Shoshone County - 1920 History by Hawley

"In the old records of Walla Walla County, Washington, may be found the certificate of George Galbreath, county auditor, of the returns of an election held in Shoshone County on July 8, 1861, at which the following officials were elected: J. Tudor, W. Cardwell and J. C. Griffin, commissioners; D. M. Jessee, probate judge; R. L. Gillespie, sheriff; E. L. Bradley, auditor; L. H. Coon, treasurer; H. M. Bell, assessor; D. Bell, coroner. These were probably the first county officers ever elected within what is now the State of Idaho, and it was in Shoshone County, as then constituted, that the first discovery of gold was made on the Oro Fino Creek in 1860. The Moose Creek mines, northwest of the Oro Fino district, were discovered in 1862 and worked for a short time, when they were abandoned. About this time a man named Petjade established a station on Ford Creek, a small tributary of the Clearwater south of the Oro Fino mines, at which prospectors and others bound for the mining camps could find 'entertainment for man and beast.'

"A little later Thomas O'Brien, Ernest Hilton and William Shepard discovered some good placers on Moose Creek, near the ones that had been worked in 1862, and founded 'Moose City,' which within a short time boasted a saloon, an eating house, three general stores and a population of 300. Modern map makers know nothing of Moose City, as it has long since ceased to exist.

"In the Fraser country, along Lolo Creek, a man generally known as 'Texas' settled in 1862, opened a station and did some farming. He sold to Milo Thomas about 1866, and Thomas sold out to Hour??? stockmen. John Alsop settled in this part of the county in 1874 and was shortly afterward followed by Patrick Keane. The Fraser country is now in Clearwater County. Others who settled in this section during the latter '60's and early '70's were Patrick Gaffney, Harvey Setzer, William Gamble and Levi Goodwin.

"Edward Hammond, an old resident of the county, writing to the Lewiston Teller in 1881, gave the assessed valuation of property in Shoshone as $38,981, and estimated the population at seventy&ndashp;five, of whom about a dozen were farmers. In 1918 the assessed valuation was $31,140,6l0, only one county in the state (Ada) returning a larger valuation. Such has been the marvelous progress of Shoshone County during a period of less than forty years, due mainly to the discovery of the rich mines in the early '80's.

"Capt. John Mullan, who built the military road across Northern Idaho before the Civil war, noticed indications of gold in the mountains of Shoshone County, but said nothing about it at the time for fear his workmen would desert road building for mining. A. J. Pritchard, R. T. Horn and a man named Gillett, three experienced miners, made a prospecting tour up the north fork of the Coeur d'Alene River in the summer of 1880 and near the present Town of Murray, on a small stream since known as Pritchard Creek, struck 'pay dirt.' They remained in the mountains until the approach of winter, when they returned to the settlements. The following summer Pritchard returned and continued prospecting along the streams, finding values in several places along the streams. He then wrote to a few friends asking them to join him the following spring with the necessary tools and supplies for working the claims, at the same time enjoining secrecy, but his request in this respect was not heeded and when the time came to start for the diggings he found a crowd gathered, many of whom were inexperienced and without the usual equipment of the miner. He advised them not to undertake the trip to the rough, mountainous region until they were better prepared, but they threatened him with personal violence, even hanging, and he finally yielded to their importunities. When they reached the mines the waters in the creeks were so high that nothing could be done and many of those departed, cursing both Pritchard and the country. The few who had come prepared for the real work of development remained through the summer and were richly rewarded, and by 1884 the usual stampede was on to the new discovery.

"In the meantime Tom Irwin, another prospector, had found gold in the Coeur d'Alene country, and it has been claimed that he was really the first to discover gold in this part of the territory, but the evidence is decidedly in favor of Pritchard and his associates. Irwin's discovery, however, was the means of bringing a large number of gold seekers to the new field. Eagle City and Murray were laid out in 1884 and the latter was made the county seat. The lead silver section on the South Fork were discovered in 1886 and soon became the principal mining section of the county. As the placer mines were worked out, quartz mining was introduced, the Bunker Hill and Sullivan being one of the first of this class in the county. The buildings at this mine were blown up by dynamite on April 29, 1899, by striking miners, an account of which is given in another chapter. A narrow gauge railroad (now part of the Northern Pacific system) was built, after which the development of the mineral deposits was more rapid. Shoshone is the leading mining county of Idaho. In 1917 it produced more than nine–tenths of the mineral wealth of the state, according to the report of the state mine inspector.