Craters of the Moon Historic Context Statements

Mining in the Craters of the Moon Region, 1882-1928:
SUMMARY

Mining played an important role in the development of Idaho. The last four decades of the nineteenth century and the first two of the twentieth century saw a flurry of activity surrounding various rushes. The resulting economic development led to the creation of the Gem state and contributed to the establishment of small communities, which supplied the mines with agricultural products and other goods. At the turn of the century the great booms faded but settlement of Idaho was well underway.

Near Craters of the Moon mining followed a similar pattern. The discovery of the Wood River mines in 1880 heightened interest in more remote regions such as the Lost River country and led to the development of the Lava Creek Mining District in the mid-1880s. Mining interests used the route of Goodale's Cutoff (Blackfoot-Wood River stage road) to reach the new mines, ship their ore, and bring in supplies for the camps. Boom towns like Era and Martin grew and benefited directly from the mining activity, as did the more permanent town of Arco which profited from its location along the freight and stage routes to the mines. Mining peaked in the district by the 1890s, and, though subject to brief revivals, was abandoned by the late 1920s.

Mining touched the monument as well. Prospectors combed the area in search of valuable minerals. For a time, part of a silver mine lay within monument lands, and at least one working mine, the Martin Mine, was developed within Craters of the Moon's present boundaries. Even though mining in the monument was not that extensive, it was connected to mining in the region. For example, the monument embraces a section of the overland trail miners and prospectors traveled over to reach the mines; it contains claim markers and, until recently, the remains of an unsuccessful hard rock mine. All of these vestiges of mining suggest the monument's association with the surrounding Lava Creek Mining District as well as mining in southern Idaho during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.