Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1901-07-11

lhe serge Oh ancient IhermOpyle.
And SO through all the dark and
bloody days of 1877 there were
deeds of heroism performed By
pioneers, volunteers and civilians
which are entitled to prominent
place sin the center Of the picture
amid the flashing of the guns"
More years than car. to think
abou. have come and gone since |
first saw Camas Prairie, nestled in
the lap Of the mountains. 1t was
spring time, and thought surely
there never was such another
flower-spanslrd carpet of green nor
such place for homes And
when | learned more Of the vast
resources OF this magnificent
country | believed that there was
a future of great promise before it,
such a. was not realised even by
those who knew it best, and it has
been my aim from that day to this
to promote its welfare in every
conceivable way. Many dis
appointments have confronted us.
and we are still short of railroad
transportation, but we have lived
through them all and outgrown
them all; and those Of us who are
not dead are here yet, and the
land and the resources are all here
yet. and the time we have all
dreamed about, when we can get
into and ont OF Camas Prairie on
the railroad ears. is pretty near at
hand.
But when we look back into the
past we find that the conditions
prevailing here today are very
different from the conditions which
existed then. At that time there
were only few miles of railroad
on the whole Pacific coast. The
Union and Central Pacific rail
roads were not then built, and the
only way of going east or coming
west was across the plains, or by
way of Panama or around Cape
Horn. San Francisco was the
point from which all our supplies
were shipped. Later on, Portland
sprang into existence as the supply
point for the mines in the Pierce
City, Florence and Boise basins in
Idaho, and also for the early
placer discoveries in Montana.
All the supplies for the placer
mines of Virginia City and Alder
Gulch and Bannock City in Mon
tana, were brought from Portland
by steamer to Wallula and from
Vallula they were packed on
mule back over Craig's mountain,
across Camas Prairie, and thence
over the Nez Perez Indian trail by
way of Elk City into Montana.
1t was while packing from Wal
lula to Virginia City that Ma
gruder was murdered, which led
to the organization of the vigil
ance committee which hung his
murdeIers ard rid the country of
the greatest and best organized
gang of desperadoes which ever
infested any country.
Before the discovery of gold in
Orc Elmo in 1860 there were
robauly not 100 white men in the
whole scope of country which was
first organized into Idaho Terri
tory. The original territory of
Idaho took in all the country as
far east as what is now the west
line of the state of Nebraska. All
OF Montana and Wyoming once
formed a part of the old Idaho
territory. But the rich gold fields
OF Pierce City. Florence, Warrens,
Elk City, Boise Basin and other
camps brought here n horde of
gold seekers from all over the
Union, led to the organization of
Idaho Territory, and created a
market Tor the products of the
agricultural settlements which
now constitute large proportion
of our population.
So that whatever OF prosperity
the state of Idaho enjoys today we
owe in great measure to the dis
covcry of gold by our first mining
population. And l may be per-
mitted to state that the mining
population of the United States
fulfil in our social and political
economya mission as complete and
perfect as do the soldiers who
fight our battles or the sailors who
carry on our commerce on every
sea. They do it, too, under cir
cumstances of greater discourage
ment than any other class of our
population, and statistics show
that IL hundred cents worth of the
precious metals produced from the
bowels of the earth have cost on
an average throughout the United
States a dollar aud "a quarter to
produce. The perils that sur
round this industry, the dis
appointments that characterize its
pursuit, the courage with which it
is followed. entitle the miners to
all the good things that can be
said of them. The production OF
the precious metals. is essential to
the independence and character of |
this country in the family of |
nations, no matter at what cost |
the mines a,e worked. They have
done a great deal to advance the