USA > Idaho > The history of Idaho > Part 4
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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO
In the following Spring when Lewis and Clark came back, their horses and all other equipment were returned to them in good con- dition and the Indians were paid according to agreement.
These Nez Perce Indians roamed over and claimed the greater part of what is now called North Idaho and a portion of what is now the northeastern part of Oregon, commonly called the Wallowa Valley.
Until the year 1855, there had been no serious trouble between the Indians and the whites, except the Whitman massacre. There had been some individual trouble at various times but all had been settled without any great difficulty. In 1855 they began to grow restive. Governor Stevens of Washington Territory, who was also ex-officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs, went immediately to the Nez Perce country and with the assistance of William Craig and a few other practical men, called the Indians together and made a treaty with them on the 1st of June, 1855.
This treaty set apart what is known as the Nez Perce Reserva- tion for the Indians and in consideration of the Indians ceding to the United States the remainder of the land they claimed, the United States was to make them certain annual payments in the way of annuities, establish an agency and Indian schools, to con- tinue for a number of years. At this time the agreement appeared to be satisfactory, but there was one branch of this tribe who made their home in the Wallowa Valley, headed by a brave and wonder- fully sagacious chief named Joseph. This chief claimed that he did not sign the treaty, that his home was in the Wallowa Valley in Oregon, and he would not consent to leave that place and re- move to the reservation selected for him and his people. The other Nez Perce tribes kept the treaty in good faith. We will re- fer to the trouble with Chief Joseph later.
The Shoshone and Bannock tribes occupied what is now the southeastern portion of Idaho and the western part of what is now Wyoming. These tribes made a treaty with the United States about the year 1868. In this agreement General Sherman acted for the United States. At this time two reservations were set apart for them, one east of the Rocky Mountain range for the Shoshones, and one in the Portneuf and Snake River country, including the present site of Pocatello, for the Bannocks. One clause in this treaty stated that they should have a reasonable portion of the Kan- sas prairie country and in consideration of their ceding to the United States the remainder of the lands claimed by them, the United States was to establish an agency, give them quite a large amount in annuities, and provide schools for them. The Bannock Indians always claimed that they were to have Camas Prairie. This prairie
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EARLY SETTLERS
lies on the northwest of Snake River about 125 miles from the nearest point to the Bannock Indian Reservation as laid out and surveyed by the government officials. At a later date, according to the survey, the reservation did not cross Snake River.
This prairie is about forty miles long and ten miles wide and the Indians, so far as the white men knew, had been in the habit of coming to this prairie every summer to hunt and gather the Camas root-a tuberous root of which they are very fond. Natu- rally they did not wish to give up this country, and when the treaty was made, the clause which reads, "reasonable portion of the Kan- sas prairie country," was understood and meant to the Indians a reasonable portion of the Camas Prairie country. The treaty hav- ing been made at some point east of the Rocky Mountains in an early day when but little of the country was known, this mistake in spelling the name "Kansas" instead of "Camas" was easily made. There was, however, no serious trouble with these Indians for many years.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Going back to the early settling in Idaho, before the country bore the name of Idaho, among those who came some years later than Rev. Spalding were the Jesuit Fathers. These Catholic mis- sionaries came into the northern part of Idaho in the early forties and were very successful in their missionary work among the Indians. A small colony of Mormons also moved into the Lemhi Valley and located at or near where the town of Salmon City now stands. In the year 1854, they were farming and raising stock in that part of the country, but after remaining there about three years, the Indians became so troublesome they were forced to leave and return to Utah.
In the year 1860, United States troops were sent to the old Lapwai Station, twelve miles from Lewiston, on the Clearwater River. The United States built a military post at this place and kept from one to two companies of troops stationed there.
By this time a few white people had come into the country. The majority of them were men prospecting for gold up the Clearwater River and its tributaries. About seventy or eighty miles from Lew- iston, they discovered gold at three different places and named these mining camps Oro Fino, Elk City and Pierce City. The lat- ter was named for a Mr. Pierce.
