A rare and historic 19th century example of native silver from the Ida Elmore Mine in Idaho!!! This specimen hosts
a rich showing of native silver included throughout the quartz matrix!!! This material has a slight but definite golden hue due to
a significant gold content!!! The native silver is richly distributed throughout the specimen!!! One side of the specimen has been
polished to show just how rich this material is!!! The polished face shows a dense network of brilliant inclusions of
native silver!!! Additionally, when viewed on edge, one can see small areas of native silver all
around the entire specimen!!! This specimen came from a larger specimen and a copy
of the old label will accompany the specimen (original label is pictured below)!!! This material dates to the mid to late 1800's!!! This locality is historically
significant because it was one of the only mines to be the actual site of a WAR!!! Yes, that is right, the Ida Elmore mine was
the site of the Owyhee War!!! The following is an excerpt taken from "True West Magazine":
In February 1868, miners working the Golden Chariot Mine beneath Silver city - a boomtown located in the Owyhee Mountains
about 60 miles southwest of Boise - burrowed into a shaft belonging to the Ida Elmore Mine. For several weeks, the two factions
cussed and fumed, each side accusing the other of tunneling beyond its claim.
On March 25, tensions came to a head when a party of Golden Chariot minors invaded the Ida Elmore shaft. A subterranean gunfight
soon erupted and then escalated until 100 men were engaged in the battle, which was known as the Owyhee War. For three days the
two underground armies fired at each other, spraying so much lead into the Ida Elmore's support timbers that the mine nearly
collapsed.
When news of the war reached Idaho's territorial governor, he issued an order demanding that the two sides immediately end
their fighting and settle their feud in court.
In addition to being a fantastic and rich old time specimen, this is a fantastic piece of mining history as well!!!
The pics hardly do it justice!!! Must be seen in person to be fully appreciated!!! Good luck and be sure to check out my other exciting mineral auctions on ebay!!!
