BY LESLIE REGO
Last week I wrote about the hike to Boulder Basin. This hike fascinates me because at 9,000 feet there is a broad flat valley surrounded by the high peaks of the Boulder Mountains. Finding a large valley at such altitude is unusual. Finding an old mining town like Boulder City is even more unusual. Scattered about this flat area are old cabins, an ore-processing mill, a cylindrical boiler, and steel cables strung from the mill to the steep mountainsides where there are mineshaft openings.
The first mining claim in Boulder Basin was filed in 1879. But mining the wealth in the mountains was not easy. Besides the harsh living conditions, there were constant arguments between the different owners and the firms that mined the area. There was particular rancor against the Canadian firms which the locals felt were interfering with the Idaho mining laws. In the 1930s, J.A. Schultz, who leased several claims, wrote that the foreign entity “refused to give men a bathhouse or change house, kept powder in where the men eat, refused to pipe water for drinking.” He goes on to write “approximately 10 diamond drill holes were put down, all shallow holes, all missed vein except one, due to their engineers rotten figuring. All told, a waste of money.”
When I am in Boulder City, I like to imagine life as it must have been. Certainly the daily views were breathtaking. The sunrises and sunsets must have been spectacular. But the reality of day-to-day living would have been tremendously harsh. Just getting all of the heavy equipment up the steep mountain to build the mill amounted to a tremendous achievement. Add to that all of the steel items, the boilers, the tools, the dishes, pots and pans and the food to feed the quantity of miners, and the logistics of life become even more complicated. With so many people grouped together under difficult conditions, I imagine there were arguments, skirmishes and fights, but great friendships were probably also forged.
When I approached the crumbling structures, I could understand how they have withstood so much time, winter after winter. Even though the buildings are decaying, one can study the construction techniques. The logs are well hewn and beautifully joined. The mill itself was made with heavy timbers connected into an incredibly complicated scaffold-like structure, which is still mostly standing. Enjoy viewing, but do not attempt to climb onto or enter any of the structures. They are a marvel, but far from safe. Viewing the alpine basin is a journey to the past, but the wet meadows and wooden structures are fragile.
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit www.leslierego.com.