| Show PIONEER MINER TELLS OF THE RUSH INTO IDAHO GOLD FIELDS IN THE OS There have ha been other wild mid rushes tor for gold Into Idaho's Interior besides the present one to Thunder mountain Early Earlyn In n the the present Idaho saw her first cx excitement nt over forty years ago agov andi and i since that time discoveries and rushes I have bave been periodical There Is only the thet t difference that Thunder mountain promIses prom- prom i 4 to eclipse its predecessors Levi Lev Ankeny of ot Walla Walls Walla banker and end pioneer and foremost among the to tha new placer finds of ot forty 1 years ago no tells interesting history about the old days dars when Idaho was In her In- In fancy Mr r. r Ankeny crossed the plains from Missouri url In and had been several several sev- sev eral the country when the Northwest Northwest Northwest North- North west gol gold fever began From 1861 until lie e settle down In Walla Walls Walla Mr AnkI Ankeny Ank- Ank I 4 eny CIly was vas constantly among the various I camps dealing with tho the miners He was through h Thunder mountain on a a. hunting I I trip almost forty years rears ago Among the first Idaho diggings were those at Orofino where Capt Pearce of ot X Ankeny's California a. a J first founded tn t trip a l into camp f Idaho d in 1860 was s Mr to Orofino up Orofino creek In A few tew j early prospectors had penetrated into that spring Lewiston viston I Early Days At this time there was a good boat service possible up the Clearwater Law Lew- Iston at the mouth was a It towns town often otten numbering rl between w 6 and people e but so shifting was s the population I that t Stat even an average of or the Inhabitants can be struck struik The rhe town was made by byr r miners from fram all over the United States attracted by reports of the most famous s since the days of I. 43 in Call Cali fornia tolna Indeed most of ot the adventurers adventuress were vere coming largely Mr f I t that Ankeny state says That from winter kf ll l Mr lul county ul Ankeny e in InI wintered In lit a little tent on Birch creek r ba ack nearer the settlements It was in 1862 1162 that the celebrated Florenco Flor- Flor enco ence rush began bOgan A year before an ad- ad vante guard of prospectors had been there and pron pronounced the country good instantly there was a a. stampede which Mr lr Ankeny says he hc can only de describe cribe as ask k thousands of ot men going and coming all the he time and all making money The Tho trIp was made from Lewiston Into Florence Flor Flor- ence with pack trains man many of ot the outi outfits out- out i y fits b being secured at Wallula Wash It was about miles from Lewiston into Florence Prices s were high ha 1111 the new camp which was remote from transportation or ora ora ora ort a base t of supplies P and provisions n were P dC t af d hard a to secure because u every one wanted U to hunt for tor gold sold Bacon was BO 60 cents a aI I pound and flour about the same except wh when n n extreme hard times came and both went higher Sugar was about GO CO 0 cents a pound and sometimes when scarcity came In winter would go to It was Wa'S packed in on mens men's backs Other pi prices ices ruled accordingly and in 1862 cent 50 carrying carrying car car- rates prevailed Plenty of Bad Men In Florence there were few houses most of the great horde dwelling in tents The camp contained some of the worst desperadoes in the West Vest and as no police police police po po- po- po lice officials were in tho the country the camp was its own lawmaker Once just ahead of Mr Ankeny three men named Scott Peeples Peoples and En English held up a a a. miner named Berr Berry with his party and took all their gold dust All three were caught at Lewiston shortly after and summarily hanged The highwayman was much in evidence around the camps of at the SOs and men had to go In parties parties parties par par- ties frequently under escort if they had much gold Gambling was as staple amusement amusement amuse amuse- ment In the camp for tor money came easily and went more easily Shooting scrapes were ero e plenty I In 1863 the rush to tp the new discoveries at Warrens still further In into o the Interior interior inte Inte- nor started Jim Warren prospector had gone In early and the camp was named for himAt himAt himAt him At Warrens when I went there In 1864 1164 said