Mining Wars

Mining Wars is an Idaho historical marker in Shoshone County, dedicated 2025.

SH-4, milepost 5.13

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The Coeur d’Alene mining wars started in this canyon on July 11, 1892. After mine owners increased work hours and cut wages, a gunfight erupted between workers and company guards. Miners blew up the Frisco Mill near here. Five men died. Federal troops incarcerated miners. Grievances lingered. On April 29, 1899, miners hijacked a train. Loading it with dynamite here, they destroyed Wardner’s Bunker Hill mill. Two more died. Governor Frank Stuenenberg declared martial law. Federal troops again incarcerated miners. The conflict fostered formation of the Western Federation of Miners union, Idaho’s eight-hour workday, and former Governor Steunenberg’s 1905 assassination.

TodayHistorical map

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USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection

Historical maps covering this location

1889 · Idaho. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1897 · Idaho. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1901 · Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1903 · Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1906 · Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho, 1901, covering the location of Mining Wars, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho, 1901, covering this location. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Mining Wars

Historical maps covering this location

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