History Corner

By September of 1893 there was a run on U.S. Treasury gold, creating a crisis that made clear the shortcomings of a gold standard. The debate continues to this day, among some circles, but economists generally agree that a money system based on gold is impractical at best.

That month, like banks all over the country, the Idaho Commercial Company, of Weiser, failed and went into insolvency. If other banks in the area went under, I didn’t find reports of this in the newspapers. Investment and growth in communities along the Weiser River apparently kept most endeavors afloat.

At the end of September, Jim Summers was found dead on Cuddy Mountain. The Signal said:

“Dead at His Mine. It is our sad duty to chronicle in this issue the death of James Hazen Summers, which occurred on Galena mountain at some time within the last ten days. Mr. Summers was born in Kentucky, near what is known as the Crabtree orchard, some fifty-six years ago, and came to this coast as a boy in the year 1851. He followed mining in California for years, and then packing through Idaho in 1862. He was a pioneer of pioneers, and discovered the Galena mine, on the mountain so called, which is northwest of Salubria, and may thus be said to be the father of prospecting on the porphyry belt, on which Mineral city and Ruthburg now stand. He was also the discoverer of mineral in the Summers district, and this gave to prospectors the data through which the camps at the head of Bear creek, Hildebrand and Curran, were established. He was an Indian fighter all his life, but like most of the vanguard, his work and its benefits inure to others. He was found dead in his camp, and it is impossible to tell how long since he expired. A short time ago he moved to his mine, about eight miles from Ruthburg, where he was found last Monday by Steve Lamb, lying on the ground about thirty feet from the tent.”

Ever since the middle of the 1880s, the population of Meadows Valley had been growing, and a town was developing around the Meadows post office. The Oct. 12, 1893 Signal reported: “Cal White now has a blacksmith shop and store near his saloon, which makes quite a village at Meadows post office.”

The same issue said, “Teamsters are hoping that the new road through the canyon will soon be completed, so that the bad fords in the Weiser may be avoided.” This probably referred to a new road up out of the river bottom, along the hillsides and benches on the east side of the river between East Fork and Price Valley. Even though the ten relatively new bridges must have been usable, flooding probably made the road and bridges constantly in need of repair.

This issue also announced: “Chas. Campbell is wearing a big, broad smile on his face now-a-days and all on account of that big girl that put in an appearance at his house last Friday.” This was Anna Campbell (1893-1968) who married Charles Organ (1890-1972). Mrs. Campbell was the former Caroline Osborn whose mother was Elizabeth Osborn – Clay, and whose father, William Osborn had been killed in the opening murders that sparked the Nez Perce War in 1877. I covered all this in my most recent presentation on Elizabeth’s life at the New Meadows depot last Thursday evening. I apologize for neglecting to mention that presentation in this column in advance. But anyone can watch it now on YouTube. (Just do a search for my name on youtube.com and you can find several of my presentations and videos.)

The economic panic had a chilling effect on the Seven Devils Mining District. Activity there was virtually nonexistent. The Signal said Charlie Walker was the only one up there even doing minimal assessment work. Even so, speculation about a railroad to the mines was a topic of active discussion and would be for most of the next decade.

Weiser Signal, 11-16-1893: Meadows – “Andrew Lakey and Mary Clay were married Oct. 29, by Rev. Mitchel.” This was not the Mary Clay who was the daughter of Tom and Elizabeth Clay; she was only about 8 years old at this time.

By this time, there were telephones in some businesses, and likely some homes, in Weiser, but Salubria didn’t yet have access to this modern wonder. The Signal said, “What ails the telephone to Salubria? The subscriptions are paid in and the poles are all set, but the wire still lies in Ennor Bros.’ corral where it has been for a long, long time.”