The search for gold was on in all the American West, In North Idaho the Pierce dicvoery, in 1861, provided the impetus. But even without it, sooner or later the prospectors would have come in numbers.

Gold entrances man as does nothing else. And just as it spells lures the prospectors, the imagined glitter strikes down reason, also, among those who should remain objective. Mark Twain, in Roughing It, Wrote humorously about "gold fever" in Neveda and California.

A manisfestation of the "fever" is found in "An Illustrated History of North Idaho", published in 1908. In reference to the Moscow Mountain deposits are these glowing and irrational words: "...if this mountain of wealth were located in some remote locality difficult of access, it would be considered a veritable Klondyke."

"The principal placer mines of the county are situated on Jerome Creek, Swamp Creek, Gold Creek and many others, and in Howard Gultch, Cumarine Gulch, and others on Moscow Mountain. The first quartz mill was operated on Moscow Mountain and owned by Dr. Worthington and D.C. Mitchell. In 1896 a mill was started in the Daisy Mine on Jerome Creek, which is now on a paying basis. On Ruby Creek is a most valuable gold and silver mine called the Silver King. For years the gold has been taken from ledges of Moscow Mountain by the 'arrastre process'..."

A number of mines and prospects made up this district, which spread along the southern slope of Moscow Mountain nearly from Viola to Rear Creek. The ore is mostly described as low-grade gold-bearing quartz. One of the deposits northeast of Troy was classified as a copper deposit (Eastman. 32).

The working included both placer mines and lodes. The largest lode mine. the White Cross, was located on the mountain slope west of Gnat Creek (U.S. Geological Survey Potlatch Quadrangle}. Placer deposits, which certainly were mined first, always extend downslope and downstream from the lodes. The placers of Cumarine Creek are most frequently mentioned.

Horner David (31) tells about playing, as a boy, in tunnels of the White Cross Mine 'which had tunnels on different levels, and of considerable length." This was, of course, after the owners had decided to stop work."

In the northern part of Latah County lies the abandoned placer deposits of the Hoodoo District and also the abandoned workings of the Mizpah gold and copper mine. These are in the upper drainage of the Pa-louse River. Clayton (30) and also Faick (33) traced and summarized the early history of the district. Says Faick:

"The first important discovery of gold in Latab County, then a part of Nez Perce County, was by a Mr. Hoteling in Hoodoo Gulch in 1860. This gulch is located on the South Fork (relative to the Meadow Creek branch; otherwise, the North Fork) of the Palouse River about 15 miles east of the Gold Hill District. and is the discovery from which the Hoodoo Mountains derive their name. The deposits were relatively rich, paying from $20 to $100 a day per man."

Early operation of the mine appears to have been confined to the years 1862 and 1863. News of rich deposits in Montana (the Alder Gulch discovery at Virginia City) then lured the miners. who decided to try their luck in these new diggings east of the Bitterroots. Nothing more appears to have been done in the Hoodoos until the 1880's.

There was considerable placer work through the 1880's and 1890's, and some activity continued even past the turn of the century. The work left its heritage of names: Hoodoo Gulch (site of the discovery), Greenhouse Gulch, Pine Gulch, Moscow Gulch, Colorado Gulch, Mountain Gulch, Linn Gulch, Poorman Creek.

The only lode mines noted are the Mizpah and Copper King. Significantly, these lie in a separate watershed from the large placers. Significantly, because it is apparent that most of the placer gold did not come from veins of the Mizpah. Instead, the main gold-bearing belt was west of the Baby Grand divide - even along the west and north flank of the Palouse North Fork head-waters, toward the main Hoodoo ridge. This area may be found on the U.S. Geological Survey Deary and Emida quadrangles.The lodes were doubtlessly explored in the active mining period before 1900, even though I have found no record of the work.

The history of the Mizpah area, discussed by Livingston and Laney. was later updated to 1934 by Clayton (30). Says Clayton:

"The Mizpah veins were discovered before the days of the Klondike gold rush (of 1899), but were abandoned by their original locator, Racy Robinson, who took part in that historic event. They were restaked a short time after by J. C. Northrup and Associates of Palouse, Washington. who have been operating them intermittently since that time.

'Several carloads of ore carrying about 20 per cent copper were shipped from the Mizpah Mine during the war times of 1918, but most of the work in the district has been confined to development. A diamond drill was used for prospecting.

