Boise Valley Stockman, Irrigator, and Eagle Developer Truman C. Catlin [otd 12/21]

Truman Catlin. J. H. Hawley photo.

Rancher and developer Truman C. Catlin was born December 21, 1839 in Farmingdale, Illinois, about eight miles west of Springfield.

In 1862, he boarded a Missouri River steamboat for Fort Benton, Montana. By chance, his party encountered one of Captain John Mullan’s road expeditions [blog, Feb 5] and traveled with them across Montana and Idaho to Walla Walla, Washington.

After spending the winter there, Catlin came to the Boise Basin. Idaho City and the Basin were growing explosively at that time and he had no trouble finding work. Probably because the best Basin placers were already claimed, Truman and some companions traveled to Silver City during the summer. Finding the same situation there, they next tried their hand south of Baker City, Oregon.

Catlin decided that working for wages on someone else’s claim would get him nowhere. He and two partners negotiated a substantial shingle contract with the authorities at Fort Boise. After completing that project, Truman returned to a homestead he had claimed earlier. Located about ten miles northwest of downtown Boise City, Catlin’s claim lay between split branches of the Boise River, on what came to be called Eagle Island.

The location facilitated construction of irrigation ditches, so Catlin and a neighbor began irrigated agriculture in 1864. Truman’s fresh potatoes sold at a premium, while his ground corn could be sold for less than imported meal and still turn a handsome profit. Catlin also started in the cattle business in a small way and expanded that line over the years.

By the mid-1870s, stockmen in Idaho and further west were producing a surplus beyond what could be sold locally or in the mining districts. In fact, U. S. government reports indicate that Oregon and Washington cattlemen were driving herds across Idaho into Wyoming and Colorado by 1875. And, in early 1876, buyers were seeking Idaho cattle to join those drives (Idaho Statesman, January 29, 1876).

Catlin was one of the first Idaho ranchers to run such drives: moving a thousand head into Wyoming in 1876. Hawley’s History says Caitlin’s were “the first”, but news reports show that large herds were being exported out of state by the fall of 1874. After that start, he and various partners regularly drove cattle east until the coming of the railroad in 1883-84. They also owned cattle on ranges in Montana, but – like many stockmen – lost almost everything there in the deadly winter of 1886-87.

Meeting the interurban, 1915. City of Boise.

As new homesteaders and developers arrived, Eagle Island became more and more settled. Truman himself eventually owned over 600 acres in the area and raised hogs as a sideline to his farming and cattle business. A bridge to the island spurred growth. Eagle township really took off in 1907, when the interurban railway linked hamlets all up and down the Boise Valley.

In 1917, Catlin sold off his major cattle interests; Hawley suggested that this was because “nearly all of his cowboys entered the army.” After that he concentrated on farming and a dairy operation for which he procured blooded Jersey and Holstein milk cows.

Even approaching age eighty, Catlin had not released the reins to his son, who was then around 45. Hawley wrote that the older man was “yet extremely active and still takes pleasure in riding the range, which he says he can do with the best of them.”

Truman C. Catlin passed away in June 1922.
                                                                       

References: [Hawley]

Laurie Baker, “The City of Eagle: Yesterday and Today,” City of Eagle, Official Website (May, 2007).

James H. Hawley, Ninth Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Idaho, Boise (1924).

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

Mountain Man Osborne Russell Becomes a "Free" Trapper [otd 12/20]

On December 20, 1835, trapper Osborne Russell said he “bid adieu to the ‘Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company’ and started in company with 15 of my old Messmates to pass the winter at a place called ‘Mutton Hill’.”

The precise location of “Mutton Hill” is uncertain, but Russell said it was on the Portneuf River about 40 miles southeast of Old Fort Hall.

Born in Maine, Russell joined Nathaniel Wyeth’s second fur trade venture [blog, Jan 29] in April 1834. Osborne was then about three months short of his twentieth birthday. Wyeth had also contracted with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company (RMFC) to supply the 1834 Green River rendezvous.

When the RMFC reneged on the contract, Wyeth took his supplies on into Idaho and built Old Fort Hall. For August 5th, Russell wrote, “Mr Wyeth departed for the mouth of the Columbia River with all the party excepting twelve men (myself included), 10 who were stationed at the Fort.”

Lacking experience, the Wyeth men did not attempt a fall trapping expedition. They did, however, traipse through the nearby ranges hunting game to supply the Fort for the winter. During the latter part of September, Russell had his first encounter with a Grizzly bear, prompting the reaction: “Oh Heavens! was ever anything so hideous?”

