History of Montour WMA
History
Agricultural activity in the Boise and Payette Valleys started in the early 1880s when settlers began filing on arid lands under private irrigation enterprises. By 1900, about 148,000 acres in the area had been placed under irrigation. Under provision of the BOR Act of June 17, 1902, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior authorized construction of the original Boise Project on March 27, 1905, and the construction of Black Canyon Dam on June 26, 1922. Black Canyon Dam was constructed for two years and became operational in 1924. The Boise Project currently furnishes irrigation water in southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon to 225,000 acres of project lands and 165,000 acres of land under special and Warren Act contracts.
Evidence of human occupation in southwestern Idaho dates to as early as 10,000 years before the present (B.P.). Artifact comparisons with other areas in the region suggest a sequence of prehistoric use of the Montour Valley area from at least 6,000 B.P. to approximately 700 years ago.
Historically, Euro-American fur trapping and trading were well in place in the Payette River Valley (including the Montour Valley) by the second decade of the 1800s. By the 1830s, fur resources in the region were depleted and considered “trapped out.” Gold was discovered in the Boise Basin in 1862, with the Payette River serving as a main travel route to the gold fields, taking gold seekers south of Regan Butte, directly west of Montour.
In the early 1860s, a stage stop was established in the western end of Montour Valley, with four stagecoaches a week traveling up the Payette River through Montour. This stage station became a post office in 1870 and eventually took on stock raising and other functions, becoming known as the Mitchell, Marsh, and Ireton ranch. Prior to 1900, about 50 people lived in and around the valley, relying mostly on logging, mining, ranching, and farming as a way of life. Rail service reached Montour in 1910 (Idaho Northern Railroad), extending through Black Canyon from Emmett to Horseshoe Bend and McCall. In 1911, the town of Montour was platted, and the entire town was built between 1912 and 1915. The town effectively ceased to grow after about the mid-1920s, with ensuing years bringing depression and bankruptcy to the small community (Briggs No Date; Gibson and Kaberline 2002; Morgan 1999).
The rural, small town character of Montour remained virtually unchanged between the late 1920s and the early 1980s. In 1924, BOR constructed Black Canyon Dam to divert irrigation water to crops and orchards in the Emmett Valley, and for power generation. Increased streamflow and sediment buildup within the Black Canyon Reservoir resulted in higher annual water table and annual flooding in the Montour Valley. Subsequent loss of crops and property damage resulted in years of litigation by the local population. In the 1970s, BOR acquired the land within the 100-year floodplain to ensure continued project operations of Black Canyon Dam. Following documentation of the Montour Historical District, the Marsh-Ireton Ranch and other businesses, farms, and buildings were purchased and razed. Many long-time Montour residents moved away from the Valley (Morgan 1999).
The Montour Valley contains streams, valleys, draws, and other natural features that could have served as traditional resource procurement areas for aboriginal peoples in their search for food, medicine, clothing, and other necessities, and might qualify as “traditional cultural properties.” Also, portions of the Valley may have historically served as ritual or ceremonial places, or as locations associated with traditional beliefs and practices; as such, they could constitute places of traditional cultural importance to the Shoshone-Paiute, Shoshone-Bannock, and possibly other tribes, and thus might qualify as “traditional cultural properties.”
Although the area has been explored for cultural resources since the mid-1970s, a good portion of the WMA has not been intensively surveyed on the ground.
The Montour WMA is managed by Idaho Fish and Game through a cooperative agreement with the BOR. The current agreement is a 10-year agreement, which expires in 2020.