Major Earthquake Rocks Idaho Panhandle and the Pacific Northwest [otd 12/14]

Late on the evening of Saturday, December 14, 1872, residents in North Idaho felt a major earthquake that swayed buildings, caused shelved objects to rattle around, and agitated animals. In its report of the incident, the Lewiston Signal said, “The violence of the first shock created considerable alarm among those who had never experienced such a thing before.”

The initial strong shock stopped clocks, and rattled crockery and glassware all around the region. Many Lewiston residents heeded the normal advice and ran out into the streets. Those who had gone to bed felt their berths rock and sway along with their home or hotel. Some thought a sudden, tremendous gust of wind had hit.

U. S. Geological Survey image, retouched to focus on 1872 event.

The Signal wrote that during the quake, “Frightened chickens flew about as though possessed of the devil. Dogs howled, cattle lowed, and all nature, animate and inanimate, was much disturbed.”

Elk City is located deep in the Idaho mountains, nearly ninety miles to the southeast of Lewiston. There, residents felt the quake “very plainly.” At that time, only scattered ranches occupied Paradise Valley, future location of Moscow. The Signal article said, “North of here, in the vicinity of Paradise valley, the shock was so severe as to make everything fairly dance.”

Most witnesses reported a short, sharp initial jolt: It lasted about eight seconds in Lewiston. However, at least one Idaho location along the Clearwater River reported that the shaking lasted around two minutes. Despite the relative severity of the quake, no one observed any soil or rock displacement, nor any serious structural damage.

Idahoans recorded at least three quick shocks and others apparently felt four. These were all within a few minutes of the first event. No one in Idaho reported any delayed aftershocks. However, several locations between the Idaho border and the Cascades – many in Washington and a couple in Oregon – recorded intermittent aftershocks into the early morning hours.

Contemporary accounts indicate that people felt the quake all over the Pacific Northwest, including parts of Montana and Canada. In Wallula, Washington, 20-25 miles west of Walla Walla, witnesses reported a heavy shaking that lasted almost a minute, followed by five lighter shocks accompanied by rumbles like “a heavy peal of thunder.” In Portland, people noticed swaying chandeliers and some stopped clocks, but no actual damage.

Reports were not without an element of humor: The Oregonian had a statement from Walla Walla that said, “The accounts that reach us seem to indicate that the further north, the greater the severity of the earthquake. There is a report that up in the Spokane country, the earth opened and swallowed up a number of Indians and their horses. This, doubtless, is an exaggeration ... ”

The quake hit much harder around Puget Sound and Vancouver Island. There, many buildings “swayed to and fro like small craft at sea.” As in Lewiston, residents ran into the street for fear the structures would collapse. A number of windows broke, and homes and restaurants found  “crockery tumbled from the shelves.”

Back then, of course, there was no seismograph network to provide objective measurements. However, analysis of various motion and damage reports provide an estimated magnitude of 6.8 to 7.4 – a strong to major event. Other assessments placed the epicenter in the foothills of the Cascades about 100 miles east of Seattle.
                                                                                 

References: [Illust-North]

William H. Bakun, Ralph A. Haugerud, Margaret G. Hopper, Ruth S. Ludwin, "The December 1872 Washington state earthquake," Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 92, No. 8, pp. 3239-3258 (2002).

Cattle Ranchers Demand Limit Law on Sheep Grazing [otd 12/13]

On December 13, 1872, the Idaho Statesman (Boise) published a letter from pioneer James H. Whitson, which said in part: “But the people of Ada county, and perhaps other counties need, ask for and demand a relief that is of much more importance than the retrenchment so much talked of. It is a law ‘Restricting the herding of sheep,’ as in Oneida county, passed by the last legislative Assembly.”

Sheep grazing, Dubois research station, Idaho.
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Whitson then described the problems created when herders tried to have sheep and cattle share a piece of range: “There is room enough for all. But the range must be divided, and the rancher has a right to that nearest him; for no man in this country is ignorant of the fact that sheep will drive all other stock away.”