Too green to know better, he and a hunting partner pursued the animal and killed it, after an extremely close call. Osborne wrote that they “returned to the Fort with the trophies of our bravery, but I secretly determined in my own mind never to molest another wounded Grizzly Bear in a marsh or thicket.”

During the 1835 season, Osborne worked with a trapper party that trekked through eastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southern Montana. The results were disastrous: two substantial battles with hostile Blackfeet Indians, loss of most of their horses, and a minimum return of furs. Some of these problems arose from inexperience, but Russell decided that the greater cause was their leader’s ineptitude.

Old Fort Hall. Library of Congress.

“I determined not to be so green as to bind myself to an arbitrary Rocky Mountain Chieftain to be kicked over hill and dale at his pleasure,” Osborne wrote, and refused to sign up again with the Company.

Russell learned quickly, and was soon able to sustain himself comfortably. He attended the 1836 rendezvous held on the Green River west of today’s Pinedale, Wyoming. Also there were missionaries Henry Harmon Spalding and Marcus Whitman, and their wives [blog, Nov 29]. Osborne said, “The two ladies were gazed upon with wonder and astonishment by the rude Savages, they being the first white women ever seen by these Indians and the first that had ever penetrated into these wild and rocky regions.”

Russell spent the next seven years as a free trapper, mostly in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming. However, even in 1840, he observed that “Beaver also were getting very scarce.”

He struggled along for almost another two years. Then, in August, 1842 an emigrant party arrived at Fort Hall, headed for Oregon. Deciding he’d had enough, Russsell wrote, “I started with them and arrived at the Falls of the Willamette river on the 26 day of Septr. 1842.”

The following spring, Russell helped form the Provisional Government of Oregon and served as a judge under that organization. In 1848, he moved to California. He passed away there in 1892.
                                                                              

References: Osborne Russell, Aubrey L. Haines (ed.), Journal of a Trapper, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln (1965).

Nathaniel J. Wyeth, Don Johnson (ed.), The Journals of Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth’s Expeditions to the Oregon Country 1831-1836, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington (1984).

Prominent Boise Area and Twin Falls County Architect Benjamin Nisbet [otd 12/19]

Architect Nisbet. Family archives.

Benjamin Morgan Nisbet, who made his name as a fine Idaho architect, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 19, 1873. At age seventeen, Ben began an apprenticeship with a leading Pittsburgh architectural firm. Then he decided he needed a more solid grounding and enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture.

The year before he graduated in 1898, he won a school award for “Composition in Details.” Afterwards, he returned to Pittsburgh and opened his own architectural firm. Married there in November 1903, he and his new wife moved to Nampa shortly thereafter. Soon, his advertisement as an architect, with a Nampa office address, appeared in Boise’s Idaho Statesman (December 23, 1903).

However, seeing better prospects in Boise, in March 1904 he partnered with another architect in the capital. For some reason that did not last and they split a few months later (Idaho Statesman, August 23, 1904). Not long after that, Nisbet took a position with a well-known Boise architectural firm.

The following year, in March, water from Milner Dam [blog, May 7] began flowing onto acreage near the new town of Twin Falls. Nisbet liked the potential there and took a leave of absence to “prove up” an irrigated claim. When Ben returned after two months the Statesman said (November 28, 1905), “He has now clear title to one of the prettiest ranches under canal.”

Anduiza Hotel, ca 1925. Boise Basque Tour.

In 1909, Nisbet teamed up with architect Frank Paradice [blog, May 4] in a joint venture. Over the next five years or so, the two would produce designs for a wide variety of structures in Boise and other Idaho towns. Among those in Boise were the Empire Building and the Anduiza Hotel, built as a Basque boarding house with its own fronton (pelota court). The Anduiza is on the National Register of Historic Places and still serves as a center of Basque cultural heritage in Boise.

After Paradice departed to Pocatello in 1914, Nisbet continued to handle projects on his own. In 1915, he designed a new high school building for the city of Fruitland (about five miles south of Payette), and the First Baptist Church of Emmett. Still in use, the Baptist church is also on the National Register.

It is not entirely clear when Nisbet moved his family to Twin Falls, but his ads using a Boise office address continued in the Statesman through February 1916. In 1918, Nisbet prepared plans for the Roman Catholic parish house at the Immaculate Conception Church in Buhl (Twin Falls News, July 3, 1918). That same year, Ben moved his family to Buhl

In 1919, Nisbet designed the Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) building in Buhl. That too is now on the National Register. The following year, he designed a new “mission style” city hall and civic center for Buhl. He also handled the design of new high school buildings in Kimberly and in Buhl. Unfortunately, he had to file suit against the Buhl school district in an attempt to get paid in full (Twin Falls News, January 20, 1922).