'In 1928. the Merger Mining Company. operated by J. C. Northrup, leased the property to the Copper Mountain Mining Company of Spokane. Washington.

"At the present time the total development... includes 2600 feet of tunnel. No maintenance work has been done for several years and both the plant and mine are in need of repair."

One of the miners in the Hoodoo District in the early 1890's was E. K. Parker. who was later a merchant in Bovill. He abandoned mining approximately in 1896 to open a store in Princeton.

"Rock-hounds' may be interested in the main aspects of the mineralogy 6f the ores. The copper of the Mizpah deposit was introduced as the primary sulphide minerals, chalcopyrite and cubanite. With these occur non-ore metallic minerals such as pyrite. arsenopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Gold can be structured into the crystals of pyrite. but mostly the gold was free.

During weathering and erosion, sulphide minerals are broken chemically, and not much is left in the vein except the rusty mineral limonite. The copper is then leached downward. and redeposited deeper along the vein in what is called the "zone of oxidation and enrichment.' This enrichment is very important for copper and sAver deposits. but does not apply to most other metals. The enriched zone is almost always the richest part of the deposit. In the Mizpah Mine. the minerals of this zone include covallite, chalcocite, bornite, marcasite. azurite. cuprite and metallic native copper. Several of these minerals are very colorful. They can form a beautiful array.

A number of non-metallic minerals, including ankerite. actinolite. quartz, and some feldspars accompany the vein.

Since the 1930's. the activitv in the Hoodoos has been small, but there was a major exception. This was an energetic dredging operation along the Pa-louse River streamflat in the early years of World War II, The workings of the early miners could be reworked by the dredge. but of primary interest was additional gravel too deep to be reached by the original primitive means. The dredge accounted for a recovery of 11,594 ounces of gold in 1941 and 1942.

Gold Hill is a mountain in the northern part of Latah County, near the towns of Princeton and Harvard. It is about 5 miles north of these towns, the highway, and the railroad. The Gold Hill Mining District envelopes its slopes . Originally the westerly part of the area was called the Gold Creek District the easterly part was called the Blackfoot District which was considered as part of a larger Hoodoo District. More recent thoughts restrict the Hoodoo District farther east, and combine the mines around Gold Hill into a single area. Considering both geology and geography, the newer arrangement is logical.

Research on Idaho history Faick (33) and others - has generally recorded a gold discovery on Camas, Jerome, and Gold Creeks in the summer of 1870. According to Paul Bockmier Sr. (29), the discovery on Gold Creek was 3 years earlier, in 1862. I have found no information to establish definitely which report is right.

However. certain things lead me to believe that Bockmier is probably correct. For one thing. it is notable that one of the streams at Gold Hill is named Hoteling. apparently for the man who made the 1860 discovery at Hoodoo Gulch. It is recorded that Hoteling left the region about 1863. and although he may have returned later, there is at least an equal chance that the name dates from his earlier presence. Bockmier gives a good deal of other information. which relates a temporary abandonment of an 1363 gold camp to other mining activity. expressly the rush to Pierce. "In 1863," he says. "there were 100 men mining on Gold Creek. It was a large village. a store and post office. Supplies were packed in from The Dalles. Oregon" The miners left this village vacant when they departed to other areas.

The 1870 date seems to mark the beginning of a more sustained, energetic mining effort. The first of this work, as recounted by Faick, was directed toward skimming the shallow gravel. To each miner this seemed to be the only way to get his share of the gold. It was the way to work new areas, because it filled gold bags fast.

As these gravels were depleted, attention was turned to the thicker deposits. The rockers and "long toms," which had to be filled by shovels, were abandoned. More efficient hydraulic methods were substituted.

The tearing force of high-pressure jets of water, such as come from a fire hose but sometimes larger, are used to move the gravel. Large jets can undermine and move boulders of tremendous size, if needed. Gravel is torn from the ground, winnowed. and to separate the gold. the favorable sizes driven through sluice boxes. To supply the water at Gold Hill, ditches were dug to lead water from upper creek levels to points on the hill slopes far above the placers. The water then came down under pressure, through pipes and hoses.

The gold occurred mostly as coarse "dust" and flakes. ranging to grains as large as rice. The largest known nugget was worth $210. This would be about 10 ounces. If it were a round piece it would be about the size of a large walnut, but large nuggets are likely to be flat and irregular. It would not be strange if were about the size and shape of a peculiar lumpy pancake. Nuggets worth from $3 (the size of a grain of corn) to as much as $20 were fairly common.

