The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-05-24
LETTER FROM A PIONEER
RECALLS LIFE IN EAGLE
WHlPSAWED LUMBER FOR FIRST
UllDING-MURRAY
MERCHANTS.
-HE ANNOUNCEMENT in The

Miner few weeks ago of the
| death of Tom Houck and Ben
Walker. two we'll known and
| highly respected pioneers of the Occur
Id'Alene district, revived a flood of
memories in the minds of many old
timers who shared the hardships and
joys of those golden days. one of
the gold excitement subsidized and the
lead mines of the South Fork took the,
position of first Importance in mining,
made his headquarters in this city for
many years and is we'll remembered
by many Wallace citizens He now
resides in California, and upon read
| ing of the death of his old friends,
Mr. Millchamp sent The Miner the
following letter which is filled with
interesting "reminiscences of the early
days
Mr.. MillichamP's Letter.
III Castro St, Oakland, Cal, May IA,
1917.
ITO the Editor of the Miner
!
of the Occur d'Alenes have crossed the
Great Divide, viz: Tom Houck and
Ben Walker. / was we'll acquainted
with both of them, Ben Walker at
Eagle City in the old days and Tom
| Houck on Trail guch. Walker came
/ into Eagle City, l think. in the fall of
1883, and Tom Houck came to Murray
in 1884. This reminds me of the olden
time. l arrived in Eagle with Tom
Heflin about the 2lst day of October,
1888, and only a few were there. We
took in % fifty pound sacks of flour
bacon and groceries from Rathdrum
We afterwards sold some of the flour
in 1884 for SIS a sack. We brought in
"a whip saw, among other things, and
Courtney Meek and myself sawed the.
first lumber in Eagle City for Coy 4
Hess who started II saloon in a large
tent which was a celebrated gambling
resort, all kinds of games running and
crowded day and night.
Early Day SaWmil.
I'VE afterwards took placer claims
in the forks of Eagle creek where there
was bunch of fine white pine timber
so we fell and skidded logs and my
self and Andrew Gilbert sawed lumber
there all winter which we furnished
to the store keepers at Eagle for 25
and 80 cents a foot. Courtney Meek
afterwards went back to Oregon where
l., E,1 II
get out shakes at SO a hundred so we
hired old Charley Kagle, webfooter,
paid him $500 day and his board.
Heflin did not like to work alone in
tain lion tracks. The snow was very
deep that winter. We were only about
| a mile from Eagle City. There was a
| fine hard toboggan trail kept open
from Trout creek by men pulling
( freight at 20 and 80 cents a pound.
Warren Hussey Opens Bank.
Warren Hussey came early in
1884 and started a bank in a tent.
He brought in a thousand dollars
worth of silver, and / think ! was the
first man he had dealings with, when
he changed "a fifty dollar note for me
the first day he came in. We hired
team of seven dogs to haul lumber,
! paid the owner cents a foot on a
contract. or course in the spring the
boom collapsed at Eagle and people
went to Murray. Harry White and
Walter Blossom were early arrivals
| in Murray, where they commenced
store keeping.
in the spring of 1885 my partner,
Tom Heflin, went down to the st. Joe
river and took up q ranch where there
was quite lot of wild hay. l begged
him to stay with it, but he afterwards
became home sick and went back to
Devils Lake, North Dakota, and part
ed with it for a hundred dollars. The
same ranch today Is worth ten thous-
and dollars / have been told. Well,
such is life in the far west
Recalled Old Times.
'''This has been a cold backward
spring here and the H. C. of L. is
hitting the high spots in all lines of
produce. / have been feeling pretty
fair, but owing to a failing in the
knee of my right leg I have to use
cane to get along with. viii now
close as / fear | may have occupied
your attention too long, but when |
heard of the death of these OLD
pioneers of the Occur d'Alenes, visions
selves.
Best wishes and prosperity to all
Occur a'Alene friends.