STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

It was silver—not gold—that lured thousands of miners to the Wood River Valley in 1879—thirty years after the Forty-Niners sought their fortune in California.

And some of the Wood River Valley mines hit the big time as the area became a major silver producing center.

Without this silver mining—and the development of the Philadelphia Smelter out Warm Springs canyon—Sun Valley Resort may have never been founded. After all, it was a Union Pacific Railroad Branch built from Shoshone to the Wood River Valley that provided the key to the development of America’s first destination ski resort.

John W. Lundin, a lawyer, author and historian, will trace the path of the mining industry to Sun Valley Resort during a free presentation at 5:30 p.m. tonight—Thursday, Aug. 28—at The Community Library in Ketchum.

The presentation is being presented by The Community Library’s Wood River Museum of History + Culture in tandem with the City of Ketchum’s Wagon Days events.

To see it in person, stake your claim to a seat at  https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/13885121. It can also be watched online at https://vimeo.com/event/5130513 and will be available to watch later on the Library’s Archive.