Sunbeam Dam

The following is an excerpt from a New York Times article dated September 26, 1999, in an article titled From Boise To the Back of Beyond, By L.J. DAVIS

"On the river, a few miles north of Stanley, is half a dam. It is a crude concrete affair, originally designed to supply electrical power to the Sunbeam mine. The historical marker explains that it was dynamited by the authorities because the mine was bankrupt and the fish ladder no longer worked. This is a fib.

" 'In 1934,' former Gov. Cecil Andrus writes in his memoirs, 'a party or parties unknown ran a dynamite-laden raft into Sunbeam Dam.' The dam blocked the annual salmon run. The party or parties unknown were never caught, a fairly unusual circumstance in this thinly populated country. But history was against them. Once, 16 million salmon migrated annually to the Columbia River system. Hundreds of thousands reached the sprawling grounds at the headwaters of the Salmon and the Snake, but now the fish have to navigate through seven Federal dams and one diversion. Only a handful make it."


Here is another account. . .

"In 1910, miners built Sunbeam Dam on the Salmon River east of Stanley, cutting off the sockeye's migration route. They were thought to have gone extinct in the 1920s. But the fish reappeared in 1931 after sportsmen blew a hole in Sunbeam Dam."


And another.

"Dams' detrimental effects on fish have been obvious for decades. In fact, Idaho dynamited the 10-m-tall Sunbeam Dam in Custer County in the early 1930s strictly to improve the annual sockeye salmon run up the Salmon River."


The following is taken from the sign at the dam site. A somewhat conflicting account.

Sunbeam Dam
"The Sunbeam Dam was constructed by the Sunbeam Consolidated Gold Mines Company to provide power for their mill located 13 miles up Yankee Fork on Jordan Creek.

"Construction of the dam and power plant began in June, 1909, and was completed in May, 1910.

"The mill and mine operated almost a year on the electrcity from this dam but the low cost of electric power couldn't compensate for the low value of the mine's ore. The Sunbeam property was sold at a sheriff's auction in April, 1911. Caretakers remained but the power plant was never used again.

"The dam's fish ladders eventually fell into disrepair. Idaho Fish and Game then contracted the blasting of the bank next to the dam to allow fish passage in 1934.



Closing thoughts:

Present day, four lower snake river dams are attributed to preventing the recovery of salmon in the Salmon River basin.

From the Idaho Rivers United website:

"Idaho Rivers United is spearheading the fight to save Idaho's wild salmon and steelhead from extinction. Four huge dams on the lower Snake River in southeast Washington need to be partially removed for these amazing fish to make a comeback. Dam removal will greatly improve survival of the fish as they migrate over 1,000 miles to and from the Pacific Ocean.

"Idaho Rivers United is dedicated to helping concerned citizens be effective advocates for Idaho's salmon and steelhead.


A lake named for its historical encounter with these fish, Redfish Lake, averages single digit returns each year of this legendary species.

If you would like to see the river return to and thrive with the fish of its namesake, perhaps allowing Redfish Lake to live up to its name (rather then renaming it "Deadfish Lake"?), support leaders whom take action or groups who fight the fight.

Environmental action makes sense; economic, financial, social, moral . . .