Fabulous Florence

Florence was made seat of a new Idaho County on December 20, 1861, before it had survived a winter, and held its first district court the next September. After the white miners moved on, Chinese miners worked the claims from about 1869 to 1880, taking the slower, harder gold the first rush left behind. The cemetery that remains holds rows of wooden headstones, most reading Unknown, and hollows where Chinese miners were buried and later dug up, so their bones could be returned to China as their contracts promised.

What the plaque says

Fabulous Florence Millions in gold-mined mostly in one big year-came from the high mountain basin around Florence 14 airline miles east from here. Early prospectors, fanning south from Pierce-Idaho's first gold camp-came unexpectedly upon rich ground in August 1861. Their secret leaked, golden rumors started an eager rush that fall, and winter famine followed. Next spring, thousands stampeded to Florence, even from the California mines, but the rich claims soon worked out, and the camp had only 575 men by 1863. Today scarcely a trace of the town remains among scars of the old diggings. Original town vanished; side trip ordinarily impracticable. 174 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Heaven's Gate Lookout — 15 mi
  A staffed fire lookout at 8,429 feet on the rim of North America's deepest river gorge, nearly reachable by car.
• White Bird Battlefield — 16 mi
  Six Nimiipuu men rode out under a white flag. A shot came from the soldiers' side, and the Nez Perce War began.

More markers nearby

• Hydraulic Mining — steps away
• Salmon River Canyon — 4.7 mi
• Nez Perce War — 18 mi
• White Bird Grade — 18 mi