Pritchard Tries to Hide Coeur d'Alene Gold, Sparks Rush Anyway [otd 04/25]

On April 25, 1882, Andrew J. Pritchard discovered an outcropping of rich gold-bearing quartz in the Coeur d'Alene River watershed. Pritchard, and others, had unearthed signs of gold in the area before, but this find is credited with setting off the decisive rush into these Idaho mountains.
Coeur d’Alene mining area. Idaho State Historical Society.
Rumors of gold in the Coeur d'Alenes had surfaced as early as about 1852. But such stories were common and no one paid much attention.

In 1859, Lieut...