The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1917-02-09
LEEssURe DISCOVERED.

The permanent settlement OF Lem
hi county began with the discovery
OF gold in the Leesburg basin in July,
1865 Mr.. Onderdonk. who representa-
ed Lemhi county in the legislaturel
during the winter of 1891, wrote of
this discovery as follows, '"The way
TO ii lay over snow clad peaks.
through rocky gorges, and over deepi
and rapid streams, fed by the melted
snow from the everlasting hills, Many
hard days march. many hardships |
and dangers, awaited him who would |
wreSt from the hands of the savage
owner this fair. promising region, and
open Ii up to civilization and TO set
! tlement The son OF the forest was
/ the sole owner and proprietor. What
mattered il TO him If in every hill
were veins of gold and silver; If in
every gulch and in the bed of every
limpid stream were golden sands; had
/ he but a sufficiency of game and ash
10 satisfy the cravings of hunger, and
enough skins and furs TO shield him
| in measure from the rude blasts,
he was content. But a change came
over the scene" ." In the summer OF
1866, a party of miners and prospec-
tors discovered rich placer ground In
| The Leesburg basin, about IT miles
west of the present site of Salmon
IAt1s lnlS ulSCONGIy VI IlGAl hAEA
i spread far and wide, and attracted a
/ large number of miners and prospec-
tors, with whose advent came the
first permanent settlement of the
country"
The creek upon which this discov-
cry was made was called Naplus,
which is the Indian word for money,
and as the stampede into the country
vas made mostly by soldiers from
The Civil war, a rivalry arose among
them as TO the naming of the town,
which was settled by having a Lees
burg and a Grantsville. named respec'
2 lively for Generals Lee and Grant
+ The streets of the town were conttn
5 uous and before long Grantsville lost
] is identity and the place became
p known as Leesburg, which at one
> time had a population of 1000 people
; and was at first supplied from For
!. Benton, Mont, but later supplies were
J. lreighted in from Corrine, Utah. Th'
T camps greatest activity was durinl
he first four years of its existence
n after which it gradually declined un
r I'll now il is practically abandoned
t During all this time the camp pro
r duced about five million dollars o
II gold dust.
VI At the time of this discovery al
a this section was a part of Idaho coun
.cI IL whose capital was Florence, whttl
Is was 500 miles away by the usual tray
r aled roads of that time, so that thi
eI settlement made necessary a sepal
is ate county, which was created in 1865
e with Salmon as the county seat
ofl The following article is eXtracte
K from contribution to the Lemhi Hi'
torical society by one of the dtscoye
d, ers of these famous placers and wi
Il / IN = a . h haF al
IS terest by all Mr. Sharkey was Dor
rs IN Maine in 1888, and at the age {
IA years started out as a sailor. II
s went 10 California in 1855, where h
s. NJ ned several years At the begu
y. ning OF the CiVil war he enlisted
As the California volunteers, but oni
served a short time. after which
went TO the Salmon river mines an
FROM thence to the Upper Columb
r river country. finally drifting in
Montana, where he mined during Z
n and IS. He made his fortune IN Il
IN .eesburg mines and invested il
II. horses. cattle and a fine ranch e
an the Lemhi river He has ever been
arl foremost citizen of this county Ar
q has reared here an excellent famil
to and his home at the Old Fort Lem
no was always noted for its warm hosI
.e- fality His full name is Frank Burne
,e- Sharkey, but his friends always ca
at him Barney Sharkey."
at Mr.. Sharkey's ReeolIeetions.
We wanted 10 get a mine OF o.
of own where we could wash out q
hit gold for ourselves and az the count
ID betv cen Bannack, Florence, WaTr'
hC and Elk City had never been prospet
ar "a because Of hostile indians inhab
NJ those regions, We decided 10 ma
"a prospecting trip through this se
er lion of country, so We formed ps
er " of six members, viz: Barney Sh'
al key. Lige Mulkey, Bill Smith, j
re- Rabb. Ward Gurton and Hendricl
by We ourfitted for long trip and sta
ed for the Lemhi river. leaving +
. creek. Mont. and thence csT
,eri through the Big hole, crossed over I
tIy divide down onto the North Fol
iaI Hendricks proved a very disagreed
III partner so we got rid OF him
or French gulch. We had to shovel sn'
nj 10 get our horses across the mot
I'D tafns After crossing the mOuntsi
to W. were coming down what Is n
nut called North Fork and 10 our surpr
de- We saw a man. almost naked. out
Al he river jumping around in the wa
tof nd grabbing al something. We fou
Is afterwards that he was trying
18th catch a salmon. His name was Nc
IMHneT. He had been prospecting
-itb central Idaho but hearing Of Qu
ter. trell ne started out to Join his ba'
bov but run out OF provisions and cloth
ter having scarcely anything left, but
the good mule We gave him some clou
ter and provisions and told him 10 20
in er 20 Bear Eulch and ger an oufnt q
yer. Join Us on our prospecting Trip.
rec did this. as Ee shall see later on.
and We followed on down the No
Kill fork and up the Salmon river pl
the pecfing every place W thought Il
Is 70 find gold We found good pi
the meets on A bar below Fourth OF
rec creek. but no water 10 mine With.
lrep arrived al the present site Of Ssln
but city about the first Of July. 1856. H
al1v We campad. prospeCted round Ii
der and waiting for high water 70 subs
a. g. M -asfTH rrDzz over to fHa NJ