Transportation to the area was difficult. In the first years, the only access was by trails leading from Lewiston and Walla Walla. All supplies had to be packed by man or horse over these trails. Later. the Wells Fargo established a line to Palouse and Princeton. These towns were the supply and communications centers for the district. The high freight rates forced the miners to work only the richer gravels until rail service to Palouse, established about 1890, considerably lowered this cost. The rail service made it feasible to bring in hydraulic gear.

At the peak of the mining period. small towns were formed. A town near the Carrico Mine, at the head of Gold Creek, numbered about 120 men: a second, on Jerome Creek at the mouth of Jack Gulch, numbered 150. Chinese miners came in the 1880's, as they did in most Western mining areas. to strip the low-grade deposits. White men held and continued to work the better claims.

Only passing attention was paid to the lodes so long as the placer mines were giving abundant returns. The lodes are never so rich as the best placers. and the effort required to work them is much greater. A gradual shift to the lodes took place in the 1890's. The Carrico family located a claim on Picnic Gulch, at the headwaters of Gold Creek. in 1878. Almost immediately they uncovered the lode, but mined the profitable placers before sinking a shaft. Adam Carrico also located what is known as the Carrico Iron Prospect at the head of Hoteling Creek.

The Bockmier report describes some operations:

"In 1894, I went to Grouse Creek. About fifteen men were placer mining and ground-sluiced quite a large piece of ground and were ready to start cleaning up.

After the water was shut off (the bed rock) was dotted with gold nuggets. They picked up nearly $700 worth of nuggets before starting to scrape the bed rock. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

'In 1895 I went prospecting on Jerome Creek. Anywhere from 40 to 50 men were working along the Creek and also on Boulder Creek. One crew found some very rich float above the placer ground. but could not find the lead. . so I prospected for the lead and found the Daisy Mine. I got Uncle Davenport, a mining man. and C. B. Hopkins, Manager of the telephone Company, interested. They put in a five stamp mill..."

Faick (Op. cit.) notes that in 1905 the Daisy Mine was operating profitably.

It is believed the mine produced more than $80,000 in free gold before, at a depth of about 120 feet, the profitable values were lost.

Bockmier, who lived at Palouse. owned interests in a number of the mining properties in the area. He located some quartz veins in the Gold Creek sector, which were incorporated by the Gold Creek Metals Company, with headquarters in Moscow.

One of the largest mineralized zones is a string of ore-shoots known as the Pinnell Vein. It is most extensively explored in the Gold Hill Mine, but crosses to the Bishop claims in Heath Gulch. The intermediate part of the vein has been worked in the Gold Bug Mine, which was located in 1882 by a man named Jack Vernon. Later it was owned by the Garfield Mining Company. The mine "showed good values in gold and silver bearing copper ore," says Mining Districts of Idaho (16)in 1907. "It employed a force of 10 men. The principal office of the company is located in Garfield, Washington. and Mr. Wm. Dulin is president and 0. P. Johnson secretary-treasurer." (The name Dulin evidently properly should be Duling.) Lem Carson of Garfield was an associate.

The veins of the area are white quartz. mineralized with varying amounts of pyrite, specular hematite, magnetite, molybdenite, chalcopyrite. tetrahedrite, and bornite. The last three of these are the sources of copper. Hematite and magnetite are ore minerals of iron. These two minerals form the bulk of the deposit at the Carrico Iron prospect. Free gold is present in the veins, but will seldom be seen in handling specimens of the ore.

In addition to the mine workings and ditches was the 5-stamp mill located on Jerome Creek, at the mouth of Jack Gulch. This processed ore from the Daisy Mine and the mines of the Pinnell Vein. There were also numerous other facilities, including several arrastras.

The Burnt Creek Mining District, also known as the Swamp Creek District, lies on the slopes of Jericho Mountain, about 6 miles southeast of Elk River.

The discovery of gold in this area took place about in the middle 1860's, because it is credited to the early years of mining at Pierce. Most of the gold was taken from placers along Snipe. Burnt, and Swamp Creeks. At least one vein was mined - a quartz lode on what was called the Jericho claim. located on the upper southwest slope of the mountain. This much is told by Anderson la).

