kd7ost
Apr 06, 2007, 01:47 AM
A few years back I found a book titled “Sagebrush Post Offices”, A History of the Owyhee County. The Author was Mildretta Adams. The book covers all the post offices that have been showing up in little towns over the last 100 years or so in the very remote and unpopulated Owyhee County. Almost all are gone as are the towns that used their services. I have found the book to be a wealth of other historic information as well. Maybe not in huge detail but it puts geo-caching to shame. There are passages for example like “Bill Johnson Homesteaded near where Rabbit Creek meets Triplet creek.” That is sometimes all the details you get. You dig through the USGS topo quads and locate the creeks confluence. You select a way to get there and create a route with the GPS. You use Google Earth and scout a bit if needed. You pack lots of water because it’s common that you can’t get there on the old wagon trails anymore. Anyway, it’s a fun blend of historical sleuthing, physical activity and wonder. Fun stuff. You may or may not find anything. The journey is worth the search. Recently I’ve been able to bring more of an AP flavor to it with my Dragonfly. It helps to find the many wagon trails that can’t be seen from ground level.
Anyhow, this is a close by and easy one. Not as many pictures as I would like but I can’t get up into the mountains yet due to mud and snow.
Dan
The following is an excerpt from Mildretta’s book.
Guffey, Post Office 1897-1919
Guffey was the “baby town” of Owyhee County in 1897. Located near the mouth of Rabbit Creek, it was the terminal point of the Boise-Nampa-Owyhee railroad and Owyhee County’s first railroad town. The Railroad camp that had been on the Canyon County side of the river was moved to the Owyhee side in September of 1897 after the railroad bridge was completed. The bridge had two spans of 250 feet in length. Guffey immediately took on the appearance of a thriving little town. The first building was erected May 27, 1897, a saloon and dwelling house by Fred Brunzell. Brunzell also had charge of the Guffey Ferry before the railroad bridge was completed.
Other businesses soon followed: a general store, express and post office, hotel, blacksmith shop, livery stables, stage barns and boarding houses. The population grew to 100 persons by 1898. Freight was hauled from Guffey to the mining camps and the ranchers and stockmen picked up supplies there.
D.D. McDonald had a hotel, saloon and blacksmith shop. A.H. McDonald was in the transfer business. Hugh Latham was agent in charge of the Central Lumber Company. Leon Spangler was manager of Falk Block Mercantile and Forwarding Company. Grimes and Irby ran the livery stable, W. W. Wilson had a laundry and Mrs. Kate Hamburg a restaurant.
Guffey was teeming with activity for a brief time. Barry and Phillips freight lines were busy freighting supplies for the railroad which was being extended on to Murphy. Teamsters, laborers and miners on Snake River helped to swell the population. Gradually the town functions were taken over by Murphy to the southwest and faded into oblivion. A new school district was created in 1912, District No. 27. The schoolhouse on the hillside was the only remaining building left that bore the name of Guffey. It too has been removed in recent years.
Although routes cut all over the Snake River plain, the hardest perhaps was the teamsters bringing cargo up into the Owyhee Mountains shown in the distance in one of the later pictures. The wagon ruts are easy to find because they meander in a way that made it easy to cross the creeks. They cut across at angles to reduce stress on the wagons and beast of burden. I posted a picture where I was nice enough to demonstrate why you don't go straight across. :o Took me 45 minutes to dig out and I live here and know better. It looked doable to start anyway.
Dan
Anyhow, this is a close by and easy one. Not as many pictures as I would like but I can’t get up into the mountains yet due to mud and snow.
Dan
The following is an excerpt from Mildretta’s book.
Guffey, Post Office 1897-1919
Guffey was the “baby town” of Owyhee County in 1897. Located near the mouth of Rabbit Creek, it was the terminal point of the Boise-Nampa-Owyhee railroad and Owyhee County’s first railroad town. The Railroad camp that had been on the Canyon County side of the river was moved to the Owyhee side in September of 1897 after the railroad bridge was completed. The bridge had two spans of 250 feet in length. Guffey immediately took on the appearance of a thriving little town. The first building was erected May 27, 1897, a saloon and dwelling house by Fred Brunzell. Brunzell also had charge of the Guffey Ferry before the railroad bridge was completed.
Other businesses soon followed: a general store, express and post office, hotel, blacksmith shop, livery stables, stage barns and boarding houses. The population grew to 100 persons by 1898. Freight was hauled from Guffey to the mining camps and the ranchers and stockmen picked up supplies there.
D.D. McDonald had a hotel, saloon and blacksmith shop. A.H. McDonald was in the transfer business. Hugh Latham was agent in charge of the Central Lumber Company. Leon Spangler was manager of Falk Block Mercantile and Forwarding Company. Grimes and Irby ran the livery stable, W. W. Wilson had a laundry and Mrs. Kate Hamburg a restaurant.
Guffey was teeming with activity for a brief time. Barry and Phillips freight lines were busy freighting supplies for the railroad which was being extended on to Murphy. Teamsters, laborers and miners on Snake River helped to swell the population. Gradually the town functions were taken over by Murphy to the southwest and faded into oblivion. A new school district was created in 1912, District No. 27. The schoolhouse on the hillside was the only remaining building left that bore the name of Guffey. It too has been removed in recent years.
Although routes cut all over the Snake River plain, the hardest perhaps was the teamsters bringing cargo up into the Owyhee Mountains shown in the distance in one of the later pictures. The wagon ruts are easy to find because they meander in a way that made it easy to cross the creeks. They cut across at angles to reduce stress on the wagons and beast of burden. I posted a picture where I was nice enough to demonstrate why you don't go straight across. :o Took me 45 minutes to dig out and I live here and know better. It looked doable to start anyway.
Dan