The True Story of Idaho Hermit, “Dugout Dick”
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- I explore the hand-carved “dugouts” in Elk Bend, Idaho and tell the true, amazing story of “Dugout Dick” - A man who saw the horrors of war and escaped to his own paradise in the rugged Idaho wilderness.
Richard is my great-uncle. I appreciate this video, and the kind comments from all of the people who called him a friend. Thank you, again, for the video.
I lived and worked in the Idaho Primitive Area near Corn Creek (now the Frank Church Wilderness) in the late 1960s. I was a young man building/maintaining pack trails in the primitive area and that's where I met Elmer Kieth, Buckskin Bill, and Dugout Dick. Dugout Dick was introduced to me as Dick Zimmerman and I don't recall that he was called "Dugout Dick" back then, but he could sure talk yer ears off LOL. In those days there were many self-reliant people like him who lived off the land near the Salmon River. They lived on old patented mining claims, homesteads, or like Dugout Dick just squatted on gov't land and they were collectively referred to as "River People, or River Folks." I performed odd jobs requiring a strong back for many of the elderly river folks in exchange for meals, learning the old ways, and stories. I'm 74 years old now and those were exciting and wonderful times for me... 😊
And then you and Connie settled down in Idaho City and you did your art work, before and after retiring from the USFS.
@@samrock7632 ~ Hiya Dan??
Charlie, sounds to me like you have your own book to write - thanks for adding to the Dugout Dick story! Also sounds like you and SamRock might be old acquaintances? Nice.
@@pendlechild7516 ~ Well I don't know who SamRock is, but he certainly knows me LOL...
Was there a place called "good grief " Idaho where the Vietnam draft dodgers hid out ?
Good-bye ol' friend.
I stayed with Dugout Dick in 2007 as I was backpacking my 3-year journey across America twice all on foot; over 8,000 miles. Dick offered me a place to stay, and I shared many a conversation over my week plus stay of growing winter. I even stayed in the 'haunted' room. There was a bed there then. I didn't see any hauntings, but there were a few different people that welcomed me in. They were all kind, and even took me to copper cave where the floor was a huge slab of copper, beautiful. Winter got worse and I had the Sawtooth Mountains ahead of me, so eventually I hiked on, but it was an honor to share memories, food and conversation. I do recall how extremely soot covered were the walls and complete cave Dick lived in, to the point of all being a deep black like a coal miner. The front windows were windows from old vehicles and Dick was nearly always hungry for sharing conversation. I am Jesse WhiteCrow of WhiteCrow Walking and that's how I came to know the cabins and caves of Dugout Dick. I do remember that he was kind, and that is a great memory to have about someone. I finished my epic walk in 2008 on Neah Bay. It was the journey of my lifetime, and a blessing every day I lived it.
That’s a great story!
Wow you are a very interesting guy your self I live in Olympia Washington and I hitch hiked thru that area about 1977? Steve in Olympia
Have you documented or written of you're life. I find this subject fascinating.
Your story is also very interesting! Thanks for sharing😀💙
Did you do it without money?
I met him once when I lived up in the mountains by Stanley . I got to see all the caves when they were being occupied . He was very interesting. Very kind . God bless his soul
What a treat that must have been, Dianna! Very very cool !!! Thank you for sharing that!!
@@ourheroesheadstones Start at 7:48 /8:00 , keep your eye on the roof just left of the window . See the black shape move into and out of view . I think you might have stirred up a big cat .
@@murphy13295 always watching Wazowski, alllllways watchinnnng
It looks like tar paper flaping around with the wind maybe? 🤔
@@murphy13295 - that was some old, dried up tar paper blowing in the wind 😃
It makes me sad that this man's life works were simply thoughtlessly destroyed by Government burocracy. He sounds like quite the character. They could have made this into a museum. You are doing a service by sharing this. Thank you.
