Prominent pioneers of Idaho’s gold rush,called War Eagle Mountain the “richest and most wonderful deposit of quartz yet discovered in the United States—even eclipsing the famed Comstock Lode of Nevada.”
The War Eagle district has a long and illustrious history of high-grade underground mining, dating back to the late 1800’s. The mines of War Eagle were known to be high grade, with records showing far greater amounts of gold and silver were mined from far less material, resulting in a significantly higher unit value per ton than any other mining operation in the district.
War Eagle Mountain provided the first, significant production within the Silver City district after the discovery of the Oro Fino Vein system on top of War Eagle Mountain. By 1875, 10 shafts ranging in depth from 90 m to 400 m had been dug to access the Oro Fino system and an estimated 500,000 ounces of gold had been extracted. Following the collapse of the Bank of California in 1876, the shafts on War Eagle Mountain were abandoned. In 1899, the American Smelting and Refining Company drove a 3 m by 3 m tunnel 2,133 m into the side of War Eagle Mountain to drain the existing shaft system around Oro Fino and re-start mining. After completing the tunnel, issues arose, and the American Smelting and Refining Company stopped work and the mines sat idle.
The mines at War Eagle were so prolific that Silver City’s population grew to approximately 4,000 people and supported 12 stamp mills.
Quote Source: https://truewestmagazine.com/war-under-the-mountain/
