USA > Idaho > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 61
USA > Montana > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 61
USA > Washington > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 61
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as well as in county offices. Moore Creek was surveyed, and also Granite and others, with a view to constructing bed-rock flumes in the same manner. S. A. Merritt, delegate to congress, was intrusted with the business of get- ting a bill passed granting right of way, and other privileges, en Moore Creek, for a distance of 7 miles, but failed. A job was attempted, while Ainslie was in congress, to get all the waters of Snake River, and other streams, granted to a company, which would compel the farmers to pay for it at their price. Another congressional job proposed was to grant all the waters in Boisé River to a company, which would have paralyzed placer mining in Boisé basin, by placing them at the mercy of the company. The people of Idaho have ever heen alive to the withering effect of iniquitous monopolies.
12 There were in ISS5 about thirty good farms in this section, with a wagon- road from the valley to Placerville and Idaho City. Back of the bottom-land was a sage plain partially redeemed by irrigation, and rising higher, a series of rolling hills gradually attained an altitude of 5,000 feet, covered with bunch- grass, making the best of cattle-ranges. On the crest of the hills to the east was a heavy growth of timber. Long and Round valleys were used only for grazing purposes. Garden Valley was soon under high cultivation, lying only ten miles north of the mining centre of the Boise basin, which furnished a profitable market for the grain, vegetables, and fruits raised in this 'para- disc,' as it is fondly named. From the dividing line between Ada aud Boisé counties to Horse Shoe Bend is about twenty-five miles of farming land occu- pied by one hundred settlers, who have under cultivation 13,000 acres. In the lower Payette Valley resided D. M. Bivens, a native of Missouri, who immigrated from Kansas to Idaho in 1862. He was among the first to take a farm on the Payette, where he made himself a beautiful home. He died Nov. 17, 1879, aged 51 years. Boisé Tri-weekly Statesman, Nov. 25, 1879.
Boisé county bad 3,212 inhabitants in 1880, with a total valuation in 1882 of $069,719. In 1883 the population had increased to 12,000, with a pro- portionate inerease of property. Idaho City, the county seat, had diminished from 7,000 in 1864 to 700 in IS80, but expanded again. Placerville, Centre- ville, Quartzburg, Pomona, Banuer, Deadwood, Clarkville-named after Henry C. Clark, a pioneer, who has a store in this placc. Silver City, Idaho, Avalanche, Aug. 12, 1876-Horse Shoe Bend-C. H. Angle, pioneer at this place, and justice of the peace, died March 16, 1876. He left a wife and 4 children-Bairdsville-settled first by C. Baird on upper Squaw Creck, Starr's Idaho, MS., 8-and Jerusalem were the early mining and farming centres of Boisé county.
13 The old road to Salt Lake by the City of Rocks passed through some
551
CUSTER COUNTY.
Custer county, named after General Custer, cut off from Alturas and Lemhi in 1881, proved inconsider- able as an agricultural region. There was a fine valley, forty miles long by from five to fifteen miles wide on the upper Salmon River, furnished with wood, water, and grass in abundance, and numerous small tracts of agricultural land along the streams, but the county was preeminently a mining country. In 1866 or 1867 a party of prospectors from Montana, headed by one Richardson, penetrated to that branch of the
Salmon which they named Yankee Fork, because the party consisted of New Englanders. They did not remain long in the country, which was at the best inhospitably strange and remote. In 1873 D. V. Varney and Sylvester Jordan found their way to Yankee Fork and located some placer mining claims, naming Jordan Creek branch of that stream. Four years later the great discoveries were made in quartz, of the Charles Dickens, Charles Wayne, Custer, and
of the settlements, and it was in the direction of Ogden and Salt Lake City that the farmers looked for a market. The population in 1885 was 2,500; and the assessed valuation in ISS2, 417.332. Albion, the county seat, situ- ated in Marsh basin, an agricultural district, was settled about 1875. Its population ten years later was some 400. In Riblett's Snake River Region, MS .. 2-3, is a brief account of Cassia county, by Frank Riblett, surveyor. In the south-eastern portion of the county was the Black Pine mining camp. Simon Schwabacher was the principal owner in this region, and erected the first quartz-mill. A New York company paid $65,000 for a placer mine at Bonanza Bar, and other companies took claims near this one. There was another farming settlement started on Sublette Creek, thirty miles east of Raft River, and some of villages; namely, Beecherville, Alamo, Cassier Creek, Bridge, Oak- ley, Goose Creek, Rock Creek, and several stations on the road to Salt Lake.