Agreed.
the only thing folks should be in agreement about is the gov is scum
Gov't should have dynamited them when they were occupied.🤣🤣🤣🤣🧨
Yep. Land of the free... Our government always seems to throw a monkey wrench into that idea
He was a great guy. My Wife and I were good friends with him. It makes me mad that they destroyed his life's work.
he lived a life I'm too afraid to live. so this makes him one of my heroes.
And he was afraid to live the style of life you do. BUT HE DIDN'T!
@@mike.p.1400 You'll both likely find it when you need it. Those who don't will starve to death.
I had the pleasure of running in to many Mountain Men in the Rockies. We formed great trust. Amazing Fellers.
My Mom grew up in the Pahsimeroi Valley and we stopped by and visited Dick back in the early 70's. He was the nicest man, played us a song with his guitar and harmonica and let my brother and I ride his goats. He had all kinds of stories and told us how he built his cabins and where all the materials came from. He kept his food in one of the caves he dug and it was so cold that even in July there was ice on the floor. I'll never forget that visit and I'm pretty sure my mom has pictures of my brother and I sitting on his goats...lol! Thanks for the trip down memory land.
Wow…. Thanks for sharing your experience. I thought the only thing missing from the video was that “personal” feeling. Reading your story made it all hit home.
Thank you.
That had to be so unbelievably cool!! What a great experience!!
>
Hi Scott, I was also raised in Pahsimeroi Our place was on Deuton Lane . My Grandfather Had a place on Iron creek and he would stop and visit Dick in the 1960, Best Regards Melvin Powers
i was saying it looks like polygonal masonary architecture from an ancient civilization!!!! not to take away from Dicks work he did! but that’s also intriguing how you say he had a room that would stay cold!! this is unreal it has to be an old site!! check out mystery history channel and look at the examples of polygonal masonary!!! i’m sure of it!
Dugout Dick was a friend of mine. We met him in 1991. We worked at Twin Peaks Guest Ranch just up the hill from him, and would take the "dudes" down to see his caves as he preferred to call them. He charged $1 per head for the tour, and $1 more if you wanted to take pictures of him. He was proud of being "The Salmon River Caveman". He was a gold prospector that never really found much, but when he gave up on a tunnel, (All hand dug) he would wall up the front, mainly with old car parts, and rent it out for $10 per month. As you can imagine, there was some very strange people living there at times....some were wanted by the law and more than once arrests were made.
Dick was a great guy. Very friendly and easy going. I never heard him say anything against anyone. He just wanted to live out his life in peace. At times though the conversation would turn strange when he started talking about Bonnie. His dead girl friend who was murdered in a spud cellar in Southern Idaho.
His guitar playing was always a hit. The "Crawdad song" was one of his favorites. I can still hear him now....."Whacha gunna do when the lake go's dry honey? Whatcha guuna do when the lake go's dry Baby" ....sit on the bank and watch the crawdads die, honey, baby of mine".....I had him write out the words for me, and I still have it. I wish now that he had signed it.
It's a terrible shame that "Our Government" went in and destroyed his life's work. (He had been digging there since 1948) Back then there was a dozen or more "caves". One of the guests at the dude ranch asked him once, "What will they do with this after you die?" Dick replied " Tear it all down I suppose.......but I decided against it, I'm not going to die." If I recall, he was around 90 years old when he did, he almost kept his promise. I miss him.
Thank you for doing this video. You did a good job, it brought back good memories.
At 6:22 that little structure you found, was his drying room. He had screens in there like shelves that he dried fruit on. Mostly apples and apricots. He had a car door built into the wall so he could roll down the window for ventilation. He had a big garden down there and used to sell asparagus in town......until Folks found out his secret fertilizer was what he dug out of his outhouse each Spring!
That cave/house that is left, is not the one he lived in when we knew him. His was higher on the hill and was torn down. That stove in the one you showed, someone stole the stove lids off of it. He had frying pans on top of the holes. It took me awhile, but I found all of the right size lids at Ack's Auction House in Salmon and gave them to him.
