1904-1905 — Through Snow and Fire

The year got off with a bang when we received news that Charley Spayds had married the widow Finley—Mary Finley, to be precise—on January 9th in Salmon. I didn’t envy her one iota. Charley could be lovable and generous, sure, but he could also lose himself in a bottle and suffer bouts of melancholy that rivaled my sourdough starter when it turned on me—moody and endless.

Idaho Recorder, February 19, 1904

News From Owl Creek

From letters received via Shoup we learn that Manager Finn, of the Owl Creek Mining Co., was somewhat delayed in his trip to the camp on account of the unprecedented snowfall. On reaching Indianola he received word that the boys at the camp were out of beef and he had his men stop at Wend's ranch and kill a beef and take it with them. They were at Pine creek on Sunday and expected to arrive at the mouth of Owl creek that night. They had three toboggans loaded with supplies and were making their way down the river on the shore ice. Mr. Finn had six men with him.

Messrs. Cross, Stegmuller and crew of 12 men reached the Owl creek camp via Hamilton, just one week after he left that place. They had to snowshoe all the way from a point eight miles from Alta. They took about three tons of supplies in on toboggans.

There has been no time this year when the trip from this side could not be made from Salmon in three days.

Winter eventually gave up its grip. The ice gave way at Deadwater and as the river ran free, so did the freight boats and stamp mills. I hailed extra hours of daylight even if it meant more hours of work.

We had ourselves a veritable paradise in that valley and not a day went by I didn’t feel grateful. It was spring—calves in the pasture, the creek high with snowmelt, poplar trees were unfurling when the letter arrived from Maine.

It was from my sister Millie, whom I hadn't heard from in years. Inside was a clipping from the Rockland Courier-Gazette. I unfolded it without thinking and though not unexpected, I was stunned just the same.

Father’s obituary. I knew he had been sick and suffering his last years, but in my mind he was as fit as the day I hugged him good-bye.

Died Edward Small Graves

In his eighty-first year, "full of years and honor," Mr. Edward Small Graves died at his home in St. George, on Tuesday evening of last week, April 12. He was a man well known through all this section of the state, and one of whom naught but good can be said.

By his upright and useful life and spotless integrity, he won the respect and esteem of all, and those of us who were permitted to know him well and see the many true and noble qualities and the warm and benevolent feeling displayed in his daily walk and conversation, loved him well and were proud and happy to call him friend.

In his last moments, he recalled with satisfaction and pleasure that he had no enmities with any of his fellow men to be composed, and he died, as he had lived, in peace with all mankind. His memory will ever be tenderly cherished by many friends who knew and appreciated his sterling manhood and admirable character.

Mr. Graves was born on October 5, 1823, in the old homestead of the family, where he had spent the greater part of his life, and where he died.

He was one of that band of brave pioneers the story of whose adventures and achievements forms one of the most thrilling and important of our country's history, the "Forty-Niners" or "Argonauts," who first developed the now rich and populous empire of California.

In 1849, soon after the discovery of gold in that then distant and unknown land, he started, with a party of some ten or twelve men of this vicinity for the new El Dorado. Among those who accompanied him, were Capt. Edward C. Spaulding and Mr. Joshua Thorndike, of South Thomaston, and William Sayward of Rockland. We have not the other names, but we believe that Mr. Graves was the last survivor of the party. Mr. Sayward afterward became a wealthy and well known banker in California.

They went by steamer to New York, where they chartered a small vessel, in which they went to a Mexican port and crossed to the Pacific coast and there took another vessel and made their way to the then new mining district, and took up claims at the place where the flourishing city of Placerville afterwards arose, but then known by the euphonious designation of "Hangtown," from the frequency with which primitive justice was dealt out to evil doers by the famous Vigilance Committee.

Mr Graves was an active and respected member of this body of brave and honest men who eliminated the murderers and robbers of the settlement by methods that, while not warranted by law, have been vindicated by time and results. Nine desperadoes were hanged to the limb of an oak tree that is still standing and known as the "Old Civilizer."

