Regional historian Robert Singletary will give a presentation Thursday detailing the lives of Jim Wardner and Stanley Easton, who helped develop Bunker Hill Mining Co. and the towns of Wardner and Kellogg.

Singletary will talk about the men at Coeur d’Alene Public Library at 7 p.m. The event is part of a lecture series sponsored by the Museum of North Idaho and the Coeur d’Alene Public Library. It is free to the public.

Wardner, one of the most colorful characters in the history of the Inland Northwest, came into Idaho Territory during the gold rush days in the early 1880s. He first appeared in the mining of town of Murray as a salesman for a Chicago company that made fake butter. While in Murray he found out a gold miner named Noah Kellogg had discovered a vein of silver ore on the south fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. He investigated, and then claimed the water rights near the silver strike, thus making him one of the founders of Bunker Hill Mining Co., which became one of the most productive mines in the Silver Valley.

Easton, an experienced miner and a graduate of the California School of Mines, took over Bunker Hill Mining Co. in Kellogg as general manager in 1903 after a period of labor disputes and low production. Easton’s outstanding contributions to Bunker Hill and the mining industry earned him national prominence. He was also involved in numerous community, state and national organizations. The Boy Scouts was one of his primary interests. He helped develop the first scout camp on Lake Coeur d’Alene, which was named Camp Easton.

For further information call the Museum of North Idaho at (208) 755-1308.