House at Custer Custer's Last Stand

Nestled in the remote central Idaho county of Custer, the ghost towns of Bonanza and Custer were established in 1877 and 1878 when gold was discovered in a nearby mine by three miners. Bonanza sprung up first but nearby Custer followed a year later. One of the big mines and the town were named in honor of General George Armstrong Custer who had been defeated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in eastern Montana a year earlier in 1876. Custer's Last Stand, as it is commonly referred to, resulted in the death of 268 infantry soldiers and scouts that were part of the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment. Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies including Custers, along with his two brothers and a nephew were annihilated in the battle.

The town of Custer was a one street town that stretched for about half a mile. The town had an assayer's office (where they weighed the gold), livery stable, blacksmith shop, a school, post office, general mercantile store, a barber shop, jail, union hall, several saloons, houses and  a Chinatown at the south end of town. Custer even sported a baseball team! By the year 1896, a total of 600 people called Custer home. Custer grew rapidly after a fire in 1897 destroyed much of nearby Bonanza. Between the years of 1880 to 1888, the General Custer mine produced over $8 million in gold. But such towns as these, founded on newly discovered riches do not last long and Custer and Bonanza were no exceptions. By the year 1903, the population of Custer decreased rapidly as the glory days were slipping away. The bigger mines such as the General Custer, Lucky Boy and Sunbeam began to dry up. By 1910, Custer was a ghost town.

Custer, Idaho is within the Challis National Forest and lies along the Yankee Fork at an elevation of 6,470 feet. Currently the ghost town of Custer is listed on the National Register of Historic Places though only seven buildings actually remain and qualify for the status due to the town's deteriorating condition. Restoration efforts are under way to restore the town to its glory days.