History Corner

First, I neglected to note that on November 3, 1896, Idaho passed a Constitutional amendment giving women in the state the right to vote. This was 24 years before the 19th Amendment (1920) guaranteed women’s suffrage nationwide.

By 1898 the Seven Devils Mining District was very active but still struggling. The Signal said that, since the failure of the steamship Norma, the Kleinschmidt Grade had been “abandoned and remained in decay and oblivion until this season.” Some major work was done to improve the road that summer.

The Signal quoted a long article from a Salt Lake newspaper, which said in part: “Outside of one shipment of ten or fifteen tons some years ago, which yielded 48 per cent copper at the refinery, the camp cannot be said to have ever produced a pound of copper. As far as is known, there has not been a dollar yielded, either to the country or individuals, directly from the district.”

That statement that the ore yielded 48 percent copper is typical of the gross exaggeration contained in newspapers of that era. Seven Devils copper ore typically contained 2–8% copper, while Montana’s major mines commonly ran 4–12% copper. Such inaccurate reporting is what makes a factual narrative of mining in the Seven Devils District difficult.

The Smelter

The planned smelter for the mining district became a constant subject of speculation and misinformation the entire year. Rumors flew fast and loose, with Weiser Signal editor Robert Lockwood constantly casting doubt upon any positive news about the mining district, and especially about Isaac Blake who had recently invested in several mines there.

The Signal said the smelter equipment had been moved to a temporary location, which wasn’t specified, adding: “It was partially set up, but present indications are that it will be removed to a new location in the spring and made fully ready for active work.”

In January and February, the Signal printed conflicting reports about the smelter as if they were all true. At one point the smelter and some ore was being held in lieu of debts owed by the smelter owner.

By the end of February the Signal said a post office had been installed at “Cuprum, the Smelter town.” (The Cuprum post office was established on December 1 , 1897.) So the location for the smelter had been determined. But the problems were far from resolved.

By mid-April the Ross Brothers had joined the legal “attachment” of the smelter for lack of payment for lumber. The sheriff was involved in enforcing the situation and left one of the brothers in charge of guarding the smelter buildings. Meanwhile the Signal said, “Some of the Peacock boys, hearing the news, have given up their positions until matters below are adjusted. The smelter force is still at work, and the boys declare they will stay with it.”

Weiser Signal, April 21, 1898: “Cohen and Criss, Salubria merchants, and A. M. Gray, a former employee of the Smelter Co., have put attachments on the smelter property over that already covered by Ross Bros. On top of this comes notices from S. L. Tee, (by M. M. Ketchum as Atty. in fact) to quit trespassing upon the ‘Little Jeff’ and ‘Little Joe’ mining claims upon which the Smelter Town is located. Charles Leithstrome has posted similar notices on ground partially covered by the smelter residents.”

This lack of legal diligence in placing buildings, claiming ownership of Cuprum lots and vague delineating of lot boundaries would haunt the town for more than the following century, and, to some extent, is still causing issues today.

In May, the Statesman newspaper printed a blaring example of exaggeration and outright falsehood: “Huntington, May 22 – (Special) The first ingot of metallic copper ever made in the Seven Devils arrived in Huntington today and is on exhibition in the railroad office here. It is from the Cuprum Smelting Company’s works at Cuprum, ID and has a value of $250 per ton, including gold and silver. The company is turning out about 5 tons per day of this bullion.”

For the next couple months, both the Signal and the Salubria Citizen newspapers printed conflicting stories, resulting in a confusing jumble of claims. One week the smelter had been a big success and produced tons of copper, and the next week the smelter had yet to start production.

Fuel for the smelter was coke, which, along with lime, was being hauled in on wagons. Coke is the coal equivalent of wood charcoal, and it produces more heat than plain coal.

In June the Citizen made what was probably the most accurate assessment of the situation, saying the smelter had made three runs, but it “froze up” each time. Even so, the Signal claimed the smelter had succeeded in producing a significant amount of copper “matte” which is partially processed copper ore, which needs more advanced processing than a simple smelter like this one could do, to become “blister copper” (98–99% pure). It probably took 4 or 5 pounds of ore to produce one pound of matte, which would have reduced the tonnage of product to be shipped out of the mountains for further processing.

The Signal claimed the smelter produced “30 tons of metallic copper,” which has about a 0% chance of being true. The Signal added another statement that probably had a similar accuracy level: “About 30 tons of ore can be run through per day.” But then it included a more factual statement: “The smelter is now idle on account of the coke supply having given out.”

I’ll have more on the smelter next week.

My presentation at the New Meadows depot went well last Tuesday evening, and a video of it is now on Youtube, as are several of my other presentations. You can find them by entering my name in the search bar at Youtube.com. I need to correct one mistake I made; I said all the depots along the Idaho Northern line closed in 1958. Some depots did close, but the ones at Emmett, Cascade, Horseshoe Bend, McCall and Donnelly stayed open for a while after that.