The state did finally pass the desired law three years later. The Act prohibited the grazing of sheep within two miles of a homestead (“possessory claim”) not belonging to the grazer. That first law applied only to Ada, Alturas, and Boise counties. In time, the legislature expanded the scope to more counties, and finally passed a statewide law in 1887.

The later statutes  – typically called “two mile limit” laws – became even more specific in that they excluded sheep from “any range usually occupied by any cattle grower, either as a spring, summer, or winter range for his cattle.”

The legal application turned on that word “usually.” Idaho courts generally accepted even one season of cattle grazing as defining the area as strictly cattle range. To give an appearance of fairness, judged did apply the same criteria to “customary” sheep range, but in most cases the cattlemen had arrived first anyway. Challenges to the constitutionality of these laws – in the Supreme Courts of Idaho and then the United States – repeatedly failed.

Eventually, the limit laws became moot. By around 1890, most of the available rangeland was claimed and market factors began to favor sheep products – wool plus meat – over cattle. Thus, some stockmen began raising sheep along with cattle, or abandoned cattle altogether. In fact, sheep outnumbered cattle in the 1890 census, whereas cattle had outnumbered sheep by more than three to one ten years earlier.

But animosities developed over two decades die hard. Probably some, perhaps many, incidents went unreported, but in the Nineties, threats escalated to outright violence. In 1894, sheepman Hugh Fleming was found shot to death near American Falls [blog, April 2]. Two years after that, sheepmen John Wilson and Daniel Cummings were shot and killed on the range south of Rock Creek [blog, February 16 and others].

But market forces continued to favor sheep raising. Thus, the U. S. Agricultural Censuses for 1900 and 1910 recorded over 3 million sheep in Idaho, versus less than a half million cattle. At that time, Idaho ranked sixth in U. S. wool production, despite being 44th in population.

Sheep and cattle on the same range.
Logan Farms, Manitoba, Canada.

Ironically, modern husbandry has shown that mixed cattle and sheep grazing can actually be more productive. This arises from the fact that the species prefer different forage plants: Cattle heavily favor grasses, while sheep are more likely to include broad-leaf non-grasses, called “forbs,” in their diet.

Today, it is not uncommon to find sheep or goats grazing alongside cattle. Pasturage is used more effectively and the ranch can diversify its markets. On the downside, more fencing may be required and the rancher must have the appropriate animal husbandry skills.
                                                                                 

References: [B&W]

"Omaechevarria vs. State of Idaho, 246 U.S. 343 (1918), Omaechevarria vs. State of Idaho No. 102" U. S. Supreme Court, Washington, D.C. (March 18, 1918).

J. Orin Oliphant, On the Cattle Ranges of the Oregon Country, University of Washington Press, Seattle (1968).

John W. Walker, Linda Coffey, Tim Faller, “Improving Grazing Lands with Multi-Species Grazing,” Targeted Grazing: A natural approach to vegetation management and landscape enhancement, Karen Launchbaugh (Editor and Project Manager), American Sheep Industry Association (2006).

Idaho Statesman, Dec 17, 1872.

Mine Owner and State Senator Michael Carey [otd 12/12]

Idaho state Senator Michael Carey was born December 12, 1844 in Ireland. The family emigrated to the U.S. in 1850, settling in Keweenaw County, on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The area was known for its extensive copper deposits, and Carey started work in the regional mines as a teenager. He relocated to California gold country when he was twenty years old.

Early Silver City. Directory of Owyhee County.

In 1870, Michael moved to Silver City, Idaho, where he managed area mines for the next eight years. He then spent two years managing a gold mine near Baker City, Oregon. Carey returned to Idaho in 1881.

Three or four years earlier, prospectors had discovered signs of silver in the Wood River watershed. However, violent Indian outbreaks in 1878 and 1879 discouraged extensive exploration. Then, in 1880, hopeful miners discovered substantial deposits of galena (lead sulfide ore) laced with rich veins of silver and gold. The lodes were located west and north of the new town of Ketchum.