The refrigerator was a cupboard....he used them because they were mouse proof.
He didn't want to be in that nursing home and said he was going to escape. I'm glad he made it!
Man, I could tell you a lot of stories about Dick.......he was a good friend.
My uncle served in the Pacific during ww2. He survived it's terrors came home and never spoke of the horrors he witnessed. Years later I served on one of those islands from WW2. Great program thank you.
My grandparents built their own house near Bailey Colorado during the depression. They grew up in a time were people did most things for themselves. I hope we can get back to those days. When people talk about American ingenuity and grit it was from floks like Dick and my grandparents. Thank you very much for sharing this.
You want to go back to the Great Depression?
I was blessed to meet Dick in 1975 when I was 22. Our family traveled every August from Fairchild AFB in Spokane, to Ketchum, Idaho to visit grandparents, friends and relatives starting about 1955 I best recall. The old highway hugged the beautiful Salmon River which was so thick with spawning salmon you could cross the river walking on their backs. My brothers and sisters and I would get all excited after passing the town of Salmon headed south as signs began to appear inviting us to visit the 'Ice Caves'. Of course that would never occur as the folks were on an express mission to get back to their old home and families. Long story short I grew up, married and continued the tradition except I did stop and met Dick. I paid a few dollars for a short tour and story, sampled his goat jerky and discovered he knew my great uncle and aunt Elmer and Lilly Fry who had a homestead downriver. Dick was very nice, kind and friendly. I'm 68 now but reminisce with my younger sister how we all longed to stop in and how happy I am that I took the time to do so. Thanks for bringing back to my mind happy memories from the past.
I do remember Dugout Dick. I can’t remember the exact year, but bit more than 40 years ago, my friend Chris and I were on a cross country trip when we aimlessly passed through Salmon, Idaho. I vaguely remember a sign with Dugout Dick’s handwritten scrawl inviting passers by come and visit. We were tired, but intrigued, so we stopped. There was a fee involved, but I can’t recall how much. $5.00 per head, maybe? If Dugout Dick was born in 1916, he would have been mid 60s then. To me he looked much older, but I was only in my mid 30s. I look much older now. I can’t imagine what I must look like to thirty something’s, sigh. I recall that this man was extremely engaging. I can’t speak for my friend, but I was truly fascinated. I don’t remember much about the cabins, but I do remember the dugouts, especially one that went quite a way into the hillside. At the end, the ground stayed frozen all year so he used this for cold storage. He had excavated a number of dugouts that he would rent out to down and out folks for $25/ month. When he noticed I had a camera with me, he informed me photographs would cost 50 cents. Not sure whether it was each or in total. I do remember he was really a nice old guy and he loved to talk - mostly about his dugouts and everything he had created. I also recall a structure built completely out of old car and truck windshields. He used this as a hothouse to dry fruit that he grew on the property. Rest In Peace, Dugout Dick.
Thanks for the post.
Great story
There is no freedom like this anymore! I had friends in Colorado in the 80s that squatted in the mountains. Now everything is illegal. Great story! You told it well. Thank You.
Yeeeeeeeessssss the forest service would send out a seat team to deal with people doing that!
@Gabe can you ?
I don’t believe you you nor do I disbelief you.
I’ll check it out myself.
@@steveeddy6876 taxes.
@@steveeddy6876 that’s right. Seal team. Swat team. The army. Navy and marines.
@Gabe I did a quick google search.
Nothing heavy.
But google says the max you can stay is two weeks. I tend to believe that. The government is not going to let you squat on land that you haven’t paid for. For free !!!! I don’t think so.
And pay no tax. I don’t think so.
Now. Maybe someday the way things are going. Yea. Maybe. But not yet.
If you want to live like that. You must do it secretly. Very secretly
He lived life on his own terms, and that is admirable.