The lode of the Jericho was discovered shortly before 1900. A stamp mill was instMled in 1909. The work of mining opened about 2000 feet of shallow drifts and crosscuts and 490 feet of deeper tunnels.

The two photographs taken on Swamp Creek in 1898 give an idea of the conditions. The significance of the pack animals and pile of supplies is evident. The high pressure canvas hose indicated that hydraulic mining had begun.

The scaffold seen in one of the photos may have been used to move timber. Large logs and poles can be moved for short distances with levers. To move them a longer way by such means is difficult. There were no horses except the small pack animals. which are not adapted to logging. So the miners probably used a rope line and set of pulleys. in conj unction with the scaffold.

The two Groh brothers. John and Tom. who later owned a grocery store in Bovill. mined for gold in this district.

Two of the miners on Swamp Creek early in this century. as reported by Frank Mallory. were the McGann brothers. Mike and Jim. They were big men. Jim 250 pounds. Mike 230. and threfore are not the men in the photos. Part of the diggings were in a stream called Pick-and-Pan Gulch. The McGann mine was regarded as "pretty rich." Once. in Spokane. a man gave Jim McGann a drugged drink in an attempt to rob him of his gold.

About the yeild of the mines. Anderson observed that "total production is unknown. but is probably not large." Yet the mines must have paid nominal wages, and sometimes a bit more. Work continued even into the 1920's and 30's. "Some work is done each year," says the 1930 report, "but the greatest handicap is the lack of water throughout much of the year and only during the spring Hoods can the deposits be worked." This report indicates that mining was very near the stream headwaters.

As in many gold mining areas, it was the rising cost of work and not a complete failure of the gold that was finally fatal to the mining effort.

"Ruby Creek"

Mining began in the Ruby Creek area in 1885, when J. H. McCoy operated a placer. Doubtlessly McCoy prospected much of the creek, but his main diggings apparently were along its lower stream course somewhere below the Silver King shaft .

Records of the surveyors and stories of the old-timers suggest a period of panning and sluicing extending for about 5 or 6 years. Work then subsided for a few years, but was renewed about 1898. and continued roughly until 1910. After that, the only notable activity centered at the lead-zinc deposits and particularly the King David Mine above Neva.

Among the mining areas noted. this is the poorest, The only claim that appears to have turned a profit was staked by Henry Ables on gold-bearing gravel along Placer Creek, south of the Horse Ranch. Placer Creek drains from McGary Butte, emptying at the mouth of Ruby Creek.

The lode mines, were located farther east. One was the Silver King, owned by J. P. Vollmer, a Lewiston banker who figures in the history of Troy and is known as "Idaho's first millionaire" but he obviously did not make his money in this mine.

Just above the Owens Spur highway crossing was a stamp mill, a two-stamp steam-driven affair owned by Dick Mann. Its forward timbers stood above the old "county" road: its floor projected from the hill slope. Its boiler and engine was hauled in by Joe Andreassen, a pioneer freighter of the area and resident of the Deary area (at Anderson, Idaho). This was near the turn of the century. Mann owned the Gold Eagle, which was mined in an open cut just west of the mill. He milled rock from these diggings, and probably was hired to crush "ore" from the adjoining Silver King and the nearby Gold Hunter. The gold was recovered as a mercury amalgam, by a process which used wet woolen blankets. My father remarked that "more was spent on blankets and mercury than was ever recovered in gold."

A number of claims were staked on the lead-zinc veins. and a few exploratory prospect holes, shafts and tunnels were dug in the early years before 1910.

One of the tunnels was gophered into the hill by a miner named Jackson. In all the area, the names of McCoy. Ables, Mann, Jackson, and another old-timer named Brady are remembered. Brady worked near Neva, but also operated a placer in a minor tributary of Ruby Creek known as "Brady's Gulch." The location of this gulch. known only to be near the hairpin turn on the highway. is uncertain. An unidentified mine is located a little east of the Neva railroad tunnel. Work was done in this at a fairly late date. in the 1920's.

Several of the lead-zinc properties were consolidated later into property acquired by the Ruby Creek Mining Company. This company. organized mainly in Bovill, was started shortly after World War I as a serious attempt to go into large-scale mining. James Gilroy. a Bovill business man, was an officer and one of the main owners of the company. Perd Hughes acted as manager. Most of the attempted development was done in the period between 1922 and 1930.

