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Featherville–Spotlight
Instant Fame for the Visitor in Room One
Story and Photos by Amy Larson
I called the Featherville Motel on a Monday morning in August before driving up to explore the little community in the midst of the Boise National Forest. “They’re shutting off the power within the next few hours,” I was told, “and they’re not going to be letting anyone in.”
Featherville wouldn’t be happening for me that day, and considering the grim fire reports, I wondered if there would be a Featherville left to see in the future. The previous summer, residents were told to evacuate when the Trinity Ridge Fire burned dangerously close to the community. Packed vehicles rolled through town as drivers left at the advice of the county sheriff, while others chose to push their luck and stick around. Bustling with firefighters, Featherville business increased, selling food and drink as crews created backfires and employed other precautions to protect properties. The fire was dubbed the worst Idaho had seen in years.
This summer, as dense smoke from the rapidly moving, worse-than-the-year-before Elk Complex fire filled the skies, residents must have been thinking, What, again? The fire made national headlines. Once more, locals were encouraged to leave and by mid-August, I’d heard that thirty-eight homes and forty-three outbuildings had already been lost. Only through untiring efforts were many other homes and much more heartache spared.
Months passed before I could visit, but in the meantime, I tried to find out what I could about Featherville. Its inception followed the discovery of gold in 1862 at a place called Rocky Bar. The bumpy road from the strike led ten miles south into what is now Featherville, originally called Junction Bar, when it was used as a stage station for those heading to Rocky Bar. It’s believed that Featherville was named after the Feather River by miners who set up camp up at Rocky Bar around 1864. Things got cooking in the 1870 and ‘80s, but cooled down by the 1900s. Elmore County is still considered to be a prospector’s paradise, rippling with placer gold areas.
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2 Responses to Featherville–Spotlight
Mike Scirocco -
at
Very interesting, thanks. Do you hve any idea how the Feather river was named?
Ken Bartlett -
at
CHARLIE SPRITTLES
He called himself the black sheep of his clan.
Maybe, but those of us blessed to know him,
saw nothing that spoke of disgrace to his name.
A displaced Brit, he accomplished much. Once
the manager of a minor league baseball team. He
also was president of a miners union. All
claimed by Charlie without fact check by me.
His golden years were spent as the last inhabitant
of Rocky Bar, Idaho. Once a thriving community
of more than 2,500 souls. In March of 1961 the
Fish and Game plowed open the road from Featherville
to Rocky Bar. The next Day I drove from Lester
Creek to Rocky Bar to check on Charlie.
The visit was pretty much a one way conversation
as Charlie regaled and recovered from his long
lonely winter. He had shaved his winters growth,
leaving the deep creases of his countenance with
bristles that gave the appearance of a porcupine
going bald. The front room of his house had
been converted to a depression era grocery store
that contained a variety of canned and dry goods which
were sold to those who came to the mountains
to escape summer heat. I was invited by Charlie
to visit his living area directly behind the store front.
He told me that he had not spent the long hours of
winter alone. Walking to his single bed, he drew
back the covers, revealing a mouse nest.
That July, I left Mountain Home and relocated
to the University of Notre Dame. As the first male
Peace Corps Volunteer from Idaho, I joined 40 some
others in training for asignment in Chile, the first
Peace Corps Project. It was chosen by Father Ted
Hesburgh, then President of Notre Dame. (page 95,
“God,Country, Notre Dame).
I believe it was the next winter of 1961/1962 that
for reasons known only to Charlie, probably those
of health, he chose to walk out to civilization.
My understanding is that the remains of Rocky Bars
last inhabitant were recovered from a snow drift
somewhere near Featherville.
p.s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Bar,_Idaho
the little white house in this picture looks a lot like the
residence of Charlie.
Ken Bartlett,
once a forester with
the Boise National Forest