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Wardner |
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Wardner was a small mining town close to Kellogg, ID. The town of Wardner gets its name from its founder James Wardner. James Wardner was an entrepreneur and he'd do anything for a quick buck. He operated a grocery store in the Town of Murray and when he heard about this great strike, he threw a couple of bottles of whiskey in the saddlebag, jumped on his horse and headed down the great north fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, and headed up Milo Creek. He got to the mining camp with Kellogg and O'Rourke, drank up the whiskey and then he asked if he could borrow a hatchet. Feeling so good from drinking all the whiskey, they would give him anything. He took the hatchet and went out of camp, walked around the valley for a few hours blazing trees, went back to camp and Noah and O'Rourke asked if he had staked a claim. He boldly said "yes, I just staked out the water rights for this valley." O'Rourke and Noah knew they had been had and took Jim in as a partner. It was Jim's knowledge of people who had money like Con Sullivan and Simeon Reed of Oregon. He brought them in and the mine and the town grew fast. Sadly in In 1900 Jim sold out his interest for $100,000 and went to Seattle, Washington. He purchased an island by the name of Eliza, imported black cats and went to the Seattle people and asked if he could have their stray black cats. They were overjoyed to get rid of the strays. He took them to the island, raised them and then he would kill them and took the hides and sold them to easterners for $2.00 each. The easterners were buying them up like crazy and making fur coats and hats. Jim was doing a fantastic business, because he called them "hood seal" fur. When the Seattle people found out he was feeding cats to cats, and that is known as "catabolism," they shut him down. He then went to Fairhaven, Washington, started a banking business, water company and a logging company and then he built himself a castle. The castle still stands today and they've made a bed and breakfast out of it. He entreprenured some more, lost his castle and his money. He then went to Canada and started mining and logging and they named a town in Canada after him, Wardner, B.C |