Namesakes: John Adam Stemple

Stemple Pass is well known landmark in the Lincoln area. Once a primary route between Helena and Lincoln, today it's a popular byway that provides access to outdoor activities year round.

But who was this pass, and the surrounding mining district, actually named for?

John Adam Stemple was born in Preston County, W. Va., March 16, 1834.

His family is reportedly settled in Virginia in 1774, after two brothers arrived in the colonies. Members of the Stemple clan are also said to have served as Soldiers in the Revolutionary War.

John was born to Martin and Caroline Stemple, the fourth of eleven children. After his mother died, John lived with his widower father until he was 22. In 1856, he headed west to Iowa where he lived until 1860.

In 1860 John travelled across the country to Ogden, Utah before heading on west to Oregon and California. According to an account of his story by Joaquin Miller in his "State of Montana History," the emigrant group John travelled with found trouble with the Sioux. Circling their wagons, they withstood an attack by more than 100 Indians at the Sweetwater River. The group lost one member in the melee, but managed to drive off the attackers.

Stemple went on to cover considerable ground in the west during the early 1860's.

After arriving in California, he traveled through the territory before returning to Baker County, Ore. There he took up mining near the Snake River before moving on to Portland and then on to Victoria, British Columbia before returning to San Francisco.

In 1866 Stemple made the trip from San Francisco to New York by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He spent the winter of 1866 in Iowa, but hit the trail west again the following spring, following the Missouri River to Montana.

Stemple spent time placer mining at Trinity Gulch, a small mining area about two-and-half miles east of Canyon Creek, before heading up the canyon to Virginia Creek, which has its headwaters near the pass that now bears his name. While at Virginia Creek he was elected to the local office of Recorder, a position he held until 1871.

Stemple married Amanda Anne Miller of Iowa Jan. 4, 1874. The couple had four children together: Carrie, Harry (also known as Oscar), Eddie and Alys Mable. Carrie, their first child, died at just 17 months.

Stemple is said to have discovered several valuable mines at the head of Silver Creek, near Marysville. He built a ten-stamp mill at the Whippoorwill mine, but in 1877 he sold his interest in it for $12,000 and returned to Virginia Creek..

"This venture made way for the events that left the Stemple name on a mountain pass, a road and a booming mining community,." according to Gold Pans and Singletrees.

In 1881 Stemple bought a five-stamp mill from George Richards of Meagher County. He set up the rechristened "Stemple Mill" to process ore for the Homestake Mine, which proved to be one of the largest producers in the Stemple mining district.

John sold his interest in the Stemple Mill in late 1882, again for $12,000, and concentrated on the Piegan Mining and Milling Company. Stemple had discovered the Piegan Mine about three miles west of Marysville in 1876. The mine never grew to the size of the nearby Drumlummon, but the Piegan was considered one of the best in the district. By 1896, Stemple employed 10 miners and one top man to work two tunnels.

The town of Stemple - a mining camp, post office and stage stop - was located about a mile down from the summit of Stemple Pass. The stage station served as an important waypoint for travelers and mail headed to Lincoln until the 1930s, when the pass was opened to traffic through the winter.

Some buildings reportedly still stood in the area at the time Gold Pans and Singletrees was being written in the early 90's, but today nothing remains of the old camp.

During his lifetime, Stemple was prominent enough to be included in two early histories of the territory and state, 1885's "History of Montana 1739-1885" and Joaquin Miller's 1894 "Illustrated History of the State of Montana."

John A. Stemple died Aug. 8, 1915 at the age of 81. According to the Helena Daily Independent, he passed away at St . Peters Hospital after a short illness and wass buried in Forestvale Cemetery in Helena on Aug. 10, 1915.