Favorite Things About the Silver Valley: The history

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of columns that will celebrate the Silver Valley.

The Silver Valley has a long and colorful history.

For many people, the history of the Silver Valley is something that either attracted them to the area or kept them in it. 

Whether it’s the tales of the early mining camps and the Wild West days of Shoshone County or the story of the Wallace community rallying around itself to fight the federal government and Interstate 90, the history of the Silver Valley is indelible. 

Dallas Jade Graves is a relatively new addition to the Silver Valley. What brought her family to the area? You guessed it. 

“My husband and I are big nerds for Wallace and Silver Valley history. We were interested in coming out here in hopes to help preserve and uplift that, and try to spread the good word about the museums and other great things the valley has to offer,” Graves said. 

Labor disputes, exploding mills, mining wars and gambling raids by the federal government were just a few of Graves’ favorite historical moments from Silver Valley lore. 

Cambria Big-Spring is a 17-year-old junior at Kellogg High School. Students in the Silver Valley are inundated with local history from the moment they first step into their schools. While many of them have a tendency to glaze over these topics, Big-Spring not only embraced the historical roots of her surroundings but found one topic in particular that stood out to her. 

“My favorite story from the Silver Valley is one about Molly B’Damn,” Big-Spring said. 

Maggie Hall, popularly known as Molly B’Damn, is a legend in the Silver Valley’s frontier history. The Patron Saint of Murray as she was known to some, Hall came to the region in 1884, where she immediately set up and operated a brothel. The legend of Molly B’Damn is steeped in heroism, from saving families during blizzards to treating the sick during the smallpox outbreak. 

“She was an influential woman in the history of the Silver Valley,” Big-Spring said. “She worked tirelessly to tend to people who needed help the most, and while many think she was just a prostitute, she was much more than that.” 

Molly B’Damn is celebrated every August during a festival in Murray appropriately named Molly B’Damn Days. 

“There's just such a rich heritage out here,” Graves said. “When you think you've heard all the history, some other obscure, cinematic story is still yet to unfold.”

    A colored image of the Frisco Mine Mill.
  

    Josh McDonald