The Packers

A pack train in Custer

When word went out in Idaho Territory that prospectors and miners in the Yankee Fork District were in need of pack service, packers promptly moved in. They set up supply stations at various points along the Yankee Fork and situated a main station at the mouth of Jordon Creek…

These so called stations were actually simple lean-tos where packers could stop, rest, and wait for his customers to meet him- all except the main depot. It was constructed of logs; a small, windowless, box like cabin…

The packers began their grueling task of packing much needed machinery and other supplies, from Ketchum eighty-four miles to the south, into the district in the fall of 1877. Their trains were made up of horses, mules, and burros. For the next four or five years the packer’s services were invaluable to the isolated men… The packer’s willingness, and his ability to guide the animals along the thread-like trail that spiraled perilously over rough terrain and down into the valley, made him a unique breed of man…

A pack train was usually made up of fourteen to twenty animals with each carrying an average of three hundred pounds that had to be divided and distributed as evenly as possible in order to balance the load. Lashing and tying a load was a kind of art…

On the whole, the packers were a hard working, conscientious people who never hesitated to brave the dangers in a still wild country. In those days bears were numerous in the district and often caused a great deal of trouble. Horses and mules would sometimes bolt or buck at the very scent of one. As a result many packs were lost down steep mountainsides, or ruined otherwise. Many times a pack animal was pitifully crippled or killed outright, for in their fright they often stumbled and tumbled down the mountainsides, too.

Because it took considerable time to repack and cinch the pack saddles onto the animals, the packer’s day began at dawn. One to three helpers were usually employed, the need usually determined by size of the train and the weight of the loads.

The heaviest loaded pack animal was always placed in the lead to set the pace. Then the train would travel steadily for six to eight hours, averaging from twelve to fifteen miles a day, depending on the weather conditions at the time, and whether the trail was climbing, or descending, or crossing a flat.

The packers knew where the grass grew the greenest, where the water was the handiest, and which places along the route made the best camp grounds. When they stopped for the night, the animals were unloaded and the pack saddles lined up against a nearby log or boulder for reasonable safety. Some packers would hobble one or two of their animals and tie a bell on one of them – while others preferred to tie up’ or stake out a mare. In the latter case, the rest of the animals would usually stay close by. No matter which method was used, the animals had to be constantly watched to prevent them from straying to far from camp. Always, the packers had to be alert to the possibility of a bear putting in an appearance around the animals.

Most of the animals owned by the packers who packed into the Yankee Fork district were well trained and were quick to obey the commands of their masters. Some were even intelligent enough to go directly to their own pack saddles when they were brought into camp in the mornings.

The Early Days

When John G. Morrison heard the news, spread by the trappers, that gold was evidence in the sands of the Yankee Fork, he geared himself; and in the summer of 1873 he made his way across the mountains into the narrow valley of the Yankee Fork.

He was the first prospector to make a strike in the district, locating a rich placer at the junction of Jordon Creek and the Yankee Fork. Before winter set in, he ha hired forty-five men ro help him drift on bedrock under the Jordon Creek channel…

Morrison and his men lived out the winter of 1873 and ’74 in tents grouped beside the stream. With their time limited and because they had to pack all tools and supplies from a long distance on their backs over steep treacherous trails into the district, they chose not to cut and haul logs for the building of shelter.

When the snows came, they soon found it necessary to move about on snowshoes. They did their cooking over open fires, often enduring weather that sent the mercury to 20 and 30 below zero. But these men were a hardy lot and soon became used to the rigors of the country….

Most of them (the prospectors) came packing their meager equipment on their backs. And while a few were fortunate enough to own a burro or a horse, each of them found it necessary to carry special items so essential to their way of life. An ax, gold pan, a pick and shovel made up the tool list, while a coffee pot, frying pan, a dutch oven, eating utensils and a blanket or two made up the remainder of their outfits. The amounts of extra clothing and food staples man carried depended on how strong his back was, or if he afforded a pack animal or not.

A number of the men had canvas tents, but the majority managed to build small, windowless cabins, or construct a dugout at the base of a hillside. A few added rude, rock fireplaces to their cabins to provide warmth and cooking fires. The ones that didn’t, and the ones who live in tents, had to do their cooking over open fires. All of them slept on the ground, since there was no way of securing lumber furniture.

Fish and wild game were plentiful; such was their main fare, supplemented by a few beans, wild berries in season, and dutch oven bread. It became imperative that they be schooled in the ways of the wild in order to sustain life in this primitive land of the Yankee Fork. Oftentimes the men paired up, not so much because they liked one another, but more fore safety and convenience.

These men carried tinder pouches, or tinder horns, just as early pioneers had done, for making fires; matches were not always available, of dependable. A little knowledge of herds used by the Indians for medicine helped broaden their self-confidence, too…

The lives of these men were filled with hardships, privations, and loneliness, especially during the winter months when they were virtually cut off from the outside world by the deep, drifting snows. The location of the Yankee Fork district places it at the highest elevation in the state of Idaho- the elevation at the old town of Custer is 6,376 above sea level- and thus explains why winters in this part of the country are usually so severe. Many of the men left wives and sweethearts behind. Yet, their dreams of finding gold kept them from returning to civilization and to those they loved.

From- “Land of the Yankee Fork” by Esther Yarber

Sagebrush Pioneers Campout

The weekend of July 10'th we will be holding our very first Sagebrush Pioneers camp. We will be located up in the heart of Idaho near the old mining towns of Custer and Bonanza City. The weekend will be devoted to studying the life of the pioneers of that area. Also that weekend in the town of Custer is "Custer Days" which is an event that remembers the pioneers that first came in to this rough land.

Over this next month I will try to post info of the area so that those who come to the camp will have an idea of what happened in those early days of settlement. And don't forget to do some studying yourself.

This is from the book "Land of the Yankee Fork" by Esther Yarber.

Idaho- Within her bosom lies the land of the Yankee Fork. This is gold country. Some authorities say the highest grade ore ever to come out of the state came from here.

The name Yankee Fork derives from a turbulent stream which composes one of the larger tributaries of the Salmon River…

…Rich mineral deposits are laid down here, but because it sits high on the western slopes of the Rockies, deep secure within the southern reaches of the Salmon River Mountains, its winters are long and cruel.

Before the white man came to explore, Indians called it “The land of deep snows,” and never ventured up that way except in the summer months. The trappers, who came next, deemed it foolhardy to remain very long at one time. It was they who reported color in the sands of the Yankee Fork and its tributaries. Yet not until the gold fields elsewhere did the prospectors gather enough courage to search for minerals and brave the winters here.

It was in the Seventies, while Idaho was in her Middle years as a territory, that the first strikes were made. No road into the district was started until 1879, after the building of Bonanza City had begun, the townsite of Custer platted, and outside capital moved in.

After the road was completed and major mining and milling operations got under way, by the mid-Eighties the two towns, located two miles apart on the banks of the Yankee Fork, boasted a combined population of over 5,000 people. The district’s initial boom lasted eight years, followed by a five, then another boom which ended in 1910. These booms were followed by spurts of mining activity ever since.

Today Custer and Bonanza City are ghost towns, many of the mine shafts in the district are empty, and the mills in the vicinities are reduced to remnants and rubble. At the mouth of Jordan Creek, mid-way between the two towns, an old gold dredge of later day operations sits in one of the deep pits of its own making, semi-circled by huge piles of rock and gravel reported to have produced several million dollars in gold during its intermittent operations. More gold is said to be contained in the strembed of the Yankee Fork. But for that matter, it is said that the entire district continues to be an area of potential wealth.