Lemhi County, Idaho: History
=== Native settlement ===
Habitation of the Lemhi and Salmon Rivers dates back 14,000 years ago. Early natives were spear hunters of big game. The Salmon River was the dividing point among the first cultural split which occurred after 5,000 BC. The Lemhi band of Shoshoni developed culturally in similar fashion to other Shoshoni tribes located south of and east of the Salmon River. The Lemhi band of Shoshoni gained early access to horses and had developed into a migratory culture. They were also known as "Salmon Eaters". Their migratory pattern consisted of fishing for salmon in the Lemhi Valley in the summer, digging camas on Camas Creek in the spring, and hunting buffalo in the Three Forks area of the Missouri River. They were also known to travel to trade with other tribes. The Lemhi band was forced to a reservation on February 12, 1875, even though the tribe failed to ratify the treaty creating it in 1868. The reservation was disbanded in 1907 and the tribe sent to Fort Hall.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition entered Idaho on August 12, 1805, at Lemhi Pass in present-day Lemhi County. Meriwether Lewis and three other members of the expedition were the first Americans of European descent to enter what is now Idaho. For Sacajawea, their guide and interpreter, the Lemhi Valley was her birthplace and her brother was the Chief of the Lemhi band. Clark went out to scout the expedition's route. Within a month, travel down the Salmon and Snake Rivers was ruled out and the expedition headed for Lolo Pass on the Bitterroot Range. Michael Bourdon of the Hudson's Bay Company established the Lemhi Valley as a base of trapping operations in 1822. The region would support trapping operations for about 20 years. Finnan McDonald, Alexander Ross, David Skene Ogden, Jedediah Smith, and Jim Bridger all spent time in the area. Exploration of the full Salmon River from its source to the Snake River did not occur until 1832. Mormon settlers established Fort Lemhi from 1855 to 1858. The settlement was withdrawn after a native attack on the settlement. The first gold miners ventured into Lemhi County in 1862, with miners working the main Salmon River all the way from Salmon down to Slate Creek.
F.B. Sharkey and his party struck gold at Leesburg on July 16, 1866. The rush to Leesburg ensued within a month. A stagecoach route was established from Montana in May 1867 to the present location of Salmon City. Additional discovery of gold occurred at Lemhi in 1867 and Shoup in 1868. Salmon City became the county seat of Lemhi County when it was formed in 1869. Additional mining operations occurred at Yellow Jacket in 1869, Gibbonsville in 1877, Gilmore in 1880, Blackbird in 1892, and Leadore in 1904. The Gilmore and Pittsburgh Railroad was completed from Dubois to Salmon on May 18, 1910. The railroad was built to access ore from Gilmore. The railroad ceased operations in 1940.
Salmon City was platted in 1867. While Salmon has gone by the name Salmon City since its inception, it did not have legal status as a city until around 1900.
Leadore and Patterson were incorporated as villages in 1947. Patterson was disincorporated by 1980. …