A short tunnel into the hillside uncovered the vein. Near this. a vertical shaft was sunk to a depth of 170 feet. A total of 190 feet of underground workings lead from the shaft. Finally. a tunnel was driven 670 feet into the hillside from a point downstream along the Ruby Creek gorge. This tunnel. in hard rock, was un-timbered except near the portal. It was discontinued probably only a few feet before reaching the vein.

The ore (basically sphalerite and galena) is of good grade, but there is not enough of it to pay. Mining was suspended in about 1930 and has not been resumed. Albert Lewis, a sawmill man, acquired the Ruby Creek property. Possibly Lewis wanted the timber. but the trees on mining claims can be cut only as the timber is needed in the mines. None of the workings except the short ground-level drift are now accessible.

The main mineral at the King David is sphalerite (zinc). but galena and boulangerite (lead). chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite (copper). and also pyrite and arsenopyrite are present. Small values in both gold and silver are found. The vein includes such non-metallic minerals as siderite, ankerite, and quartz. Sphalerite is abundant in the King David, but so far as is known is not present in other mines in the area, although lead minerals and a little copper occur in several of them. Seldom can the veins be traced on the surface except by the presence of rusty stains, sometimes black manganese oxides, and some quartz.

In the middle 30's, during the depression, a lone prospector climbed to the head of Cameron Creek. above Neva. There he panned the residual dirt and sand of the streamcourse for a pittance earning in gold amounting to 70 cents and sometimes a dollar a day. Miners realized a small advantage at this time, because Roosevelt had boosted the gold price from $20 to $35 an ounce. Also, jobs were scarce and the wages poor. This man bent his back to the work, enjoyed the summer sky above. and mined enough to buy bacon, beans and bread. The self esteem be earned. and enjoyment of the land. were his real rewards.

"Gold Profits"

Nobody knows the sum of what the miners earned. Seemingly there was no bonanza. vet some miners found excellent pay. Mining efforts peaked out in the 1880's, and much of the earnings most have been realized before 1890.

Among the areas discussed, there is little doubt that more than half, perhaps more than three-fourths of the production came from Gold Hill and the Hoodoos. I would guess that Swamp Creek paid better than Moscow Mountain. Ruby Creek did not pay. in a real sense. There was another mine in the region. owned by Pete Sharvey, but this was relatively unimportant. The Sharvey mine was located in the Meadow Creek Canyon south of Elk River. Also, there was a gold camp at Gold Center east of Clarkia, but there seems to be little if any recorded information about this, and I have made no investigation.

About Gold Hill. Faick (33) says. "Many of the older residents who are familiar with the district claim that three or four million dollars have been taken from the stream beds. It is probable that this figure is much too high and that $200,000 is a more accurate estimate." He notes the abandoned arrastras, stamp mills, sluice boxes, and many miles of ditches and flumes as "ample evidence that the region experienced considerable activity."

Production figures for Latah County are an index of activity since 1900. On the other hand, Clearwater County records would be only a slight help on determining production at Swamp Creek.

After subtracting a little for the Moscow Mountain area and a trifling a-mount for Ruby Creek, the bulk of Latah County production has to be assigned to Gold Hill and the Hoodoos. For the period 1904-1942, Staley (22) gives a total of 16.359 ounces. Over 96 percent of this came from placers, and only a little over 3 percent from lode deposits.

Mining Districts of Idaho credits Latah County with a yield of 293 ounces of gold in 1904,37 ounces in 1906. and 357 ounces in 1907 - the earliest years when the county was mentioned, After 1907, the production dropped to substantially under 100 ounces per year. at times being almost nil. During the depression, production increased again to a high of 84 ounces recorded in 1934.

When the dredge operations in the Hoodoos began in 1941, production rose to 5,573 ounces. It increased to 6,021 ounces in 1942. The value of gold produced in these two years alone was about $385,000. This work was completed in 1942. Production promptly fell to zero in 1943, and has remained near zero since.

The production of the dredge suggests similar returns - and despite earlier gold value of only $20 per ounce. perhaps even better returns - to the early miners. In light of this, Faick's estimate of a $200,000 yield at Gold Hill appears very conservative indeed. It is now difficult to believe that these two areas combined have not produced more than a million dollars, perhaps more than a million and a half. in gold. In speculation. perhaps a quarter of a million dollars might be spread among other areas. A total of two million dollars for all seems well within reason: might even be low.

