Idaho’s Largest Historic Artifact

IN THE LATE 1800's

The Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Railroad was a 29 1/2 mile line from Nampa to Murphy commissioned by Colonel William H. Dewey to carry gold and silver from Silver City to Nampa. The railway was also to be used to haul livestock out of Owyhee County and to haul supplies into the Owyhee Mountains. Railway constuction began in 1896 and by February 1897 the tracks extended from the main depot in Nampa to the Snake River. Construction of the railroad employed 400 men with100 teams of horses.

The bridge was built with 450 tons of steel from Pennsylvania and cost $76,943 in 1897. The piers were the highest of their kind in the country at the time and spans 500 feet over the river. Height from the river to the top of bridge is 97 feet, and distance from rail to water was 50 feet. The first train crossed the Guffey Bridge on September 27, 1897, carrying two carloads of lumber from Caldwell. It was the only Parker-through-truss bridge in Idaho, and it was the first bridge to connect Canyon and Owyhee Counties.

The town of Guffey, north of the river, was the first terminus on the Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Railway until the Guffey Bridge was completed. The Guffey railroad bridge was named after an investor from Pittsburgh, James M Guffey. Guffey had a financial interest in Colonel William H. Dewey’s Florida Mountain Mining Company, and he provided financial backing for the bridge and the Boise, Nampa, and Owyhee Railway. Guffey later became one of the founders of Gulf Oil Corporation. It is not known whether Guffey ever visited the bridge named in his honor.

On July 10, 1899, the inaugural train arrived in Murphy, which was named after Cornelius (Con) Murphy, a mining engineer and the railroad construction crew's boss, who was also a close friend of Colonel Dewey. Murphy marked the end of the line, and a wye track was built north of the town to enable the train to turn around for its return journey to Nampa. The well originally used for the steam engines still contributes to Murphy's water supply. The train on the Boise, Nampa & Owyhee route was nicknamed "Sagebrush Annie" and could haul up to ten stock, freight, and passenger cars. Departing from Nampa each morning, the train made multiple stops en route to Murphy, paused briefly there, and then made its way back to Nampa. Locals could tell the time of day from the sounds of the passing train. Known for its leisurely pace, the freight trains were restricted to a speed limit of 20 mph on the lightweight rails, and it was humorously noted that the locomotive needed to stop to build up steam every time it whistled!

Colonel William H. Dewey originally intended for the railroad to extend from Murphy to the towns of Silver City, Dewey, and De Lamar in the Owyhee Mountains. His vision was to continue the rail line along the Owyhee range's backside to Jordan Valley and then connect with the Southern Pacific line in Winnemucca, Nevada. However, by the time the railroad reached Murphy, the mines were dwindling, making it unprofitable to extend the tracks up the mountain, resulting in their termination in Murphy. Following the mining era, the railroad transitioned from transporting ore to moving livestock and agricultural products such as sugar beets. The first cattle shipment departed soon after the railroad's completion to Murphy in 1899. By 1914, the Murphy Stockyards had become the premier livestock shipping hub in the Pacific Northwest, with a total of 462 stock cars dispatched that year: 279 filled with sheep, 179 with cattle, and 4 with horses.

On July 29, 1912, Locomotive #611 departed from Murphy with nine double-deck stock cars carrying 1,800 sheep. The engineer, E.M. Jacobs, although experienced, was navigating the downhill grade to Guffey for the first time. The train sped too quickly around the "S" curve near the Snake River, causing the locomotive to derail and topple onto its side, resulting in a pile-up of the cars. Brakeman L.V. Evans lost his life; Jacobs and three others sustained serious injuries. A large number of sheep perished at the site. The Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Railroad, which had been incorporated into the Idaho Northern in 1907, suffered considerable financial losses due to the 1912 wreck. The 1912 sheep wreck caused significant financial damage so it was taken over by the Oregon Short Line in 1913, after which it became known as the Murphy Branch line.

Passenger service to Murphy ceased in 1942, and by 1947, transporting animals by rail from Murphy was no longer economically viable, leading to the abandonment of the Murphy line that year. The 1950s saw trucks and highways overtake rail transport. Melba's last train departed in 1994, the same year all tracks were removed. One of the final trains to Murphy carried elk in stock cars, destined for release into the Owyhee Mountains to boost local herds. After unloading, ranchers herded the elk from the town to the mountains, marking a significant moment for Murphy's railroad history. Following the abandonment of the railroad section south of the river, Guffey Bridge was acquired by Owyhee County for $1 in 1948. It was later sold to the Idaho Historical Society in the 1970s and bought by Canyon County in 1989, eventually becoming part of Celebration Park. The bridge has since been restored for pedestrian, equestrian, and bicycle use across the Snake River.

 The Guffey Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 

FUN FACTS:

In the Spring of 1962 my Dad drove his 37 Chevrolet 4 door sedan across the bridge with his brother & some buddies from college. They actually had to replace some of the railroad ties with some random boards just to fill in the holes. To top it off, they did it under the cover of darkness as to not get caught ~ Talk about sketchy!

Also as late as April 2002, we drove our ATV's across it as well. There were no boulders or signs stopping us...

LOGGING REQUIREMENTS TO CLAIM THIS FIND

If you have the time, plan to visit the nearby petroglyphs which are another main attraction out here. Here's more info:

Celebration Park | Canyon County (id.gov)

Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.