I stumbled across this back in the early 90's & spent the best part of the day hanging out with Dick, once you got him started he had more stories than you could poke a stick at. Two of the caves were occupied at that time & the deepest one went way back to an opening. Too bad they didn't burry him in his meadow, that was home to him.
He loved that place. I was upset when his family took him away from there. I thought it would have been more fitting to lay him on his bed and seal the entrance to his cave. He would have liked that.
This is very interesting; he did so much work and was talented, built his cabin, And then someone knew little enough and blew it up -- What a shame !!
This man was a legend, his passing along with some others, marks the end of an age now long gone. The government does not tolerate independent people nowadays, it's all about control.
Resist! Do not comply! (Do not)Obey! They live.
Our government has failed US
Nope. The government does not tolerate people who decide independently to live on the governments land. Would you like it if you owned some property and squatters just decided that they wanted to live there so they built their homes off the side of your mountain? It doesn't matter Who owns the land...you don't take what's not yours.
@@Livetoeat171 government doesn't pay for that land they don't,t have no money people pay for that land who are they trying to bullshit.
@@masonstone4062 Even if you disagree with me, doesn't change the fact that the government owns that land, whether they paid money for it or not. If you don't like it you can leave the country. The government needs to protect a lot of the land that is not being used from people who will just destroy it and our landscapes and areas for us to recreate will be gone.
Amazing man , he definitely understood what was important in life.
Yeeeeeeeessssss!
Thank you for this video. I read about this man and have lived over in Western Idaho off and on since 78. I read that the BLM had blown up the dugouts after Dick's death and thought the cabin was gone too. Glad to see it still stands.
Black lives matter can suck my dugout dick
@@godddamnit5868 While you are exactly correct about that domestic terrorist group, I believe the BLM in this instance is the Bureau of Land Management.
@@carlicehouse Gotta listen to a man with that sort of intellect. Thanks for the sentiment sir.
Anywhere else in the world and a man like Dugout Dick would be considered a holy man. Living free of constraints, walking the solitary path and taking what Mother Nature and the Universe gives and takes away. Not a penny to your name, and always kind and willing to help others, and a keeper of stories, songs and tales from the past and still talked about, loved and revered years after his passing. Yup. Sounds like a holy man to me too.
Thanks for your service Richard! Hope you're. Hanging with God!
You do a very nice job, and interesting story and you don't leave any boring minutes in between segments . I enjoyed it; thank you
Very, very interesting. What a neat character, I admire him for how he lived. Simple, free and happy. Thank you so much for sharing ❤
I worked on the Salmon National Forest, Cobalt District for several years in the late 80's. I never heard of this guy strangely enough. There were places like this up and down Panther creek all having some pretty interesting histories. I have fond memories of the Panther Creek Inn which was run by Mom and Joy. Wednesday was always fish fry night- all you can eat. I worked with a man named Bill Hickey. A great guy and a pleasure to be with. Anyway, those were good times.
Very interesting. Never heard of him. He lived the life many would love to live. What a beautiful area he decided to call home. 💌
Worked in Stanley and always made weekend trips over to the "dugouts" to hang out and have jam sessions with Dick on the guitar. Idaho born and bred, too bad the secret is out. Goodbye private Idaho.
Come to Wyoming! It's so cold and windy, even Californians won't live here.
@@moviemania1137 true about Wyoming, but the western edge next to Idaho is mild enough they have poured in there. My friend lives in Star Valley Ranch. It's sad!
@@moviemania1137 Ah hell they will find a way, enjoy while you can.
That's no shit...😢
Life is a funny thing. So much pain with small islands of happiness. Go easy old bro, walk the cosmos , your new adventures await. See you soon.
Very fascinating story on this man. I have never heard of him until seeing your video. He certainly led an interesting life.
What a shame the government destroyed his hard work & life toil. So sad. Thank you for sharing his legacy. I very much enjoyed listening. May he RIP🌱
What a great story. He was one of a kind. Thanks for sharing it.
