Three Hags, Three Dogs, And A Brat in Idaho City

Idaho City is a 200-square-mile area located in the Boise Basin area about 40 miles north of Boise. Gold was discovered on August 2, 1862, near Grimes Creek, near Centerville, by a small prospecting party. After one of this party's leaders, George Grimes, was killed by Indians, they went back to Walla Walla, Washington. In October 1862, a larger party returned to the area to look for more gold and fortune. Soon settlements sprouted up throughout the Boise Basin, and Bannock City was founded in December 1862. In March 1863, President Lincoln established the Idaho Territory and in 1864, Bannock City was renamed Idaho City.

After gold was found on Bear Run Road, over 20,000 miners flocked to Idaho City as far as St. Louis and San Francisco to find their fortune. In 1863, a writer for a San Francisco newspaper described Idaho City as "Perfect Pandemonium: The town gutted with ditches, sluices, and hydraulics; the cross streets blockaded by lines of Missouri wagons; gravel and boulders strewn about; muddy aqueducts, no longer needed sluggishly rolling to their natural bed; 33 whiskey shops lines the town's 1 1/4 mile principal street, the average receipt of the busier ones being per day."

On May 18, 1865, a fire destroyed most of Idaho City, but the residents of the town quickly rebuilt, and most of the buildings that you see there today are built from 1865-1929.

My second visit to Idaho City was with Mom, our friend Linda and her friend Rita and her dog Malachai, and our two dogs, Loki and Katie. It was a better visit than my first one with my ex-boyfriend because of the company I was with, and a lot more activity was going on this sunny Memorial Day Monday. There was antiquing among many of the old shops in Idaho City for Rita and Linda while Mom and I went sightseeing around the many sights of Idaho City.

Quick Tips:

Idaho City is accessible year-round, but it is probably best to see it in spring or summer when most of its sights and shops are open and accessible.

Make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes and bring water and suntan lotion. It was very hot during our May visit to Idaho City and failure to put on sunscreen meant a nice little sunburn for Yours Truly. If you bring your pets like Mom and I did, make sure that they are leashed. Mom and I were able to let Loki and Katie run loose in the Pioneer Cemetery, St. Joseph's Church grounds, and John Brogan Park.

There are many restaurants in Idaho City including Trudy's, but I would recommend a picnic lunch in John Brogan Park near the Old Miner's Cabin and mining equipment on display in the park. Picnic tables are there, and kids and pets can run free.

Best Way To Get Around:

The only way to get to Idaho City is by car via Highway 21. If you are traveling from the Boise Area, take Federal Way and turn left at Gowen Road (Highway 21). Another way to get to Idaho City is to take the Broadway Exit off of I-84 and turn onto Warm Springs Avenue and get onto Highway 21 from there. Don't miss stopping at scenic Lucky Peak and possibly seeing some deer or elk grazing there. Highway 21 is also accessible from Highway 55 at Banks, but during winter, Highway 21 can be closed in some areas for days or weeks at a time due to snow, avalanches, or mudslides. So, contact the Idaho Department of Transportation before visiting Idaho City to make sure that Highway 21 is open and accessible.

Once in Idaho City, the best way to get around is by walking. The town is small enough to see in a day, and you can park your car at the Information Center while you go sightseeing.

After a long day of sightseeing around Idaho City, my boyfriend and I were starving. When we arrived at Idaho City, we were told at the information center that Trudy's was the best restaurant in town. So at about 1:30, we drove the car about 1.5 miles down Highway 21 to Trudy's Restaurant and Catering.

We weren't disappointed at all. Upon arriving, the waitress kindly told us to take a seat anywhere. I was glad the entire place was smoke-free. So we took a seat near the window facing out to the road and waited for our menus and waitress.

Our waitress was the only one on duty that afternoon, but she was courteous when she finally made it over to our table. She quickly got us some tea and went to take care of the other customers, mostly locals enjoying a holiday lunch.

