Bonanza City, Idaho

With prospectors camped out all over the area, the town of Bonanza City, Idaho, was laid out in 1877 by a man named Charles Franklin. Generally called Bonanza, which is Spanish for prosperity, lots were first sold ranging from $40 to $300. Machinery and supplies had to be brought in by mule packers along a rugged 84 mile trail from Ketchum. The settlement's first buildings were crude log buildings that were gradually improved over time. The miners celebrated when the first saloon was built and soon sawmills were constructed. More miners poured into the area and plans were made to build a toll road between Challis and Bonanza in 1879. Once it was complete, freight haulers required 5-7 pairs of oxen, mules, or horses to pull their loads on trips that would take four days to cover the 35 mile wagon trail. The following year, a daily stage was running over the toll road which cost passengers $5.00 for the 8-9 hour one-way trip. Though Bonanza never had a mine or a mill, it quickly became the hub of the area and by 1881 it boasted some 600 people and numerous businesses including Custer County’s first newspaper, The Yankee Fork Herald, a post office, a school, the Dodge Hotel, a blacksmith, a cafe, and dance hall called the Charles Franklin House, a hardware store, grocery and variety stores, a dentist, a watchmaker and several other businesses. The settlement also sported numerous entertainment venues including a croquet field, a baseball field and a small racetrack. Bonanza’s wide main street was lined with trees and several two-story buildings fronted by boardwalks or wooden sidewalks so customers wouldn't have to walk through the mud or the snow. The town also sported a public well and a water system, which provided water for its residents as well as fire protection. In the meantime, Custer City had also sprung up about two miles upstream from Bonanza, though at the time of Bonanza’s peak in 1881, the town outnumbered Custer City two-to-one in population and sported a greater number of businesses. Bonanza suffered its first setback when fire raged through the town in 1889; however, it continued to survive until a second fire destroyed an entire block in May of 1897 and most of the remaining merchants moved to nearby Custer instead of rebuilding. By this time, the waterworks had fallen into disrepair and firefighters were unable to save the buildings. By the turn of the century, Bonanza's only remaining businesses were a boarding house, a saloon, a slaughterhouse, a few stables and several cabins, as most all its population had either moved out of the area or moved upstream to nearby Custer. Today both Bonanza and Custer City are ghost towns.