Burke Canyon is the canyon of the Burke-Canyon Creek, which runs through the northernmost part of
Shoshone County,
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
, U.S., within the northeastern
Silver Valley. A hotbed for
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Burke Canyon now contains several
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
s and remnants of former communities along
Idaho State Highway 4
State Highway 4 (SH-4) is a state highway in Shoshone County, in the U.S. state of Idaho. It runs from Interstate 90 (I-90) in Wallace, east to the ghost town of Burke.
Route description
SH-4 begins at an intersection with I-90 in Wallace, t ...
, which runs northeast through the narrow canyon to the
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
border.
Burke Canyon takes its name from the town of
Burke
Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...
; settlers arrived in the canyon in 1884 after
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
,
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
, and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
were found in mines throughout. Between 1886 and 1890, numerous mining communities developed in the canyon. Many of the communities in Burke Canyon saw multiple labor disputes, namely the Coeur d'Alene
labor strike of 1892 and the
confrontation of 1899, which resulted in violent conflict between miners and mine owners.
Populations throughout the canyon's towns dwindled in the late-twentieth century after a series of natural disasters and mine closures, and the last active mine in the canyon was closed in 1991, leaving the majority of the communities unpopulated. The
Environment Protection Agency includes Burke Canyon as part of the
Coeur d'Alene basin's
Superfund sites due to hard metal and waste contamination of Burke-Canyon Creek.
History
Settlement
Gold was initially discovered in the early 1860s in the mountains to the north of the Snake River basin, which gave way to a large influx of prospectors.
Silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, and other minerals were subsequently discovered. Idaho experienced boom after boom, and mining towns arose overnight, boomed, and then disappeared as the miners left for the latest rush. In 1884, miners discovered significant amounts of silver,
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
, and
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
at the Tiger Mine in Burke Canyon. The Tiger Mine was sold to S.S. Glidden for $35,000.
In 1887, Glidden began construction on a three-foot-wide railway to transport
hardrock ore out of the Tiger Mine. Meanwhile, a buildup of of ore had accumulated from the various mines in the canyon, leading to the establishment of the Canyon Creek Railroad, which had its first shipment to
Wallace
Wallace may refer to:
People
* Clan Wallace in Scotland
* Wallace (given name)
* Wallace (surname)
* Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back
* Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...
on December 12, 1887.
[ The establishment of the railroad coincided with that of the town of ]Burke
Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...
, from which the canyon takes its name. Burke was the largest mining community in the canyon, with a peak population of 1,400 in 1910. The community of Gem, just south of Burke, had been established in 1886. Both Gem and Burke attracted various miners as well as a large number of Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
immigrants.
By 1903, Burke Canyon was the most developed mining region in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains and was home to seven dividend-paying mines: the Gem of the Mountains, Frisco, Mammoth, Standard, Hecla, Tiger-Poorman and Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
mines.
Civil unrest and natural disasters
On July 10, 1892, miners called a strike which developed into a shooting war between union miners and company guards. The first shots fired were exchanged at the Frisco mine in the early morning hours of July 11. The gunfire ignited a stock of dynamite in the Frisco Mill, causing the four-story mill to explode and kill six people. The violence soon spilled over into the community of Gem. From there, union miners who had successfully shut down both the Frisco and the Gem mines travelled west, to the Bunker Hill mining complex near Wardner, and closed down that facility as well. The Idaho National Guard
The Idaho Military Department consists of the Idaho Army National Guard, the Idaho Air National Guard, the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, and formerly the Idaho State Guard. Its headquarters are located in Boise. The main goal of the Idaho M ...
and federal troops were dispatched to the area. The incident marked the first violent confrontation between the workers of the mines and their owners.[ Hostilities would erupt at the Bunker Hill facility once again in 1899. In both disputes, issues included pay, hours of work, the right of miners to belong to the union, and the mine owners' use of informants and undercover agents.][ Violence committed by union miners was answered with a brutal response in 1892 and in 1899.
Burke Canyon was the site of several natural disasters as well. Two major ]avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain.
Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and eart ...
s struck the canyon in the twentieth century: one on February 4, 1890, which killed three; and another in February 1910, which buried and killed twenty-five people. In the days after the February 1910 avalanche, snow and rock continued to dislodge from the canyon walls, inflicting additional damage on the towns of Burke and Mace, and causing numerous deaths.[ In August of that year, the Great Fire of 1910 would cause further damage to the communities in the canyon.][ Three years later, in May 1913, the communities were stricken by heavy rains that resulted in significant floods.