The following year, prospectors discovered major gold lodes in the ridges west of Hailey. When Carey arrived in the region, he negotiated a lease on what was called the Elkhorn mine, near Ketchum. He developed the property profitably, but the owners did not allow him to renew the lease. (They subsequently extracted ore worth in excess of a million dollar – in 1880-1900 dollars.)

Carey then leased another mine. At that time, the region did not have local milling capacity to handle the ore. Thus, operators had to haul it by wagon to Kelton, Utah, from which it was shipped by rail to mills as far away as Denver. Still, despite that considerable cost, Carey realized a respectable net return from his two year lease.

Fortunately, the Oregon Short Line Railroad completed a branch line into Hailey in May 1883, and extended the rails to Ketchum the following year. This made it possible to ship large milling equipment into the area. Producers also built a smelter in Hailey almost immediately.

Early Ketchum. J. H. Hawley photo.

Carey eventually helped organize a company to purchase and develop mines along Warm Springs Creek, twelve miles west of Ketchum. He headed the firm initially, and eventually became sole owner. The company’s mines – collectively known as the “Ontario Group” – continued in productive operation through the remainder of the century. In fact, the Illustrated History (published in 1899) asserted that the mines would “yield to its owner valuable ores for many years to come.”

Carey interested himself in politics as a Democrat until the formation of the Populist party in the 1890s. The 1898 Idaho elections were particularly chaotic: slates were advanced by “traditional” Republicans, a “Fusion” (Democrats and “Silver Republicans”) Party, the Prohibitionist party, and the Populists or “People’s” party. Carey was elected as a Populist to represent Blaine County for one term in the state Senate.

During his term, the legislature considered a law to prohibit organized gambling in the state. Rumors surfaced that gambling interests were trying to buy votes. An Idaho Statesman reporter questioned Carey and wrote (February 1, 1899), “He admitted he had been approached, but he declined to say who the boodler was or how much was offered.” The measure passed (but by just one vote in the Senate).

Michael died October 23, 1900 after a week-long bout of pneumonia.
                                                                                 

References: [B&W], [Hawley], [Illust-State]

A Historical, Descriptive and Commercial Directory of Owyhee County, Idaho, Owyhee Avalanche Press (January 1898).

Glenn Balch: Writer of Horse and Dog Stories for Young Readers [otd 12/11]

Writer Glenn Balch was born on December 11, 1902 in a tiny Texas town that’s now near the southern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Young Balch grew up among animals and the countryside. He later wrote, “I was born with a love for horses, dogs, and the outdoors which I have never outgrown.”

Balch Signing a Book.
Boise State University archives.

An equal love of reading led Glenn on a path to college, and he graduated from Baylor University in 1924. The following year, he found a job with the U. S. Forest Service, working out of Garden Valley, Idaho. One summer fire season traipsing through the wilderness apparently sparked Glenn love of the Idaho outdoors, but also drove him to seek other work.

Balch wanted to write, and became a roving reporter in southern Idaho for Boise’s Idaho Statesman. On the side, he produced articles for various outdoor magazines. After fives years of that, he moved back to Boise to spend more time on his own writing, supported by a nighttime editing job at the Statesman.

But the urge to write his own material proved too much and, in the Spring of 1931, Balch committed himself to a freelance career. Glenn experienced the usual rocky start, and had to intersperse commercial work (advertising copy and publicity blurbs) with his articles and stories.

Still, the lean stretch proved relatively short: In the fall of 1932, the popular American Boy magazine published what proved to be the first of over a dozen stories about the adventures of a collie dog in Idaho’s Salmon River area. The magazine also provided an outlet for his other material, including longer serialized stories. Along with that, he slowly developed a following for his nonfiction in Field & Stream magazine.

By 1937, Balch felt financially secure enough to travel to New York City to enroll in a writing class at Columbia University. While there, he also acquired a publisher, the Thomas Y. Crowell Company. They released his first book, Riders of the Rio Grande, that same year.