Samuel R. Given, a prominent citizen of this co., born in Nashville, Tenn., in 1822, was a son of John Given, whose father fought in the revolutionary war, under Gen. Marion. Samuel received a common-school education in La. In 1849 he came to Cal., via Fort Smith, Ark., Santa Fé, Socorro, Gila, and San Diego, arriving at San Francisco in October, and engaging in teaming during the winter. The following spring he went to Mariposa co., and mined for a time, afterward farming and raising hogs on the Merced River. In the flood of 1862 he lost $20,000 worth of hogs, and all his improvements, but remained in the co. until he recovered a part of his losses, when in 1873 he put $3,000 into horses and mules and started for Cheyenne, Wy., beiug 2 years on the road. In 1875 he sold off his stock, and went to freighting to the Black Hills, making $6,000 in 18 months. He then commenced buying mining claims, opening and selling them, including the Homestake No. 2, and the Pierce mines, making $70,000 in another year and a half. Next he purchased a range on Raft River, and stocked it with cattle and horses, and here he made his home, in the finest section for a winter range between the Sierra Nevada and the Missouri River.
552
MATERIAL AND SOCIAL PROGRESS.
Unknown, which led to the hasty populating of this rich mining region, among the most famous districts of which are the Kinnikinick, Bay Horse, and Custer. Bonanza City was laid off in 1877.14
Idaho county, organized under the government of Washington in 1862, began its career as a mining district through the discovery of the Florence and Warren diggings. The placers at Warren were among the most lasting and best paying in Idaho.15
14The first trading establishment was opened by George L. Shonp and his partner Boggs. Mark Musgrove started a newspaper July 24, 1879, the Yankee Fork Herald. Challis, the county seat, the centre of a large and rich mining district on the upper waters of the Salmon River, was founded in 1878 by A. P. Challis and others, and had in ISSO a population of 500. A newspaper called the Messenger was published bere. There were a number of mining camps in Custer county-Galena, Robinson's Bar, Jordan Creek, Crystal City, Lost River, Clayton, Concord, Bay Horse, Custer, Cape Horn, Oro Grande, Round Valley, and Fisher. The population of the county in 1883 was 3,000, and the assessed value of real and personal property the pre- vious year was $389,475.
15 The town had a steady growth for three years, containing 1,500 inhab- itants in 1865, but declined subsequently, until in 1867 it had bat 500. The discovery of quartz brought it up again to 1,200 in 1868, but not proving rich as expected, the population declined to 400 in 1872, when 1,200 Chinese came in and worked the abandoned diggings. But after taking out gold enough to pay for the ground they had purchased, most of the Chinamen abandoned the place. The first saw-mills were erected in 1868 by F. Shessler, Madison, and William Bloomer, and the first five-stamp quartz-mill by God- frey Gamble, who employed water-power only. Gamble and Leland erected a second water-power five-stamp mill, five miles above Warren. The quartz at Warren failing to pay as anticipated, Gamble and Leland purchased a ten- stamp steam-mill at Florence, which they removed to a mine two miles from the town of Washington, on Warren Creek, which also failed to meet expecta- tions. In 1873 a stock company moved the latter mill to the Rescue ledge at Warren, and have made it pay from that time, although the gold is in chimneys or pockets. The settlement of the county was slow, owing to its extreme roughness and inaccessibility. 'Salmon River, in Idaho county,' says Leo Hofen, 'cuts the earth almost in two, the bank being 4,000 feet perpendicular for miles, and backed by high mountains that show evidence of having been torn and rent by most violent convulsions.' Hofen was born in Germany in 1835, and came to S. F. in 1855, soon after removing to Nevada, whence he went to Lewiston, Idaho, in 1862, and engaged in merchandising and assaying. In the spring of 1865 he made another remove to Warren, where he remained until 1784. For several years Hofen held the control of all the business between Payette and Salmon rivers. He was the last of the pioneers of Warren to desert the camp; and returned to S. F., where he en- gaged in the coffee and spice business. Hofen's Ilist. Idaho County, MS., 1-2.