Mr. Graves was here about two years, and was very successful, having made a great deal of money mining. He came home with the intention of arranging his affairs and returning to California and settling there permanently. After a brief stay, he left with three companions to make a second visit to the land of gold. Those who accompanied him were Messrs. Ralph Chapman and George Hall, of Rockland, and Asa Coombs, of South Thomaston. Mr. Coombs is the only one of the party now living.

They went by way of the Isthmus, and sailed from New York in the steamer Daniel Webster, on her first trip. This boat was owned by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, and was the first of the ocean steamers built by him. Mr. Vanderbilt made the trip to Panama with them.

In crossing the Isthmus, Mr. Graves contracted Chagres fever, and came near dying. He recovered sufficiently to continue his journey, but on his arrival in California his health was much broken, and he was advised that to remain would mean a speedy death. He therefore returned home, and took up his residence at the 'Keag village, South Thomaston, where he opened a store.

This was at the time of the great shipbuilding boom in this section, when eleven large vessels were built in South Thomaston in one year. Mr. Graves, in company with Messrs. Shepherd Small, Richard Hayden, and William Graves, entered extensively into shipbuilding, and several first-class ships were built in their yard. Among them was the famous ship 'Pathfinder."

With most of the other men engaged in that business at that time, they were swamped financially by the failure of the Shipbuilders' bank, which swept away the greater part of the considerable fortune that Mr. Graves had accumulated, and put an end to the business. He then returned to the old homestead, and resided there during the remainder of his life.

In 1877, when the Black Hills' gold craze broke out, he organized a party to explore the alleged gold fields in Nebraska, the Dakotas and Wyoming. The party included Messrs. Charles Luce, of South Thomaston; C. E. Paul, and F. E. Small, of Rockport; C. W. Livingston, of Rockland; Ed. Sherman, of Head of the Bay; and two men from Vinalhaven, one of whom, named Hill, was murdered for his money and valuables in Haywood, South Dakota. The party trailed by wagon train from Sidney, Nebraska, to Haywood, a distance of some 300 miles, but like most of the expeditions of that time, the search for gold was unsuccessful, and they returned home within the year.

Except for the death of Hill, the trip was without serious mishap, but the train that preceded them into the foot-hills was attacked by the Sioux Indians and all the party killed, and that following was attacked.

In 1855, he married Miss Mercy K. Hathorn, who is now with her children in California. They had a large family of children, of who the following named survive: Annie, wife of Wm. C. Taylor, of Butte City, Montana; Millie D., Jennie F., and Leland Graves, of San Francisco; Edna, wife of Wm. W. Chamberlain, who resides in a California town not far from San Francisco; Alta Graves, of Portland; Samuel D. Graves, of Boston; and Clyde Graves, the youngest, who resides on the homestead farm.

Mr. Graves has been in failing health for some years, and the cause of his death was Bright's disease.[1] The funeral was held on Friday forenoon, Rev. H. G. Clark, pastor of the Baptist church at St. George officiating. The burial was in the family lot in the South Thomaston cemetery.

When I finished reading Father’s obituary, I thought: that’s how one ought to be written. Aside from listing my present hometown of Butte, I found no errors and suspected he drafted it years ago, along with other final directives.

Millie relayed other family news: Jennie had moved to San Francisco, Samuel was in Massachusetts working for the Boston Globe; Clyde’s wife, Lilla, had given birth to a boy in February—named for our brother Rodney who died at only six-years old. How wonderful, I thought, and how sad. Father had finally gotten to hold one of his dozen grandchildren but died before he could bounce one on his knee.

Spring turned to summer and my days settled into a steady rhythm on the ranch. The harvest was plentiful and now and then Billy would come down from one mine or another to spend a few days at home. I’d have probably been lonely if there was any time for it.

