Welcome to Shoshone County, ID
The Silver Valley Mining District

Welcome to the Shoshone County, ID GenWeb page. I am Nancy Russell, and I am the Shoshone County coordinator. I look forward to working with as many people as possible to get as much Shoshone County data online as possible! I am hoping to add more data to the web site this summer, so stay tuned!

Shoshone County Scrapbook Click Here to view over 300 indexed images of marriages, deaths, accidents, war clippings, snippets, etc.!
Shoshone County Census Indexes Click Here to view Census Indexes for Shoshone Co. 1870, 1880 & 1900 are up and viewable!

Shoshone County History

The first organized unit of government within Idaho boundaries, created and named for the Shoshone Indians in 1858 by the Washington Territorial Legislature in 1861. Established 4 Feb 1864 with its county seat at Pierce. In 1885 the county seat was moved to Murray, in 1890 to Osborn, and finally to Wallace in 1893.

Copied with permission of Robert Stach,
former Shoshone County Coordinator.

Important Note to Shoshone County Genealogy Researchers
 

Anyone researching their ancestors in Shoshone County should be aware of the important connection between Shoshone County, Bonner County, Kootenai County, Spokane, WA and Rossland & Trail, B.C., Canada. To not look at these connections could mean missing your ancestor completely. Spokane, Rossland and Trail are all innerconnected to Shoshone County, particularly if your ancestor was in the mining industry. Miners came to Shoshone County from Rossland and Trail after the mines dried up in British Columbia. You can track your ancestors crossing the Canadian Border via films from the Mormon Library Family History Center, called the St Albans Border Crossing. If you suspect or know your was a miner, you can contact the Lei Roi Mining Museum in Rossland, B.C., to see if they have any records. Additionally, Spokane, WA was built by money from the Silver Valley Mining industry. Contact the Eastern Washington Genealogy Society in Spokane, WA to see if they have any information on your ancestor. Most miners made migrations through Bonner County, ID to get from Rossland to Shoshone, and many left Shoshone eventually to live in Kootenai County. The lesson here is to check all surrounding counties!

For vital records requests within the county, you can write to:

Shoshone County Clerk
700 Bank Street
Wallace, Idaho 83873-2348
Phone: (208) 752-1264
Fax: (208) 752-1264


As of March 28, 2001, the Shoshone NEW Queries postings have been moved to the GenConnect system. Please use the links directly below to post new queries and information. The old queries will still be viewable from this page.

Shoshone Queries ~ Bibles ~ Bios ~ Deeds ~ Obits ~ Pensions ~ Wills


USGenWeb pages for neighboring counties:
Bonner to the North;
Sanders County, Montana to the East;
Mineral County, Montana to the Southeast;
Clearwater to the South;
Latah to the Southwest;
Benewah to the West; and
Kootenai to the Northwest.

Quick-Links to all USGenWeb county pages


The IDGenWeb/USGenWeb Project

In March and April, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy Database. The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Kentucky, where collected databases would be stored. In addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if individuals were found in more than one county, they could be located in the index.

At the same time, volunteers were found who were willing to coordinate the collection of databases and generally oversee the contents of the Web page. This grew into The USGenWeb Project and eventually The WorldGenWeb Project.

For information on how you can be a part of the Shoshone County GenWeb Project, contact the coordinator, Nancy Russell

For information on how you can be a part of the IDGenWeb Project, contact Jason Mendenhall.


This page was last updated 20 October 2005 and is maintained by Nancy Russell, Shoshone County coordinator

The USGenWeb Project, entirely volunteer and non-commercial, is not affiliated with USGenWeb, Inc.