The discovery of galena ore in 1879 led to a silver rush in 1880, bringing thousands of hopefuls into the Wood River Valley to seek their fortunes, opening mines and forming towns up and down the valley from Galena in the north and Bellevue in the south. Two enterprises turned the Valley into a major silver producing center: the Philadelphia Smelter that opened in 1882 and a Union Pacific Railroad Branch built from Shoshone to Hailey in 1883. Today, many abandoned mines can be found throughout the area, evidence of a major industry that eventually led to the development of the Sun Valley Resort.

Join lawyer, author and historian John W. Lundin as he discusses the legacy of the Wood River Valley’s mining industry, from its early days to the opening of the Sun Valley Resort, the country’s first destination ski resort, in 1936. This lecture is presented by The Community Library's Wood River Museum of History + Culture in coordination with the City of Ketchum's Wagon Days Events. 

Registration recommended to join us in person.

To watch online (no registration needed) visit: https://vimeo.com/event/5130513. The recording will be available to watch later on our Event Archive.

John W. Lundin is a lawyer, historian and author, a founding member of the Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum, Vice President of the North American Snowsports Journalists’ Assoc. (NASJA), and splits his time between Seattle and Sun Valley.  He is the author of numerous magazine and journal articles and four award winning books: Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass (2017); Sun Valley, Ketchum and the Wood River Valley (2020); Skiing Sun Valley: a History from Union Pacific to the Holdings (2020); and Ski Jumping in Washington State: a Nordic Tradition. In 2021, Skiing Sun Valley won NASJA’s Harold S. Hirsch Award for Excellence in Snowsports Journalism, a Skade award from the International Ski Heritage Assoc., and the Western Ski Heritage award from the Far West Ski Association.  In 2023, John won a second Western Ski Heritage award for his multi-year work to preserve “Ski Jumping History, Expressing Norwegian Identity, and its Role in the Development of Skiing in America.” John helped organize two exhibits on ski jumping:  “Sublime Sights: Ski Jumping in Nordic America”at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle in 2021; and “Skiers in Flight: Sun Valley’s Ski Jumping Roots” at The Community Library's Regional History Museum (now the Wood River Museum of History and Culture) in Ketchum in 2022. John writes a regular history column for Eye on Sun Valley, has made a series of TV shows with them, and helped make a TV show for the Idaho Experience series on Idaho Public TV, “Tracks of Time: The History of Idaho’s Railroads.”