Photo Essays: 19th Century Boom Town

By: Jacquie Rogers

Many of my western historical romances are set in the Silver City area of Idaho Territory, in Owyhee County (a large county in southwest Idaho with area about the same as New Jersey, but with one person per square mile).  This was a wild and wooly area of the West. 

The gold and silver strike sent prospectors, gamblers, painted ladies, merchants, Chinese miners and merchants, bankers, and newspapermen to Ruby City.  Problem is, the creek liked to flood there so the residents packed up the town, buildings and all and moved them to the Silver City site, where it still stands.

So let's take a tour.  On the right is the sign that tells you how to get there.  I'd advise not to miss the sign.  Oh, wait, there's only one road.  I'd advise you to stay on that road.  If you get lost, you have to pay Owhyee County to hunt for you.  They had to implement this because so many city people got themselves into fixes they couldn't get themselves out of.  It got costly, and the budget just didn't have room for people's errors in judgment.

These pictures are all taken by my daughter, Mercedes Christesen.  Special thanks to her husband, Rodney, for using his day off to chase after pictures for his mother-in-law.  Yes, you get points for that.

Drug Store

Here's the Drug Store.  She wasn't able to get any history on it, but it was either called the Knapp Drug Store or the Model Pharmacy.  Or maybe it was one and then the other.  I think it's just called the Drug Store now.  It's not open for business anymore.  It's a residence now, as so many formerly commercial buildings are. 

There's an open house the weekend after Labor Day every year.  I've been there--great fun!

Silver Slipper Saloon

To the right is the Silver Slipper Saloon.  This is a 20th Century saloon, open from 1918 to the early 1940s but it still looks cool so I included it.  Silver City had many, many saloons and of course also had cribs and a street called Virgin Alley where ladies of ill-repute plied their trade.  On Ghosttowns.com, you can see an older photo of this saloon and the drug store above.

Silver City Trivia:

Houses at its peak, 400: now, 67.  Businesses at its peak, 125: now, 2.  Working mines at its peak, 250: now, 1.  This informaton comes from a sign on the menu at the Idaho Hotel.  The building was constructed in Ruby City and moved to Idaho City in 1866.

Even though Silver City had telephone service by 1880, the telegraph business was thriving for longer distances.

Silver City, Idaho Territory, never did have rail service, but the train service was within a stage ride.  Here's a Union Pacific train ticket:

May 10th. 1869

GREAT EVENT

Rail Road from the Atlantic to the Pacific

GRAND OPENING

of the

Union Pacific Rail Road

Platte Valley Route

Passenger trains leave

OMAHA

on the arrival of trains from the East

THROUGH TO SAN FRANCISCO

In Less than Four Days, avoiding the Dangers of the Sea!

Travelers for Pleasure, Health or Business

(full size photo)

Life was hard in the Old West, especially when you're a couple hundred miles off the beaten path, at over 6,000 feet in elevation.  But this wasn't empty country. A long-standing population of Native Americans from the Bannock and Paiutes were not all that happy about Europeans coming in and ruining their livelihood and cultures.  The next photo is the gravestone of Oliver Hazard Purdy, born September 12, 1824, and killed during the Bannock Indian War in 1879.

Sometimes bad things happen but instead of dying, the perpetrators were put in jail.  It looks as if this jail wouldn't be too secure these days, but it was formidible in its time.

For more cool photos and accompanying descriptions, I highly recommend EdnaPurviance.org and GhostTowns.com.  You can see the school and the church, too, where services are still held.  The Masonic Lodge is still in good condition and is in use as well.

I'll leave you with the coolest hotel ever.  I mean EVER.  This is the Idaho Hotel that I talked about above (menu board trivia).  Yes, you can still stay there--they have 13 rooms in service.  Go to the hotel's website for more cool history about Silver City.