In 1861, prospecting was continued further back into the moun- tains, to the east and southeast. From the latter the discovery was made of what is commonly called the Salmon River mines. These mines were situated in a basin in the mountains from ten to twelve miles from Salmon River and about sixty miles south of
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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO
east from the mines discovered the year before, and about one hun- dred and ten miles southeast from Lewiston. This was a placer mining camp, very limited in extent, but easy worked and some of the claims were very rich. Often a man would wash out with a small rocker more than one hundred dollars per day. This camp was situated in a very high altitude where the snows fell very deep and lasted for a long time. Added to this, forty miles of moun- tain road had to be traveled before reaching the camp. It was a hard task for the prospectors to get there and very expensive to take in the necessary provisions and tools. But nothing will stop an old miner when he hears of a rich strike, so they came from all parts of the Pacific coast. Pack trains were rushed to Lewiston, as that town was at the head of navigataion on the Snake River where all supplies had to be taken, and from there transported to the mines on pack animals. Even then they could not be taken all the way-only to the foot of the mountains, and from there carried in by the men on their backs or on small sleighs or tobog- gans. Supplies were often very scarce and the prices very high. At one time in 1861 and again in 1862, the price of flour was one dollar per pound. Some groceries, such as sugar, tea, coffee, bacon and tobacco, were much higher.
In the Spring of 1862, two pack trails were opened into the Salmon River country, one going lengthwise across Camas Prairie to Salmon River and up the Salmon River about twelve miles, thence up and across the mountains fifteen or twenty miles to the mines. This was called the Slate Creek or Salmon route. The other route went from the east foot of Craig's Mountain, east across Camas Prairie, via where Grangeville and Mt. Idaho now stand, and commenced to ascend the mountain at Mt. Idaho, where the late Hon. L. P. Brown settled in 1862. This last named trail had forty miles of mountain country to pass over before reaching the mines, and many places were cut through thick timber and on steep hill-sides. This trail was constructed by Moses Milner and was called the Mose Milner trail. On each of these trails, toll was charged at the rate of one dollar for saddle or pack animals. Even with these high rates, I doubt if the owners made any money, as the opening of the trails cost an immense amount and the sea- son for heavy travel did not last long.
The reader may wish to know how good these trails were. I will answer by saying I have packed over both of them, and each time I went over one, I wished I had taken the other.
In the summer of 1862, there was great excitement in Florence about rich mines having been discovered at Buffalo Hump, a camp forty miles in a northeast direction and in rough mountains. By
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EARLY SETTLERS
this time the claims in Florence had been pretty well worked out and there were several thousand people there, many of whom did not own any mining property and could not get work. They were ready to rush to any excitement, and especially to the rough moun- tains; for it is a fact that miners and newcomers alike seem more anxious to rush to some almost inaccessible camp than to a mining camp easy of access.
This excitement furnished a good market for provisions which had been packed to Florence in large quantities. Many men left Florence for Buffalo Hump and each one had to have a small outfit of grub and tools, tobacco, etc. Merchandise went up to a high figure. Those who had no means to purchase an outfit, would get some friend who could not go to outfit them with the promise of a division of what they found. This is commonly called "grub stak- ing." It is understood that the prospector is to divide whatever he finds with the man who "staked" him, and do the necessary le- gal recording and work to hold the claim or claims.
Florence was a lively place for a few days, while the men were outfitting to start to Buffalo Hump. All who could, got horses and packed them with the necessary supplies. Those who could not get horses or mules, would pack their outfits on their backs, many of them starting out with one hundred pounds on their backs. So they went in every way and the trip was indeed a hard one and poor fellows, after all their hard efforts, when they came to Buffalo Hump, they found only a few low grade quartz ledges instead of the rich placer mines they had expected. Of late years these quartz ledges have been made to pay, but at that time it was im- possible to take in machinery to operate them. Many of the men who went to Buffalo Hump were discouraged and some disgusted with seeking mining claims, so they soon scattered to different parts of the country. Some returned to their homes in Oregon and California, and others went to the mining camps on the Clearwater, Oro Fino and Pierce City, while others came back to Florence or the Salmon River mines.
