Industry
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Along the Salmon River Scenic Byway, places tied to Idaho’s frontier and exploration history include Stanley, first entered by Hudson’s Bay Company fur trappers in 1824 and later named for Captain John Stanley, who brought 23 prospectors seeking gold; Custer and Bonanza, founded in 1879 to support major mines in the Yankee Fork Mining District after the General Custer claim was named in 1876; Clayton, which grew around southern Idaho’s largest silver-producing area and preserves its mining, ranching, logging, and farming past; Challis, surveyed in 1879 and linked both to early Hudson’s Bay Company exploration and later mineral settlement; and Salmon and Lemhi County, where Lemhi Shoshone artifacts and mining history reflect both Native life and the gold discoveries of 1866. The route also follows sites connected to Lewis and Clark, including Tower Rock, Tower Creek, William Clark’s 1805 reconnaissance of the Salmon River, and Lost Trail Pass, where the Corps of Discovery turned north as winter approached.
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Montana · United States
