, of gold, in 1862, in this region of country, reached seven million dollars, and several millions in addition to this were shipped through avenues not reported.

"Such," says the chronicler, "were the results

following in a few short months upon the trail pioneered by E. D. Pierce, W. F. Bassett, and their little party of prospectors whom the Indians had driven out of the country, but to return to it again and again, first led by a squaw, then through the assistance of T. C. Smith, when pur- sued as trespassers by a company of United States cavalry. Enough has been given to show the reader the influence that awoke eastern Washington, Oregon, and Idaho from their sleep through the centuries, to a new era of activity and usefulness."

It was a strange throng that came pouring over the mountains of north Idaho in the days of 1862. On foot, horseback, or by any other means that could be obtained, they pushed their way over swollen rivers, rugged mountains, and Indian-infested valleys. Lewiston, Lapwai, Oro Fino, Pierce City, Elk City, Florence,-these were the magic names that fired the imaginations and stimulated the ardor of these dauntless pioneers.

One of the effects of the Florence excitement was the discovery of Boise basin, in Boise county. A party of men left Florence in the fall of 1861, and in the following summer passed over into central Idaho. They came by the way of Oregon, crossing the Snake river by the mouth of the Boise. They followed up Boise river to the site of Boise city. Under instruc- tions from an Indian whom they there encoun- tered, they struck out for the mountains north of Boise river, and subsequently camped near where Centerville now stands. While prospect- ing on the creek, one of the party named Grimes was killed by Indians. The creek, which has become famous in the history of Idaho placer mining, has ever since been called Grimes creek.

After the death of Grimes, his companions left the country for Walla Walla. Another party returned to the basin in October, 1862. A stock- ade was built, and the place was styled "Fort Hog'em," a name which locally survives to this day. A writer in the Idaho World gives the fol- lowing account of the discovery of Boise basin:

A party of thirty-eight men, known as Turner's party, left Auburn, Oregon, in the spring of 1862, for Sinker creek, in Owyhee county. It was reported that emi- grants, in fishing along this creek, used gold nuggets, picked up on the creek, for sinkers-hence the name.

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

Joseph Branstetter, of this place, was with Turner's party. Failing to find gold on Sinker creek, Bran- stetter and seven others left the party and met Captain Grimes' party of eight men, between Sinker creek and Owyhee river. Grimes' party and Branstetter and three others of his party, Colonel Dave Fogus one of the number, making twelve 'men all told, concluded to strike up into the mountains of this section. They crossed Snake river, eight miles above the Owyhee river, in skiffs made of willows. Snake river was then at high-water mark. The party struck Grimes creek near Black's ranch and followed up said creek, along which they first discovered gold, near where the town of Boston stood-two or three miles below Centerville. They obtained good prospects there-about a bit to the pan. The party proceeded up to Grimes Pass, near the head of Grimes creek. One day, while all of the party were in camp, a shot was fired a short distance from the camp, the bullet passing over the men's heads. A few moments after a second shot was fired, the bullet cutting the hair over one of Mr. Branstetter's ears. Grimes, a Portuguese named Phillip, Mose Splann, and Wilson, Grimes' partner, then struck out from camp on the hunt of the Indian that did the shooting. Grimes got on the track of the Indian, on the hill above camp, and was following the tracks with his shot-gun in his hands when the fatal shot was fired. Splann was about fifty yards to Grimes' left, and the Portuguese a short distance behind. Grimes was within thirty steps of an Indian and about a hundred and fifty yards from the camp when he was shot. The Indian made his escape. Grimes was shot near the heart, and lived only long enough to tell Wilson to tell his wife, who was in Portland, how he came to his death. Grimes frequently made the remark that he would never reach home, -- that he was to be killed by Indians. The day before he was killed he remarked, while gazing at the picture of his only child, a daughter of a few years of age, that he would never see her again,-that he had only a short time to live. Grimes' remains were buried at Grimes Pass, where he was killed. Grimes was a young man, twenty-seven or twenty-eight years of age. The party consisted of four Portuguese and three other men, in addition to those mentioned, the names of two of whom Mr. Branstetter never knew, and the names of the others he has forgotten. Grimes was killed in August, 1862. A short time after his death the party left for Auburn, Oregon, and returned in October of the same year. That fall Branstetter and A. Saunders rocked out from fifty to seventy-five dollars a day near Pioneerville, and packed the dirt one hundred yards in sacks. A. D. Saunders and Marion More returned with the party in October. The party num- bered ninety-three men. Jeff Standifer's party arrived from Florence about a week after the party of ninety- three got in from Auburn. W. B. Noble of this place was with the Standifer party. The above was related to us by Mr. Branstetter. He was the youngest man in Grimes' party: was twenty years of age when they reached Boise Basin.

The mines on Granite creek were discovered about the Ist of December by the party, who also located the site of Placerville, which contained about six cabins, partly completed on the 14th day of that month.

Boise basin soon became known as the greatest placer country outside of California. By the Ist of Jannary, 1863, over three thousand men had made their way into it. Centerville, Pioneerville, Placerville, Granite Creek, Idaho City (originally known as Bannock), sprung into existence, and by September of that year there were probably two thousand five hundred men scattered through the basin. Several million dollars had been taken out by the close of the season that year. In July, 1864, over two thousand five hundred claims had been recorded in Banner district; in Centerville over two thousand, and in Placerville over four thousand five hundred.

Idaho City, or Bannock, became the metropolis of the basin, and at one time could boast of a population, transient and permanent, estimated as high as from seven thousand to ten thousand. On the 18th of May, 1865, the town was com- pletely destroyed by a disastrous fire, property to the extent of one and a quarter million of dollars lost, and seven thousand people left homeless and shelterless. The town was rebuilt during the same season, however, and though three times destroyed by fire, for many years retained its prestige as the leading mining town of Idaho.

The first ferry across Snake river was estab- lished in 1862. A number of persons from Placerville, twenty-seven in all, in the spring of 1863, visited what is now Owyhee county. They discovered Reynolds creek, which was named in honor of one of their party. On the following day the men reached a stream, where they camped, panned the gravel, and obtained a hun- dred colors. The place was named Discovery Bar. Happy Camp, near the site of Ruby City, was discovered soon after. The creek was named after the leader of the expedition, and the district was called Carson, after another member of the party. In July the first quartz lead was discovered by R. H. Wade, and named Whisky Gulch. In the following month the placers in the French district were discovered, and also the Oro Fino quartz ledge. The celebrated Poor- man mine was not discovered until October,

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

1865. The mines of middle and south Boise, in Alturas county, including Atlanta, Yuba, and Rocky Bar, were discovered in 1864.

Such in brief is the history of the mineral dis- coveries in Idaho prior to 1870. By that time the rush, the fever, the excitement attendant upon new discoveries, had quieted down. Many of those who had come into the territory, carried along by the wave of excitement, left with the ebbing tide. The placer mines had been worked, though by no means exhausted. The rush had subsided and a reaction had set in. According to statistics, the yield of 1869 was less than that of any year before or since. Those who remained in Idaho, however, continued to prosper.

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An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day, Part 76

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1014

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1014