James H. Hutton was another pioneer of Idaho county. Ile was born in Maine, and followed the sea. Arriving at S. F. in 1850, he went to the mines on American River, but soon returned to S. F. and engaged in the coasting traffic. In 1862 he visited the Cariboo mines, going thence to Idaho the same year and working in the placers of the Florence district until 1867, when he went to Warren, where, with a partner named Cocaine, he put up the first five-stamp quartz-mill on the Rescue lode. In partnership with C.
553
KOOTENAI COUNTY.
Kootenai county had almost no white population until the building of the Northern Pacific railroad
Johnsen, he lecated the Sampson lode, which, though moderately rich, was toe narrow to be profitably worked. Hutton was in 1879 a detective on the police force of San Francisco. Hutton's Early Events, MS., 1-6.
Florence was the first county seat of Idaho county. In 1869 the seat of the county was removed to Warren, and in 1874-5 the legislature again re- moved the county seat to Mount Idaho. The histery ef Monnt Idaho is the history of farming in Idahe county. Situated on North Camas prairie, which by the last legislative act concerning the boundaries of Idaho county was in- cluded in it, the town was settled in 1862 by L. P. Brown, through whose efforts it was made fleurishing. Located at the foot of the meuntains on the east side of the prairie, it became a picturesque place, with mills, stores, and good buildings. H. S. Crossdale and one Baring resigned commissions in the British army and settled on the prairie, 10 miles nerth of Mount Idaho, about 1870, where they raised sheep. Idaho Statesman, March 4, 1876. A rival to Mount Idaho was Grangeville, two miles north- west, which about equalled it in business and population for some time. The other settlements in this county were Washington, Elk City, Florence, John Day, Frecdom, Dixie, White Bird, Manuel Rancho, Pittsburg Landing, and Glenwood. The population of Idaho county in ISS3 was 2,400, and the assessed value of real and personal property $509,252.
B. F. Morris, horn in Ray co., Mo., in 1843, came to Idaho with a mule team in 1863, and the following spring went to the Salmen River mines in Idaho ce. He made his home in the co., of which he was for many years auditor and treasurer. He married H. F. Graham in ISS1.
James Odle, born in Scioto co., Ohio, in 1823, came to Cal. in 1849 with a party of 21 young men, called the Hoy and Odle company, William Hey be- ing the other chief. On reaching Placerville, Edward Hoy died, and also English. Odle remained in the mines until Oct. 1850, when he went to Doug- las co., Or., and afterwards to Yamhill co. In 1862 he came to Idaho, and was among the first settlers of Mt Idaho. He married Catherine L. Crusin in 1854, and has 2 sons and 2 daughters.
Loyal P. Brown, bern in Coos co., N. H., in 1829, came to Cal. by sea in 1849, the schooner Haunt Nut, of the Massasoit company, bringing them to the Isthmus of Panamá. Crossing on pack-mules, the passengers chartered a brigantine, which was condemned at Mazatlan, compelling them to wait for a steamer, which finally brought them to San Francisco, by which time their means were exhausted, and 10 of the company worked their passage to Sacra- mente, where they took a contract to cut hay at Sutter's Fert, after which Brown and 3 others went to the mines on the Middle Fork of American River at Rector's Bar. In 1850 Brown went to Trinity River, engaging in trade and packing for 2 years, then to Scottsburg on the Umpqua River, re- maining in southern Or. until 1862, when he removed to Mount Idaho. He was employed in the quartermaster's department of the volunteer army in 1853-6, and after the war engaged in stock-raising in Douglas co. He went through the exciting scenes of the Nez Perce war in Idaho in 1877, in which he performed good service. His present business is merchandising.