Mr Ankeny there were about as good mines as I ever saw Warrens was singular In being an extremely well regulated camp Montana had sprung S' Into prominence with her diggings and the the- rough element had gone over there where most of the worst desperadoes were hanged It was the same then thel as now now now-it If a man minded his business no noone noone noone one would interfere with him I never carried a gun l. and never had any quarrels It would I be hard to t estimate the population la lation of Warrens Florence T rg-e rg and Warrens Warrens War War- rens forty tOTty miles apart were really one diggings as men went constantly back and forth The virtue of these discoveries Is shown by the length of time they have been worked without signs of ot giving out Food Was High February of 1862 1162 saw some of the highest high high- est Cst st prices which ever existed In the early days It was then that butter went up to 3 3 a a. pound o cheese to 1 50 sugar to 1 25 flour to 51 l bacon to t 1 25 coffee to 2 Z tea to 2 50 shovels to 15 But on the other hand It was S calculated that over r In In gold d dust was taken out of the new diggings In 1862 One year after his first trip Into Warrena Warrens War War- rens rena in Mr Ankeny passed over what Is now Thunder mountain on a hunting trip with Nez Perce Indians Mr Ankeny says ays a a. suspicion of the richness of that country CO existed in one or two minds and that on one ona mars mam actually brought down some rock to Lewiston for tor assay but no excitement was ever created cre and nothing was done doYe Mr Ankeny was asked When Orofino Orol was discovered In 1800 Florence in 1861 or 1862 Warrens in 1863 3 and Millers Miller's diggings In 1861 each one getting a little nearer toward Thunder why wasn't Thunder discovered until 1901 Passed Up Porphyry The only reason I can assign was the rep reply Is that the ock ock at Thunder Is porphyry I have never heard of or prospectors prospectors prospectors pros pros- bringing back any reports of Importance importance importance im Im- im- im about Thunder mountain though many have been bean in there It Is curious by the way th that tha the mountain diggings Ings nearer to to Thunder were discovered the richer the linda and be be- came At Florence gold Id ran 12 to the ounce at It Warrens arrens 13 1310 jO 0 and at Millers Miller's s 16 Strange Indeed Is the tale of how the first discovery of what is now Idaho was made In the late ws tradition says a venturesome Indian of or the Nez Perce stripe broke down into California where a prospector os or named a E. E D. D tp p Pearce ar gleaned tr from him a tale about b t a wonderful o stone stOle he had found back in the distant mountains The Nez Perce told how he had been camped with wills a party of fellow tellow braves bra in the mountains and how they had been attracted by a large larse bright ball gleaming at them In the darkness Affrighted Affrighted Af- Af at what they considered the eye of ot the great reat spirit none dared move but butIn butin butk butI in the morning I they summoned courage vr g arr to look k more closely foste What they s saw w the te Indian could only compare to a lump of glass and the venturesome Pearce Jumped to the conclusion the Indiana had found a diamond larger than any any known in the world On this s slight foundation he determined to go and look He never found the diamond but he found gold First Gold Finds Making his way northward through the wild ild new country Pearce passed Portland Portland Port Port- land what Is now The Dalles Dales and Walla Valla Walla I and il finally I got Y over t into far ei eastern east east- em ern Washington T This was I in 1060 Pearce and a party of fellow tellow adventurers prospected prospected prospected pros pros- and hunted through the mountains mountains moun moun- tame finally camping where now is Here lItre they washed a part pari of gold It netted 3 cents They tried again with better luck Again and again they tried and Ond nd in a short time SO 0 SO resulted They re returned returned re- re turned to Walla Walla and the ithe wild gold craze of 1860 was on two Forty-two years rears have elapsed and another another another an an- other wild craze for tor gold is on Stran Strange e eit it should hE be so near the original one It leads the timers old to say the are not all discovered yet |