This is one of the best videos I have seen in some time. What an amazing and unique man. He displayed a wide range of talents and was truly resourceful. Few like him these days for sure. Thanks very much and best wishes.
Leave it to government to destroy instead of preserving Shame could have learned alot from him R.I.P
I'm sure the guys who blew it up weren't happy about it, but they were hired to do it, they should have left it alone .
What could you learn from a hermit who squatted on the government's land?
I knew him growing up he used to say bank robbers lived with him up there. He drove to town once a week on the highway and he only drove 20 moles per hour and it was not good to get stuck behind him. You could see him wearing his hard hat driving in and he wore it everywhere he went in town. Ya he was really cool.
I actually think I remember that as a child in Salmon!!! Thanks for the flashback!
That’s so unbelievably cool !!!! What kind of vehicle did he have?
@@ourheroesheadstones true, he would drive about 20 miles per hour or less...haha I think he might have drove a little pickup for a while, like a chevy s-10 possibly. But I also remember he used to ride an old bicycle before he resorted to driving. Definitely a local legend of some sort back in the day.
Americans will use any system of measurement so as not to use the metric. I've heard washing machines and moles now.
Yes Sir! It was terrible to get stuck driving behind Dick....and I don't drive fast! I think he ran over every mile post marker along the way too! Ha! I do miss him!!
Thanks for sharing this story!! So amazing. I can't even imagine how many stones that man moved in 50 years!
In my time growing up in idaho I've heard a few storied about different hermits living in caves and burrows. There is (or was) a hermit in Idaho Falls who dug out a big burrow in a barrow ditch just outside of town.
Have you ever heard of Pete the Hermit in Sussex County, NJ? For many years, people found his name carved in tree trunks on Penny Rock Mountain. No one ever really saw him until a bunch of us kids, circa mid 1960s, caught sight of him sitting on a very smooth downed log, the odor of his cherry pipe tobacco drawing us to his location. He merely stood up and disappeared into the thickly treed area. His name was carved several times into the darkly smooth log.
Yes, we were scared until my cousin suggested we carve our names on the log and we quickly got to that task. It wasn't until several years later that I found out who he was and why he ghosted the woods instead of embracing society. I think I was the only one of us kids who had the privilege to meet him in person once again before my family moved away.
His name was Pete DeF****, lived in a house with a stream running thru it and a real live tree growing in the living room. He had a sad story to tell about how he had rather roam thru the woods with his deer pets as friends than accompany the social trappings in town.
Somebody took to much LSD in the 1960s here.
I work at the local market, & remember Dick sittin on the bench by the door, or over in the deli eatin an ice cream cone… I’d smile watching him enjoy his ice cream..
That’s so great, Cindy! He had to be quite the character!! Such an interesting gentleman!
Thank you all for your story's. What a wonderful tapestry of humanity. Great story. God bless you Dug out Dick.
Used to visit my dad in Salmon just up the road from Elk Bend in the late 80's early 90's and everyone in town then knew about this guy....They would all tell me stories about him....They say every now and then he would pop into town for some type of supplies ...As you travel along the river you can see the place on the other side...
This man was a friend of my grandparents. We visited several times throughout our years going to our ranch in the Frank Church. Thank you for highlighting this true gentleman. His memories will always be cherished. 🥰
Just to say I love these old stories and the people who lived it, back to nature he was aware of his surroundings, that he never abused to his advantage, only took what he needed, we had 2 similar guys living in around our area, in comeragh mountains county waterford IRELAND [EIRE], One was crotty the Robber, the other was lackendarra, both lived in cave, crotty the robber was hung in Waterford city, his wife would not surrender to the law, and committed suicide in the lake, now known as crotty lake, gold has been found at the lake area, coins also, interesting heritage ye have there, it is nice to hear about it thank you, michael IRELAND [EIRE]
The story I read said that he finally walked away at 94 to go to the nursing home where he soon died. And whoever wrote the article I read had a whole different take on the girlfriend, too. Thank you so much for showing the small piece that still remains AND for the footage that I didn't know existed. 👍
I met him when I was a child my grandmother lives in Elk Bend.