Ed split his time between our place and Tom Wend's orchards. At the end of summer he took his wages to Salmon and came back grinning like a coyote—with a fancy pair of cowboy boots on his feet and a big sack of firecrackers slung over his shoulder. He’d blown every dime he earned that season.[2] The boots lasted longer than the firecrackers, I’ll give him that, but he hadn’t learned a lick about thrift. I told him if it was noise he was after, he ought to take up hard rock mining and let the dynamite do the talking.

Alta was seventeen, with no shortage of suitors. When I asked if she ever thought of venturing far from here, she’d shake her head and grin. “Unlike you, I have but one home.”

I’d laugh and tell her, “Give yourself a couple more years,” though truth be told, I didn’t want her to leave—not really—even if we sometimes fought like cats and dogs.

Idaho Recorder, July 1, 1904

Leesburg Locals

Marion Mahoney during the present week is visiting Ed Taylor on Pine Creek.

Idaho Recorder, December 8, 1904

A Sad Accident

Neal Sweeny, a well known resident of the Salmon river country, was killed in a cave-in at Gibbonsville last Sunday afternoon in the A.D.M. mine. The unfortunate man was engaged as a miner, and while running an upraise he encountered an old stope filled with waste which was not shown on the maps of the mine.

When he went to work after dinner, he started a run of the waste by picking down the loose rock, as is the custom after a round of shots, and before new holes are started. It seems that the blast left the mass of waste like a deadfall waiting for its victim. The miner’s pick started the run which caught the man in the narrow passage, and held him by the pressure upon his feet and legs.

While in this position he talked to his friends who had come to his rescue, told them of his situation and advised them as to plans for saving his life. He was held fast by great weight upon his feet, while every effort to relieve himself brought down more of the loose rock which rose higher on his body all around and crushed him as it passed down the chute.

The accident occurred between 3 and 4 o'clock and the trapped man talked to the miners who were trying desperately to reach him till about 9 o'clock at night. At that hour the accumulating pressure and the piling up of the masses higher and higher on his body caused him to despair, and he told the rescue party that he could hold out no longer.

After that sad message was received not another sound was heard from the narrow chamber of torture.

The full force of the mine was devoted to the effort to rescue the man while he was known to be alive. He is known to be dead from traces of blood and torn flesh that are carried from the chute upon the sliding rocks that must be passing over the body while the feet are held in a clamp in some recess of the chute.

The miners have been working in short continuous shifts for four long, anxious days to reach the body. The work of driving a tunnel through the moving mass of waste has taxed the skill and energy of expert miners to the utmost for many hours. It was believed the body would be rescued today.

Mr. Sweeny was generally known throughout the Salmon river region, and he was respected by all of his acquaintances. He was about 60 years of age and unmarried.[3]

We would miss dear Neil terribly. And I missed Mary too—the good times we shared. Lord knows she could turn flour and bacon grease into something near holy. She had a quiet way of holding things together, but she knew how to laugh, and how to help you do the same.

Neil and Mary Sweeny had come up from Eureka, Nevada, where they’d married back in 1878. When Jimmy and I came downriver in ’86, there were only two other married couples living out here—Zephaniah and Elizabeth Merritt, and Neil and Mary Sweeny. The Merritts, the Sweenys, the Callahans. That was it.

We were the women who boiled shirts, trousers, and stew. And they were there when I brought my babies into the world.

I remember one day in particular—early July of ’92. Billy and I had been married nearly a year, and I was due to give birth any day. We gathered at the Merritts’ place for a surprise going-away party for Z.L. and Elizabeth, who had decided to move to California. The bi-ped downriver inhabitants all turned out, and even Ada Chase Merritt came up from Salmon to bid goodbye to her in-laws. Dave Corbett played his fiddle till daylight, while Mary Sweeny and Mrs. McGree managed to feed the whole crowd. The Merritts’ cabin glowed like a lantern on its small bluff, overlooking the river like a gem. And I remember thinking we had carved out a life here after all. It wasn't much time after that party that Neil and Mary Sweeny moved to the Flats and Mary died.