Main Street, Buhl, ca 1919. J. H. Hawley photo.

Idaho, like most farm states, plunged into a depression in the 1920s … generally blamed on excessive expansion to meet demand during World War I. In the words of Ben’s son Donald, “the architect business [went] to the dogs” in the Twin Falls area. Nisbet moved the family to Los Angeles, California, where he found a job with an architectural firm.

Late in life, Nisbet suffered from increasing arthritic pain. He passed away in July 1940.
                                                                                

References]: [French]

“Anduiza Hotel,” National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, Washington, D. C.  (2003).

“Buhl IOOF Building,” National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, Washington, D. C. (2009).

“First Baptist Church of Emmett,” National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, Washington, D. C. (1980).

Robert A. Nisbet Jr., A Nisbet Family from Pennsylvania, bobnisbet.com (1996).

“[Nisbet News - Boise],” Idaho Statesman, Boise (March 1904 – 1920).

“[Nisbet News - Twin Falls],” Twin Falls News, Twin Falls, Idaho (July 1918 – January 1922).

Gene Smiley, “US Economy in the 1920s,” EH.Net Encyclopedia, Economic History Association (March 26, 2008).

Year Book of the School of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania, The Architectural Society, Philadelphia (1897).

Weiser Signal Newspaper Publishes Its first Issue [otd 12/18]

On December 18, 1890, Robert E. Lockwood published the first issue of the Weiser Signal newspaper.

Vintage printing press.
American Local History Network,
Clark County, Wisconsin.

Lockwood was born in southwestern Oregon, near the California border, in 1858. The family later moved to east-central Oregon, where Robert learned the printer’s trade. In 1878, he found work on the railroad in eastern Idaho. It then seems likely that he moved on with the Oregon Short Line as it laid track west, toward Weiser and the Oregon border.

Meanwhile, in 1882, Weiser’s first newspaper, the Weiser Leader, began publication. It was founded by two partners, one with considerable newspaper experience, the other with none. The Leader was very much a “shoestring” operation and made little in the way of profits. Thus, it passed through a succession of owners through most of a decade.

At some point, Lockwood went to work at the Leader for awhile. He then took a job in Caldwell for three months before returning to Weiser to begin publication of the Signal. The newspaper did very well. In September 1891, Lockwood bought the Leader and combined it with the Signal.

Although Lockwood did not retain the Leader name, the purchase established a publishing lineage back to Weiser’s earliest days. The Illustrated History considered the Signal to be “one of the best [newspapers] in southwestern Idaho.”For several years after 1893, Lockwood also served as an officer of the Idaho Press Association.

Lockwood took up an active role in Democratic Party politics. attending every State convention and aiding in all the local work. Colleagues persuaded him to run for the state Senate from Washington County in 1898, but he was defeated. He never ran for public office again. From 1902 to 1904, Lockwood served as Secretary of the state Democratic Central Committee.

In 1899, the Signal had gained a long-time competitor, the Weiser American, a weekly. Three years later, Lockwood sold a half-interest in the paper to Frank S. Harding. A Michigan native, Harding was two years younger than Lockwood. However, having been associated with newspapers in the Midwest and in Oregon since about 1875, Harding actually had more experience in the business.

The partnership continued until 1906, when Harding sold his interest and moved to Boise. Four years later, he would return and purchase a controlling interest in the Weiser American. Meanwhile, the Signal reported (December 8, 1906) that “R. E. Lockwood has severed his connection with the Signal to engage in other interests.”

Downtown Weiser, ca 1908. Vintage postcard.

Those interests included a ranch near Riggins, and mining properties about twenty miles east of that town. Sadly, less than a year later (October 26, 1907) the Signal reported, “Former Signal editor, Robert Edwin Lockwood, accidentally shot and killed himself at his ranch at Riggins.” At the time, Lockwood was preparing to return to Boise, where he had been hired as Managing Editor of a newspaper startup.

During this general period, the Signal Publishing Company was formed to control the paper, then published twice weekly. After some turn-over in management, Lester I. Purcell, an experienced newspaperman from Kansas, purchased a controlling interest and took over as Editor. The paper backed off to a weekly schedule in 1912-1913, then returned to semi-weekly publication. It became a daily in 1925.

