Examining Idaho's Gold Rush

In 1864, Idaho was a territory, but the lines were pretty rough. That was OK, though, since there were only two things people wanted to know: where was the gold and how could you get there? A Mr. George Woodman took a trip sometime in 1862 or 1863 to the new mining fields and made up a map that an enterprising bookseller in San Francisco promptly published to sell to 49ers looking for a new Eldorado. What the map lacked in geographic accuracy and proportion it made up for with detail and promises of instant riches. For all that, though, things were a lot less organized than even this rough map showed.

Eastern and northern Idaho were not much of a concern other than which roads were the fastest to get those with gold fever to the magical golden metal. If you were coming from the east or Salt Lake, the emigrant roads to Oregon were your best bet.

From Lewiston, you either went the long way through Oregon or took the mountain trail unfit for wagons.

From Oregon and California, there were more options, but one road shown going southwest directly from Silver City was still a bit speculative. That toll road would open, though, and be the quickest route to San Diego. Another proposed wagon road from Boise to Canon City, Oregon did not exist yet either.

Once miners arrived at their claims, one of their bigger problems was getting supplies and mail. The transcontinental railroad was still years away, and it would be even longer before the Oregon Short Line came through.

The mail was handled by express companies under contract with the federal government. Initially they operated as a type of pony express, traveling from Salt Lake north to City of Rocks then up Goose Creek. From there, the express followed the Oregon Trail until turning north and crossing the Snake River near Salmon Falls. The mail then headed northwest to Boise. In 1864 Ben Holladay would rework the route into a stagecoach line.

Freight was a different matter entirely. Goods mostly rolled into Boise on massive trains of large freight wagons pulled by teams of mules, horses or oxen. The freighters were slow and only able to make a couple trips a year, but the weight capacity of their wagons made up for it. The men who drove those trains were, well there is no other way to describe them, they were mean! Mules are smart, but they are stubborn and the men who drove them were known far and wide as brutes who could curse at their mules non-stop for miles. They did not make a lot of money doing the work and they did not need a lot of brains either. All they needed was physical strength, a nasty disposition, and a reasonably decent road. The main freight road generally followed the express road, but it would change routes often in favor of more even ground.

Once the freight made it to Boise, it was offloaded at stores and trading posts. From there, smaller operators would ferry the goods to the mining camps. Typically they used pack mule trains consisting of dozens of animals that could easily navigate the roads into the mountains. The miners could then buy what supplies they needed from the general stores that popped up in each mining town.

As the years wore on the roads were improved or bypassed by better routes. However, those original roads blazed the way and today’s modern highways and freeway generally follow the best of those roads.

The map shows four primary mining areas. Two are in the Boise Basin area where quartz bearing gold formed in cracked granite. So much gold was found that it had a significant impact on the Union’s ability to prosecute the Civil War. Fort Boise was no longer just an outpost, it became a critical base for protecting the gold production for the North.

South of Boise the Owyhee gold and silver mines opened near and on the 8,000-foot War Eagle Mountain. Here, too, unbelievable riches were found and mined. Silver City, perched over 6,000 feet above sea level, was the primary town of the Owyhees.

What about that fourth mining area, though? It was not the Oro Fino mines; those were old news by 1864 and paled in comparison to Boise Basin and Owyhee. However, if you look north of Fort Hall, on the eastern side of the map, you will see a road that leads up to a place labeled East Bannock. While it is not circled in red on the map, it was still cranking out the gold when the map was drawn and had a large population. Until May of 1864, there was no Montana. Idaho Territory included both of what is today Montana and Wyoming. East Bannock was in the heart of Idaho Territory.

Why was it called East Bannock though and not just Bannack as it is today? Well, the spelling was just a matter of pronunciation, but there was a West Bannock at the time. Take a look north of Boise at the confluence of Elk and Mores Creeks and you will see Bannock nestled in the mountains. As the two mining cities of Bannock (or West Bannock) and Bannack (or East Bannock) grew in influence and population the similar names caused a good deal of confusion. By March of 1863 the Bannock in the Boise basin was officially being called West Bannock. However, that did not help matters much and in December of that same year the Idaho territorial government decided to fix things by changing West Bannock’s name to Idaho City.

Woodman’s map, like Idaho at the time, was just a rough sketch. Things were changing rapidly in Idaho, including gold strikes in other regions like southeastern Idaho, but the best a cartographer could do at the time was put in the most permanent items, suggest where proposed items were, and sell as many copies of the map as possible before it was hopelessly outdated. In reality, it was a hopelessly outdated map the day it was printed, but it was good enough for those racing for the Idaho dream.