--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Fisher, George H. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 26 number: 3 published: 1923-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'George H. Fisher, "Up the Lemhi Valley", *Improvement Era* 26, no. 3 (January 1923): 268–272.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2603unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2603unse start_page: 268 end_page: 272 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1923-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2603unse publication_year: 1923 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1923, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Up the Lemhi Valley Up the Lemhi Valley By George H. Fisher The old adage that "everything comes to those who wait" has again come true to me. Important business that could not be longer postponed called the Industrial Accident Board to Salmon City, and in company with my fellow associates, Messrs. Lawrence E. Worstell and Chas. E. Duffy, I realized an esteemed privilege of going to that part of the state, which I have much desired for a long time. Accident cases having been set for hearing at Salmon on September 14 and 15, 1922, we went to Mackay by train and on Wednesday afternoon, September 13, by auto from there to Salmon, returning to Mackay Friday afternoon, the 15th., thereby saving time and expense o^er the Montana route, via Armstead. Every minute of the trip was real pleasure; a rare treat to be away from office monotony and for a few days be in the "big outdoors." The vastness of Idaho is staggering. Its magnificent dis- tances are bewildering. Its complicated system of mountain ranges and streams are confusing, yet intensely interesting. We were fortunate in having a good car, driven by an excellent chauf- feur, who made the 120 miles going and coming in the same time — five hours. The highway from Mackay to Dickey, once an old stage station, a distance of about 25 miles, is a fast and good road. On account of the Challis highway undergoing repairs we left the main road at this point and went over the Lost River mountains through what is known as "Double Springs Pass," which gets its name from a cluster of springs a few miles below the 8 200-foot summit on the north side of the range. The wonderful spring bubbles up in a waste and barren spot, and freely gives to all who pass it by, man or beast, a re- freshing draught of the coldest and most palatable natural water I ever tasted. It is located near the upper end of the Pahsimeroi valley, down whose gentle and smooth slopes we rapidly sped over one of the longest stretches of almost perfect natural road that I can recall having travelled before in any part of the country. The soil is very gravelly and vegetation sparse, the ui>j>er portions bein£ covered with only scrub weeds, short jjrass UP THE LEMHI VALLEY 269 and prickly-pear, while along the Pahsimeroi creek, which wends its way in the center of this long, narrow valley, there is a strip of rich meadow lands, an extensive portion of which comprises one of the Wood Live Stock Company's ranches. This company maintains a private telephone line over the mountains to Dickey where main line connection is made. Near the settlement of May the road crosses the Pahsimeroi and divides Custer from Lemhi county. It is about 32 miles from the Double Spring Pass afore- mentioned to the mouth of the Pahsimeroi. In this section in days gone by roamed numerous bands of antelope, according to reports of old settlers. There are yet some remaining, for to our surprise and delight on returning, we came suddenly upon a View of Fort Lemhi, on Lemhi Rwcr, Idaho small drove of nine that sprang up within two hundred yards of us, a few miles below the Double Springs. We were so close that we could detect that the largest one that followed in the rear was a buck. A few being noticeably smaller than the others would indicate that they were young ones. The most important peak of the Lost River range is Mt. McCaleb, the terminus of the 0. S. L. branch of the railroad, the center of a rich mining and stock raising district, with a citi- zenship unexcelled for hospitality. This rugged peak is 11,754 feet high. It was named for Captain McCaleb, who was killed by a roving band of Bannock Indians from Old Fort Hall in the middle seventies, when he came down from Challis to meet a freight team loaded with Divisions, and in charge of a man 270 IMPROVEMENT ERA named Skelton, accompanied by a half-breed, Charles Rainey. In passing through the Lost River mountains one can look back in the distance to the southwest and see bold ridges of the giant Sawtooth range and easily single out old Mt. Hindman which towers skyward to a height of 12,078 feet. After passing into Pahsimeroi valley the Big Lost River and Pahsimeroi chain continues northwesterly on the left and the Lemhi range, having absorbed the Little Lost River mountains, stretches in the same direction on the right. Where the Pahsimeroi stream empties into the Salmon, one finds a magnificent highway that winds down the picturesque canyon all the way to Salmon City, forty-two miles below. The Salmon River is an exceptionally pretty stream; fairly good sized with water as clear as crystal, whose varying depths and artistic curves among the small quaking asp and large cotton- wood trees, scattered along its banks at broken intervals, produce color effects of rarity. The Salmon mountains, now to the left and the Lemhis to the right, as we sped down the easy grade at about thirty miles an hour, unfolded a panoramic view in- describably