Category: Idaho

Florence, Idaho was a mining town that boomed in 1861 when gold was discovered in the area. By the summer of 1862 its population briefly swelled to 9,000 people before tailing-off in 1863, as people moved on to the next big thing. For the next two decades, a mixed population of Chinese and White miners eked out a living reworking abandoned claims and the discarded tailings of previous mining activity. It is thought that the Chinese population numbered around 150 people. Though no original grave markers remain, the cemetery has gone through several preservation cycles over the years, beginning in the 1920’s. Most recently, in 2022, the markers were again replaced with new headboards and additional signage. Sometime prior to the 1920’s the bodies of Chinese buried in the cemetery were exhumed and the cremated remains repatriated to their native country. Today, this marker stands in memory to the Chinese people that were buried here. Florence is located south of Grangeville and east of Riggins, on the Florence Basin Road / Forrest Road 643.

The Scottish word “linn” refers to a geographical feature, such as a waterfall, pool, ravine, or precipice – so Cauldron Linn – an admittedly odd name for a western U.S. waterfall – likely got its name from Scottish members of the Wilson Price Hunt expedition of 1811. Even before the current upstream Milner Dam, the Snake River was a calm lake-like body of water until it hit the 40-foot wide opening in the rocks, of Cauldron Linn. Cauldron Linn is a wild place, little changed over hundreds of years. Note the person standing on the rocks, in the top-left portion of the photograph. There are no handrails, here!