A townsite was now formally laid out near the center of the mines and called Florence. A little town was built up in a short time. As there was plenty of small timber near, the houses were built of logs and were substantial and comfortable. Numerous supply stores were opened, one of which was owned by Captain Relf Bledsoe and C. C. Higby. They carried a general assortment of supplies suitable for mines. Whiskey mills or saloons with gambling were very plentiful. Among the many saloons in this town was one run by the late Ben Anderson of Boise, who con- ducted his place in a very orderly manner.
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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO
During the rush to these mines in the Fall of 1861 and the Spring and Summer of 1862, Lewiston being situated at the head of steamboat navigation on the Snake River, and being the near- est point from which supplies could be purchased for the mining camps, had a splendid trade. It was soon quite a town, but owing to the scarcity of building material, the houses and stores were mostly large canvas tents boarded up on the sides from seven to ten feet high. This made them warm and comfortable. Hill Beachy, known and loved by all pioneers of those early days, ran a first-class hotel at Lewiston at this time, and his buildings were made of canvas and boards and were considered very comfortable.
WARRENS' MINING CAMP.
One of the parties that left Florence in the Summer of 1862 on a prospecting trip, was headed by a man named Warrens. These men discovered a camp which they called "Warrens' Diggin's," sit- uated in the mountains about thirty miles south of Salmon River in what is now Idaho County. This was a small camp with a limited number of fairly good placer mining claims, but it never created much excitement or caused a rush of people. Of late years, some good quartz claims have been discovered at this place and worked successfully.
During the Buffalo Hump excitement, many of the men engaged in running pack trains between Lewiston and Florence bought cargoes of goods in Lewiston at greatly increased prices and hur- ried them into Florence on their pack animals, expecting to get big prices. But unfortunately, when they reached Florence, they learned that the Buffalo Hump placer mines were a complete fail- ure. The demand for goods in Florence was very limited and the prices offered by the merchants about the same as the packers had paid in Lewiston. This was very discouraging, so many of the packers went to other fields, myself among the number.
By this time many of the placer claims in Florence were about worked out and the miners becoming anxious to prospect other fields, several parties were organized to go prospecting in a south- erly direction across the mountains. One of the first was headed by George Grimes with John Reynolds, D. H. Fogus and Moses Splawn and others. Another party was led by Jeff Standifer. Each party had to go around through the eastern part of Washington and Oregon to get into the southern part of Idaho to prospect. An- other party started with Relf Bledsoe for Captain, with Abner Cal- loway and others.
Grimes' party was the first to reach what is now called Boise Basin, and stopped to prospect on a creek near where Pioneer City
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EARLY SETTLERS
was afterwards built. This was in August, 1862. The creek was named for Mr. Grimes who led the party through the mountains and discovered the first gold in this rich camp. Mr. Grimes was soon afterward killed by an Indian while washing a pan of gold in this creek. Later Captain Bledsoe with his party arrived and pitched their tent at or near where the town of Placerville was soon after- wards built. It is said that Captain Bledsoe and his party washed out the first pans of dirt that were ever washed in this famous old mining district.
A few days later, Captain Jeff Standifer and his party and some others arrived at and made their camp near where Idaho City now stands. Idaho City was formerly called Bannock. The name was afterwards changed by act of legislature.
The news soon went over the country that rich placer mines had been found in the Boise Basin. Many others came in the Fall and the work of prospecting, locating claims and building cabins was carried on at a lively rate. Many of the miners whip-sawed lumber to build rockers and sluice boxes to wash out the dirt and gravel from the gold. Merchants came with pack trains loaded with pro- visions, mining tools, clothing, etc. Sawmills were soon brought in and set up. Timber was near suitable for making lumber, and soon these mills were running day and night. The lumber was taken from the mills as fast as it was cut and sawed, at prices from one to two hundred dollars per thousand feet. Every foot of lumber cut through the night was taken away by sunrise in the morning, and all cut through the day was immediately built into some kind of a house or sluice boxes. The towns of Centerville, Placerville, Idaho City and Pioneer were built up as if by magic. The houses were small and built of rough lumber, just as it came from the sawmill. Merchants usually built underground cellars at the rear end of their buildings, where they kept large quanities of goods. These cellars were built to protect the goods from fire.
