Editing Republic, Washington (section)

==History==
[[File:Republic Mill, Washington.jpg|thumb|right|Republic Mill]]

===Republic Mining District===
Republic was founded by gold prospectors in the late 19th century. Mining claims were first made along Eureka Creek on March 1, 1896,<ref name="Umpleby1910">{{cite journal |last1=Umpleby |first1=J. B. |year=1910 |title=Geology and ore deposits of Republic mining district |journal=Washington Geological Survey |volume=1}}</ref> after the northern half of the [[Colville Indian Reservation]] was vacated on February 21. On March 5, 1896, the Republic claim was staked by Thomas Ryan and Philip Creasor along Granite Creek, another branch of the [[Sanpoil River]]. The resulting Republic Mine eventually became the highest producer of gold in the county. On April 18, 1896, the Republic Mining District, originally called the Eureka Mining District, was established.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Full |first1=Roy |last2=Grantham |first2=Robert |editor1-last=Ridge |editor1-first=John |title=Ore Deposits of the Republic Mining District, Ferry County, Washington, in Ore deposits of the United States, 1933-1967 |date=1968 |publisher=The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum engineers, Inc. |location=New York |pages=1481–1494}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindgren |first1=Waldemar |last2=Bancroft |first2=Howland |title=Republic (Eureka) District, in the Ore Deposits of Northeastern Washington |journal=USGS Bulletin |volume=550 |publisher=USGS |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0550/report.pdf |date=1914}}</ref>

The first [[Stamp mill|ore mill]] for processing low grade ore in the district was constructed in May, 1898, while highest grade ores were hauled {{convert|80|mi|km|abbr=on}} east to [[Marcus, Washington]] partway by cart and then via the Spokane Falls & Northern [[Branch line#North America|branch line]] for the remaining distance.  Between 1899 and 1900, stamp mills were constructed at the Mountain Lion mine in the northwest part of camp and the Republic Mine in the south resulting in a brief period where all of the district's ore was milled in the camp.  The Mountain Lion Gold Mining company 100-ton mill used a combination of [[Amalgam (chemistry)#Gold extraction (ore processing)|mercury plate amalgamation]] followed by [[MacArthur-Forrest Cyanidation Process|MacArthur-Forrest cyanide leaching]].  However, because of much lower gold and silver recovery rates, combined with the soon to arrive rail lines, the mill was soon shut down.  The 200-ton Republic mill processed the ore by first [[Roasting (metallurgy)|roasting]] the finely crushed ore, followed by [[cyanide process|cyanide leaching]], with the first loads of ore being processed in October 1900.<ref name="Umpleby1910"/>

In July 1901, the Republic mine and mill both shut down because of the milling cost, and a lack of enough profitable ore being recovered.  Ores in the Republic District were noted to have increasing percentages of silver concentration in the lower portions of the ore bodies, and the Republic mill did not provide more than a 50% return on assayed ore value, dooming the mill.  The Republic mine remained inactive until 1902 when the arrival of railroads in the town made mining profitable again.  From 1902 to 1909, ore was freighted north to [[British Columbia]] and then west to [[smelter]]s on the coast for processing, with periods where shipments up to {{convert|1000|st|kg|abbr=on}} of ore a week were regular.<ref name="Umpleby1910"/>

The Republic mining District encompassing Republic and the surrounding areas, had no defined borders as of 1909 when the geologist Joseph B. Umpleby visited, but included six townships with a center "a little west of the south end of Curlew Lake".  At the time of the visit Republic was the most important mining camp in the county and the largest with a population of around 1,500.<ref name="Umpleby1910"/>

===Eureka to Republic===
In July 1897, Philip Creasor built a two-story hotel at the townsite, originally called Eureka. This town site was [[platted]] on April 29, 1898, and the post office name changed to Republic, since there was already a post office named Eureka in the state of Washington. On May 8, 1900, a special election was held which approved incorporation of Republic, and J.J. Sullivan was elected mayor. The town was then officially incorporated on May 22, 1900, and had a population of about 1800.<ref>{{cite web |title = Dates of Incorporation, Disincorporation, and Changes of Classification of Washington Cities and Towns |publisher= Multiple Research and Service Center of Washington |url= http://www.mrsc.org/library/inctable.aspx |access-date = 2013-12-06 |url-status= dead |archive-date = 2013-11-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131126032207/http://www.mrsc.org/library/inctable.aspx}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Steele |first1=Richard |title=An Illustrated History of Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan, and Chelan Counties, State of Washington |publisher=Western Historical Publishing Company |date=1904 |pages=404–431 |url=https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/images/publications/sl_steeleillustrated/sl_steeleillustrated.pdf |access-date=2 July 2020}}</ref>  Two separate rail lines granted access to the area, [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railways]] Spokane Falls & Northern branch line and the locally owned [[Spokane and British Columbia Railway|Republic and Kettle Valley Railway]], commonly called the "Hot air line"<ref name="Eveningsun1905"/> from [[Grand Forks, British Columbia]]. During the summer of 1900, Swedish immigrant Charles E. Anderson first opened [[Anderson's Grocery]].<ref name="SpRvCentennial">{{cite news |last1=Craig |first1=john |title=A century in the family |work=The Spokesman-Review |date=June 25, 2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATozAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA11}}</ref>