"Mica Mines"

"In 1881 a mine of mica was discovered about 30 miles from Moscow by J. T. Woody. and a short time later a number of other locations were made in the same vicinity." says An Illustrated History of North Idaho.

These mines are on the slope of Mica Mountain. about 4 miles north of Avon. The location of several of them. taken from the U.S. Geological Survey Deary Quadrangle. Some names seemingly have changed. possibly with changing ownership. Anderson la. lb) lists the Muscovite. Bentz, Luella. Maybe. Levi Anderson. Morning Star. Sunshine. and Avon. Mining Districts of Idaho.1903. says:

"The mica mines are situated in the Robinson Mining District. and one of the most extensively developed properties carries a vein eight foot wide that is traced on its strike for 4400 feet of length and is covered by three claims know as the Violet. Atlas, and Morning Star Consolidated Mica Mines. This vein has been prospected to a depth of fifty-eight feet. The largest crystals taken out measured 22 x 36 inches in size and weighed one hundred and seventeen pounds. . There is also a six hundred foot tunnel. . on the property."

The mica occurs as huge crystals within a type of rock called "giant pegmatite." Pegmatites are strange rocks that in some ways resemble both metamorphic and igneous rocks, and in some ways resemble mineral veins. The crystals in them are much more than ordinarily large. In a "giant pegmatite". some of the crystals are huge. The Mica Mountain pegmatites contain giant crystals of mica (muscovite). tourmaline. and beryl. Garnets are also present. not all of these minerals are present. however. in every mine.

Crystals of black tourmaline eight feet long and nearly a foot in diameter - in a mine wall. looking much like a coal seam - have been found. Greenish beryl crystals range from finger size to prisms nearly as large as a man's arm. Mica crystals of volley-ball size are common.

When the mines were opened. it must be remembered that mica - the common isinglass. resistant to heat - was widely used in the transparent windows of stove doors. Flexible. it was used also in window-like panels in side curtains made for horse carriages. "With isinglass curtains you can roll right down. in case there's a change in the weather." says the song. And such was the use even in the side curtains of the early automobiles. Mica is also a good electrical insulator.

The mica has been commercially mined at several times. A considerable amount was taken during World War II for insulation in various types of electrical gear.

Beryl is a source of beryllium. a light. strong metal that can be used in aircraft. However. a demand for this has not yet reached the Avon area deposits.

The emerald, a highly valued gemstone. is actually beryl. To form an emerald. the crystals have to be deep green. and clear. Unfortunately. the Mica Mountain stones are pale green and universally clouded. Yet, there is a chance that transparent pieces may someday be found. The color would be pale, but the stones would be an objects of interest and possible beauty. Such stones called aquamarine). if present. should resist erosion and might appear as pebbles in stream gravels. People walking the streams of the area should keep this in mind.

"Garnets"

Garnets are as widely distributed as the metamorphosed "Belt Series" rocks they come from. Small flakes. present in most stream sands, are pinkish and rose-red. Larger garnets are usually purplish red. brownish. or so densely colored as to appear nearly black.

In the early days. they were called "rubies." Hunting them was quite a hobby. and still is. Amateur "rock hounds." whether they possess rock-polishing equipment or just a fascination with stone, value them highly.

An operation to mine the abundant garnets on Emerald Creek was started a little before World War II, and has continued intermittently. The garnet-bearing gravels were dredged and the garnets washed from them much as is done with gold. Most of these are low-grade stones with no value as gems, but some - occurring as nearly perfect dodecahedral crystals - would be collector's items. The garnets are ground. and the sandy product used - either in "sand paper" or in bulk. as an abrasive.

"Fire Opals"

Small masses and vein-like growths of opal are common in basaltic rocks, but most of it is a drab white or yellow material that is not very interesting. Only occasionally does opal develop "fire" quality. When it does, the stone

"In August. 1890, fire opals were found near Moscow, on the farm of William Leisure." says Mining Districts of Idaho (1903). Homer David (31)says this was on the "Bill Leasure farm north of town. - Very fine quality opals, which tested out to be equal to the finest (Australian stones). . .were found. A booklet was published about Opal Mine, and it said that over $10,000 worth of opals were mined and sold."

Fire opals in some quantity have also been found east of Moscow, near the settlement of Joel.