A year later, the company published his second novel, Tiger Roan. Editorial advice led to that story being “tweaked” to appeal more to the twelve to fifteen year old age group. The book, first serialized in Boys’ Life magazine, proved very popular and launched Balch’s career as a writer of novels for younger readers. Although he published other material – nonfiction as well as fiction – he had the most success with that audience. (He ultimately had over thirty novels published.)

Besides his writing, Balch acted as an aide to Idaho Governor Clarence Bottolfsen for a time, and later as a Senatorial aide in Washington, D. C.

During World War II, Glenn served in the Army as a public relations officer and film producer. His second wife chaired the Idaho State Library Association and served on the State Library Board (Idaho State Journal, Pocatello, March 29, 1956). (Balch and his first wife divorced while he worked as a roving reporter.)

In 1965, Balch’s novel Indian Paint was made into a movie starring Jay Silverheels and Johnny Crawford. Silverheels, of course, was a former stunt man who became most famous as sidekick to The Lone Ranger in the original 1950s TV series. Crawford was one of the original Walt Disney Mouseketeers, and known for his role as Chuck Connors’ son in The Rifleman TV series (1958).

When the movie debuted in the Boise Valley, theaters offered free autographed photos of the stars and touted the “original story by Idaho’s own Western author – Glenn Balch” (Idaho Free Press, Nampa, September 21, 1965).

Balch’s final book publication came in 1976. He continued a public speaking career until his death in September 1989. For a longer biography of Balch, plus lists of his published novels and other writing, visit the Glenn Balch Papers, held at Boise State University. 
                                                                                 

Reference:  “Movie: Indian Paint,” Internet Movie Database, imdb.com.

Elizabeth M. Smith, History of the Boise National Forest: 1905-1976, Idaho State Historical Society, Boise (1983).

Alan Virta, “Glenn Balch: A Biographical Sketch,” Glenn Balch Papers, Albertsons Library, Boise State University (2002-2003).

Franchise Granted for Taylor's Bridge Across the Snake River [otd 12/10]

On December 10, 1864, the Territorial legislature granted a bridge franchise to the Oneida Road, Bridge, and Ferry Company for a span across the Snake River in eastern Idaho.

Taylor’s Bridge, 1871. Library of Congress.

James Madison “Matt” Taylor was one of the principals in the Company.

In 1858, Taylor began hauling freight to a Colorado camp called Cherry Creek. When the camp became Denver, he purchased some lots. Then gold discoveries near Bannack (now a ghost town) and Virginia City, Montana set off a major rush into the area. Matt and many other like-minded men began hauling freight to the gold camps.

The earliest trains loaded wagons east of the Continental Divide, but suppliers soon established depots at Fort Bridger and north of Salt Lake. In either case, the traffic through Idaho generally passed near Soda Springs and Fort Hall.

A ford about sixty trail miles north proved to be a good spot to cross the Snake River. Then, in June 1863, entrepreneurs Harry Rickard and William Hickman began operating a ferry near the ford. An eagle’s nest on a nearby rocky island provided a name: Eagle Rock Ferry.

On a trip through the area in 1864, Taylor identified Black Rock Canyon, a few miles below the ferry, as an ideal place to build a bridge. Lava cliffs provided a solid foundation, so Matt attached a string to a rock and, after several tosses, measured the span: just 83 feet. That summer, Taylor and two partners purchased the ferry and incorporated the Oneida Road, Bridge, and Ferry Company. Matt then made the long trip to Lewiston – then the Territorial capital – and obtained the franchise.

The new bridge opened in 1865, supplanting the ferry. Taylor sited a stage station near the bridge and a tiny settlement sprang up. After unprecedented run-off washed away the first bridge, in 1867, one partner sold his interest to the others. That left Taylor and Robert Anderson as the sole owners. At considerable cost, the bridge was rebuilt using higher and sturdier abutments.