After about 10-15, our waitress took our order and it was ready for eating in about 10 minutes. I was surprised it was made quickly. Robert had an open-faced roast beef sandwich smothered in gravy while I had baked halibut smothered in mushrooms and a butter and tarragon sauce. No knife was needed for my halibut for it flaked off easily and was delicious. Our dinners came with homemade mashed potatoes with plenty of lumps. It was comfort food at its best, and I couldn't finish my potatoes after the halibut, salad, and warm bread that was served with my meal. Robert cleaned his plate.

Trudy's is known throughout the area for its great homemade pies and I couldn't resist dessert. I ordered a piece each of apple and cherry pie to take home and watch some movies at Robert's house. The apple pie was just like Mom's with fresh apples, but the cherry was ordinary with canned cherries, but it satisfied my sugar cravings 100%.

Trudy's is open daily from 8 am to 7 pm and does local catering. Prices range from $6 for sandwiches and $14 for seafood, which is caught locally. It is the best place in town to eat for locals and us modern day pioneers after a day of sightseeing.

The Boise Basin Museum is located on Montgomery Street in what used to be Idaho City's post office/general store from 1867-1910.

After the original Post Office was destroyed in the fire of 1865, Postmaster James Pinney built the current building in just 29 days in 1867. Pinney lived in one part of the building while he sold stamps, books, guns, knives, and other merchandise in the other half. The building also served as a library for those rare miners who read books.

Pinney resigned as postmaster of Idaho City in 1872 and from 1872-1910, it was still the post office, but also a meat market and where the "Idaho World" newspaper was published. In 1953, the old post office was deeded to Idaho City for $10, and the present-day museum was opened during the Gold Rush Days of in June 1958 and is run by the Idaho City Historical Foundation.

The museum was open on this Memorial Day, and the costumed guides were all over Idaho City because they were participating in a show that ran hourly at the outdoor theater on Main Street. Having our restless dogs with us didn't allow us a chance to visit the museum itself, but we enjoyed seeing the costumed guides around town and talking with some of them. Due to gunfire and Katie's aversion to loud noises, we had to pass on the show while we were there, but we heard it was really interesting.

There were not many literate miners living in Idaho City in the 19th century, but every town needs a newspaper for its residents to keep up with world events and the Civil War that raged thousands of miles away.

"Idaho World" newspaper was founded in 1863 by the Butler Brothers. They found printers and a blacksmith in the mining camp to get the paper started and subscriptions cost $12 or 3/4 ounce of gold. The newspaper published pro-Union and Confederate papers, which was a big topic of discussion during this time.

The Idaho World building was built in the same style as the Merc to prevent fires. It was used for other businesses for short periods of time, but most of its time it was the newspaper office. Today, Idaho World houses an exhibit of historical printing equipment.

Mom was bummed that the Idaho World building was closed on Memorial Day because she would have loved to have gone inside to see the printing equipment. Her father worked for the "Providence Journal Bulletin" in Rhode Island in the middle of the 20th Century, and she was a proofreader for an insurance company's printing facility many years ago. It would have been a sentimental visit for her, but it will have to be done another time.

It was Memorial Day, a holiday here in Idaho, and the Boise County Courthouse was closed for tours and business. So, we were not able to see the interiors of most of the buildings that still stand from the 19th century.

Although Idaho City is a tiny town, it is the county seat of Boise County and is the sight of most of the county business that goes on. Some of the old buildings in Idaho City are still active places of business, and the Boise County Courthouse is one example.

The Boise County Courthouse was built in 1871 with brick and iron. At first, the building was a general store then a hardware store. It was known as the Orchard Hotel until 1909 when the original courthouse on Montgomery Street was falling apart by then. So the county bought the Orchard Hotel and turned it into the current Boise County Courthouse.

The Boise County Courthouse is open Monday to Friday from 8 to 12 and 1 to 5 (closed for the lunch hour between 12 and 1). When the courthouse is open for business, you can go inside during sessions to tour around, but please be quiet so not to disturb the goings on in the courtroom and offices.