Jacob B. Chamberlain, bern in Lennox co., Canada West, immigrated to Vancouver Island in 1862 by sea, remaining 3 years in Victoria, and remev- ing thence te Idaho in 1865. He was elected commissioner of Idaho co. in 1878, and county anditor in 1880 and 1882.
John Aram, bern in Seneca, N. Y., in 1827, came with his brother Joseph to Cal. in 1850 by sea. Ho resided 5 years in San Jose, and 4 years in Ama- der ce., Cal., after which he removed te Or. in 1859, and to Grangeville, ou Camas prairie, Idaho, in 1864. He married, in 1833, Sarah Barr, born in Wy- oming co., N. Y., in 1831.
William C. Pearson, born in Chautauqua co., N. Y., in 1829, immigrated
554
MATERIAL AND SOCIAL PROGRESS.
brought people there to perform the labor of its con- struction, between 1880 and 1883. The Cœur d'Alêne Indian reservation occupied most of the southern por- tion, extending as far north as the Spokane River, and the head of Cœur d'Alene Lake. 16
Lemhi county was set off from Idaho county Janu- ary 9, 1869, assuming $700 of the parent county's in- debtedness. A change was made in the boundary in January 1873, the western line, south of Salmon River, commeneing at the mouth of the Middle Fork, thenee south-west along the divide between the Mid- dle and South forks to the line of Boisé county. The published maps do not give the actual boundaries, the county lines very generally being unsurveyed. The early history of Lemhi county has been given.17
overland with his father's family to Washington co., Or., in 1853, removing to Camas prairie, Idaho, in 1864, where he engaged in farming and stock- raising near Grangeville. He married Belle Crooks in 1862.
H. Titman, born in Warren co., N. J., in 1832, went to Pike's Peak in 1860 with other gold-hunters, from there to Virginia City, Nev., and from there to the mines of Idaho in 1862. In 1870 he engaged in stock-raising on Salmon River. The following year he married M. E. Turner, and settled at Grangeville.
16 Elevation of Cœur d'Alene, 2,280 feet; soil gravelly, raising fair crops of grain and vegetables, while for fruit the land was superior. North the coun- try was lower, being but 1,456 feet above sea-level at Pend d'Oreille Lake, and the land rich and productive. A German colony in 1880-1 purchased ten townships of railroad land on the Pend d'Oreille division of the Northern Pa- cific, and established a thriving settlement. The county seat of Kootenai co., Cœur d'Alêne, had a population in 1885 of 150. Towns arose in the progress of railroad construction, Kootenai, at the mouth of Park River, 30 miles by a trail to Kootenai River, which was navigated for 150 miles by a steamer, Sand Point, Cocolala, Dry Lake, Westwood, Rathdrum, and Pend d'Oreille. Population of Kootenai 2,000 in 1883, largely railroad floating. Valuation of property in 1882 $305,741, the number of taxable inhabitants being only S9. Fort Cœur d'Alene, which was selected by General Sherman, in 1877, was called the most beautiful military reservation in the country. It fronted on Lake Cœur d'Alene. The residence of the commanding officer was finished with native woods in their natural colors.
