Oliver Hazard Purdy was born in New York state in September 12, 1824. He crossed the plains in '49 at the age of 25, and was for several years engaged in mining at the various diggings in California. Subsequently he taught school in Oregon, and when the Boise Basin excitement broke out was one of the first to reach that locality.
He was a member of the "twenty-nine" party who on May 18, 1863, discovered the Owyhee mines, and was engaged in mining at Silver City until 1870, when he went to Utah; but returned in 1874 to Silver City, where he resided up to the time of his death.
When the safety of Silver City was threatened by the Bannock Indians, in June, 1878, he was one of the first to enlist in the volunteer company organized for the defense of the settlements, and lost his life in the engagement with the Indians that took place at South Mountain on June 8, 1878. He was deputy auditor and recorder of Owyhee county for several years and the principal of public school at Silver City for a good many years, was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was a prominent Odd Fellow. He died at age 54.