After Mom and I finished our tour of several of the sights in Idaho City, we returned to John Brogan Park to catch our breath and let Loki and Katie cool off in the muddy creek ("Oh I love that dirty water!" was the song going through my head as I watched the brats wallowing in the water) one more time before heading to Pioneer Cemetery.

I looked across the road past the Masonic Lodge and saw another old building that I needed to go and check out. Katie seeing that one of her Mommies was going somewhere without her, came out of the creek and followed me across the road. The building was another jail, this time the Idaho Territorial Jail. "You don't behave yourself, Kaitlin, and I'll lock you up in there without your supper!," I joked to the wet and dirty Katie.

Idaho was a part of the Oregon Territory until it gained statehood in 1890. The Idaho Territorial Jail was established in Idaho City in 1864 and housed many inmates until 1875. It is a wooden structure with two tiny cells that Katie and I were able to take a quick tour of in a short period of time. There is no furniture, just the shell of the building that is still intact after all of these years.

After Katie and I returned to the park, I told Mom about the prison, and she and Loki (another dog with separation anxiety problems!) made their way across the road to see what it was all about. It isn't much to talk about, but it is a building that is part of Idaho history.

When our friend Linda, Mom, and I made plans to go to Idaho City on Memorial Day Monday, I suggested we have a picnic in John Brogan Park in order for us to bring our dogs Loki and Katie and let them have a run around the park and us to enjoy the day.

John Brogan Park is located on Montgomery and Commercial Streets and was established by the Idaho City Foundation in 1960. It is an outdoor park and museum with exhibits of old mining equipment and buildings dating from Idaho City's mining heyday in the late 19th century.

Picnic tables were all over the park for our dining pleasure, and there is a creek that Loki and Katie discovered right away and dove in to cool off before we got our coolers out of the car. Mom and I were dreading the idea of having to bathe the two Pig Pens since the water was muddy and colored rust from the pipes that went into the creek. But that didn't phase Loki and Katie, who would lay down in the water and enjoy their mud bath before getting tied to a couple of trees so that we could eat dinner.

Dogs tied up and looking like urchins, Mom, Linda, Rita, and I dug into our picnic lunch of homemade BBQ chicken, coleslaw, pasta salad, avocados, and cookies. Several times, Loki and Katie broke off their leashes and went and growled at Rita's dog Malachai or went to check out the big family of picnickers at the other tables. "Yogi Bear wouldn't be able to get in here without these guys around," I quipped after one of Loki's escapes.

The first time I came to John Brogan Park, it was wintertime, and snow prevented me from exploring the Miner's Cabin and old mining equipment more in depth. Now, in late spring, I was able to explore the Miner's Cabin and equipment. The Miner's Cabin and other equipment have been moved to John Brogan Park from other parts of town after they became obsolete.

"People must have been shorter in the 19th century," Mom said as she got a closer look at the miner's cabin. "It looks claustrophobic without windows," I said, but Mom saw that there were two tiny windows on a closer look at the place. Inside the cabin (you can only see it through the window on the side) was a bed, a table, and a wood stove in rough shape, but it gave us an idea of how rough the miners had it in the 19th century.

The Idaho City Firehouse is a very tiny building that used to be located on the hill above Idaho City. The old location gave the firemen a running start to fires with their hose truck.

John Brogan Park is open every day, sunrise to sunset, and is free of charge to picnic and relax in or to see the sights within.

"A wagon load of cats and chickens found its way into these diggins' a month or so since and have found an excellent market. Cats brought $10 and chickens $5 each. Chickens have come down to $36 per dozen, but cats maintain the former rates with an upward trend. Dogs are a drug on the market."--"Idaho World" 1863 report on the Boise Merc.

The Boise Basin Mercantile, or Merc as its known by the locals, is located on the corner of Main and Commercial Streets in Idaho City. The Merc is three separate buildings built during a 3-year period (1867-69) of reconstruction after a devastating fire in 1865. The new building was constructed from brick and iron to prevent another fire from destroying the place. Today, the Boise Basin Merc is the oldest mercantile market in Idaho and still in operation as an antique store during the summer.

