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Departing Boise we head east and ride through the old mining town of Idaho City, which was one of the major gold rush towns of the 1860’s. Towards the end of 1863 there were estimates of twenty thousand people scattered throughout the hills.
It was a bawdy, lusty town where whiskey was cheaper than water. Life was cheap, too. Men went armed at all times and were quick to defend themselves. Winners in disputes often spent time in the stout log jail. Losers were carted off to Pioneer Cemetery. Within a few years of the strike, the gold had become harder to find and more difficult to mine. With fortunes no longer to be made, the prospectors left in droves.
Fires also ravaged the community. The first, in 1865, wiped out eighty percent of the buildings in town. Others, in 1867, 1868, and 1871, were similarly destructive. Luckily, due to the extraordinary wealth of the gold strike, the town was speedily rebuilt each time. Today some of the best examples of early brickwork and wooden architecture still exist in Idaho City. Many structures erected in the 1860's remain standing and represent some of Idaho's most important historical buildings.
Continuing on our ride, we arrive at Stanley, Idaho, which is located in the Sawtooth Mountain range. We will spend our first evening in the Stanley area at a resort called Redfish Lake. It is claimed that Stanley is the best place to glimpse the western land as it was in the last century. The Stanley area is cattle country. Split-rail fences enclose pastures watered by snow-fed streams. The area is bordered by three mountain ranges with forty peaks over 10,000 feet and 300 high elevation lakes. Streams flowing from the Sawtooth Mountains merge in the valley to form the Salmon River, the legendary "River of No Return. |