Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/206



186 HENRY L. TALKINGTON

arrival he taught them the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Com- mandments, and within two months six hundred were bap- tized. But this restless priest went on into Western Montana to the Bitter Root country where he established a mission, and in 1842 he established another mission in Northern Idaho, which he called Saint Mary's and where today remains an old building erected in connection with this mission.

A recent writer in speaking of the Coeur d'Alenes says there is no record of their ever having violated any treaty made by them with our government or of their being at any time un- friendly with the whites.

With the exception of the War of 1878, when Chief Joseph was the leader of the Nez Perces, these Indians, too, have kept the faith with our national government, and their friendship with the whites.

, DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN NORTH IDAHO.

In the spring of 1860 E. D. Pierce, a trader, discovered gold on Orofino Creek near where it empties into the Clearwater. An account of the discovery was soon known at Walla Walla. From there it was passed to The Dalles and on to Portland and San Francisco. Thousands rushed to the new mines and soon prospectors were to be found on every tributary of the Clear- water and Salmon rivers. Rich mines were discovered at places afterwards known as Pierce City, Elk City, Florence and Warren. The miners crossed over the mountains to the south and the famous placer mines of the Boise Basin were soon yielding up their millions, to the miner's pan, the rocker, the "Long Tom" and the sluice box. Fabulous sums were taken out in an incredibly short time. A man named Misener rocked out eighty thousand dollars in six weeks, and another man thirty-six thousand dollars with little effort. The ac- counts of these rich mines soon brought many to central and northern Idaho.