Bonanza
Bonanza is a ghost town in Challis, Idaho. The twin camp to Custer—burned twice, still standing. The archive files it under ghost towns, mining history and local folklore. The dossier holds 1 reported claim and 3 documented facts — documented record and retelling kept side by side. The site is open to visitors. The dossier keeps the place and the story in the same record — which is what the archive is for.
· in your passport — stamped · open it
Is Bonanza haunted?
The record holds 1 claim — filed as reported, not verified. The heaviest filing is classed anecdotal. The archive documents the claim; it takes no position on the ghost.
The record — long form
Bonanza is the first — the Yankee Fork's original camp, the '77 townsite that Franklin sold lots for. The refinements were the surprise — the croquet field and the baseball, the water system that was piped. The fires were the end — the '89 and '97 burnings that drove the move to Custer, the population that drained.
The dredge is the neighbor — the Yankee Fork machine that chewed the riverbed, the '39-'52 operation that took the gold. The Boot Hill is the mystery — the Lizzie King grave that's unexplained, the cemetery in the pines. Bonanza is the earlier ghost — the camp that Custer replaced, the grid that's mostly gone.
The file keeps Bonanza: the 1877 founding, the fires, the dredge, and the Boot Hill.
Bonanza is the archive's Challis file — the Yankee Fork's first.
Why this file matters
Bonanza is the archive's Challis file — the camp that the dredge outlasted.
A camp keeps its drainage — the file's suggestion being that Bonanza's hold is the sequence: the first townsite, the fires that emptied it, and the dredge that chewed the river after.
The record of claims
Reported a presence in the buildings. The town has more past than present; the reports are the past refusing to stay past. The reports are anecdotal — consistent enough to record, thin enough to stay unproven. The report is preserved in sources like 'Bonanza'. The apparition is the file's anchor — every other report orbits it.
Two accounts on file
Pass 1 discovery. Inclusion is for ghost-town heritage; no haunting claim is implied. Parcel access and coordinates remain unverified.
Direct government enrichment. No paranormal inference from ghost-town status. Coordinates omitted where the page gives only an administrative office or distant visitor center.
Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.
Documented history
Gold-mining community closely linked with neighboring Custer. The town's documented rise and abandonment is the record the rest of the file stands on. It enters the file through media reporting — documented coverage, not folklore. The record appears in 'Boom or Bust: Exploring Idaho Ghost Towns'. It anchors the timeline the rest of the file hangs from.
Media reportedVisit IdahoThe state park describes the former mining communities of Custer and Bonanza as ghost towns by 1911, retaining buildings and cemeteries. A ghost town's file is unusual: the emptiness itself is documented, and this entry is part of that record. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. The record appears in 'Land of the Yankee Fork State Park'. It's the sort of fact that gives the haunting reports their context.
Verified historyIdaho State ParksThe 1877 founding and the fires are documented. Bonanza's history is documented — boom, bust, and desertion all on record, the lore layered on top. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. The detail is preserved in 'Bonanza'. It anchors the timeline the rest of the file hangs from.
Sources on file
- 01Boom or Bust: Exploring Idaho Ghost TownsVisit Idaho · tourism · A3
- 02Land of the Yankee Fork State ParkIdaho State Parks · government · A1
- 03BonanzaWikipedia · encyclopedia · A4
Field notes & open questions
mines2 batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.