Thanks for the history. That was interesting. I had an uncle that came home from WWII and did something very similar in Wyoming where I'm from. He lived up on the family homestead in a cabin that was miles away from the main ranch and when he got older they moved the cabin off the homestead down to the main ranch where he lived till he passed. Never married but didn't want to be around a bunch of people.
Thank you for posting this. It is a wonderful story of a wonderland man. He really loves a great life n I wish I could have met him. He must have been very interesting to listen to n learn from. He must have been full of so many important stories about life in his past. Wow !!! May he rest in peace.
Dugout was a man who knows what's up in life. My hat is off to the man. Well done video as well.
I grew up in Salmon, Id, just up the highway from here. And used to go up to the hot springs nearby at Goldbug as a child. Up in North Idaho now, but many good memories of this area!
Very cool, Dylan! Your area is the gem of this country!
To bad the B of L M destroyed the cabins …🤦♀️
Thank you for sharing this.
They had to destroy them cause they were unsafe and built with scrap materials and stacked rocks. Local kids turned it into a party spot and they were worried it was a matter of time before someone got hurt .
Our gov destroys everything
I love these kinds of stories. People are incredible with what we can do when we love what we’re doing!
I wonder if that wooden pine part built against the wall in the kitchen was a hidden doorway to the bigger section that must be there somewhere
Ya know I thought about that afterwards…very possible i think.
@@ourheroesheadstones I thought same.
Thanks for the visit.
Cabins and 50 years of a man's life to build a dream to help yourself and others live independently. Then the man dies and his legacy is dynomited. No respect. This could have been a legacy and a resource for the homeless. Instead a blown up relic of days passed when people realized war is not the answer to peace. Peace, serenity and self sufficiently in the wide open spaces is still perferred to those that know the difference to the projects in urban areas. Dug out had a good idea that worked for him and others for many years. Too bad we humans have to tear down and demolish anything we dont understand. Thanks for sharing this story while on your travels !
More like the government has to keep their cattle contained and deter them from getting any ideas. We need to pay taxes so we can support the parasites 😒
I can’t blame him for coming back after being in a nursing home. That place can definitely be upgraded, because it seems like it has decent bones. And I wonder if this is bear country, if so, it seems secure enough to live there.
You’re so right, Marjorie! Cant blame him at all. I’d prefer a cave too!
Yes this is bear country. I live No. of here in Salmon, & we get bear here too… he was a very nice man.
Just Black Bear
I would love to live just like that, in peace, and in harmony with nature. Dugout Dick was a hero to many of us.
Pretty cool story. As a teen in the country,down in PA. There were alot of old abandoned farm houses,with,weeds grown up all around,and,roofs caved in. My cousins and I would walk for miles in the summer,looking through them.
Thanks so much Dave! I really enjoyed telling his story so much!
Very interesting story 😙. I wonder what his W.W. 11 buddies would have said about him when he served.🤔. I also wander how old he was leaving Michigan and when he took up guitar and harmonica 🤔. Thanks for his life's story✌️
Reminds me of a man Mr Nitwitt he built a place from scraps in Cambria, Ca called Nitwitt Ridge. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for what you do and respecting history!
I hate it that the $&;@!?$ government destroyed most of his life’s work. Thankfully his home is still there. What an interesting person! Thank you🐝🤗❤️
Cool Video 👍 wife and I stopped in the little tiny town of Clayton’ ID last summer. The little museum was open. We talked with a nice old man in his early 80s that was the volunteer helped run the museum. He grew up around Salmon/Challis’ area his whole life. His Dad was miner/Logger all over that region -And he remembered Dugout Dick well growing up. I asked him if his dad ever knew Earl Parrot’ the Hermit of impassable canyon that lived on remote ledge above the middle fork. He said his father had met him few times as he rarely came into the town/Salmon ID for supplies. Parrot’ died around 1943 and is buried in Salmon ID cemetery🇺🇸
Great job on this, I'm glad you decided to go inside and show us how it was in there. Something makes me wonder if Bonnie ever 🤔 really left at all
Lucky Man, just to be able to make a home and live free from the government's stranglehold in itself is a blessing.... As I say he was a lucky man....