For many years, different records referred to the settlement at the crossing as either “Taylor’s Bridge” or “Eagle Rock.” Taylor later sold his interest in the bridge to Anderson and went into stock raising; after that, the name Eagle Rock was used almost exclusively.

When Utah & Northern Railway tracks reached the area in 1879 [blog, Apr 11], the railroad built its bridge not far from the original Taylor toll bridge.

Bridges at Eagle Rock, ca. 1880.
Utah State Historical Society.

The presence of the railroad spurred development in the area, especially when the company shops were located there. The Salt Lake Tribune reported (January 1, 1881) on the project: “The Utah & Northern Railway Company are now putting up buildings and making improvements in the town of Eagle Rock … About 150 men are at work now upon these improvements … Three large boarding houses have lately been erected and are filled with guests.”

By the time the railroad relocated those shops to Pocatello in 1887, ranching and agriculture had grown enough to ensure the survival of the town.

In 1891, developers seeking to capitalize on newly-irrigated land around the town led a successful campaign to rename the town Idaho Falls. For over a half century after that, agriculture was the mainstay of the Idaho Falls economy, and is still a major factor.
                                                                                 

Reference: [Illust-State]

Barzilla W. Clark, Bonneville County in the Making, Self-published, Idaho Falls, Idaho (1941).

“Eagle Rock Ferry,” Reference Series No. 71, Idaho State Historical Society (1982).

Wallace and Grangeville Share Railroad Milestone Day(s) [otd 12/09]

On December 9, 1889, standard-gauge tracks of the Washington & Idaho Railroad (W&I RR) Company reached Wallace, Idaho. Wallace is one of several towns that arose from the discovery of placer gold in the Coeur d’Alenes, followed by even greater discoveries of silver and lead. The first cabin was built there in 1884, and soon companies were operating numerous famous lode mines in the area – including the Bunker Hill, and the Sunshine.

Wallace railway depot, now a museum.
Idaho Tourism photo.

In 1886 (or 1887, records conflict somewhat), a “subsidiary” of the Northern Pacific ran a narrow gauge railway into Wallace. Ostensibly a separate company, the builder was soon merged into the NP system. Narrow gauge is much cheaper to build, especially in mountainous country. However, narrow gauge rail cars have substantially less carrying capacity than standard gauge, and their loads must be transferred at the junction with the primary rail lines.

The W&I RR was a “subsidiary” of the rival Union Pacific, and the NP blocked construction every way it could. The Murray Sun newspaper described some of their ploys, which severely hampered the W&I schedule. The paper said, “Several hundred men are tied up at Farmington, and everywhere along the route are small gangs of laborers occupying disputed ground on which they are supposed to work.”

But finally, the obstacles were overcome and Wallace obtained the substantial cost and operational benefits of the standard gauge railroad. Later the construction squabbles became moot, as the NP acquired control of most of the railroad system in the Coeur d’Alenes.

Nineteen years later, also on December 9, the first passenger train arrived in Grangeville, on the Camas Prairie. Once there, it took on customers and headed for Lewiston and Spokane. In a special dispatch to Boise’s Idaho Statesman (December 10, 1908), the reporter said that many people “piled on and took conductor’s cash fare receipts as souvenirs.”

Established in the 1870s, Grangeville had grown to become the largest town on the Prairie, and then the county seat of Idaho County.

As early as 1886, locals had dreamed of what a rail link to the outside world would do for their town and the region. That summer a letter-writer said, “It cannot be stated as a positive fact but as more than probability that” the Oregon Short Line Railroad would build a line north from Weiser. Then, the writer said, “if a practicable route can be found they will cross the Prairie and go down the Clearwater.”

Train leaving Lewiston.
“Archive” photo posted by Lewiston High School.

A year later, locals stated optimistically that the railroad would soon extend tracks onto the Prairie from Lewiston [blog, Oct 21]. The years passed, and hope waxed or waned with each rumor and report.