During the 19th-century mining heyday of Idaho City, the Merc was the miners' supply and grocery store, then known as the Universal Store. Miners could find almost everything they needed to survive in the mines in the hills outside of Idaho City.

It was very busy at the Merc on our Memorial Day visit, with the antique shop bustling and the little souvenir shop in the Merc hopping, too. Most of the shop owners of Idaho City were working in 19th-century costumes for the tourists' entertainment.

The antique store was a very interesting place to visit. They had a lot of their wares outside for a sidewalk sale, and it was fun for Mom, Linda, Rita, and I to look at the old skis and washer boards on display. Loki and Katie got restless and knocked over a metal washstand, but I picked it up before there was trouble. Rita loves antiques and shopping for antiques and went inside the store to see what they had while Mom, Linda, and I waited outside with our dogs. Many of the locals loved seeing Loki and Katie, our dogs, and our little brats loved the attention! One lady rolled down her car window as she and her family rode down Idaho City's main drag and wondered what kind of dog Katie was. Mom told her that Katie was just a mutt who had just been shaved for the summer, and I quipped, "She's an Ewok!" When that fur grows in and with her chubby body, Katie starts to resemble one of those furry creatures from Return of the Jedi.

The Merc is open daily and good for buying modern-day supplies or just to looking around to see what life was like in the 19th century.

Before Mom, Loki, Katie, and I went to see St. Joseph's Catholic Church and The Odd Fellows Lodge of Idaho City, we stopped at the information center for a bathroom break. While I was in the restroom, Mom waited outside with our restless brood. There were some costumed residents of Idaho City hanging around outside the information center and talking with the tourists. One of the cowboys had a cap gun looking like a six shooter. He fired it for the tourists. This scared the crap out of Katie, who broke out of Mom's hold to points unknown. The gun-slinging cowboy caught Katie by her leash as we caught up with him. He apologized for scaring Katie, and we were on our way.

We had lost Linda and Rita by this time, so we decided to go up to St. Joseph's Church and the Odd Fellows Lodge on our own to get away from the tourists and "Wild Bill" and his gun for a while.

St. Joseph's Church and the Odd Fellows Lodge are located next to each other at the top of the hill on Luwalla Street in Idaho City. Seeing that we had to climb up another hill to see another church (Silver City last year), Mom said, "Why did they build their churches on the hill?" I think it was because it was closer to heaven, but I am not sure. St. Joseph's Church was originally founded in 1864 by the Catholics. It was established in Idaho City to serve the many Irish Catholic miners who had come to America to find fame and fortune. The original church building was destroyed in the fire of 1865 and rebuilt in 1867. Like Silver City's Our Lady of Tears Church, St. Joseph's Church is a tiny white building with a bell tower and stained-glass windows. Due to the holiday, it was closed for tours. Mom was bummed out because she wanted to go inside for a minute to get a picture of the interior for her brother in Rhode Island. I told her she could have a copy of an exterior shot for him. After touring the outside of the church, we walked over to the Odd Fellows Lodge. The current Odd Fellows Lodge, or I.O.O.F. Hall, was built in 1875, 10 years after the fire of 1865 destroyed the original building. The new building was built on the hilltop over Idaho City to prevent future fires from destroying it. Question: If they were preventing fires, why did they build the new lodge with weather-beaten wood, wood pegs, and square nails? The upper floor of the Odd Fellows Lodge was used for lodge meetings, while the lower floor was used for social gatherings. The lodge went under a complete interior overhaul in 1941, but the exterior still remains the same.

St. Joseph's Church is still used for Mass on Sundays and is open for touring daily, except on holidays.

Mom and I had lost our friends Linda and Rita after splitting up to go to the restroom, so Linda put word around the town that she was looking for two ladies with two dogs, one of them shorn (Katie). As we were looking for Linda and Rita on Main Street, one of the costumed residents of Idaho City asked us if we were Dianne and Ann. We said yes, and we were told that Linda and Rita were looking for us. Katie, who is usually shy, greeted the lady, and then she told us that there was a show in a few minutes. We told her that Katie had just run off after one of the cast members shot off his gun, and she warned us that the skits had gunfire. So, Mom and I had to pass on the play and decided to go and see the buildings on Montgomery Street.