beautiful. The massive peaks, jagged ridges, and precipitous bluffs coming into and going out of view with dizzy- ing swiftness seemed an eternal revelation of romantic grand- eur. The uncomp arable designs of the Master Architect were the more discernible and impressive because of the peculiar ar- rangement and formation of Nature's mighty bulwarks. Well did the poet say of the great west, "For the strength of the hills we bless thee." A striking feature of the various mountain ranges mentioned is their barren appearance. While the guarded slopes midway up the sides are frequently thickly covered with majestic pines and other evergreens, there is a perceptible absence of under- brush at the base, and the summits are utterly void of vegetation. Because of the uncovered surfaces near the tops, the alter- nating strata of various colored rock in shades of gray, olive, brown, drab, and crimson, were shown to a better advantage in the glaring sunlight of a clear September day. After having gazed intently upon rapidly changing views of awe-inspiring mountain scenery for an entire afternoon, one becomes more or less weary, and the sense of appreciation is somewhat dulled, but when we reached Salmon, praiseful en- thusiasm was revived upon realizing that immediately in front of us, not more than fifteen or twenty miles distant, running in a transverse direction to that of the mountain ranges that we had been following, there stood erect, in bold defiance, the immov- able Continental Divide — the Mammoth Rockies, said to be of about 11.000 feet elevation. UP THE LEMHI VALLEY 271 Salmon City, with a population of about 1,400, situated on both sides of the Salmon River, near the mouth of the Lemhi, at an elevation of 4 000 feet, is strikingly different from most Idaho towns. While it has many substantial and modern build- ings, pretty residences as well as good business houses, there is a verification of age shown in the many log huts of dirt roofs. equipped with wooden shutters. The gold placer mining at Leesburg in the early sixties was probably the attraction that founded the town, and mining operations have done much for its development and support ever since. Well may its residents be proud of its neat looking court house of brick and stone, whose commanding location is probably not excelled by any other county seat in the state. One of the most interesting features of the trip was a drive, during our brief stay in Salmon City, up the Lemhi Valley, OLD FORT LEMHI WALL The Author standing in front of the old wall which, like the Salmon Valley, possesses an extraordinarily fer- tile soil, that produces prolific crops of hay and grain and makes the live-stock induslry prominent. Our objective point was the old Lemhi Fort, which, to many, has considerable historical im- portance. This old site is situated about eighteen or twenty miles east and a little south of Salmon, where the Lemhi Valley is quite narrow, and consists of crude and broken mud walls of mixed clay and gravel which at one time formed a stockade of rectangular shape, in size, I should judge, about 400 by 500 feet. While portions of the walls have been removed entirely and the constant attack of the elements for 67 years have scarred 272 IMPROVEMENT ERA and crumbled the yet remaining portions, much of the structure still stands in a remarkable good state of preservation. From our observation the walls seem now to be about 6 feet high and 2 to 2 1-2 feet thick. The land within and surrounding the walls is now a part of the beautiful ranch owned by Mr. Stephen A. Mahaffey, Jr., of Tendoy, Idaho, who was very courteous in showing us around the place. Tendoy is named for the Indian chief who was always friendly to the whites. Fort Lemhi Mission, named in honor of a Nephite King, (King Limhi, Mosiah 8) mentioned in the Book of Mormon, was the first temporary settlement in southern Idaho. It was located on Friday, June 15, 1855, by a company of "Mormon" settlers in charge of Thos. S. Smith. The industrious little colony pros- pered. Regardless of the almost total destruction of their crops by grasshoppers, in the summer of '56, success attended them. A grist mill was erected and in '57 happiness and contentment prevailed. In the winter and early spring of the following year, however, the assurance of permanent success as a reward for their untiring efforts was suddenly turned into regretful disap- pointment, when an attempted raid of the Indians, to steal and drive away the settlers' cattle resulted in death and bloodshed to a discouraging extent. Thursday, February 26, 1858, George McBride and James Miller were killed, and five others of the party were wounded by a large band of Bannock and Shoshone Indians, near Ft. Lemhi, which was then a part of Oregon; hence the fort was abandoned March 28, 1858. For a more complete account of events connected with this courageous and unselfish effort to settle and develop this portion of our great state of Idaho, now^occupied by so many prosper- ous and liberty-loving people, reference is made to C. J. Bros- man's History of the State of Idaho, pages 80 to 82, inclusive; also the extended narrative in detail of this important mission, its origin, purpose, growth and abandonment, in the Improve- ment Era, September and October, 1900, Vol. 3, pp. 801 and 900. The opportunity to see this venerable landmark was much appreciated and, for one, I should be pleased to see the State acquire title to the same and make reasonable arrangements to preserve the remains of the Fort and properly perpetuate its history for the benefit of future generations. Boise, Idaho.