In March, 1863, the great rush from California and Oregon to these mining camps began. The road between Umatilla, the steam- boat landing, and the Boise Basin, was lined with people, some on horseback, with a few pack animals, but the majority were on foot. Many pack trains were on the road loaded with merchandise of all kinds.
We are now back to the time, March 3rd, 1863, when Congress passed the Organic Act creating and organizing the Territory of Idaho. We will soon take up the early Territorial government of Idaho.
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CHAPTER VIII.
ROBBERY OF MR. BERRY, A PACKER, ON THE TRAIL FROM FLORENCE IN IDAHO COUNTY, BY ENGLISH, SCOTT AND PEEBLES, IN 1862.
As we had left the Lewiston country some two months before this robbery occurred, we are not able to give all the particulars, but give it as nearly as we can remember, as we got it from one who was at Lewiston at that time.
Some time in October, 1862, in what is now Idaho County (then in Washington Territory) a Mr. Berry, then a packer operating a pack train of mules between Lewiston and Florence, a mining camp in Idaho County, delivered his cargo of freight and collected his freight money, amounting to somewhere about two thousand dollars. He started from the Florence mining camp with his train of mules to go to Lewiston, a distance of about one hundred and ten miles. After getting over and out of the mountains on to what is known as Big Camas Prairie, he left his train with his men to drive them on to Lewiston, and he, on his saddle mule, with his money, struck out alone to go ahead to Lewiston to look out for and engage more freight to pack by the time his train should arrive. While crossing this prairie, which is some twenty miles across, he was stopped and held up by three notorious highwaymen. Their names were Dave English, Nelson Scott and William Peebles. They took all of his money. It is said that Scott insisted upon killing Mr. Berry, but the others would not agree to it, so Mr. Berry was allowed to re- sume his journey.
Arriving at Lewiston, Mr. Berry told what had happened to him and the report, with a description of the men, was sent to Walla Walla next day by stage (a distance of 85 miles) to the officers there. These highwaymen did not show up in Lewiston, but made their way to Walla Walla within a few days after they had com- mitted the robbery, and were arrested by officers there and taken back to Lewiston, where they were identified by Mr. Berry, the man whom they had robbed. At that time, in fact all of what is now Idaho, belonged to Washington Territory. The country was new and judicial courts did not operate much in that part of the country, and there does not appear to have been any safe place in which to keep these desperadoes to wait a long time for a court to try them. At their preliminary examination, the evidence of their guilt of highway robbery was conclusive. Mr. Berry identified them as the
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ROBBERY OF MR. BERRY
men that robbed him. These three men had the reputation of hav- ing committed other robberies. It was thought best to put them where they could commit no more. Swift punishment is sometimes necessary to evil doers. That appears to have been the course pur- sued in this case. These three men were hanged soon after their guilt was proven, which ended their earthly career.
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CHAPTER IX.
THE STORY OF MOSES SPLAWN'S DISCOVERY OF THE BOISE BASIN GOLD MINES IN 1862.
The following is the story of the discovery of the Boise Basin gold mines as told by Mr. Splawn himelf :
"While mining in Elk City, Idaho, in the Summer of 1861, there often came to our camp a Bannock Indian who would watch us clean up the sluices and gather the gold after the day's work was done. The latter part of the Summer, I left Elk City and went to a new discovery near Salmon River.
"I was among the first arrivals in the camp of Florence and here I again met this Indian, who still showed his interest in the yellow metal that was being taken out of the ground. When the early snows had come and further mining was difficult, I saddled and packed my horses and started for Walla Walla, where I intended to pass the Winter. While camped at the mouth of Slate Creek, on Salmon River, I again met the Bannock Indian. We had met so many times in the past few months, we had become quite friendly. While we talked and smoked around the camp fire that night, he told me of a basin in the mountains far to the south, where he had, when a boy, picked up chunks of yellow metal such as he had seen me work out of the gravel. His earnest look and pains-taking de- scription made me believe the story, and I felt, if I ever came near, I would recognize the mountains that surrounded the rich basin. In the following Spring, 1862, I determined to find, if possible, the country described by my Indian friend. It was no easy matter, as the Indians were well known to be hostile and it was necessary for a reasonable number of men to travel together to insure any degree of safety.
