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Old Towns Don’t Die, They Just Relocate
The story of three Idaho towns
Idaho cities and towns have long dealt with the impact of Idaho’s environmental issues. The need for irrigation in the state’s dry regions and mining’s fickle successes often forced dramatic changes to the settlements of Idaho. Gibbonsville, Montour and American Falls served as three examples of the fluid nature of Idaho’s population when confronted with harsh environmental realities. Each of these towns altered dramatically in the face of challenges presented by Idaho’s climate and natural resources. This gallery of oral histories, all in the Idaho State Historical Society’s oral history collection, presents a glimpse into the experiences of those living through the times of change for these three cities.
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Pugh Elevator, Mill & Warehouse, Montour, Gem County, 1979 (Historic American Building Survey). |
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Montour
Several families once called Montour home. They created ranches, farms and other enterprises and built a close community along the Payette River that served as a major railroad stop for goods traveling through Idaho. The need for irrigation water prompted the construction of the Black Canyon Dam. Montour’s men and women hoped the dam would do little to disrupt town life. However, the dam caused flooding, which irrevocably changed Montour. The Bureau of Reclamation reached agreements with Montour residents to buy the town. Once the townspeople relocated, the Bureau moved or demolished what they left behind. In a July 1985 interview, Esther Palmer described the dismantling of Montour. Montour, burn, clip 2.
Gibbonsville
Mining played a huge role in Idaho’s past. Scattered about the mountains of Idaho, travelers can find many once thriving towns abandoned in the wake of diminishing mineral returns from the surrounding hills. Gibbonsville once functioned as a mining hub of more than 3,000 residents, making it one of Idaho’s largest towns in the late 1800s. In the early 1900s, area gold strikes decreased, and the town slowly declined to its current population of fewer than 100 citizens. In interviews conducted in 1980, Frances Dolan, Ralph Dean and Leo Hagel shared their memories of Gibbonsville and its changing character. Dean clip. Dolan clip 1, clip 2. Hagel.
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Foundation from the old American Falls townsite. A railstop on the Oregon Shortline in 1883, the town relocated to a nearby hillside when the Bureau of Reclamation completed American Falls Dam in 1925. (American Falls Chamber of Commerce). |
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American Falls
The creation of the American Falls Dam — in the 1910s and 1920s — forced American Falls citizens to choose: relocate their city or lose it completely to the reservoir’s waters. They decided to move nearly 400 homes and businesses and set to the task of raising each building from its foundation and transporting it to the new town site. The process took nearly two years to complete. In 1988, Emil Neu and Harold Misenhimer shared their memories of moving a whole city. Neu clip 1, clip 2, clip 3. Misenhimer.
Biography
Recently hired by the Idaho State Historical Society’s oral history program, Ellen Haffner manages the oral history office with as much élan as she oversees the band Redmark. Troy Reeves, the ISHS oral historian, manages (with varying degrees of success) to balance a myriad of oral history projects with his husband and fatherly duties.
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