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 . . . — — Map (db m121513) HM
The fabulous Gold Rush days of Idaho began on September 30, 1860, when W.F. Bassett struck gold just about here.
E.D. Pierce, who knew the country, had led twelve prospectors, including Bassett, out from Walla Walla in August. After news of . . . — — Map (db m121518) HM
This is the site of the graves of the Chinese who died in Pierce. All bodies have been returned to their homeland. Chinese artifcts (sic) broken tools and rotting cabins are still found in the nearby hills. — — Map (db m141099) HM
Charged with hacking a prominent local merchant to pieces, five Chinese were hanged here by vigilantes Sept. 18, 1885.
They were just setting out on a long, hard 240 mile trip from Pierce to face trial at the county seat in Murray when the . . . — — Map (db m121442) HM
Hearing rumors of gold in the hills, Captain Elias Davidson Pierce started his first journey from Walla Walla to this area on August 12, 1860, with a crew of ten. The crew included: Benthnel Farrell (18), Horace Dodge (22), Joseph L. Davis (37), . . . — — Map (db m121490) HM
One summer's night in 1885, it is alleged that five Chinese men gained entrance to the Fraser General Store, while their fellow countrymen set-off fireworks up and down Main Street. It was a stormy night and the fireworks supposedly helped drive-off . . . — — Map (db m121515) HM
Commercial center of Idaho's earliest mining district in the great days of 1861. It flourished here for more than a year.
Pierce City was only 2 miles away but another town sprang up near some rich gold strikes. In its first few weeks, Oro . . . — — Map (db m121517) HM
When the courthouse was built in 1862, Pierce was a boomtown. Gold discovered in the nearby hills was attracting thousands of miners. There was one catch: they were all trespassing on Nez Perce land.
The government solution was to draw up a new . . . — — Map (db m121579) HM
Shoshone County's original courthouse -- and Idaho's earliest public building -- still stands in Pierce., where it was built in 1862.
Although Pierce gained a large population for a year after gold was discovered here in 1860, most of the . . . — — Map (db m121520) HM
A few weeks later, a larger group of men and horses made a second journey to Pierce. The group passed near several Nez Perce Indian encampments, which had not seen many white men since Lewis and Clark passed through almost fifty years prior. The . . . — — Map (db m121512) HM
