Alturas County
"Pacific Coast Business Directory for 1876-78," Compiled By Henry G. Langley, Editor of the California State Register, Pacific Coast Almanac, San Francisco, 1875. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Idaho Territory
Organized in 1864. Bounded on the north by Boise, Lemhi, and Idaho Counties and Montana Territory, south by Owyhee County, east by Oneida County, and west by Ada and Boise Counties. Area. 13,600 square miles. Assessed valuation of property for 1874, $155,456. County seat. Rocky Bar. Principal towns: Yuba and Atlanta cities, distant respectively 112 and 115 miles from Boise City, the Territorial capital. Resources: placer and quartz mines are profitably worked, and numerous quartz mills are now in active operation urwn its various ledges. Silver-bearing ledges wore discovered within its limits in 1863. The mines of Alturas, particularly those at Rocky Bar and Atlanta have obtained a wide celebrity and are regarded as among the most valuable of the Pacific Coast. The veins are both gold and silver bearing. The distance from the great lines of travel, the expensive transportation of the great masses and quality of machinery and supplies necessary to mining, and want of population have been serious obstacles to the development of the important mineral resources of this region. The county is well timbered and watered, affording fine facilities for milling and mining purposes. The general character of the surface being mountainous, it is not possessed of any extensive agricultural lands, although it contains a number of valleys well adapted for grazing, ranging from one fourth of a mile to two miles in width, of exceeding fertility, and are well stocked with horses, cattle, and sheep. In the southern part of the county are three lone mountains, sharp and rugged in outline, called the Three Buttes, the highest being called Cedar Butte. These mountains are of volcanic origin and almost destitute of vegetation; and as they are visible at a great distance, on account of their isolated position, they are notable landmarks for travelers. In the extreme south of the county are located the great Shoshone Falls on the Snake River. These falls are about 300 yards in width, and the river makes an uninterrupted descent of 200 feet, the sound produced thereby being distinctly heard under favorable conditions of the atmosphere at a distance of twenty miles.
Officers: Stephen B. Dilley, Probate Judge, and Superintendent Public Schools; William Kelley, Clerk, Recorder and Auditor; George Ainslie, District Attorney; Mell Campbell, Sheriff; W. P. Callahan, Treasurer; John Van Schaick, Tax Collector, and Assessor; John Winkelbach, Coroner.
Atlanta City, Alturas Co,
P O 23 miles n east of Rocky Bar, is a small but promising mining hamlet, having several very rich veins of gold and silver bearing ore. The mines are but slightly developed. The storms of winter render access difficult at that season.
Davis Nelson, postmaster and liquor saloon
Emerson William, butcher
Fillman John L, blacksmith
Young H D, lumber manufacturer
See Langley's Directory at archive.org
Webspace for this site is generously provided by Genealogy Village and Access Genealogy
Copyright © 2013 - Sharon McConnel. All Rights Reserved.