Irontown

The Coeur d’Alene Mining District

Deep in the mountains of northern Idaho, where the creeks plunge from elevations reaching 7,000 ft. through forests of white pine, fir and larch into rugged canyons and cedar-studded meadows — once the rich hunting grounds of the Coeur d’Alene — lies a valuable lode of non-ferrous minerals, one of the last American ore fields to be developed. A network of narrow veins, primarily galena, extending through the Precambrian Revett and St. Regis formations, from outcroppings to depths of one mile, are found along the Osburn fault, which runs the length of the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River. When prospectors found placer gold along the North Fork in 1882, the Northern Pacific Railroad, whose newly-built main line passed thirty miles to the east, encouraged a stampede.

The subsequent discovery of silver and lead along the South Fork drew investors and settled permanent communities. Between 1884 and 1886 any claim of consequence was staked. But organization and equipment for driving and timbering tunnels, dynamiting and hauling rock, concentrating ore and transporting it to a smelter required extensive capital. Large corporations rapidly formed to manage the complexity of shops and mills, and to negotiate with the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific, which were building branch lines into the district. Hundreds of laborers and skilled miners, mostly Cornish, Welsh and Irish, crowded into canyon camps like Burke, Gem and Wardner. By 1891 there were forty developed mines and thirteen concentrating mills with an aggregate daily capacity of 2,000 tons of ore.

Corporate power and geographic isolation defined every aspect of early life in the Coeur d’Alenes, but miners responded with progressive and sometimes militant tactics. To maintain their wages, improve safety standards and fight commercial monopolies, they gradually formed a union. Nullifying usurious charges for food and clothing at company stores, they traded with merchants beyond the district. Faced with the blatant inadequacy of company physicians, they built their own hospital to care for sick and injured miners. After the Mine Owners’ Association retaliated with lockouts, injunctions and espionage, precipitating the 1892 Mining War, Coeur d’Alene miners were instrumental in founding the Western Federation of Miners, the country’s first industrial union.

For a century the Coeur d’Alene mining district was a significant factor in the growth of the Pacific Northwest and many industries across the country. Its base metals contributed to the early development of automobile batteries, the internal combustion engine and electrical wiring, while its precious metals helped to finance America’s rise to world power. Since 1884 the Coeur d’Alenes have produced 1.2 billion troy ounces of silver; 8.3 million tons of lead; 3.3 million tons of zinc; 207 thousand tons of copper; and, 529,000 troy ounces of gold. The district’s metals are found in a variety of consumer products, from roofing nails to HDTVs.

Today, mining in the Coeur d’Alenes is a proud tradition whose continuity is critical to the economic vitality of the district’s seven villages and towns. Large areas of the region’s earth crust remain unexplored, due to hazards posed by extremely high rock and water temperatures along the Osburn fault, where spontaneous explosions can occur at great depths. Explorations usually advance by drilling and blasting in the old workings. An unprecedented peak in global metal prices in 2010 spurred development, including the legendary Bunker Hill Mine, but EPA regulations have created considerable challenges for new investment. The Lucky Friday and Galena are the only mines currently producing.

In this 1997 photograph, a fifth generation hard rock miner uses a pneumatic jack-leg drill to install roof support bolts and fencing in a 4 x 11-ft. stope on the 3000-ft. level of Hecla Mining Company’s Lucky Friday Mine in Mullen. Jack-leg drilling requires considerable skill and stamina. Over time, many miners experience muscular and nervous problems from the relentless vibration.

photograph by Guy Saldanha