What's up with that? is a question-generated column that runs on occasion in the Tribune. To submit a question, call Managing Editor Doug Bauer at (208) 848-2269, post to the Tribune's Facebook or Twitter pages, or email whatsup@lmtribune.com.
Several rundown houses on Craig Mountain 35 miles south of Lewiston are a small remnant of the settlement of Zaza.
A reader recently asked what's up with that town? There are old, decrepit houses well more than 100 years old out there, he said. Who built them?
Well, Zaza wasn't ever actually a town, but a collection of farmsteads that was named in order to start a post office, according to an Idaho Department of Fish and Game wildlife management document. The area was first settled in 1909 under the Homestead Act of 1862, the post office was established in 1916, and within 10 years, most of the area known as "Zaza" was under private ownership.
The post office was disbanded in 1919 and the mail was sent to nearby Waha. There was a small store and a hotel, so for many years, the place served as a stop for the stagecoach between Lewiston and Grangeville.
The boom of mining, logging and cattle ranching in the region were the drivers behind the settlement. The department of fish and game reported that mining died out because there were so few mineral deposits worth developing, and logging ceased after the market for timber dropped. Only ranching continued and today - as our reader pointed out - there are only remnants of what Zaza used to be.
According to a 1996 Lewiston Tribune article, the state gained control over 60,000 acres on the mountain in 1992 as part of the Bonneville Power Administration's effort to make up for elk losses caused by the filling of Dworshak Reservoir.
That same article highlighted the restoration effort at Zaza on the part of the department. A local group wanted to give a historical log cabin a new roof with the help of donations and volunteers.
Justin Barrett, habitat biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said that project never came to fruition after it was recommended the department not change anything from its current status.
Cedar shingles had been purchased for the roof and the department is still hanging on to those, Barrett said, but they don't have any restoration projects planned.
"(The cabins) have been there for at least 100 - if not over - 100 years," Barrett said. "It's a real neat historical site and we'd like to keep it that way.
In April, vandalism was reported at the site and one of the cabins had siding ripped off. And while Zaza isn't historically protected, Barrett said the department still seeks guidance from the State Historical Preservation Office when it comes to managing the place.
"And they gave us kind of the green light to get it repaired to the condition it was in before the vandalism," Barrett said.
And judging by the uproar that vandalism caused on the Nez Perce County Sheriff Office's Facebook page when photos were posted of the damage, Barrett said the community really holds that site in high regard.
Barrett said the location is 20 feet from Zaza Road and open to the public. No off-road motorized vehicles are allowed, though. Just park your car by the side of the road, hike on up and enjoy the history.
"(The department) holds them in high value as historical sites," Barrett said. "... a lot of people in the public do, too."
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Moroney may be contacted at kmoroney@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2232.