Thus, in 1887, Grangeville’s Idaho County Free Press confidently stated that a newly-incorporated railroad company would soon be running tracks from Lewiston to their town. But that came to nothing. Twelve years later, the Free Press  reported, “The Northern Pacific surveyors are now camped north of town on the Milt Cambridge place and are running the line with Grangeville as their objective.”

But nothing immediate came of that effort either, nor of others during the next few years. Then the rails finally arrived in 1908. Eventually, lines linked many towns on the Camas Prairie, moving grain and other products to markets all over the country.
                                                                                 

References: [Hawley], [Illust-North]

M. Alfreda Elsensohn, Eugene F. Hoy (ed.), Pioneer Days in Idaho County, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho (1951).

Chief Forester Guy Mains of the Payette/Boise National Forest [otd 12/08]

On December 8, 1878, long-time Idaho forester Guy B. Mains was born in Clark County, Wisconsin, 40-50 miles east of Eau Claire. Guy’s father was a lumberman and he grew up in the midst of a flourishing timber industry. Even so, Guy decided he wanted to teach and eventually attended the Stevens Point Normal School (now University of Wisconsin – Stephens Point).

Barber Mill, 3-4 miles southeast of Boise.
Idaho State University archives.

After four more years of teaching, he “returned to his roots.” He took a timber industry job that carried him from Wisconsin to California. Then, in 1905, Mains went to work for the Barber Lumber Company in Idaho.

In 1907, he joined the U. S. Forest Service. Two years earlier, Congress had given the Service responsibility for the nation’s public forests. Also in 1907, the term “national forest” was applied to what had been called “forest reserves.” The following year, the Service created the Payette National Forest and named Mains its first supervisor.

At the time, the Forest Service operated largely under broad Congressional mandates; a workable regulatory structure developed rather slowly. Fire protection was one “gray area,” complicated by the mix of private forests juxtaposed with the public lands (state and Federal). Ranchers grazing stock on the public lands under Forest Service permits only added to the muddle.

In July 1908, Mains found himself fighting a small fire alongside an agent of a private timber company. Afterwards, the two initiated what became an informal fire-fighting agreement among private, state, and Federal forestry groups.

In 1911, the parties formalized this co-operative approach, which became the Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association (SITPA) in 1919. The Association integrated the fire-protection efforts of the various entities; it became a model for similar organizations in other jurisdictions.

In 1913, Forest Service managers, including Mains, formulated timber management and marking policies for western Ponderosa pine, the most common lumber source in the region. These and similar practices were designed to provide a sustainable timber harvest while protecting the watershed from erosion.

Sheep grazing on National Forest land. USFS photo.

Mains also spent much time and study to determine the best practices for stock grazing on Forest Service lands. From anecdotal evidence, he knew that thick stands of sagebrush were not “natural” on the upland slopes and small valleys under his purview. In some 1916 notes, he wrote that prior to white settlement, “there was no sagebrush on the bench or the hills adjoining” the Emmett Valley.

Mains worked hard to collect objective data to verify that over-grazing was the main culprit behind the sagebrush takeover. Within that context, he generally preferred a more conservative approach in setting grazing limits.

Mains also favored common sense measures. The Idaho Statesman published (November 12, 1921) a brief item from the forester: “Mr. Mains says that for the first time in the history of the forests, there will be a scale of prices charged for grazing instead of a flat rate for all lands.” Future grazing fees would be based on the accessibility of the range allotment, with “the highest being for the lands most accessible.”

In 1925, Mains became manager of the Boise National Forest, where he continued to develop and refine policies and procedures to effectively manage the forest. He retired from that position in 1940, and passed away in 1958.
                                                                                 

References: [Hawley]

Dick D’Easum, Sawtooth Tales, The Caxton Printers, Ltd, Caldwell, Idaho (1977).

Sage Community Resources, Payette River Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan, Idaho Department of Transportation (2001).

Elizabeth M. Smith, History of the Boise National Forest: 1905-1976, Idaho State Historical Society, Boise (1983).

Harold K. Steen, The U. S. Forest Service: A History, University of Washington Press, Seattle (1976).