The little city of Republic has reincarnated itself as a tourist destination over the course of the past couple of decades. The city has restored many of its historic buildings, creating a streetscape reminiscent of the Republic of the early 1900s. One of the major projects undertaken was the creation of a series of murals, a project of the Republic and Area Chamber of Commerce. Each mural in the city chronicles a distinct aspect of the history of the area and is accompanied by a textual explanation of the mural's theme.
This mural is a reproduction of a photo taken in 1901. In it are a few of the hard working miners of the Lost Lode Mine in Eureka Gulch. It is entitled
Typical Miners. Incidentally, Republic was initially named
Eureka, after Eureka Gulch, site of the first strikes in the area. There was already a "Eureka" in Washington, so, when a post office opened in the town, its name was changed to "
Republic, after the
Republic Mine, one of the pioneering mines in the gulch.
A relatively complete history of Republic can be found at
History Link.
On February 21, 1896 the northern half of the Colville Indian Reservation was opened to mineral exploration by an act of Congress. The first claims staked in a bitter cold winter nearly cost the hardy miners their lives. Eureka, as the mining camp was first known, produced a series of discoveries that led to Republic becoming the most successful long term gold producing area in the State of Washington.
In the early part of 1897 mining entrepreneur Patsy Clark, secured control of the Republic Mine which was Eureka's first major producer. Buying out locator Phil Creaser and Tom Ryan's interest for $55,000, Clark and his associates created the Republic Gold Mining & Milling Company and placed 50,000 shares on the open market. Wise investment and reported strike of $300 per ton enabled the company to pay $260,000 in dividends in early 1899. Later that year the company was sold to Canadian investors for $3,500,000.