Silver Valley Mines

Mrs.Rambo
1. WHAT I ALREADY KNOW/ WHAT I WANTED TO KNOW?
Have you ever gone through Idaho on I-90 towards Montana and wondered how those mountains were carved and why little city’s randomly sit through the passes there? How about the mines going through Wallace and Silver valley? Do you ever wonder if they are still in use? Wondering what they mined? Well, my project is on the history of the Silver Valley Mines and who sold what land and when to get the projects going. I want to know all about the history of the mines.   It was very influential in the building of the northwest, so I want to know how and at what time in history people were drawn to The Inland Northwest.   I will create a slideshow of the pictures I traveled to, on my way to Montana. My friends and I are taking a trip to all of these areas to take pictures and to further our knowledge of the area that we travel through regularly. As we travel, we will learn through experience and be able to see for ourselves what was taken out of those mines and why those small towns are set through Interstate 90 in Idaho.   I already know that Wallace, Idaho, was once a silver mining town. I also know the mining processes used at the time were subsurface mining and mountaintop/side removal, which are the two main methods used in the region.
Wallace now is very small and still has an active mine in or around the city. Going east from Wallace, you find Mullan Pass and Mullan Mines.   I know there are bunches of mines around the area where the majority taken out is silver, I believe, due to the name. I know the Silver Valley stretches from the Fourth of July Pass to the Montana border. I know Cataldo Mission was a historical site from around the same time, the mission obviously being Christian.   My main focus question that I have is; when did the mines first strike precious minerals? And how much the land sold for the mines.   I wonder why and what drew people to our area. I would like to uncover all information I can...