Boom & Chinese of Pierce

Boom and Chinese of Pierce. . , During the gold rush boom, the population exceeded 6,000. At that time Pierce was actually located in Washington Territory. In 1861, Pierce became the first established gold rush town in Idaho, and the county seat of Shoshone County. In 1862, the county built a courthouse/jail at a cost of $3,700, which was Idaho's first governmental building (still standing behind the J.H. Bradury Logging Museum in Pierce). The Idaho Territory was established in 1863 and Pierce remained the Shoshone County Seat until 1885, when the county seat was moved to Murray. Lewiston, which was a prospering tent city as a result of providing supplies to the miners of Pierce, was actually Idaho's first capitol in 1863. (A late-night theft of the state's seal and archives ended that claim in 1866.) , Between 1861 and 1866, it is estimated that $3.4 million was produced in the area. By 1885, however, the town of Pierce ha decreased significantly in population. Most of the white men had moved on to more promising gold strikes to the south and east. When they left, the Chinese moved in, leasing and working the abandoned claims. There was a great deal of friction and lack of trust between the Chinese and remaining white men, which caused a number of violent incidences on both side. , Text adapted from Layne Gellner Spencer's "And Five Were Hanged", c 1971.)