 

Idaho Hotel, in Silver City, Idaho

Much Ado About Marshals takes place in Oreana, Idaho Territory, but the pre-story takes place right here in Silver City.  Stay tuned because another book in the Much Ado series will be set in Silver, and you can bet these buildings will have a strong say-so in how the story goes. :)

Jacquie Rogers writes western historical and fantasy romance.  Her latest release, MUCH ADO ABOUT MARSHALS, debuted #1 in Western Romance at Smashwords, and #2 in Humor. Available also are her contemporary western, DOWN HOME EVER LOVIN' MULE BLUES, a multi-era faery story, FAERY SPECIAL ROMANCES, and a Christmas story, FAERY MERRY CHRISTMAS. She's co-founder of 1st Turning Point, a pay-it-forward website where authors teach, share and learn promotion and marketing.

Scandal: Joe Monaghan

By Jacquie Rogers

Joe Monaghan rode into Ruby City, Idaho Territory, on a quality mare in 1867. Like others there, he was looking for a bonanza at the gold and silver mines to create a new life for himself. Unlike the others, he was too young to grow a beard, slight of stature, and didn't carry firearms.

Historian Mildretta Adams wrote, "A man could live a lifetime in the early days, known only by a nickname. His 'handle' may have been acquired by an incident in his life, his profession, or some distinguishing characteristic. By the same token a man could live and work among others, and be accepted at face value, and no questions asked about the past."

The old-timers (those who'd managed to survive the harsh climate, high altitude, and heavy labor for a year), reckoned it would only be a matter of time before Little Joe headed back East with his tail between his legs, the same as most greenhorns.

The rugged men of Owyhee County scoffed at greenhorns throwing down their shovels and heading for softer country. Little Joe, however, soon earned the respect of even the toughest of men because even though the work was back-breaking, he never faltered. As it turns out, the backaches and the blisters on his hands, didn't faze him, but the scanty findings soon forced him to seek other work, as with so many other optimistic miners.

Soon, he quit his claim and went to work at odd jobs, then started raising small livestock and sold meat, milk, and eggs to the residents of Ruby City. He lived frugally in a small shack for several years, minding his own business and staying away from the bars and bawdy houses.

Eventually, he took the lonely job of a sheepherder; later, a cattle hand. Eventually he settled down on a homestead ten miles from Rockville, Idaho. A responsible citizen always, he never missed voting in an election and always served on juries and posses when called upon.

All along, he was known as an outstanding bronc buster as well as horse trainer, and wrangled the remuda on several roundups. He even performed as Cowboy Joe in Whaylen's Wild West Show: the Greatest Show on Land or Sea. Whaylen would pay $25 to any man who brought a horse that Joe couldn't ride.

But after a year, Joe couldn't tolerate city life any longer and went back home to Rockville, where his closest friend and only company was his Chinese cook. When the cook died, Joe became even more withdrawn from friends and neighbors. In late 1903, Joe took sick and died in January, 1904, of a coughing fit.

The neighboring ranchers came over to prepare him for burial. But...

He was a SHE! The tough old ranchers had been fooled for over 30 years. Little Joe Monaghan--miner, bronc buster, and rancher--was a woman. The tiny town of Rockville was, well, rocked. News spread far with headlines splashed on newspapers across the nation.

No one knows for sure exactly who Joe was. Anna Walters in Buffalo, NY, claimed she was actually Johanna Monaghan and at age eight, had been adopted by the Walters family. They had a picture of Joe with short hair wearing masculine attire. Another possibility is the theory that Joe was a Buffalo, NY, debutant who bore an illegitimate son and was disowned by her family. Joe's sister raised the child, Laddie, who grew up to become a lawyer.

Either premise is plausible--neither can be proved or disproved.

Joe was buried in the local cemetery at the Hat H Ranch near Rockville. She took her secrets with her, leaving us to speculate what made a lovely young woman chose to live and die in one of the roughest of lifestyles.

Sources:
Owyhee County History
More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Idaho Women by Lynn E. Bragg
Historic Silver City: The Story of the Owyhees by Mildretta Adams

Jacquie

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