Burdge Mill Grist Stones
"The Village that Grew", by Ruth B. Lyons, 1979, p. 29:
In October of 1864, (Doc) William Burdge and his emigrant outfit, the finest equipped that ever entered the village, came grinding down the Camel's Back into Payette Valley. He brought the first Roan Durham cattle and Morgan strain horses to Idaho.
The Burdges, like most of the valley pioneers, settled near the river. They purchased part of the Block House Ranch located two miles west of Martinsville. The north side of the property extended to the river enabling Mr. Burdge to build a private ditch . . .
In 1874, he hauled stone grinding wheels from Eagle and set up a grist-mill. The stones came originally from Canyon Hill northwest of Caldwell.
See also "Emmett's Lumber Industry in the Past," The Emmett Index, June 15, 1916, which gives more details.
In Emmett City Park, by fireplace
"Stones from first grist mill in Emmett Valley. "Doc" Wm. Curry Burdge and Mary Chandler Burdge, arrived in Emmett 1864 by covered wagon from Pleasant, Iowa. This marker in loving memory, by Burdge descendants. 1964."
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Photos by Sharon McConnel
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