Stanly A. Easton

Stanly A. Easton, former Kellogg and Coeur d’Alene resident, community leader and executive of the Bunker Hill Mining Co. from 1903 to 1958, will be inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame Saturday.

After graduating from the California School of Mines in 1894 and working with various mining
companies throughout the west, Stanly Easton took over as general manager of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining & Concentration Co. on Jan. 1, 1903. When Easton took over, Bunker Hill was in debt and making small profits. In addition, the mine had been crippled with two vicious and bloody strikes in the past 10 years.

From the beginning, Easton proved to be an outstanding manager. He set a tone of sympathy and understanding for the miners, which resulted in many years of goodwill. Within a short period, Bunker Hill was operating at a higher level of production than any time since the discovery of the mine in 1885.

Easton held top management positions at Bunker Hill for 55 years. He was general manager from 1903 to 1933. From 1926 to 1933 he was the general manager and vice president. He served as president of the company from 1933 to 1954. In 1954, Easton went into semi-retirement as chairman of the board.

His complete retirement came in 1958. As a tribute to his long years of service, he was named honorary chairman and director emeritus of the Bunker Hill board. Easton’s outstanding contributions to Bunker Hill and the mining industry earned him national prominence in the mining field. In 1949, the American Institute of Mining & Metallurgical Engineers gave him the William Saunders Gold metal Award for distinguished service to mining. He also received
an honorary Doctorate of Science from Whitman College and honorary LL.D degrees from the Universityof California and the University of Idaho.

Easton’s contributions were not confined to the mining industry. He was always a very civic-minded individual. Some of his involvement and contributions include: Member of the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho and the Idaho State Board of Education, member of the Board of Overseers of Whitman College, member of the Kiwanis Club, the North Idaho Chamber of Commerce, the Wardner Lodge, No. 34 A.F. and the Wallace Lodge, No. 331 of B.P.O.E He served on the Republican State Central Committee and was an Idaho elector.

The Boy Scouts was one of Easton’s primary interests. He was one of the organizers of the Shoshone County Boy Scout Council in 1916. In addition to serving three years as president of the council, he helped with the purchase of the first scout camp site on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The camp was later named Camo Easton. For his work in scouting, Easton received two distinguished citations, the Silver Beaver Award in 1932 and Silver Antelope Award in 1946.

Throughout the years, Stanly Easton and the Bunker Hill Co. have given financial support to the city of Kellogg and the vicinity for various civic projects including street repair, schools the airport, the YMCA building, sewer system and water system.

In 1905, Easton met Estelle Greenough at a dance in Spokane. On Nov. 15, 1906, they were married in Missoula. From 1906 to 1923 they lived in a large home in McKinley Avenue in Kellogg, near the main Bunker Hill office. Three daughters, Jane, Ruth, and Anne were born there. In 1923, the Easton family moved to their new home at 1321 East Lakeshore Drive in Coeur d’Alene until Stanly’s full retirement in 1958. The house was then sold and they moved to California. In December 1961, Stanly Easton died at his California home at the age of 88.