The Merritt’s had been in California only a few months when word came that Zepheniah passed away on December 2. Just like that, their names slipped from the dances and the daylight.

But I remember Mary. I remember Neil. I remember old Zephaniah. And even Jimmy had a way of coming to mind when I remembered us.

Lemhi Herald, December 15, 1904

Z.B. Arbogast returned lately from a trip to Sheepeater, where he went on mining business. He saw Julius Wiemer, one of the principal Owl Creek boomers, and says Julius has lately made a mineral discovery near Pine creek that will surely astonish the natives. It is situated not far from the famous Clipper Bullion mine of E.S. Suydam. He says the claimant has built a house there big enough for two, but Mr. Arbogast can’t for his life see what Julius needs with such a big lonesome house.

In February, Edna wrote from California that my brother Clyde’s wife Lilla had died at the end of January, not long after the birth of her second son.[4] Millie was on hand to take care of the baby boys, and Clyde was beside himself with despair. Meanwhile, Tom Wend was carrying a petition around, figuring if enough people signed on we might get a road from his ranch through Shoup.[5]

Lemhi Herald, March 16, 1905

Opening of Navigation

W.E. Taylor and Gus Labrecque came in the first of the week to buy chuck and pabulum as Julius Caesar would say, for the lower regions in and about Shoup. They have sought the services of Captain. Guleke, (who by the way is slated for promotion to the pompous position of rear admiral) to put on one of his special liners for the first voyage of the season.[6] The ice is out of deadwater, and the sour doughcans of the coming great camp will have to be replenished. About 3000 pounds of the cargo are for the Grunter mine. They weighed anchor yesterday afternoon.

Lemhi Herald, August 24, 1905

Estray

Mrs. W.E. Taylor of Shoup writes this office that an estray came to her place about three weeks ago, described as follows: One dark bay mare, 10 or 12 yers old, apparently unbroken, weight about 800 pounds; very small white star, left hind foot which; scratched brand on left shoulder which may be S or inverted Z. Owner can have same by paying customary charges.

At the beginning of September my sister Edna wrote to tell me about the death of her nine year-old William in August. I felt bad I wasn’t near to be any comfort, but wrote her a letter to offer her my deepest sympathy.

Not many days later, more bad news came before the sun came up. The Kittie Burton mill caught fire on the night of the thirteenth. That mill processed ore for the Ulysses mine and the Kittie Burton. We were told all was lost.

Seventy-five men worked at that mine and just like that—out of work. Some packed up before the ash cooled, others lingered, hoping the company would rebuild quick.

But you wouldn’t know the scale of it from the papers. The Lemhi Herald buried it under a fold, so did Ida Merritt, as if the despair of men, some with families suddenly out of work, was of little consequence.

Idaho Recorder, September 14, 1905

News was received over the phone from Ulysses of the complete destruction of the Kittie Burton mill by fire last night. No particulars were given. The mill was insured for $27,000 and it is estimated that it can be rebuilt for that amount. However, it will throw about 75 men out of employment for a time at least.

Idaho Recorder, September 21, 1905

The destruction of the Kittie Burton mill is a public calamity, coming at this time. The fire is supposed to have caught from a spark from the smokestack. The entire force has been discharged except for four or five men.

James Stewart, of Pine Creek was in town the last of the week from Pine creek. He brought up a nice little gold brick from his property there.

Idaho Recorder, September 25, 1905

W.E. Taylor was in town Monday en route to his home at Pine creek. He will take charge of the Schumacher & Olsen mill under construction at Kirtley creek as soon as it is completed. Mr. Taylor is a mill man of many years experience, with the ores of this county, having operated mills in every district in the county.

Idaho Recorder, September 28, 1905

The stages from Ulysses to Salmon have been heavily loaded each trip for the past two weeks on account of so many being thrown out of employment by the burning of the Kittie Burton mill.

