“Silver & Gold in the Sunlight Blaze”

“Silver and Gold in the Sunlight Blaze”. . In 1860, prospectors struck gold in Nimíipuu (Nez Perce) lands in Idaho’s Clearwater Valley. The news brought miners from California and Nevada, where they had flocked since the Gold Rush of 1849. In 1862, mineral discoveries in southwestern Idaho – the Boise Basin and Owyhee Mountains – drew more people. Merchants and farmers came, too. They established Boise City in 1863 to support the booming mines., From 1861 to 1866, Idaho mines yielded about $50 million worth of gold. This was almost 20% of the total gold mined in the US during that time. President Lincoln created Idaho Territory in 1863 to ensure Union control of this important gold supply during the Civil War., In 1872, Congress passed the General Mining Law. It allowed citizens to tap that vast mineral resources of the US by codifying the common practice of “first in time, first in right.” This gave the miner who “staked the first claim” – or put stakes in the ground to define a claim area – the legal right to the minerals. The law, still largely in effect today, did not acknoweldge traditional tribal use of the land. , Photos inset , Early mining took four forms: , Panning , Hydraulic Mining , Hard Rock Mining , Dredging, Timeline , From Time Immemorial - Indigenous People , 1869 - 1932 - US Treasury Department , 1932 - 1972 - US Forest Service , 1972 - present - Idaho State Historical Society