Videographer Mines Sources For Bunker Hill Documentary

We knew it was a great story. But until Todd Goodson came along, no one thought to put the history of the Bunker Hill Mine on video.

“The Bunker Hill Company - The Rise and Fall of an American Corporation,” is a 60-minute production that covers a century of events, from the discovery of ore in the mountains above Kellogg to the closure of the mine and the subsequent environmental cleanup effort.

Part of the video’s impact lies in its juxtaposition of the mine’s vigorous beginnings and its sad, drawn-out demise.

“Nineteen twenty-six to ‘28 … they built the zinc plant in a couple of years,” Goodson observes as images of the plant’s construction shift across his TV screen. “Look how long it took them to tear it down.”

To tell the story, Goodson drew on a variety of sources. He interviewed workers, perused company papers, and pored over old photos in the local library. The video showcases many of those pictures, together with footage of the day-to-day workings of the mine in its prime.

He finally obtained sole rights to footage taken at the mine by Gulf Resources, probably in the mid-1970s, says Goodson, who combed the town for video sources.

Raised in Kellogg, Goodson, 32, was able to tap the knowledge of many friends and relatives who worked at Bunker Hill for his production. But mining wasn’t his own calling. As soon as he graduated from high school, he took off for Los Angeles. He wanted to be a cinematographer.

“Within a week, I had a job doing grunt work on a show,” Goodson recalled.

Goodson went on to work for Disney Television in Burbank, and on Dick Clark’s “Bloopers and Practical Jokes.” He rubbed elbows with more than his share of famous people.

But by 1992, he and Mary, his wife, had had enough of the big city.

“There had been some small earthquakes, and the riots. … We wanted to come back,” Goodson said.

Settling in Kellogg, the two started their own production company, which did most of the work on the Bunker Hill video. They wrote the script. Goodson shot much of the footage. Goodson Productions edited the video and mixed the audio. Blane Petersen, a Kellogg native who now lives in Post Falls, wrote and performed original music for the project.

Only the narration is imported. That slightly raspy but genial voice in the background is Dave Madden, who played Mr. Kincade on “The Partridge Family.”

It’s viewer-friendly, but the video refuses to gloss over the Bunker Hill site’s past.

“I think, and my documentary says, that Gulf wasn’t in it to make the mine competitive. They just wanted money,” states Goodson.

He didn’t spare the Environmental Protection Agency, either. The production documents a recent costly mistake by that agency that never appeared in the news, according to Goodson.

“They built a retaining pond to collect runoff from the site and failed to figure in mine waste water,” explains Goodson.

According to his video, a $100,000 pump was ruined in the effort to compensate for that oversight.

“You walk a fine line trying not to pick sides between Gulf and EPA. It can be tough at times,” Goodson said. “You just have to try to tell the story the way it is.”

Out in time for Christmas, “The Bunker Hill Company” can be found at the Book & Game Co. in the Silver Lake Mall, and in several Silver Valley stores. It costs $25.

MEMO: Bekka Rauve is a free-lance writer who lives in the Silver Valley. Panhandle Pieces appears every Saturday. The column is shared among four North Idaho writers.