1 1 ▁women , ▁ 2 1 ▁children ) ▁▁ 1 8 6 3 ▁census : ▁ 5 7 5 ▁ ▁Res urg ence ▁and ▁decl ine ▁The ▁first ▁quart z ▁l odes ▁in ▁the ▁Florence ▁area ▁might ▁have ▁been ▁developed ▁as ▁early ▁as ▁ 1 8 6 3 . ▁Another ▁followed ▁around ▁ 1 8 7 2 – 1 8 7 5 . ▁However , ▁the ▁location ▁of ▁the ▁Florence ▁Bas in ▁in ▁high , ▁extremely ▁rug ged ▁country ▁made ▁transport ation ▁especially ▁difficult . ▁Oper ators ▁had ▁to ▁rely ▁on ▁hand ▁mill s , ▁or ▁very ▁small ▁stamp ▁mill s ▁that ▁could ▁be ▁broken ▁down ▁into ▁manage able ▁components ▁for ▁transport . ▁In ▁ 1 8 9 5 , ▁a ▁new ▁road ▁was ▁built ▁to ▁connect ▁Florence ▁to ▁Mount ▁Id aho . ▁With ▁better ▁transport , ▁invest ors ▁took ▁another ▁look ▁at ▁the ▁quart z ▁min ing ▁possibilities ▁in ▁the ▁region . ▁They ▁found ▁enough ▁rich ▁ore ▁to ▁justify ▁bringing ▁in ▁more ▁mill ing ▁capacity , ▁which ▁set ▁off ▁another ▁bo om . ▁Opt im istic ▁own ers ▁even ▁assemble d ▁a ▁d red ge ▁to ▁re - work ▁the ▁old ▁pla cer ▁fields . ▁ ▁Early ▁returns ▁seemed ▁to ▁justify ▁their ▁hopes , ▁but ▁both ▁the ▁l ode ▁and ▁pla cer ▁bo oms ▁were ▁fairly ▁short - l ived . ▁By ▁around ▁ 1 9 0 0 – 1 9 0 5 , ▁those ▁hopes ▁had ▁f aded ▁and ▁the ▁town ▁had ▁to ▁depend ▁upon ▁small - scale , ▁essentially