When gold was discovered in the hills north of Snake River, men headed there from all parts of the west. Prospectors built flimsy cabins in the hills and near the river's banks, and the settlement was called Orville. At the extreme end of the main street, a shack had been built by young Tom Spencer and his wife, Ruth. This was where he put together a newspaper that Tom called The Orville Sentinel - and the Sentinel, along with its owner, became an object for ridicule by the lawless of the town.