Look Back

Lake City news items of the past

140 Years Ago
Lake City MINING REGISTER, January 19, 1884 –

Our lakes and rivers afford good skating, and the lads and lassies are enjoying it.
Hinsdale 1883 output in dollars, paid for ore, was $390,000. An average of $60 a ton, this would equal one hundred and twenty-five tons a week.
It is so cold up at Silverton that the solitary dairyman carries his milk in a gunnysack and chops it off with an ax for his customers.
On Friday, January 11, the thermometer registered 18-degrees below zero at 7 a.m. Clear and pleasant all day. At 2 p.m. 40-degrees above zero; 10-degrees above at 6 p.m.
The Henson Creek road is open for teams as far as Capitol City. Beyond that point the traveler must use snow-shoes. Snow slides cover the road; but the snow-shoeing is good.
A dispatch from Weiser, Idaho, tells the story of the brutal lynching of Charles Deitard who in 1876-77 was a resident of this city. According to dispatch, a masked mob took Deitard, the murderer of Buck Bozie, from his cell in the jail, and shot and beat him. They then dragged him a mile to the slaughter house and hanged him to the windlass, which is used by the butchers.
John Murphy, an employee of Mendenhall & Pride, butchers, was severely wounded last Friday evening by a ferocious boar. Mr. Murphy encountered the animal in the yard attached to the slaughter house, when he turned on him and showed fight. Instead of taking refuge in flight, the gentleman stood his ground. The boar struck him in the thigh, cut him and knocked him down and then made a dash at his head. John threw up his arm as a guard, when the animal seized his hand and inflicted a severe wound, and then attacked his foot, driving his sharp tusks through his boot. Murphy kicked at the savage hog, scrambled, scratched and rolled, and finally got away.
130 Years Ago
Lake City TIMES, January 18, 1894 –

Thirty-one degrees below zero Saturday morning.
Very few cars of ore from the Golden Fleece Mine are shipped that bring less than $5,000 each.
Everybody was out last Sunday afternoon, either sleighing or skating on the ice south of town.
Never before in the history of Lake City were the schools of this place in a more flourishing condition than now. The corps of teachers now employed are certainly doing all in their power to advance the pupils in their studies.
A number of horses, burros and cows are reported to be in a starving condition on the flat just across the river from town. The owners should be made to care for the stock or sell them to someone who will see to it that they don’t want for something to eat.
The Lake City Drum Corps are expecting their new uniforms to arrive this week. The suits will consist of coat, pants, and cap, and a heavy plume in the cap. The coats are nicely trimmed with braid and heavy brass buttons, and altogether make very pretty uniforms.
110 Years Ago
Lake City TIMES, January 22, 1914 –

Stanley and Lee Williams have been busy with a crew of men on Oscar McCreary’s lake at the north end of town the past week getting out Lake City’s summer supply of agua fria and which is being stored in the Williams’ ice house.
A dangerous incident in a two-seat cutter occurred near Hobo Spring on Henson Creek last Friday morning when the sleigh overturned on ice throwing its occupants into icy Henson Creek. The party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Henrie, with their infant, Walden, along with Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith, and Lon Bryson. After the overturn, baby Walden was completely submerged in the water, Mr. Henrie and his sister, Mrs. Beckwith, both partly under water. With rare presence of mind, the men extricated themselves and quickly got the others out. Aside from a thorough soaking and numerous bumps, no one seriously injured.