The Signal and the American both served the city until 1985, when they combined to form the Weiser Signal American. Today, the newspaper proudly traces its roots back to the Weiser Leader of 1882.
                                                                                 

References]: [French], [Illust-State]

Chronicling America: Historic Newspapers, The Library of Congress (online).

Frank Harris, “History of Washington County and Adams County,” Weiser Signal (Series, 1940s).

Unjustly-Convicted “Diamondfield Jack” Davis Finally Released from Prison [otd 12/17]

Diamondfield Jack Davis.
Denver Public Library, Western Collection.

On December 17, 1902, the Idaho Board of Pardons annulled the life sentence of cowboy-gunman Jackson Lee Davis – better known as “Diamondfield” Jack. This action ended a six-year nightmare for Davis.

Verifiable facts are scarce, but penitentiary records indicate that Davis was born around 1870, somewhere in Virginia. He appeared in Idaho in the early 1890s. Pioneer Charlie Walgamott, who lived in the area at that time, wrote, “Jack Davis was very companionable, good in his manners, extremely fond of children, and kind-hearted almost to a fault, but he was a great talker.”

Because of that “talker” reputation, listeners took his bunkhouse stories with a considerable dose of salt. At various times, he claimed to have fought as a revolutionary in South America, lived with Apache Indians in Arizona, and hobnobbed with Cecil Rhodes in South Africa.

He also said he had been a miner in Sonora, Mexico, which might have been true. He performed quite capably during a year or so working in a mine near Silver City. He was among many who chased rumors of diamond strikes in the West … that gave him his “Diamondfield” nickname.

Jack mostly worked as a cowboy in northern Nevada and southern Idaho. He loved to brag about “cutting it in [gun]smoke” in purported battles on the range. This too appeared to have some substance. No one doubted his gun skills, and he had enough of a reputation to get run off one ranch where he sought work.

Local stockmen had reached a “gentlemen’s agreement” concerning the range south and east of today’s Twin Falls: Sheep would remain to the east, cattle stayed west. However, some sheepmen pushed across the so-called “dead line” anyway.

Thus, during the summer of 1895, the Sparks-Harrell Cattle Company [blog, Aug 30] hired Davis as an “outside man.” For a monthly salary of $50 (ordinary hands got $30), the foreman expected Jack and the other outside men to keep the sheep off “company” range.

Intimidation escalated to violence and two sheepmen were shot to death. Suspicion fell on Diamondfield Jack [blog, Feb 16] and he was arrested and tried. The prosecution presented a badly flawed case, but obtained a conviction from a jury composed almost entirely of sheepmen and farmers.

While lawyers appealed Jack’s conviction, the actual shooter and an associate confessed to the killings [blog, Oct 13]: They pled “self-defense” and were acquitted on a murder charge. Yet despite this, Jack twice came within hours of being hanged for the crime.

Authorities finally conceded that perhaps a miscarriage of justice had occurred … and, in July 1901, commuted the hanging sentence to life in prison! Davis spent another seventeen months in prison before a pardon finally set him free.

Afterwards, Jack moved to Nevada and prospered in the mines there, especially around Goldfield, where a boom started about that time. (Goldfield is about 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas.) In fact, Davis became something of a celebrity, with write-ups in national as well as regional magazines and newspapers.

But ultimately, the Depression crippled Jack's mining investments and he lived his last years in tight financial circumstances. He died in January 1949 from injuries suffered when he inattentively stepped off a curb in Las Vegas and was struck by a taxicab.
                                                                                 

References: David H. Grover, Diamondfield Jack: A Study in Frontier Justice, University of Nevada Press, Reno (1968).

William Pat Rowe, “Diamond-Field Jack” Davis On Trial, thesis: Master of Arts in Education, Idaho State University (1966)

Charles S. Walgamott, Six Decades Back, The Caxton Press, Caldwell, Idaho (1936).

Mining Investor and Idaho Governor Frank W. Hunt [otd 12/16]

Governor Hunt. J. H. Hawley photo.

Idaho Governor Frank W. Hunt was born December 16, 1861 in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was an officer in the U.S. Army, so the family relocated several times while Frank was growing up.

Frank held a variety of jobs before he took up mining in Montana around 1885. Three years later, he moved to a mining camp about 25 miles north of Salmon City, Idaho.

From his base in the camp, Hunt prospected extensively, and successfully. It is believed that he also invested in other mining properties. (The usual pattern is for the investor to “grubstake” another prospector, and thereby obtain a share of any later strikes.) Although Frank had no previous history in politics, in 1892 he was elected to a seat in the state Senate.