The Northern Pacific railroad considered discontinuing service through the canyon after the depot was damaged in a July 1923 fire.][ The railroad also cited increased automobile traffic as a reason for discontinuing the line.][ By 1939, the rail to Burke had been officially closed, and the tracks dismantled.][
]
1980s–present
By the late twentieth century, mining operations in Burke Canyon had slowed considerably. The Hecla Mine in Burke officially ceased operations on June 30, 1983, due to low metal prices.[ The last mine in Burke officially closed in 1991, and the town and several of the surrounding communities became ]ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
s.[ Around 2010, the Hecla Mining Company has been exploring the potential of exploiting additional resource deposits in the Star mine. As of December 2012, Hecla invested $7 million in rehabilitation and exploration with published estimates suggesting the potential to recover in excess of 25 million ounces of silver from the site with significant zinc and lead deposits also present.]
Geography
The structure of Burke Canyon resembles a narrow gulch
In xeric lands, a gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Sudden intense rainfall upstream may produce flash floods in the bed of the gulch. ...
, roughly across, with steep cliffs and hills on both sides. The hillsides of the canyon are so steep that the community of Burke only receives around 3 hours of full sunlight during winters.
Climate
Burke Canyon experiences a continental climate, marked by warm summers and cold, snowy winters.[
]
Communities
In 2002, it was reported that around 300 people lived in or near the canyon. There are numerous communities and former communities located along Burke-Canyon Road in Burke Canyon, though several are now ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
s. The communities include:
Environmental concerns
Mining effects
Decades' worth of mining activity resulted in various metals leaching into Canyon Creek, contaminating much of Burke Canyon. Leftover waste rock from mines leached cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...
, lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
, arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...
, and zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
into the creekbed. Ecologists found that long stretches of Canyon Creek were entirely uninhabited by fish due to the high levels of metal content in the water.[ Canyon Creek is considered one of the Coeur d'Alene basin's Superfund sites.][ The metals leached in Canyon Creek were partially responsible for the contamination of the Coeur d'Alene River, the most heavy-metal contaminated river in the world. In 2010, the ]United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...
(EPA) moved forward with plans to dispose of leftover rock piles and contaminated soil in Burke Canyon.[
Various metals also impacted the local water supply of Burke Canyon: After the closure of the last mine in Burke in 1991, residents' water supplies continued to be sourced from pipes that extended into abandoned mine shafts. Consequently, the metal content of Burke's water supply was fifty times above that of federal water quality standards.][
In 2001, the EPA offered to buy out residents of Burke Canyon, citing water contamination in Canyon Creek, but residents refused.][ The following year, the EPA ordered the town of Burke to comply with the ]Safe Drinking Water Act
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the principal federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for drinking wa ...
; however, given the small number of homes within the boundaries of the town, it would have cost each household an estimated $48,000 per year.[
]
Waste disposal
For decades, raw sewage was emptied via pipelines directly into Canyon Creek from the residences in Burke Canyon. By the turn of the twenty-first century, citizens of Burke had continued to dump up to of raw sewage into Canyon Creek per day.[ In 2004, the Panhandle Health District (PHD) and Idaho Department of Environmental Equality (DEQ) tested homes in Burke to identify contaminations, finding a total of thirty occupied homes discharging untreated waste into the creek.][ In 2007, the DEQ sequestered $220,000 in order to help residents install new septic systems to prevent further contamination.][
In 2016, the EPA announced its plan to construct a waste repository in lower Burke Canyon in order to alleviate waste accumulation in Wallace.] Some residents of the canyon objected to the repository, citing further pollution from diesel trucks used to transport waste in the canyon.[
]
Gallery
File:Frisco Mill after July 11, 1892 explosion.jpg, Frisco Mill after July 11, 1892 explosion
File:BurkeID.jpg, Overhead view of Burke in the Burke Canyon
File:Flood gate (15187662419).jpg, Flood gate along Burke-Canyon Creek
File:Mine shaft near Burke, Idaho.jpg, Entrance to Standard-Mammoth Mine in Mace
File:Mine entrance (15371161171).jpg, Covered mine shaft above Burke
File:Hecla-Mine idaho-2016.jpg, Hecla Mine Co. building in Burke
See also
*Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor strike of 1892
The 1892 Coeur d'Alene labor strike erupted in violence when labor union miners discovered they had been infiltrated by a Pinkerton agent who had routinely provided union information to the mine owners. The response to the labor violence, disastro ...
* Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor confrontation of 1899
*Hercules silver mine
The Hercules Mine was one of the richest lead/silver mines in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains in Burke, Idaho. It was discovered by Harry L. Day, a bookkeeper and clerk, and Fred Harper, a local prospector. In 1923 the mine owners founded the Day Min ...
Notes
References
Works cited
*
*
*
*
External links
Burke Canyon
at VisitNorthIdaho.com
at North Idaho Rivers and Creeks
{{authority control
Canyons and gorges of Idaho
1880s establishments in Idaho Territory
Geography of Shoshone County, Idaho
Ghost towns in Idaho
Labor disputes in Idaho
Labor-related violence in the United States
Landforms of Shoshone County, Idaho
Miners' labor disputes in the United States
Mining in Idaho
Mining communities in Idaho
Silver mining in the United States
Water pollution in the United States