===Hot Air Line===
[[File:Eureka Gulch, Republic 1910 Umpleby.png|thumb|right|Eureka Gulch in 1910 with the Great Northern railbeds in the center and the "Hot Air Line" in the foreground]]
The [[Spokane and British Columbia Railway]], originally the Republic and Kettle Valley Railway, was a short lived [[Standard-gauge railway|standard-gauge]] private rail company based out of Republic operating between Republic, Grand Forks and Lynch Creek British Columbia.  The line was locally known as the "Hot Air line".<ref name="Eveningsun1905">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1905-04-04 |title=Changed Names |work=The Evening Sun |location=Grand Forks, British Columbia|url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xgrandforks/items/1.0341485#p0z-1r0f: |access-date=2020-08-27 |doi=10.14288/1.0341485}}</ref>  The line began operation in 1902 as the Republic and Kettle Valley Railway, before being bought out in 1916.<ref name="Commission1926">{{cite book|author=United States. Interstate Commerce Commission|title=Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States|chapter=Valuation Docket No. 72 Spokane and British Columbia Railway |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WMD1SjKuWfUC|year=1926|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=209–220}}</ref> The company was initially incorporated in 1901 with J. Stratton as president, with construction of the line between Republic and [[Danville, Washington]] at the United States-Canadian border being contracted to the Republic and Grand Forks Construction Company, itself owned by Stratton. The rail line paralleled the Great Northern spur line from Republic through [[Malo, Washington|Malo]] and [[Curlew, Washington]] to Danville.  The northern line was initially surveyed by the Republic and Kettle River company, but they were forced to build on higher ground beyond the Great Northern land boundaries.<ref name="Commission1926"/>  On January 2, 1902, the railroad was also approved by the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]] to conduct surveying for a southern line though the Colville Indian Reservation along the [[Sanpoil River]].<ref name="Indianaffairs1901">{{cite book |last1=United States Office Of Indian Affairs |title=Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the Year 1902 |date=1902 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington [D.C.] |page=103 |edition=First |url=http://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/CommRep/AnnRep02p1/reference/history.annrep02p1.i0003.pdf |quote=Republic and Kettle River Railway. |language=en}}</ref>

===Early entertainment===
During the early 1900's, Republic was home to a regional [[Baseball]] team which traveled the northeast region playing other city teams such as those from [[Colville, Washington|Colville]] and [[Orient, Washington]], plus [[Grand Forks, British Columbia]].<ref name="Baseball1910">{{cite news |author=<!--none given--> |title=Round of pleasure, ball game Saturday and Sunday dance Saturday night|work=Kettle River Journal |location=Orient, Washington |date=July 30, 1910 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QhxmAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1}}</ref><ref name="Baseball1913">{{cite news |author=<!--none given--> |title=Neighborhood notes |work=Kettle River Journal |location=Orient, Washington |date=June 27, 1913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YwFmAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1}}</ref><ref name="Baseball1913GF">{{cite news |author=<!--none given--> |title=Neighborhood notes |work=Kettle River Journal |location=Orient, Washington |date=June 13, 1913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQFmAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1}}</ref> The city also had a [[brass band]] which would play at events such as [[Fourth of July]] celebrations which it would host with the baseball club.<ref name="Brass13">{{cite news |author=<!--none given--> |title=Untitled |work=Kettle River Journal |location=Orient, Washington |date=June 20, 1913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgFmAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA4}}</ref>  The Kettle River Journal of Orient reported August 1913 that the Republic Theater had been purchased by a new owner who renovated and remodeled it.<ref name="Theater13">{{cite news |author=<!--none given--> |title=Neighborhood notes |work=Kettle River Journal |location=Orient, Washington |date=August 15, 1913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agFmAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1}}</ref>

===1983 Republic hotel fire===
On December 4, 1983, around 6pm, fire broke out on north Clarke Ave and raged for over 2 hours before being extinguished. The starting point was thought to have been an upper back room in the Republic Hotel and cafe. It spread for half a block consuming the hotel, the state liquor store, ''The Republic News-Miner'' newspaper offices, and an unoccupied building.  A radio shop at the south end of the block and a hardware store at the north end were smoke-damaged but spared. Fire crews from Curlew, Malo, Keller, and Tonasket all responded to the blaze.<ref name="1983fire">{{cite news |agency=United Press International |title=City blaze guts firms |work=The Bulletin |location=Bend, Oregon |date=December 5, 1983 |page=A3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYVTAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2}}</ref>

===Modern era===
Republic's prominence, initially brought on by the gold rush, started to fade as prospectors and those who supported the mining industry moved away. During the years between 1900 and 1910, the town lost over half its population. Despite this, mining has continued to be an important part of life in Republic, as gold is still mined for in the mountains surrounding the town. As of 2022, an estimated {{cvt|8,000,000|oz|ton}} of gold had been recovered from northern Ferry County, with active gold exploration being conducted by [[Adamera Minerals Corporation]] who acquired property on [[Buckhorn Mountain (Ferry County)|Buckhorn Mountain]] near the Canadian border from [[Kinross Gold Corporation]].<ref name="Adamera">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Adamera Minerals defines 30 gold targets at Buckhorn, Washington State |url=https://resourceworld.com/adamera-minerals-defines-30-gold-targets-at-buckhorn-washington-state/ |website=Resourceworld |access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref> As of the 2020s, the town of 1,100 is sustained mainly by those people in surrounding farms and ranches, miners who work at the local mine, and tourists looking for a quieter, slower pace of life.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}