Lemhi Herald, September 28, 1905

James Mahaffey and family have removed to Salmon from Ulysses and taken up their abode in one of the Dick Johnson’s houses. Mr. Mahaffey has been a regular, steady, and trusted employee of the Kittie Burton for about two years past. The burning of the mill has caused his cessation of service, as it also put out a great many others. The future purposes of the company as to rebuilding have not yet been announced.

Harry Runyon, who is visiting his uncle, E.S. Suydam at Shoup, was out hunting one day recently, accompanied by the two sons of Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Taylor. They encountered a she bear and two cubs, and were so fortunate as to sack the whole works.[7]

Activities at Gibbonsville

W. E. Taylor, the amalgamator, arrived in Salmon Sunday from Gibbonsville, where he has been making a run in the mill of the North Fork Reduction Company for leasers in that mine. He says the company and their leaseholders will be taking out ore all winter, and that it looks as if the mill could be profitably run the most of next summer.

Dave Reeser and Henry Steer have a good lease on the N.F.R. Co.’s holdings. Mr. Taylor says J.B. Achord has been taking out good ore from his own mine, and expects to be able to make a considerable mill run in the spring. Geo. Hughes is also working on his own account, and is doing very well.

The Great Melon Ranch

We had hoped that the Shoup road would ere this be completed, and especially for our friend, Thomas Wend’s sake. He has a ranch below Indian creek, with no outlet by wagon. On this ranch he raises thousands of melons and tons of tomatoes, which the people here could enjoy, but no wagon can haul the produce to market. However, the delay in completion of the road has caused no change in the program, and this season has been no different from its predecessors, so far as the generosity of the aforementioned ranchman is concerned. Last Saturday the stage wheeled in, bearing a box for this house, containing two luscious and shining watermelons, which weighed 26 and 21 pounds respectively. They are just a little better melons than Utah or the Snake River country can produce, and we don’t care who knows it. The only mystery of it all is as to how Mr. Wend can guess our size of melon so exactly. Many thanks, Bro. Wend! And here’s another boost for the completion of the Shoup wagon road! It will be completed this fall.

Idaho Recorder, October 12, 1905

Mr. Brown and his wife and Nels Johnson have gone to Pine creek for a week’s outing, hunting, fishing and prospecting.

Idaho Recorder, November 9, 1905

Local Department, Salmon

Ed Taylor of Pine creek was in town Monday.[8]

H.F. Haynes has recorded his proof of labor on the Inca Mango lode in the Mineral Hill country.

Mrs. E.S. Suydam of Shoup is visiting relatives in this city. Her son Edgar, is attending the Salmon schools.

W.E. Taylor the millwright and amalgamator was down from the White Horse Tuesday, saying that the new five-stamp mill at that place will soon be ready to go into commission.[9]

Lemhi Herald, December 14, 1905

Some Movements About Shoup

(Special correspondence via Chee Foo,[10] delayed in transmission.)
Shoup, Idaho, Nov. 25 —

With Capt. Guleke at the helm on one of those ocean greyhounds,[9] we cruised from Salmon as far as Sheep Eater creek. The first landing was at Webb’s place, where one of the passengers became so sea sick as to be obliged to give up the berth. The wind was against us all day. We got to Fourth of July[12] the first night. Next day we stopped at Searose’s place and took on 800 pounds more of cargo, and at Northfork took on some more.

Next night we camped at Wend’s ranch. Mr. Wend treated us all to watermelon, for which luxury his tropical place is famous. Here Mrs. Fowler deserted and returned to Salmon, C.H. Spayd taking the stern on for the remainder of the distance.

Messrs. Haynes and Anderson are working on some of the Kentuck mines.

Chas Neff has moved down to Sheep Eater, where he has some valuable claims. He has taken out considerable money with an arrastra, and will build another arrastra in the spring.

Messrs. Can and Weimer are working on their claims on Little Sheep Eater.

J.G. Richards took a flying trip to Pine creek yesterday to inspect D.L. Langell’s mines.

John Panata has struck a fine ledge one half mile up Pine creek. He claims to have rock that will pan $1000 per ton. He is in only a short distance yet, but the ledge has opened up to three feet wide.