17 It was first settled by a Mormon colony in 1835, who cultivated a rich body of land in the valley, which they named Lemhi, the same land later oc- cupied as an Indian reservation. The colony was called in by the president of the Mormon church, and no further settlement took place till mining dis- coveries opened up the country in 1866. In the following spring, George L. Shoup, with others, laid off the site of Salmon City, which became the county seat, distributing the lots among themselves, and devoting some to publie uses. The discoverers of the mines at Salmon City were from Montana; namely, Bonney, Sharkey, William Smith, Elijah Mulky, Ward, Napius, and others. Shoup's Idaho Ter., MS., 3. As many as 5,000 mcn visited the place during its first season, but only about 1,500 remained. When the owners of the claims had carried off the richest of the spoils, operators came in with bed-
555
NEZ PERCE COUNTY.
Nez Percé county, an agricultural rather than a mining district, early became settled by farmers.
rock flumes, and there being no further employment for the former mining population it drifted off, and only those remained who had other interests.
Salmon City became a thriving town with a population of 800. Quartz was discovered in 1868 twelve miles from Salmon City, the Silver Star ledge being located by G. L. Shoup, J. C. Evans, Thomas Pope, Michael Spahn, and J. Cabt, which mine was sold to a New York company. It was not until 1876 that much attention was given to quartz-mining. There were in 1885 six quartz-mills near Salmon City. In 1867 the first newspaper was started at Salmon City, the Mining News, by Frank Kenyon. After a few months he moved the material to Montana. If the reader now turns back to Custer county and reads its early history as that of Lemhi, and regards the towns Bonanza, Challis, and the rest as belonging to the latter, the record will be completed. Some good land was found in Lemhi county. the valley of the Lemhi raising 25 to 40 bushels of wheat, 50 to 100 of oats, and from 150 to 350 of potatoes, to the acre. All the fruits of the temperate zone grew abun- dantly, and in the hardest winters, although the altitude is about 4,000 feet, the loss in cattle was not more than one per cent. The first flouring mill was erected in 1872 by James Glendening and Job Barrack, at Salmon City. Lemhi Valley later shipped flour to Salt Lake and southern Idaho. I am in- debted for many of these items to George L. Shoup, whose manuscript enti- tled Idaho Territory is a compendium of facts concerning the eastern portion of the country. Shoup was born in Pa, went to Ill., and subsequently to Nebraska and Colorado, where he was engaged in merchandising. He was a member of the first constitutional convention of Colorado. On the breaking- out of the war for the union he organized an independent cavalry company, and served as 2d lieut, and finally as maj. and lieut col. In 1866 he took a stock of goods to Virginia City, Montana, and the following year settled at Salmon City. He was one of 3 supervisors of Lemhi co. who appointed its first officers, the first councilman from the county in the territorial legislature, and has been constantly identified with the growth of his section of the coun- try. His wife was Lena Dawson of Galesburg, Ill., to whom he was married at Salmon City in 1868. The dairy products of Lemhi valley became favor- ably known. The Indian reservation occupies 12 miles square of land.
Another valley, the Palsimeroi, on both sides of the Pasamari River, and therefore partly in Custer county, was more recently settled than the Lemhi, but was found similar in its characteristics. Leesburg was laid off on Napius Creek in 1866, and Grantville soon after. They formed together one con- tinuous street, and survived under the name of the former. Gibbonville is an old mining camp known in its first period of existence as Dahlong's, but revived and named after Colonel Gibbon, in honor of his hard-fought battle with the Nez Perces in 1877. The quartz mines at this place furnish free- milling ores, and have recently been worked hy arastras.
One of the most prominent pioneers of Lemhi county, in common with Colonel Shoup, was E. T. Beatty, who, as a member of the territorial legis- lature, labored successfully for the organization of Lembi county at the ses- sion of 1869-70. He was an able parliamentarian, and for many years, when the democracy ruled Idaho, presided either in the upper or lower house. His life has been checkered. He came to Cal. in 1849; was connected with the naval service for some years; practised law; was twice a member of the Cal. legislature; and went to Idaho in early mining times. In 1864 he shot D. N. Anderson, at Walla Walla, for marrying his divorced wife. He was himself shot, almost fatally, at Rocky Bar, the same year by Terry, who was acquitted. Beatty afterward gave much attention to mining, and became known as the father of Lemhi county.