A Democrat, Hunt became part of a coalition with Populist members who opposed key measures proposed by Governor William McConnell, a Republican [blog, Sept 18]. Besides defeating a reduction in the property tax levy (the new state had collected a surplus under the old levy), the coalition voted down a reapportionment bill.

The legislature did create state Normal schools at Lewiston [blog, Jan 6] and Albion [blog, Mar 7]. Beyond that, Hunt “took a special interest in revising mining law.” He did not run for re-election.

In 1897, Frank explored some mining properties in Canada, but returned in time to join the First Idaho Volunteers when the regiment was mustered for the Spanish-American War. Entering as a lieutenant, Hunt was twice breveted to captain for bravery under fire. The rank was made permanent when the regiment mustered out.

The 1900 political campaign proved especially chaotic in Idaho. The Republicans had a slate, which included William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt at the national level. The Populists again chose to not make common cause with the Democratic Party; they selected their own candidates. The Prohibitionist Party also proposed a nearly full roster.

The Democrats assembled a Fusion Party with the Silver Republicans. The Fusion supported William Jennings Bryan for President. However, the coalition suffered from severe internal tensions at the state level. Most of this arose from conflicting positions on labor unrest and subsequent violence in the Coeur d’Alene mining districts [blog, Apr 29].

Miners  Held in “Bullpen” After Violent Strike Actions. Historic Wallace.

During a succession of eighteen convention ballots, war hero Frank Hunt’s stock rose as various hopefuls dropped by the wayside. Hunt won the state election by just 2,160 votes out of over 56 thousand cast. During his term of office, Hunt approved legislation that established the Academy of Idaho, precursor to Idaho State University, in Pocatello. He also took measures, with some success, to reduce tensions in the northern mining districts, and to resolve cattleman-sheepman conflicts in southern Idaho.

All too aware of the close election result, Hunt also selected leading Populist politicians to fill state boards and other appointive offices. (He even reportedly found a place for the man who ran against him for Governor.) That was not enough, however. His bid for re-election in 1902 failed and he retired from politics.

Hunt then homesteaded along the Payette and acquired shares in a canal company. He also returned to mining, with interests that included properties in Nevada. While in Goldfield, Nevada, he contracted pneumonia and died in November 1906. His body was returned to Boise for burial in the Masonic Cemetery there.
                                                                                 

References: [Hawley]

“Ex-Gov. F. W. Hunt Dead,” The New York Times (November 26, 1906).

“Idaho Governor Frank W. Hunt,” National Governors Association.

Robert C. Sims, Hope A. Benedict (Eds.), Idaho’s Governors: Historical Essays on Their Administrations, Boise State University (1992).

Freighter, Mining Investor, and U. S. Marshall Joe Pinkham [otd 12/15]

Marshal Pinkham.
Illustrated History.

U. S. Marshal Joseph Pinkham was born December 15, 1833 in Canada. His grandparents were Welsh and had emigrated many years earlier to what became the state of Maine. His father was born and married there, then the family moved to Canada shortly before Joseph was born. Joe grew up on a farm near New London, on Prince Edward Island.

In 1850, he boarded a ship for the long voyage around Cape Horn to California. He clerked briefly at a gold camp store before trying his hand at placer mining. After a couple years, he moved on to southern Oregon, where he combined farming with stretches of mining. Pinkham served in the U. S. Army Quartermaster Corps during the Rogue River War. After the conflict ended in 1857, he worked at various locations in Oregon as a farmer, miner, or clerk.

In 1864, he looked toward the opportunities presented by the gold fields of Idaho. By then, he had apparently had his fill of prospecting and mining. Instead, he partnered with two other men to run pack trains into Boise City from supply terminals in Oregon. They converted to freight wagons when the road system allowed it.

After four years, he moved to Idaho City and established headquarters for a stagecoach company that ran passengers and freight to Boise Basin towns, and out to Boise city.

In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Pinkham to the first of two consecutive terms as U. S. Marshal for Idaho Territory. By all accounts, Pinkham carried out his duties with good judgement and knowledge of people, and seldom had to resort to gunplay.

Still, he had an iron core. In late 1877, a court in southeast Idaho passed a death sentence on the Indian who killed a cowboy at Fort Hall [blog Nov 23]. Pinkham was tasked to transport him to the Territorial Prison in Boise, where he would be hung. Then rumors began to circulate that the Bannocks might try to rescue the prisoner. Pinkham let it be known that, if he and his deputy were attacked, they would immediately execute the prisoner and then fight for their own lives. They had no trouble on the trip to Boise.

