War Eagle Mines

The sign's 1884 is a slip for 1864: the War Eagle lodes, the Oro Fino and the Morning Star among them, were found in 1863, and the panel itself has production ending in 1875. The fight that brought the troops was the Owyhee War. On March 25, 1868, Golden Chariot miners broke through into the Ida Elmore workings, and the shooting ran underground and then on the surface for days; J. M. More, a leading Ida Elmore owner, was killed. Governor David Ballard ordered it stopped, and soldiers from Fort Boise arrived on April 2.

What the plaque says

War Eagle Mines For a decade after 1884, most of Silver City's fabulous mineral wealth came from upper War Eagle Mountain, which rises a vertical mile above here. With lodes far richer than those found elsewhere, War Eagle miners fought a series of violent wars for control of valuable claims. Troops from Fort Boise finally had to intervene in a one-armed clash in 1868. San Francisco bank failures ended production there in 1875 and thriving camps became ghost towns. 380

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Silver City — 15 mi
  An Owyhee silver camp that faded but never quite emptied, still lit by twelve-volt bulbs.
• World Center for Birds of Prey — 28 mi
  The hilltop where the peregrine falcon was bred back from DDT, and where condors for the Grand Canyon country still hatch.

More markers nearby

• Diamond Gulch — steps away
• The Utter Disaster — 13 mi
• Steamer "Shoshone" — 13 mi
• Givens Springs — 20 mi