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In the 1880’s and 1890’s there were approximately 200 Chinese in the Wood River Valley. Some worked in the mines, some for the railroad. They owned laundries, restaurants, and grew vegetables which they sold to grocery stores and restaurants. There was a joss house, and opium dens. In 1886 there was a movement to rid the Wood River Valley of all Chinese. In 1955 there was only one Chinese restaurant remaining. |
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| The first sheep were introduced into the Valley by
S. M. Friedman. The area, it was said, became second only to
Sydney, Australia, as the sheep capital of the world. There
were many sheep ranches in the Valley.
Several hundred Basque sheepherders lived in the Wood River Valley.
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Mining was the main reason for existence in the Wood River Valley. The quest was for silver, galena, bullion, gold. There were hundreds of mines in the area. There was a devastating avalanche in 1917 in which 17 miners lost their lives. Mining died out in the 1950’s. There is a replica of a mine shaft in the museum. |
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The Oregon Short line came to the Valley in 1883. Last tracks were
laid on May 7, 1883. Sun Valley was built in 1936 and was owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. The last train to the Valley passed through in 1981. The tracks were removed in 1987.
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Joe Fuld’s Political Campaign items Collection. Mr. Fuld was a prominent business man born in Placerville, Idaho in 1878.
He was the first president of the American Political Items
Collectors Association. There are well over 5,000 items.
The museum continues to collect buttons from the political
conventions. |
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