Custer County

	More About Custer County
County Statistics
Interesting Facts
What To See And Do
Famous Custer County Natives and Residents

Custer County was established on January 8, 1881, with its county seat at Challis. It was the 13th county created in the territory of Idaho. It was named for General Custer Mine, which was named in honor of General George Custer, who died at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Its history begins with fur traders and pathfinders as early as 1824. Later, in the 1860s and 1870s, prospectors and miners came to the county. It contains portions of the Sawtooth, Salmon River, White Cloud, Pioneer, Lost River and White Knob mountains and contains the highest peaks in the state.

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County statistics

County Seat: Challis
Population: 4,114
Custer County website

Borders:  Blaine, Boise, Butte, Lemhi and Valley counties

Interesting Facts:

The geographical center of the state is the settlement of Custer on the Yankee Fork River.

What To See And Do:

Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness

Sawtooth National Recreation Area

Salmon River

Famous Custer County Natives and Residents:

Polly Bemis (1853-1933) was born Lalu Nathoy in China, and was sold by her father to Chinese brigands when she was still a child.  Eventually she was smuggled to the US where, in 1872, she was sold as a slave in San Franscisco for $2,500. Her buyer ran a saloon in the Warren mining camp in Idaho.  Eventually she bought her freedom and ran a boarding house in Warren.  She and her husband, Charlie Bemis, were among the first pioneers to settle the Idaho Territory, specifically along the Salmon River.  A biographical novel, A Thousand Pieces of Gold, fictionalized Bemis' life; it was made into a film in 1991.  Another book about Bemis, Polly Bemis:  A Chinese American Pioneer, published in 2003, is used as an elementary classroom history book.

(Sources include The Idaho Blue Book.)