It was up on the salmon river, by Salmon Idaho, not Stanley.
Amazing he was a great ambitious man..that's so cool.. especially as he got older..I'm cripple but when I was younger I loved this stuff and still do.. I feel almost like church when I'm in a good old growth wood
There is NO WAY, anyone after seeing the sink and tap, could resist trying to see if it works.... YA JUST GOTTA TRY IT !!!! lol
Very interesting. Thank you for the video
It was an absolute honor to tell his story! Thank you Catherine!
I lived in a log cabin just passed dugouts place walk by his house every day to go to school super nice guy got to go in all the caves he had a cave that was so deep it was like his freezer he had a sunroom where he’d make his own sun-dried tomatoes and banana chips is a great guy got a few goats from him
Enjoyed hearing about this veteran. I'm glad he got to live his life like he wanted to... free. Shame they didn't bury him on the property there, bc he connected with it so deeply. 🇺🇸
I picked up an old man on my way to Salmon in the early 80s. It was mid winter and the roads were hard packed. He would sit in the road so you had to stop. Dropped him off in Salmon. I think he lived in an ice cave.
Great video! Takes strong will to live the way he did. Humor and music seem to help along the way. What a wonderful fella
Look up the documentary "Willard" , about a man whom jumped a troop train in Canada and lived 60 years in the woods.
Dick Zimmerman was a weirdo! And I truly admire a weirdo that everyone likes. He is actually one of my heroes. Destroying all of his work is a crime. God Bless You Dick Zimmerman!
Government Control Thugs!
Sad
Hard working man
I love this story he's probably the last one to touch the letter and put it there and that's what's good about exploring. I also like exploring it's a lot more difficult with one leg but I still do it
great video thanks. I worked along the salmon river fighting fires 98-2015 and dugout dick was a famous personality in that area. neat to hear the story better and to see video...
I rented one of his dugouts in 1979 while on a summer job with the BLM. I think I paid something like $15 per month. My dugout was below the road, closer to the river. It was a deluxe model with two rooms with a bed, wood stove, wash basin and a table with a kerosene lamp. It also housed the goat feed, so every morning the goats would congregate at the door then barge in when it opened.
Anyone born in the 80ies wouldn't be able to live like dick did my father-in-law loved in the bank of a creek bed in north Dakota with a grass roof and would walk to town to sell chickens some 13 miles these where some tough ole people they mostly wore silk or wool clothing. Thanks for sharing dicks story.
Dang, sorry to have missed this from my trips to ID...of course, absolutely interested in hermits. Recently read of the hermit of Maine lake, occasionally breaking into cabins to survive. Thanks for sharing!
Very odd.
TODAY on my way home, I thought about Dugout Dick. I wondered how he was getting along with how cold it was outside. I'm checking out RUclips and this pops up.
❤🇺🇸🫡Thank you!
And Bobby…very interesting back story enjoyed hearing about it. Thank you for all you do for the Veterans. You are appreciated for your restoration of the graves and your service as a peace keeper too! 💙
What a shame the Government destroyed everything on the hillside! Such great History!
They didn't just destroy. They still do. Rotten bastards.
God forbid someone else gets the idea to live tax free. 😔
Very cool life story thanks for keeping his memory alive and sharing. Love stories like this.
That was a cool place, to the right of the cabin door i agree there was more to his cabin, did you look inside that hole on the back wall? Lol I was curious about it and what its purpose, I remembered the man when you showed him playing his guitar and his harmonica and singing. My compliments sir thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this video.
