Reporters Notebook: Historic tour of Cedar Creek a real Montana treat

One of the items on my bucket list is to hike into as many of the lakes in Mineral County as possible. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but wasn’t sure where they were located, or how hard it would be to hike into them. When the Mineral Community Hospital offered free hikes with Jim Cyr as the guide, I jumped at the chance.

Cyr, 79, was raised in Mineral County. He graduated from Alberton School in 1955 and currently lives in Superior. He said that when he was young, he didn’t “hike” the trails, but rather, “ran” up them. He said there are 57 lakes in Mineral County and Idaho, along the state line, and he’s been to all of them. Many of them multiple times.

He is also a historian and has researched and learned about the lakes, mining, the pioneers and the Indians before this area was settled by homesteaders. Some the information can be found in books, some of it can only be found in Jim Cyr’s mind. Which made this trip special.

The first hike was scheduled for Friday, June 24, into Bonanza Lake. But, it was cancelled due to the weather and rescheduled for Tuesday, June 28. A small group of hikers met outside the assisted living facility at the hospital at 8 a.m. The group consisted of hospital representative, Monte Turner, Superior residents Dana and Doug Austin, Ray Gore from Missoula, and Bert Lindler with the Montana Wilderness Association.

We drove up Cedar Creek Road, north of Superior and Jim gave us a historical tour of the area. Mineral County, which you may have figured out from the name, has a rich mining history. Almost every gulch and stream has some mining activity attached to it and Cedar Creek is no exception.

It was home to the Amador Mine, and at the turn of the century it housed over 3,000 residents. It was home to temporary towns called Louisville, Superior City, Forest City, Junction City and Mayville.

Cyr explained that gold was first discovered in Cedar Creek in 1869 by Louis Barrette, a Frenchman out of Canada. The Amador Mine, started in 1904, is located about 11 miles up the road and primarily had copper but also held silver and gold. Most of the buildings burned in the 1910 fire. It was then built back up in 1913.

In 1915, it was sold to the Intermountain Mining Company. By 1920, it was running short on ore and closed. In 1951 the government dewatered it, (pumped the water out), but there wasn’t enough ore left to make it worth reopening. However, there is still private mining in the area.

Louisville had 2,000 people in the 1870’s. Because of a shortage of timber, when the mines played out, everybody just torn down the buildings and moved them upstream. The road is narrow, full of curves and straddles steep, long banks on each side. At the bottom of the steep tangle of pine trees and brush, is the creek. A thin ribbon winding down the canyon which only sees a few hours of sunlight a day. Evidently there are cutthroat trout in the creek, if you want to repel over the embankment to try to catch them.

It’s hard to fathom miners traversing the gulch, let alone an entire town lining the area. Cyr read off a long list of buildings that made up the town of Louisville, which was named after Louise Lozeau. It was located about 6 ½ miles above Junction City. In 1870, 100 houses were built, along with nine stores, three saloons, a hotel, bakery, various shops, a jail, and brothels. We stopped and visited the jail and remnants of an old log building. All that’s left of the town.

Because of the landscape, mule pack trains from Walla Walla, Washington, and Frenchtown, brought in supplies. A rail road was also built to deliver ore to the milling plant. There was also a power plant, with power poles lining the road to supply power to the burgeoning towns. Cyr said he found one of the poles and it’s now on display in his garage

It’s also the area where author, Dean Stone, was inspired to write “Over the Deep”. Stone is the founder of the University of Montana’s School of Journalism.

On the drive up, you can see Quartz and Illinois peaks, with Quartz being the highest in the county at an elevation of 7,780 feet.

After driving about 25 miles, we reached Missoula Lake. There is a remote campground and an outhouse. The hike to the lake is moderately steep, but only about a quarter mile long. It’s brushy around the edges with limited access. However, it’s gorgeous and fishing with a tube would be perfect.

A few more miles up the road and we got to our destination. The Stateline trail number 738, and the junction for the Bonanza Lake Trail number 616. The Stateline trail was established in 1908 and is the Forest Service’s first trail. From here, you can overlook Missoula Lake.

We hiked in one and half miles, which was fairly easy and got to the point where the trail veers off to the right and down the mountain. This will take you to the lower Bonanza Lake. A very short distance above that is upper Bonanza Lake.

We stayed on the Stateline trail and hiked a little further. Along the way, we examined a state line marker which was installed in 1904. These markers are found every mile (hence the name) and marks how far you are from the Canadian border, along with the elevation. The one we saw was 182 miles with an elevation of 6,707. It was off to the left of the trail. Stand on one side and you are in Idaho, on the other you are in Montana. From there, you overlook an endless valley of pine trees into the St. Joe area in Idaho.

Cyr said it was in that area where a miner had died during the Great Burn in 1910. It was also the area where some of the fire fighters were thought to have perished in the flames, but instead found a mine shaft and survived.

We reached our spot at noon. It was a hillside that over looked the Bonanza Lakes, and Cyr said another lake was just over the ridge above us. The lakes are a deep blue and shimmered in the summer sun. Across the valleys, far, far, in the distance we could see the snow stained Mission Mountains. We talked about fishing, hunting, and the beauty of the mountains, “this is my favorite spot,” Cyr said, “I just love coming up here.”

By the time we trekked back down the mountain, and took the hour drive back into Superior, it was four o’clock. We were sunburned, hungry and tired, but happy. It was a fabulous day in Montana. The next trip is planned for July 9, into Voodoo Lake. The hike is about the same distance, around five miles. With the first mile being rather steep. But I’m sure it will be worth the effort. Cyr said he will show hikers where some old Indian teepee rings can be found, and some pioneer headstones.