Ymir has a very colorful history and at one point there was a popuation of around ten thousand people. The earliest mention of people in the Salmon River Valley was in the 1860's when placer miners were recorded on Quartz Creek. In 1885, the Hall brothers and their group prospected on Wild Horse Creek. The Nelson and Fort Sheppard Company laid track through the Salmon River Valley in 1893, linking the United States with the Kootenay goldfields. The Ymir mine was first staked in 1895 and by 1896, the Dundee, Tamarack, Porto Rico and others were staked as well. As well as the mines mentioned before, there were others such as the Blackcock, the Good Hope, the Big Horn, the Nevada, and there were also a few smaller mines in the area such as the Fairmount, the Canadian King, the Fern, the Second Relief, the Arlington, and the Yellowstone. In 1897, three men from Rossland, named Powell, Blake, and Parker, laid claim to 620 acres around the area surrounding Quartz Creek. Within two weeks, the land was surveyed and 150 lots were sold.