Mines Attract Many
Galena was situated about 28 miles northwest of
Ketchum and at the southern base of the Saw tooth mountains.
Adjacent to this town were the Senate, Gladiator and other mines.
This town at one time had a Post Office, hotel, large general store,
several restaurants and saloons, livery stable, stage stable, etc.
and a stage line to Hailey. Martin Barry had a shoe shop. His son,
William Galena, was the first white child born in town. F. M.
Willmarth, grandfather of Mrs. Lillian M. Reid of Ketchum, built the
first hotel and the first livery stable. He died in 1890 and was
buried there. The last resident left Galena in 1890. At present and
for some years past a small store is kept there in the summer. When
the town was at its zenith its population was estimated at about
800. About nine miles westerly from the northern base of the
Sawtooth mountains were the Vienna group and other mines near the
town of Vienna. The Vienna mine was located June 4, 1879. This town
at one time had a Post Office, a general store, two hotels, several
restaurants and four or five saloons, etc. William A. Holl and kept
the last store there. He left in 1892.
The estimated population of this town in its heyday was over 800. It
was the largest of the three Sawtooth Mountain towns. Owing to the
low price of metals mining operation at the Vienna group has
recently been suspended. Sawtooth City was situated in Beaver Gulch,
north of the Sawtooth mountains. The Pilgrim mine which was located
in 1879, was situated in this gulch. Other mines there were the
Bidwell and Beaver Extension, and the Silver King. Alfred M. Van
Scoten was watchman at the Silver King mine for over 25 years.
Sawtooth City at one time had a Post Office, three general stores, a
tailor shop, two meat markets, three restaurants, four or five
saloons, a livery stable etc. and a stage line to Ketchum. The
estimated population of this town in its palmiest days was about
600. The mining records show a great number of mining locations near
Galena, Vienna and Saw tooth City in 1879. Thus it will be observed
that numerous mining claims were being located and worked all the
way from Broadford up to and across the Sawtooth mountains in 1879.
Galena and Sawtooth City, as well as Doniphan and Muldoon, have been
at their nadir for years and are known as "ghost cities."
Alturas County |
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