History Corner

In the opening days of 1888 a company ran a stage between Weiser and Indian Valley, and another company ran a stage between Indian Valley and Meadows. Both had their office at Bernard Snow’s house at Indian Valley.

That summer, John Peters established the first store in Council Valley, about a mile north of the Moser home (downtown Council today) along the road through the valley (now North Galena St.)

At some point that year, Arthur Huntley established a cattle ranch along Indian Creek, a short distance downstream from where the town of Cuprum would develop.

I’ve been neglecting to mention that settlement of Meadows Valley, then called “Salmon Meadows,” boomed all through the 1880s. This was when many of the well-known pioneer families arrived there.

Store owner W.E. Webb came to Meadows in September of 1886. J.A. Mitchell and his brother, George Mitchell, arrived May 1, 1888. Mrs. William H. Florence Campbell, came here in the fall of 1884.

In the summer of 1888 there were 75 adults and 82 school-age children living in Meadows Valley. It was still being called “Salmon Meadows.” The Idaho Free Press said, “The population of the valley and its tributary settlements is about 300.”

Even so, the wagon road from Council to Salmon Meadows was a serious challenge. There were no bridges across the Weiser River, and the crude wagon trail crossed it multiple times in order to take advantage of any semi-flat ground next to the river and avoid mountainsides that were too steep to travel. Area citizens petitioned the county commissioners to build bridges across the river, and bids were issued to build ten. They were competed by the end of November.

Perry McCumsey came to Meadows Valley in 1885 and in 1911 said:

“At that time there were but few settlers here as we had practically no roads at all. We crossed and recrossed the Weiser river 39 times and got our wagons over logs and boulders that would stump a 13-mule team of this modern day.

“The settlers who were here then were Cal White, W.C. Jennings, the Campbell Brothers, Thomas Clay, Uncle Tom Cooper, L.F. Smith, J.O. Levander, George Glenn, George Clark, Sam Evans, John A. Wilson, Amos Gibbs and a number of others, nearly all cattlemen.

“In 1886 Cal White and Thomas Clay selected the site of the Meadows cemetery and William McCumsey was the first to be laid to rest there. He died December 10, 1886. The snow was so deep that it was necessary to shovel a road to the cemetery.”

Through the summer of 1888 Albert Kleinschmidt had employees picking out the most concentrated copper ore from the Blue Jacket Mine. The ore was put in burlap bags, which were loaded onto caravans of horses and/or mules and packed about 6 miles to the nearest wagon road about 3 miles north of Bear where a small corral stands on the east side of the road today. (45° 3.9047’ N 116° 38.6791’ W)

From there the ore was freighted almost 100 miles by wagon to Weiser where it would be loaded onto train cars. The first such wagon arrived at Weiser on October 18, carrying 2,760 lbs. of ore. More wagons soon followed.

The Idaho Daily Statesman, November 21, 1888: “A letter from our friend Frank Adams, of Salubria, who is largely interested in several mining properties in the Seven Devils district, says they have a train of 35 animals engaged in packing lots of very rich ore from the mines of that district and will keep at it all winter. The ore is packed 6 miles on mule back and then is transferred to big wagons and hauled to Weiser for shipment. Eight wagons will be thus occupied all winter. One car load of ore will be shipped to Swansea, England for treatment, where they have a secret process for reducing copper or and separating its valuable properties.”

That winter, Kleinschmidt shipped seven train car loads of copper ore to his own “Kleinschmidt Copper Works” smelter at Belleville, Illinois. Belleville is now considered a southeastern suburb of St. Louis, MO, just across the Mississippi River. It’s interesting that there is a community named “Swansea” just north of Belleville. Even after all the shipping expenses, the ore reportedly netted a 50% profit.

Kleinschmidt was originally from Germany, and many of the Bellville’s heavy industries – which included foundries, tool‑ and‑ die shops, and pattern‑ making facilities – were founded by German immigrants or their descendants. Kleinschmidt’s Belleville and Montana copper background had given him both the confidence and technical connections to invest in the Seven Devils mines. Profits from the Copper Works helped Albert finance those mining ventures

Other events in 1888: Benjamin Harrison defeated incumbent president Grover Cleveland despite losing the popular vote, becoming the 23rd president. The Chinese Exclusion Act barred Chinese laborers from reentering the U.S., even if they had legal residency. George Eastman patented the Kodak camera making photography accessible to the public.