"Rear View" from Regional History

By Olivia Terry

In this image from the Union Pacific Photo Collection, an Alaskan Husky enjoys a moment of rest on a dog sled in a snowy setting in front of Sun Valley’s Opera House. The dog’s stoic pose only hints at the glamorous life of Sun Valley’s sled dogs of days gone by.

In the early days of the Lodge, guests could cozy up under furs and take a dog sled tour through the golf course or a longer, fifteen mile trip through the Wood River Valley.

When Claudette Colbert visited Sun Valley to film I Met Him in Paris in 1937, she and her mother were photographed with Sandy Brooks, the resort’s dog musher, for publicity.

But the dogs of the Sun Valley Kennels lived equally glitzy lives as the celebrities they pulled behind them. Sun Valley Kennels raised and trained dogs to form three complete teams of Alaskan and Siberian Huskies. An article appearing in the January 1952 edition of The Valley Sun shares that the three teams were led by Spike, Yukon, and Jack. They were frequently flown all across the country, appearing in films like Road To Utopia (1946) and Woman of the North Country (1952) in Los Angeles. The dogs also flew to New York City to appear in front of a live studio audience on the Ken Murray Television Show.

The dogs were trained  rigorously to be able to individually pull seventy-five pounds and were fed two-to-three pounds of meat daily. Teams of nine or eleven dogs were formed, depending on the freshness of snow. Guests could count on the dogs to be extremely disciplined, but equally personable and friendly, adding to the magic of the Sun Valley Winter-Wonderland.

By Kelley Moulton

The fall season is in its final days as the weather takes a turn for the cold, but pumpkin patches and apple trees are ripe for picking.

This undated image from The Wood River Journal Photo Morgue shows Ron States from S&N Produce assisting an unidentified woman at a fruit stand choose some apples. The stand is full of some seasonal favorites along with apples in the shapes of pumpkins, a box of sweet corn, and cider as well as a more tropical option of pineapples. Others browse the selections around the stand and the question of what fall treats are hidden outside of the image piques our interest.

As we head into what is for some the long-awaited winter, take a break and stroll through the leaves or find a corn maze to savor the last little bit of fall. Gather a pumpkin or two and carve a design to show off this weekend during the Halloween festivities and enjoy some hot cider or your beverage of choice to fight off the early winter chill.

By Kent Friel, Regional History Summer Intern

As autumn arrives in the Wood River Valley, the trees begin to take on shades of gold, while the valley’s silver, or what remains of it, will be hidden from view far below ground.

One could note more than a hint of irony in this arrangement, for although golden aspens draw sightseers today, it was precious silver ore that brought year-round settlement to the Wood River Valley over a century ago.

During the 1880s, between 20 and 30 mines operated in the Wood River Region, and from mining camps were born the towns of Bellevue, Hailey, and Ketchum. By the time silver prices crashed in 1893, however, most of those early mines were on the verge of closure, their ore veins having neared the point of exhaustion. Nonetheless, even as communities pivoted away from mining, the drive to extract precious metals continued to reach further into the mountains and valleys surrounding the Wood River, extending well into the twentieth century.

Late on an October day, perhaps, one could look east toward the sun-dappled hillside and listen for the faint echo of a mine at work, caught up in the heart of the mountain itself.

Southeast of Ketchum, for example, lies Triumph Gulch, where a mine which operated until the 1980s produced over $20 million dollars in silver, zinc, and lead, more than the combined total of all other mines in the Wood River Region. As the mines shuttered in the Wood River Valley, production continued in Triumph, where mining extended 1.5 miles into the mountainside.

Ore was processed in mills such as the North Star Stamp Mill, pictured above in 1917, and at the mine’s height nearly two hundred men labored around the clock. In the decades following World War II, during which the mine reached its peak output, mining sputtered but continued sporadically until 1985.

Today, although physical evidence of the mine has mostly disappeared, the past continues to linger on here and there. Late on an October day, perhaps, one could look east toward the sun-dappled hillside and listen for the faint echo of a mine at work, caught up in the heart of the mountain itself.

By Sabrina Brewer, Regional History Intern

The young spectators in this photo from the Chamber of Commerce Collection are just a few of the thousands of people that line Ketchum’s Main Street over Labor Day weekend. They are here for Wagon Days, an annual festival that recognizes the region’s mining history and the infrastructure that made it possible. The finale of the event includes the Big Hitch, a team of twenty mules on a jerkline who pull six Lewis Ore Wagons, the only of their kind in existence. During the mining boom of the 1880s, Lewis Ore Wagons passed between Ketchum and Challis along Trail Creek Summit Road transporting ore and materials.

While the Lewis Ore Wagons are the highlight of the show, Wagon Days also includes lesser-known elements from the valley’s mining past. Pictured in this photo is a water wagon and accompanying commissary. Water wagons were an essential unit during this time as they were responsible for transporting water for the mules and men. The water wagons are also responsible for a few commonly used terms today. During the Temperance Movement of the early 20th century, phrases like ‘getting on the water wagon’ or ‘I’m on the water wagon now’ were used to indicate that someone was no longer drinking alcohol. To ‘fall off the wagon’ was to begin drinking again. You can learn more unusual historical tidbits at this year’s 65th Wagon Days celebration over Labor Day weekend.

By Annette Taylor

Ah, the dog days of summer. Typically considered the “hottest and most unbearable days of the season”, we have experienced quite a bit of those dog days as of late. We live in the glorious Sun Valley, an area that boasts about 205 days of sun per year, bringing a plethora of outdoorsy activities and tourism with it all year round.

In this photo circa 1955, we see the epitome of summer recreation at the Sun Valley Resort. Located at what we know as River Run today, this classic resort advertisement depicts a man in waders fly fishing in the Big Wood River as resort patrons joyfully ride overhead. We have recently passed the 100-day mark until the beloved Bald Mountain opens for the ski season and have plenty of sunny days to enjoy until then; and after.

This image is a reminder to soak up the sun, nature, and beauty this valley has to offer. Do something you love outdoors, be it hiking up this very mountain, biking down it, or maybe just enjoying a schooner near it. Even though living here has its challenges, we are lucky to call this valley and its surroundings our home. 

This photo was donated by Donald Snoddy and Ralph Burrell and was part of a collection of thousands from the photo morgue of the Union Pacific Railroad publicity department. They were saved from destruction in 1982 by Dottie Thomas, who happened to be in Omaha, Nebraska just prior to their being sent to a landfill. Today, they live in the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History Archive at the beautiful Community Library in Ketchum.

By Kelley Moulton

Waves are being made in this image from the Donald Snoody and Ralph Burrel Collection. Featuring unidentified recreationists, this image was originally used as a publicity image for Sun Valley Resort around 1955. It highlights both the beauty of our regional lakes as well as the available recreational opportunities outdoors.

The image focuses on a man and a woman resting on the dock, with the woman waving at a boat pulling a water-skier on Pettit Lake. About twenty years later, Pettit Lake would become part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and today continues to offer many recreational opportunities to those who visit its water.  

If water skiing is not your preference of activities this summer, Central Idaho has many other options to offer. Outdoor festivals, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, fishing, camping, and many other opportunities are just a few to choose from. You can drive to Craters of the Moon and explore the lava fields or visit the remote wilderness of The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. Or you can pack a picnic and head to the banks of the Big Wood River for something a little closer. Wherever your adventures take you this summer, enjoy the opportunity like those in this image, or try something new.  

If you need inspiration, the photo collections in the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History have images from across Central Idaho. If a hiking guide is more your style, stop by the Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room to see what is currently available.