Clearwater Museum | Clearwater Museum About/History | Clearwater County, Idaho’s Ties to Timber | Mining History Along the Clearwater River | Nez Perce Indians | Clearwater County - Activities
There's indisputable evidence of indigenous peoples with strong ties to the Clearwater River Basin in Idaho that dates back centuries. The area also influenced one of the most significant ventures in American History; Lewis and Clark's journey to the Pacific Ocean.
Another event that made its mark on the surrounding communities was mining. While the gold rush in the Clearwater River Basin only lasted a few decades, it helped open the area up to homesteading and eventually a lucrative timber industry. Let's look back at the role mining played in the history of the Clearwater River Basin.
Around 1820, the first large gold discovery was made in the area near Dahlonega, Georgia. As pioneers pushed westward across the United States, fortune seekers targeted spots near the gold strike that happened at Sutter's Mill in California.
While gold rush history is commonly synonymous with California, there were hundreds of other huge discoveries of gold. Ironically, the expedition that opened the western frontier to pioneers fondly mentioned an area just west of the Bitterroot Mountains.
It was along the Clearwater River Basin that the Corps of Discovery regrouped and prepared for the final leg of their nation-changing exploration to the Pacific Ocean. As the race to California continued from the late 1840s through 1860, this region was a frequent stopping point.
After reaching a treaty agreement with the Nez Perce Indians, the discovery of gold in the area made its mark on Clearwater River history. The lands designated as part of the Nez Perce reservation were carved down by more than 90 percent of its original size.
Beginning in 1860, reports of gold in the Clearwater River and its tributaries led to an influx of gold seekers. In 1861, Captain E.D. Pierce's venture established the Oro Fino Mining District. A couple of big gold discoveries in the area triggered the Clearwater gold rush of the 1860s.
After a huge discovery at Rhodes Creek, the lands held by the Oro Fino Mining District were expanded. Shoshone County was established, and in 1863 it became part of the Idaho Territory. The entire area was proving rich in gold discoveries, most within the Clearwater River Basin.
Another large find occurred during this same period at Moose Creek. This brought about another influx of gold seekers to the Clearwater River Basin, a boom that created the town of Moose City. The Moose City mining ambitions continued for more than a decade.
While the gold finds were meaningful, there was still a continued pull from the huge strikes happening in California. Many gold seekers left the area to venture farther west. As white pioneers moved west, many of the gold operations were turned over to Chinese peoples.
Many credit Chinese from helping many of these small Idaho towns from being abandoned totally in the late 1860s. The mania surrounding the gold rush throughout the last half of the 19th century exploded all over the western part of North America.
It seemed prospectors would almost instantly pack up and shift their ambitions to whatever region was labeled as the next golden mother lode. The areas targeted by gold seekers stretched from the Yukon to present-day Arizona.
While the abundance of gold in the Clearwater River Basin didn't quite match the wealth of discoveries in other areas, gold's influence on the region is undeniable. Pierce City still has the undeniable aura of a once prosperous gold town.
It didn't take long before wealthy mineral barons flocked to the area. As individuals with the finances to back larger types of dredging came to the Clearwater River Basin, many of the old-style gold seekers packed up and headed for more remote streams and creek beds.
As the gold rush waned in the late 1800s, a new type of gold took over. A need for timber to build homesteads in the Clearwater River area showed how much of a supply of raw materials the adjacent wilderness held.
Although the most intense period of the gold rush around the Clearwater River only lasted about 30-years, it's responsible for many of the small communities that still exist today. Over 200 years later, after the first proclamation of gold discovered within the Clearwater River Basin, gold prospectors still come to the area looking to pan for their own mother lode.
Pierce City is the oldest mining town in the Clearwater River area. Since the first mining operations were launched in the 1860s, people have been exploring the Clearwater River and its tributaries for windfall pockets of gold.
Clearwater County has a number of gold placers distributed throughout the Clearwater River and many of the small feeder creeks and streams. Gold placers are large gold deposits that have been worn away by water erosion.
It's not uncommon for a placer discovery to launch an intense search for the original point still holding a large lode of gold. Placers are what you see in historic pictures of gold miners shaking their pans. They are looking for gold placers dispersed along the river and stream beds.
Pierce City will always hold the claim as the first spot gold was discovered in Idaho. There are still mining prospects around Pierce today. The area referred to as the South Fork section of the Clearwater River still produces reports of gold discoveries today.
Many aspiring modern day prospectors will follow the flow back down the Clearwater River from Pierce City to Orofino. This is a 30-mile stretch of river with a number of gold deposits found. Many of the largest gold placer strikes are the river's small streams and creeks.
The bygone days of antiquated miners with individual pans sifting for gold nuggets are now relegated to the history books. Today there have been technological advancements that offer prospective gold seekers a way to sift through less precious metal deposits.
Some still enjoy the feeling of stepping back in time and panning for their treasure or sifting through an old-fashioned miner's sluice. If you visit the Clearwater Historical Museum in Orofino, you can inspect authentically preserved artifacts, which tell the story of the gold mining ventures with the Clearwater River Basin.