Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1897-06-18
Gold Hunters of Long Ago.

spokane Review.
"The discovery of gold in Idaho
is the most notable event in this,
then called the upper country"
S. f. Sherwood, ex-auditor OF
Stevens county, yesterday said.
In the year 1860 Captain Pierce,
with party from Siskiyou county,
California, started on prospect
ing trip in the Clearwater noun
tains, guided by a Nez Perez In
dian woman named Jane. Pierce
had been told by the woman Jane
of the existence of a big diamond
in those mountains and he firmly
believed her story. but to get a
party together Pierce represented
that it was a prospecting trip for
gold. After getting into the noun
tains, one of the party found gold
in small meadow. This was
called the Orc Fino diggings.
This was followed by other discov-
cries made in 1861, 1862 and 1868
the Elk City, Warren's and Flor
ence diggings, then the Boise ba-
sin mines.
Gold had been discovered on
the bars of the Columbia near the
mouth of the Spokane and Pend
dOreillc rivers, also on the Similk-
ameen and Natchez rivers in 1868,
all then in Washington territory.
"The first discovery of gold made
in what now is Montana was in
1860, on Gold creek, now called
Pioneer. In the fall of 1862
Grasshopper creek or east Rannock
diggings were discovered by a
a party of immigrants ON their
way TO Florence and then followed
by the discovery of Cedar gulch
in the spring of 1868, by Bill Fair
weather, Barney Hughes, Henry
Edger, Tom Covers, Sam j. Hau-
scr and Jim Stuart. Stuart was
the leader of this party, who had
started on an exploring expedition
of the Yellowstone for the purpose
Of determining how far up that
river it would be navigable for
steamers.
"In the spring of 1865, when in
camp at where Fort Sherman now
is, l met IL man named Robertson
who had just come out from the
Cpur d'Alene mountains after
provisions. Robertson informed
me that he had struck some rich
placer ground on what he called
Trout creek, to the west of the Old
Mission, in the Cpur d'Alene range.
During the summer of that year
Robertson succeeded in raising the
biggest stampede we ever had in
this country.
cit was estimated at that time
that there were during the sum-
mer Of 1865 10000 men in the
C@ur dAlcne mountains and they
did not make a location. / al
ways believed that Robertson had
found gold there, as subsequent
events have proven, bnt the great
rush of prospectors ratified him 50
that he lost his bearings.
This great stampede pretty we'll
drained the Boise basin and Orc
Elmo of miners. A great majority
of them went into the Bitter Root
and Hell Gate mountains, discov-
ering Cedar, Moose creek, Bear
gulch and other diggings. Up to
the year 1850 not one location OF
quartz had been made west from
Michigan to Oregon and worked.
The first quartz mill ever started
in Montana was on Rattlesnake
creek, at place called Argenta.
Some quartz locations were made
in the vicinity of Butte and in the
range dividing the Prickly Pear
and Deer Lodge valleys. But il
was many years before they were
worked as but little attention then
was paid to quartz lodges. Pierce :
discovery in 1860, 81 years ago,
was the opening up of this upper
country. 70 the conquering foot
steps Of the placer miner, to him
must be given the palm for his
I