2011 Board of Directors:

• Dave Call •
• Dale Ford•
• Angie Hurley •
• Chuck Kane•
• Bob Russell •
• Fred Waidely •
• Virginia Crismon & Gladys Smith: Honorary 
Lifetime Board Members

2011 Curators:

• Clair Wiley, Curator •

Photo Department:

Hope Benedict and Cami Havemann Ernest

2011 Officers:

• Hope Benedict, Ph.D., President •
• Laurie Ruggiero, Vice President •
• Dallas Lewis, Treasurer • 
• Fredde Howarth, Secretary • 

As early as the turn of the twentieth century, Lemhi County residents celebrated the tenacity of those first gold miners whose 1866 strike helped establish a regional community. Led by John Rees, Philip Rand, E.H. Casterlin, and Ralph Irvin, the first Lemhi County Historical Society formed to collect the biographies and remembrances of the early settlers. Although Rees’ death in 1928 put an end to the first incarnation of the organization, efforts to tell Lemhi County’s history did not stop. George Elmo Shoup, son of Colonel George Laird Shoup, produced his history of the County in 1941 (this history is still available at the Lemhi County Museum and on this site through Pay Pal).

On May 11, 1956, the Lemhi County Historical Society reorganized. Holding meetings in Probate Courtroom, City Hall, and in the home of Miss Alice McDonald and Mrs. Elizabeth Reed, the Society determined to collect and exhibit artifacts reflecting the settlement process. Residents and visitors viewed the first exhibit, containing artifacts from Leesburg (settled in 1866), in the Herndon Hotel (originally the “Shenon House); a second case was placed in Steele Memorial Hospital.

As the Society’s collection grew, the need for a building became a pressing issue. The Eagles’ Association offered the group a ninety-nine year lease on their lot at the corner of North Terrace and Main Streets. Members accepted the agreement with the provision that the Eagles would always have their lodge room in the basement—separate from the Historical Society’s portion of the building.

A survey conducted by the Junior Chamber of Commerce demonstrated the community’s interest in having a museum focused on Lemhi County History. Fund-raising to that end began in earnest at the Halloween Masquerade Ball in 1958. Six cinder blocks to be used in construction were sold at $100.00 each to initiate the process. KSRA, Myra McPherson, Henry Benson, Pope Oil Company, the Salmon Rotary Club, and the Salmon Chamber of Commerce purchased those blocks and the building committee had its start. In less than a year, the Society had raised nearly $12,000.00.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place October 23, 1960, and the building was dedicated on March 3, 1963.

First officers:
Mrs. Beulah Brenneman, President
Elizabeth Reed, Secretary
Mrs. Rose Corum, Treasurer

In January of 1966, a second room housing the Ray Edwards’ Asian Collection opened. Mr. Edwards provided the funding for room’s construction, asking only that his collection be exhibited there as the prominent feature. With the construction of this room, the Eagles and the Lemhi County Historical Society negotiated a second, consecutive ninety-nine year lease.