Golden, Idaho — Name From the Clearwater Gold Rush

Golden lies in the remote mountain country of Idaho County within the wider Elk City mining district.

The name captures the optimism that sent prospectors into the Clearwater Mountains during the nineteenth century. Gold discoveries created trails, claims and camps in terrain that was difficult to reach and expensive to supply.

Some of those camps grew. Others disappeared when the ore failed to justify the trouble. Golden remained on the very small end of the spectrum, with sparse habitation rather than a lasting boomtown.

The name is now almost larger than the place.

There is something wonderfully characteristic of a gold rush in that mismatch. Prospectors named the possibility first. Whether a town would ever grow large enough to deserve the confidence came later.