What a fascinating story and man.
Have you found any people that stayed at Dick’s place back in the day? That sure would be an amazing part 2 to this video.
I've known similar folks here in West Virginia. Independent minded,strong willed,hermitlike. I admire people like that.
My mother and sister met him Saw his dwelling. Way back on early 19??. She was amazed .
This Gentleman Was & is an Idaho & National Treasure! It sickens me that his life works we’re in part destroyed! He gave so very much in his most special way. Many years ago A Mountain of a Man would stop & visit & stay w/him. To this day I possess A Dixie Plug Cut Tobacco Can from one of his caves given to this well know man.Blessings to both of you taken to soon from us precious Hero’s of IDAHO 🦅
I’m glad he got out of the public eye. Great story sir thank you for sharing GOD BLESS
What a captivating story. Thank you sir, for sharing this.
There have been many times in my life, when I wished I could live like Dugout Dick.
Like hearing he went back to where he was happy
Great video, great job man, very interesting.
Thanks so much Mark!! I really appreciate that!!
It would be nice if the money be raised and restore the place and make it a state historic site. CWA
Im from Challis and was born in Salmon. I always wondered about that place. Thank you for the video!
That love story about his wife Bonnie and that they were happy together. And how they were together a good while, but eventually she left and she broke his heart.
7:33 Is there any more information about Bonnie, her full name or when she passed or where her grave is?
10:55 So sad!
Glad he finally died at his own dwelling instead of in a nursing home.
14:09
Excellent thank you for sharing...ATB
Great story! For a future story you might do, check out “The Leatherman” a traveling hermit up in parts of NY and CT who had places he stay in on his circuit walk. As a boy I searched for his caves but never found them. Interesting story.
Dave, the leatherman's life was also amazing. Thanks for waking up my memories.
@@douglasedwards134 Super! Glad you liked it.
When I was a kid in the 70's my elder brothers found a water tank converted to a camp. It was well hidden and I dunno how they found it. I suspect it was built by a Vietnam veteran but don't know. My brothers are gone now so I can't ask how they found it. It was the perfect bug out spot.
@@redtobertshateshandles Ahhhh, the spontaneous adventures of youth, the moments that those of us with the more adventurous spirits discovered possibilities only found in the well read books we devoured. Your time with your brothers must have been an amazing one. Finding a spot like you describe stirs the imagination for sure. I too found “forts” in the swamps an abandoned tree houses in the woods. What a time we had, all of us! Sad that todays youth have been kidnapped by technology and gizmos and have lost forever the type of days that we made and discovered for ourselves. When we let the screen door slam and headed out in the sunshine of another summer day, meeting up with buddies and planing adventures, building forts and clubhouses, ahhhh yes, Robert Louis Stevenson, author of “Treasure Island” would surely look down on us and say, “Run boys run, for youth is escaping you like the light of the day! Find treasure, fight those pirates, save those maidens, and bring home the captured booty!!!!!” Finding that bug out spot would have surely been a treasure memory of youth!
May your old soul rest in peace, Private. The world may have scared you, but we are better for having you in it.
Such a great video thanks
My brother told me of an Old Man named Buck skin Bill who lived up on an mountain looking down on the Salmon River . He was a Hermit , Cool
I was taking the scenic river road on a trip in the late 80’s and saw this place. We decided to check it out and met Dick. According to him he was mining for silver in the mountain and each area that he dug would get turned into a cave cabin. It’s a natural ice mountain which is why he could use it for refrigeration with no electric. He had dirt filled tire cabins with sod roofs in the meadow and would rent those and the caves for around $25 a month. Dick definitely had quite the story and we loved visiting with him.
If you’d have slid that old cabinet to the left you’d have found the other two rooms and a small storage room used for canned goods. Excellent video. Please leave the cabin in tact and better than you found it! Goodbye Zim
Last of the good ole boys. It’s a shame the government desecrated his hard work. R.I.P. R. Z.