The first building Mom, the dogs, and I came across on Montgomery Street was the Idaho City Jail and Pest House. This building was built in the 1860s and first used as a Pest House to house people with contagious diseases. The Pest House and jail was open for us to see the remodeled interior of the place that contained an old metal tub and other medical tools and instruments used to treat infected miners and residents of Idaho City in the 19th century. By the early 20th century, the Pest House was no more and the building became the Idaho City Jail, housing drunks and other lawbreakers until the 1930s. Isn't that another form of pest control?

There are two other buildings near the Idaho City Jail and Pest House that deserve recognition in this journal, The Blacksmith's House and the Galbreaith House, which are the oldest buildings in Idaho City. The Blacksmith's House and the Galbreaith House are located on Montgomery Street in Idaho City. Originally located in other parts of the town, these two buildings were moved to its present locations and restored by the people of Idaho City.

The Blacksmith's House was built around the mid-1860s and served many of the residents in Idaho City for its metal works. It wasn't until the 1870s and a few fires that the blacksmith's business really got going due to many buildings being reconstructed from brick and iron and not wood. The Galbreaith House is the oldest house in Idaho City. Built in the early 1860s, this tiny house was the residence of the Galbreaith family for many years until it was given to Idaho City as a historical treasure. Both the Blacksmith's House and the Galbreaith House are open during the summer for public viewing, but iron gates or locks prevent one from touring the interiors, so you have to just look in the windows or through the gate bars to see the interiors. The Blacksmith's House was old and dusty and full of blacksmith tools and projects. The Galbreaith House was painted white, and its interior was remodeled to its 19th-century style and furnishings. The living and dining area was one tiny area with a wood stove, while the tiny bedroom is located off of this area in the back.

Both of these houses are open only during the summer tourist season and are well worth less than a half an hour of your time to see.

Our last stop of our day in Idaho City was to the Pioneer Cemetery. Located outside of town off the road to Placerville, another Idaho mining town, this cemetery has been the final resting place of over 3,000 of Idaho City's residents. The cemetery is so crowded that no more bodies are being accepted for burial even if residents have a family plot there. My friend Dianne was telling us last night that her friend's sister died last year, and they had to get special permission to bury her in Pioneer Cemetery with her family in the plot but after that, no more bodies can be buried there. The cemetery is on a huge plot of land, so Mom, Rita, and I were able to let Loki, Katie, and Malachai run loose through the place. They enjoyed running around the grave stones and getting some well-needed exercise before going home. Mom, Linda, Rita, and I walked around looking at many of graves of Idaho City's colorful residents. We couldn't believe how young people died in the 19th century, and this cemetery is still in use today, so there are many fresh graves in Pioneer Cemetery, too. Linda thought the graves that were fenced in with wooden or iron fences gave the cemetery a charming look, and there were wildflowers galore. Due to it being Memorial Day, there were several people in Pioneer Cemetery putting flowers on their loved ones' graves. While the newer graves were taken care of with new stones and flowers, the older graves were showing signs of wear and tear and neglect. But there was one gravestone that made Linda, Rita, Mom, and I laugh out loud. The woman had died in 2003, and her gravestone was a wooden sign that said, "Faunelle E. Casner 1911-2003. Rest in Peace. You never gave us any."

We spent about a half-hour in the cemetery and were getting ready to go home to Meridian. We rounded up Loki and Malachai, but we couldn't find Katie. "Katie! Where are you!" we yelled as we walked down the cemetery's hill. Rita was ahead of us and said, "Here she is!" Our little tramp Katie was laying at the cemetery's gates, wagging her tail and rolling over on her back for anyone who would pay attention to her. BRAT!!

The Pioneer Cemetery is open from sunrise to sunset year-round and free to visit, but there is a little bucket at the gate asking for donations to maintain the appearance of the cemetery.