J. H. Hockensmith, a native of Ky, born in 1834, brought up on a farm, and educated in the commou schools, was taught the trade of carriage-making.
556
MATERIAL AND SOCIAL PROGRESS.
North of the Clearwater are rolling table-lands having an altitude of 2,500 feet, with a deep, black, alluvial soil, well watered, and exceedingly fertile. This is a great wheat-producing region. On the south side of the Clearwater, between the Snake River and the
In 1857 he came overland to Cal., mining and working at his trade until 1864, when he removed to Idaho. He mined I year at Idaho City, and after visiting Washington and Montana for short periods, he settled in Lembi Valley in 1867 at Leesburg, his present residence, and follows farming and mining.
John P. Clough, born in Ill. in 1845, was bred a farmer, and attended the common schools. In 1866 he crossed the plains to Beaver Head co., Montana, where he remained 3 years at farming. After a visit to his old home, he settled in Lemhi Valley, where he engaged in raising horses and cattle. He married Lucy Ross in 1872.
Jacob Ycarian, a native of Ohio, born in 1829, removed to Ill. with his parents in 1838, and was brought up to farm life. In 1850 he came to Cal. overland with an ox-team. After mining for 4 years he returned East, and in ISGI removed to Neb., where he lived on a farm until 1864, when he again crossed the plains to Montana, locating at Dannack, and engaging in mining for 7 years. He then removed to Lemhi Valley, where he has a stock farm. He married M. J. Purcell in 1856.
Z. B. Ycarian, born in Ill. in 1841, removed to Ohio at the age of 7 years, and attended the public schools for 10 years. He learned the trade of a machinist, which he followed 12 years, after which he immigrated to Mon- tana, where he remained 2 years before settling in Lemhi Valley at the busi- ness of breeding Holstein cattle and horse-raising. He married Jane Strond.
F. B. Sharkey, born in Mc. in 1840, went to sea at the age of 14 years and landed in Cal. 3 years afterward, where he remained at mining for 7 years with good results. In 1864 hic removed to Mont., mining for a time on Elk Creek in Meagher co. He settled in 18GG in Lemhi co., Idaho, being one of the discoverers of the mines at Salmon City, the others being Elijah Mulky, William Smith, Thomas Gertrie, and Joseph Ropp. He married Rebecca Ann Catey in 1872, and is both miner and stock-grower.
L. P. Withington, born in Pa in 1827, and bred a farmer, with a com- mon-school education, came to Cal. by sea in 1854, where he remained at mining for 4 years. In IS58 he removed to Wash., where he engaged in merchandising until 1865, when he went to Mont., mining on Elk Creek for 1 year, at the end of which he located in Lemhi Valley at farming and stock- raising. He married Julia Anna Holbrook in 1868.
J. A. Hughes, born in Mo. in 1840, and bred a farmer, immigrated to Virginia City, Mont., in 1864. He mined in Alder Gulch 2 years and on the Yellowstone 1 year, then weut to farming near Helena, remaining until 1878 in that locality and on the Missouri River in agricultural pursuits. He then removed to Lemhi Valley, where he carried on a dairy farm. He married Mary Notewarc in 1874.
Joseph Barrack. born in Scotland in 1844, migrated to the U. S. in 1859, and after two years spent in lumber manufacture in Ill. came to Cal. across the plains with a horse-team, stopping but a few months before he went to Or. to engage in mining on Powder River. Being robbed by tho Indians of all he possessed, he removed to Lembi Valley in 1864, where be farmed and raised stock. He married Josie J. Johnson in ISS2.
Alexander Barrack, born in Scotland in 1847, followed his brother to the U. S. in 1869, settling in Lemhi Valley the same year, and creeting a flouring mill in partnership with him in 1872, which property he later owned sepa- rately. From him I learn that the annual crop of wheat in the valley was 11,000 bushels. His mill ground 6,000 pounds per dicm.
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