A small group of miners, unsuccessful in their quest for gold in Placerville, headed south towards the Owyhee Mountains. They camped overnight on a small creek that flowed into the Owyhee River and decided to "pan the creek." Michael Jordan's first pan yielded at least a hundred "colors." It was May 1863 and the news of a gold strike spread rapidly. The group panned upstream. The further they went, the richer the yield. The creek was named "Jordan."
Soon 2500 miners were tramping the streams and hills of the Owyhees in search of gold. As the yellow mineral became more elusive, the attention was focused on the huge deposits of silver. Mining camps sprang up all over. Captain J. R. De Lamar developed a complex of mines. In the narrow Jordan Creek Canyon, his town of De Lamar was a strip town - two rows of buildings wide and two miles long with a large hotel, a mill and other essential town buildings. In the red light district, Jeannie Mitchell's house was the fanciest.
Captain De Lamar was doing very well, financially. His mines were producing about a million dollars worth of silver a month. He knew that it wouldn't last, so he sold out to an English company for $1,700,000. The local newspaper, "The De Lamar Nugget," reported that the mines produced over $8,000,000 in silver before they closed down. In surveying the town's assets they reported that nearly every building in the De Lamar's "tough town" was either a saloon, gambling den or a bawdy house.
Boonville was a mining camp of about 250 miners just upstream from De Lamar. Colonial W. H. Dewey arrived in camp and bought out the " Black Jack" and "Trade Dollar" mines. He renamed the town "Dewey." Lumber was in very short supply in the region, so he decided to build a railroad from a lumber mill at Emmett to Nampa, via Middleton and on to Murphy. The Boise, Nampa and Owyhee Railroad was to haul lumber and supplies to the Owyhee mining area, but only got as far as Murphy. From the end of the line, lumber and supplies had to be hauled by wagon over the mountains to the mining camps.
When the banks failed in 1875, mines closed and only the small independents operated for the next 15 years. Dewey started a building program in his town by building an elaborate three story hotel, complete with the finest furnishings, steam heat, electricity and a water system and sewage system. The twelve fire plugs, placed around town, couldn't prevent the fire that destroyed the town, including the hotel, in 1905.
Ruby City was built up on the mountain above Jordan Creek and was Owyhee County’s first county seat. The “Owyhee Avalanche" was the area’s first newspaper and when it printed the news of President Lincoln's assassination on April 29, 1865, the whole town shut down for the day in tribute.
An editorial lamented the fact that "Private enterprise couldn't be expected to build roads, bridges and protect travelers." A route from Owyhee Crossing in Oregon east to the mining areas was needed. A local resident Silas Skinner, decided to do something about it. In 1866, and Idaho Territorial Legislature franchise was issued to him to construct and maintain, a toll road for 15 years. Colonial W. H. Dewey provided financial aid and the road became a reality. In 1878, Owyhee County purchased the Idaho section of the Skinner Toll Road.
Silver City came into being in the spring of 1864, just a half mile from Ruby City. Businesses set up shop, homes were built and soon there were over 10,000 people in the area. It became the new county seat. Outhouses were built over Jordan Creek and soon it became a polluted, smelly, open sewer clear down to the Owyhee River. The "Daily Avalanche" started publication and reported that at least 18 houses of prostitution were operating at one time, as well as several dance halls with "Hurdy-Gurdy" girls. Fortunes were made in town as well as in the mines.
One March 25, 1868, in miner’s civil war broke out between the Elmore and Golden Chariot mines. Seems as though the Golden Chariot mine shafts had been dug deep into Elmore mine territory. Two men were killed and a dozen wounded before Idaho Governor David Ballard intervened to settle property rights. Tempers flared up later when J. Marian More of the Elmore mine was shot dead by Sam Lockhart of the Golden Chariot.
School was held in any vacant building. In 1865 there were 93 pupils getting an education in three different schools. A big, permanent school was built on the hill in 1892 and still stands.
A Masonic Lodge, an Odd Fellows Lodge and Idaho's First Knights of Pythias Lodge were built as well as a Catholic and Episcopal Church.
At the upper end of Jordan Creek was Chinatown with numerous business houses and a Chinese Masonic Temple. It's estimated that, in 1870, there were about 700 Chinese in the area. Chinese funerals were elaborate affairs with much ceremony, band music and feasting. On one occasion, a Chinese band was needed for a funeral but none could be found. An Irish band was hired. They led the funeral procession playing "There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight:" and, at the gravesite, they struck up the tune "Down Went McGinty" as the deceased was lowered into the grave. The Chinese were well pleased with the proceedings.
The Poorman Mine produced over $4,000,000 in silver that assayed $5,000 a ton.
When western banks began to fail in 1875, financing mine operations became difficult and most mining came to a halt. The mining boom never recovered and people began moving out of Silver City, "The Queen of the West."
In 1889 there were two hotels, the "Idaho" and the "War Eagle" (with it’s ghost of a young girl) six general stores, churches and a school, a tin shop, two meat markets, for restaurants, photo studio, the Sommercamp Brewery, a bottling plant, a jeweler, two lumber yards, tailor shop, three barber shops, four lawyers, two doctors and eight saloons.
In 1835, Silver City lost it’s position as county seat to Murphy. The Silver Slipper Saloon, drugstore and a few other businesses stayed until 1942 when the town joined the ranks of other mining towns as a ghost town. There are 70 building standing today for tours to see and reminisce about the past.