"On reaching Auburn, we found Captain Tom Turner with fifty men from the Willamette Valley, going to Catherine Creek above the Owyhee in search of the Blue Bucket 'diggin's,' a lost mine sup- posed to have been seen by a company of emigrants in 1845. The name was derived from the fact that the emigrants claimed that they could have picked up a blue bucket full of the yellow metal. (This blue bucket was a large kind of bucket used in those days.) We agreed to join Captain Turner's company provided if he failed to find the lost mine, he would then join us and go on the north side of Snake River in search of this rich basin. This agreement was accepted by both parties, and we started on our journey.
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DISCOVERY OF BOISE BASIN
"Arriving at the country where the lost mine was supposed to be, diligent search was made, but it was of no avail. But here we found what was known later as the Silver City 'diggin's.' The men who found the gold here were Jordan, Jack Reynolds and some others of Turner's party.
"All this time it seemed to me that something kept telling me that I could look into the distance and see the mountains for which I was searching. I asked Turner at this place to fulfill his part of the agreement, to cross the Snake River to the north side. I made a speech to the company, reminding them of their agreement and telling them what I believed we would find. My position was then voted upon. Several of Turner's men voted to go with us. Turner then said: 'If you will go with me to the next creek emptying into Snake River above here, and we fail to find what we are searching for, I then agree to go with you on the north side of Snake River.' Agreeing to this, we went with him to the creek named. The next morning, hearing Turner giving orders to move on farther up the river, I called his attention to our agreement. He made no reply. I then made another speech and called for a vote. Only seven men answered. With these seven men I turned back and below the Owyhee River we met George Grimes with seven men, hurrying on to overtake and join Captain Turner's company. We explained our experience with him and dread of his total failure, and why we wanted to go north of Snake River and near the Payette. Mr. Grimes and his party turned back with us, making sixteen in our company. That night we camped on Snake River just above where old Fort Boise stood on the opposite side. We made up our minds to cross here. We could see cottonwood trees along the banks of the Boise River opposite us, and we determined to build a raft with our tools, cross Snake River and build a boat.
"We crossed the river safely on our raft, but landed on a bar just below the mouth of Boise River. We tied the raft and waded a slough before reaching the main shore, and we here discovered that all our guns were wet, excepting mine. To add to our dismay, we saw an Indian boy riding over a hill not far distant. This brought the question to our minds, what might be behind us? We were with- out ammunition save that in my musket, and knowing that to guard the men who were to build the boat we must have ammunition, we resolved to return to camp. Going back to the raft, we shoved it out into the stream. We landed on an island, tied our raft to a pole we stuck into the ground for that purpose, and made camp. We cooked our supper and went to sleep, leaving one man on guard.
"After breakfast next morning, we went out to the point where we had left our raft. It was gone and there were five of us on the
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THE HISTORY OF IDAHO
island and one could not swim. There were only a few sticks on the island, so we were only able to construct a small raft. It was so very small that when we put our outfit on it, and Silvi, the man who could not swim, got on top of the raft, it sunk so low that the water came up to his knees. There was another island just below us, and we had to float down to the lower end of it before we could commence swimming to the opposite shore. Swimming and shoving the raft, we passed down to the lower end of the island without ex- periencing extreme cold, and still the broad, cold, silent Snake River lay between us and the shore we must reach. The cold water began to have an effect on us, and soon we became chill and numb. Two Portuguese, who were with us, grew tired of helping push the raft, and swam to the shore. Grimes soon followed but returned to help me push the raft with Silvi on it. We took turns pushing the raft. While one swam and pushed the raft, the other would rest, beat his breast and throw his arms to keep up the circulation. In this way we reached the shore, more dead than alive. Seeing an alkali lake near, we ran and jumped into it. Fortunately, this was the month of July, so the waters of the lake were warm. The Portuguese who had deserted us in the river, now came to us and we returned to camp.
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