Historical figures on the Main Salmon River

December 13, 2017 5:32 pm

5 Intrepid homesteaders & explorers of the Main Salmon River

Foundations buried in sandbars, overgrown orchards, and rock inscriptions hint at the early
expedition days into the Salmon River canyon. Today, several ranches and cabins remain,
some occupied by caretakers and some left to fade back into the natural landscape. The
evidence of previous homesteads begins to create a picture of the lure that the river had for
Americans hell-bent on living their own way. On your next trip on the Main Salmon River,
take a moment to learn more about these 5 historical figures, bringing a new dimension and
appreciation to this special multi-day river trip.

1. Johnny McKay

Johnny McKay, an early Salmon River hermit, and explorer escaped into the solitary canyon
after his wife died at one of his mills. Her dress caught in the machinery and she was crushed. A
heartbroken McKay left the business and began to seek solitude while floating the dangerous
and difficult Main Salmon River rapids. Inscriptions can be found at Barth hot springs that date
his 1872, 1905 and 1911 trips down the Main Salmon, although it is thought that he made the
trip at least 20 different times until 1920. Some believe his 1872 journey was the first successful
descent of the canyon. He would take 1-3 years for each trip, steering a scow, i.e.
sweep boat, downstream. These boats were typically thirty-two feet long, eight feet wide and
three feet tall. The ample space could be filled with supplies for the expedition, or goods to sell to
canyon residents along the way.

2. Captain Guleke

Captain Guleke ran some of the first flat-bottomed sweep scow boats in the Salmon River
drainage that carried passengers and cargo. He was known as one of the best boatman the
river had ever seen, completing as many as 200 trips down the Main Salmon River. His first
journey was in 1896. He then made a business of taking people down the canyon, charging
$1,000 per person. The hefty price could be the equivalent of $10,000 today—a good bit more
than the cost of a commercial trip. Guleke even navigated a sweep boat all the way to Portland
along the Salmon, Snake and Columbia Rivers.

3. Polly Bemis

Smuggled into the United States as a young Chinese girl and sold as a slave to a wealthy
Chinese man in the mining town of Warren, Idaho, the young Polly Bemis began to make her
mark on the Salmon River valley in 1872. Mysteries surround much of her life. It is unknown
how she gained her freedom from her owner, and whether she eventually married Charlie Bemis
for love or for convenience. The couple set up shop on a bar along the Main Salmon River. It is
known that she saved his life twice, and outlived him, while continuing to live on this rugged
terrain for decades after. Her sense of humor, charismatic attitude and intrepid lust for life kept
her as a vital role in the community and character of the river until her death in 1933.

4. Sylvan Hart, or “Buckskin Bill”

Buckskin Bill’s museum at Five-mile Bar really says it all. This mountain man put down his river
roots in 1929 and carved a true mountain lifestyle for himself. For only a dollar, he settled on
fifty acres of riverside land, building not only a two-story house and blacksmith shop but also
various defense structures such as a stone turret and bomb shelter. He crafted his own knives and guns for
hunting and defense, much of which was directed at the Federal Government when rumors of
eviction spread after the passing of the Wilderness Act. Buckskin Bill died on his property at the
age of 73 in 1980.

5. Jim Moore

Jim Moore’s hand-hewn log cabins scattered across his property are a testament to the amount of
time he spent at his riverside home. Originally occupying the land with a mining claim, Moore
soon saw the economic benefit of providing goods and services to other miners seeking a
fortune on the Salmon River and in 1898 he began to build cabins on his land. His orchards
produce fruit to this day, greatly pleasing the local black bear population, and rumor has it that
gold may be buried somewhere on site. The header picture for this blog was taken at his homestead.