Messrs. Myers and Guleke have a good mine across the creek from Panata’s mine. Mr. Myers had an offer to sell to Butte parties.[13] They milled some of their ore this summer, and it ran about $20 per ton.

Joe Bush was over from Big Creek and contracted to deliver some beef to Shoup at a late date.

Clarence McKinney has gone to Sheep Eater to do the representing of some mines for his sister, Mrs. Minnie M. Shenon.[14]

Hon. Jas. Cummings came down on the boat to work his claims joining the Grunter. Jim has unbounded faith in this district, and offers to buy every wildcat claim[15] he can get. Up to the present time he has had no offers, and nobody seems to know of any wildcat propositions in this vicinity.

When Christmas greetings passed through the mail I learned that my brother Clyde remarried in October, making Ethel Jeannie Morrison of Cambridge, Massachusetts his second wife. Clyde ran a freight wagon from South Thomaston to Massachusetts and met her there. Ethel moved to Maine, becoming an instant mother to Clyde’s motherless boys.

NOTES

[1] Bright’s disease was a historical term for a variety of kidney ailments, particularly those involving inflammation of the kidneys (nephritis). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a common cause of chronic illness and death, though poorly understood at the time.

[2] A story Ed’s children loved to tell— their father, working for Tom Wend one summer had earned $100 that season and spent all of it on the boots and firecrackers. Ed would say they were the finest boots he ever owned.

[3] Neil and Mary Sweeney one of two other couples living in Shoup before 1886. Neil’s probate records state that Mary had been dead for some years, and the last mention of her in newspapers is summer off 1892.

[4] The maternal mortality ratio in the early 1900s in the U.S. was approximately 600–900 deaths per 100,000 live births, translating to a risk of 0.6% to 0.9% per birth. That means that roughly 6–9 women died per 1,000 births due to pregnancy-related causes.

[5] Lemhi Herald, March 30, 1905

[6] “Chuck” was frontier slang for food, especially hearty fare like beans, biscuits, or salted meat. “Pabulum,” by contrast, is a formal or even mock-sophisticated term for nourishment, originally Latin. Used together here, the phrase likely carries a wink of humor—mixing cowboy lingo with elevated diction in a way typical of frontier newspaper wit.

[7] “Sack the whole works” was a colloquial phrase meaning to capture or secure everything involved. In this case, it likely implies that the boys successfully killed the mother bear and both cubs—a grim but not uncommon outcome of frontier hunting, where bear meat, hides and even cubs held economic value. The casual tone reflects the era’s different relationship with wildlife, particularly in rugged mining regions like Lemma County.

[8] Edward Graves Callahan was referred to as Ed Taylor through his teenage years.

[9] The White Horse Mine, located in the Kirtley Creek Mining District of Lemhi County, sat at an elevation of approximately 9,100 feet. Discovered around 1899, it was a small lode operation producing modest amounts of gold, silver, copper, and lead from quartzite-hosted veins.

[10] Chee Foo – possibly a whimsical pun (playing off Chefoo, a treaty port in China)—used here in a mock-sophisticated flourish. Annie often styled bylines for comic or literary effect. The writer is probably Annie as she concludes her annual week-long trip to to the city to rest and visit her companions of old who now live in and around Salmon.

[11] Ocean Greyhounds - slang for fast transatlantic steamships; here, humorously applied to the Salmon River boats. If Annie is the author of this article, she would have gone to Salmon on the stage and returned to Shoup on a freight boat captained by Harry Guleke.

[12] Refers to Fourth of July Creek, a real tributary near the Salmon River, commonly used as a camp or landmark.

[13] Butte parties – Refers to investors or buyers from Butte, Montana—a major mining center and source of capital.

[14] Representing – In mining law, to “represent” a claim meant performing the required annual work (assessment) to maintain legal ownership.

[15] Wildcat claim – A speculative mining claim with no proven ore; the term wildcat was often used pejoratively to imply a long shot.