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revised June 18, 2020 IMA MINE PATTERSON, IDAHO
Bradley Mining Company 1945-1957
Welcome to my web page for the IMA Mine in the Pahsimeroi Valley. The mine is in the canyon at Patterson, Idaho in Lemhi County. During WWII the IMA mine one of two war critical tungsten operations in the United States —the other being the Hamme mine in North Carolina.
This web page covers the Bradley Mining Company operation from January 1945 until operation was shut down in April 1957. Click on the entries in the menu at the bottom to view photos of the town and the mine. There is also a six page technical article on the Ima Mine that was published in the Mining Congress Journal. It was written by the first Bradley Mining Company Ima Mine manager, J.A. (Tony) Mecia in April 1949.
This web site was originated and is maintained by me, Harry Hathhorn. My father, Charles Hathhorn, left the family ranch near Cambridge, Idaho in 1939 to become a miner in the Rio Tinto Mine near Mountain City, Nevada. I was three years old. After a couple of years he went with the Bradley Mining Company in Stibnite, Idaho. He was transferred to the Ima Mine in January 1945 and was promoted to manager in 1950 when Tony Mecia departed.
I went to grade school in Stibnite into the third grade and then both of the 1 room school houses In Patterson. One building was the traditional white school house that was home to grades 1-4. The other was a log building for grades 5-8. During my time there was no water or electricity and there were two outhouses. The older kids took turns hauling drinking water in milk cans to school on sleds or wagons.
After completing grade school I boarded with people in Salmon to attend high school. In the summer I worked at the mine doing odd jobs on the surface. I stacked lumber; hauled garbage; cleared brush; picked rocks and filled pot holes in the county gravel road that was used for an airport; crimped and loaded dynamite caps and fuses into sticks of dynamite; installed telephone poles for a telephone line between the mine and town; and helped build a track for a skip that would be hoisted up the south side of the mountain. This was across the canyon from the mill area and not to be confused with the skip that ran from the framing shed to the mine portal on the north side of the canyon.
I graduated from Salmon High School in 1954. After a very short stint at the University of Idaho I joined the Air Force in October 1954. When the mine closed in April 1957 my folks went to Guatemala.
The original war housing apartments had a recreation hall for meetings, dances, and movies. The Bradley Mining Company built a larger recreation hall in the early 1950’s that had a bar, café, and gymnasium. It is now the LDS church serving the valley.
The two school houses were replaced with a new school before the mine closed in 1957. It was the only school in the Pahsimeroi Valley for many years and was recently closed.
If you would like to comment on this web page or provide information send me an email Click here for my email address
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Welcome Page
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