Philadelphia smelter, near Ketchum.
Ketchum-Sun Valley Historical Society.

After his second term, Pinkham and a partner opened a mercantile store in Boise (Salt Lake Tribune, July 5, 1879). Then he followed the 1879-1880 mining rush into the Wood River area and opened a general store in the boom town of Ketchum.

In 1891, knowledge of Pinkham’s service was still fresh, and he was again appointed to be a U. S. Marshal. Thus, at aged 57, he became the first Marshal to serve the Idaho District after the region became a state. As the “man on the spot,” Pinkham then successfully handled potentially explosive union demonstrations and violence in the Coeur d’Alene mining districts.

In February 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Pinkham to head the U. S. Assay office in Boise. He held that position until his retirement in the summer of 1915.

The memory of his fearless integrity as a U. S. Marshal lived on long after his final retirement from that duty. Twenty years later, J. H. Hawley praised that history and wrote: “His step is firm, his eye is still keen, and his mental faculties are still alert.”

Pinkham passed away in July 1921.
                                                                                 

References: [Hawley], [Illust-State]

“History of the District of Idaho,” U. S. Marshals Service, United State Department of Justice.

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).

Rhodes Scholar, Eminent Historian, and Pulitzer Prize Winner Lawrence Gipson [otd 12/07]

Historian Gipson.
University of Idaho Archives.

Rhodes Scholar and eminent historian Lawrence Henry Gipson was born December 7, 1880 in Greeley, Colorado. The family moved to Caldwell, Idaho when Lawrence was very young and he later attended Caldwell High School. He left the high school after a year and took preparatory classes for a year at the College of Idaho. Lawrence excelled as a long distance runner at both institutions.

Gipson later recalled his youthful interest in history, but apparently that was not enough to keep him in school. He dropped out and worked at a variety of jobs, including some time in the family’s printing business. Then he enrolled at the University of Idaho and completed a bachelor’s degree there in 1903.

He might then have settled down as a journalist, but his life took a crucial turn. In 1902 and 1903, the Rhodes Trust selected their first Scholars: nine from southern Africa and five from Germany. The following year, they expanded the selection to include candidates from British possessions worldwide, and from the United States. Thus, Lawrence Henry Gipson was not just the first Rhodes Scholar from Idaho, he was among the first Scholars from across this country.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Oxford University in 1907. Gipson next taught history at the College of Idaho for three years. He received a fellowship for a year of study at Yale University and then became Chair of the History and Political Science department at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana (about 30 miles northwest of Indianapolis). He continued his connection with Yale, however, and received his Ph.D. from that institution in 1918.

In 1924, Lehigh University, in Pennsylvania, asked Gipson to organize their new History Department. He agreed, on the condition that after he had the department established, he would be allowed time to work on a “monumental” scholarly project. He envisioned a comprehensive history of the British Empire Before the American Revolution, spanning roughly the generation before the Declaration of Independence.

He would study, assess, and write for almost another half century. Twelve years passed before the publication of Volume I: Great Britain and Ireland. In this largely stage-setting text, Gipson tried to analyze the general societal factors (economic, political, cultural, etc.) that would “set the tone” for the Empire-building to follow.

Thunder-Clouds Gather in the West,
Pulitzer Prize winner.

After that, he published volume after volume … fifteen in all. Three won important awards: In 1948, Volume 6 won a Columbia University award for outstanding “social science” work. The following year, Volume 7 won the Bancroft Prize, a major award for historical books. Volume 10 garnered a Pulitzer Prize in 1962. Knopf published the final volume just nine months before Gipson’s death in September 1971.

Gipson’s estate provided the core funding for the Lawrence Henry Gipson Institute for Eighteenth-Century Studies, based at Lehigh University. The Institute promotes and funds a broad range of scholarly activities in history and other relevant disciplines.

Sadly, “Gipson was already behind the times when he started his work in earnest,” in the view of modern historian Patrick Griffin. That is, historical scholarship had entered a period that focused on small communities and their day-to-day activities, rather than broad “imperial” forces. Oddly enough, however, he also argues that today the profession again needs “interpretive frameworks that look to reconstruct broad contexts.”

Dr. Griffin sees these as “almost” Gipsonian in scope. He then laments that modern academic and publishing realities make such thoughtful, context-building scholarship difficult: “And the Lawrence Henry Gipsons, unthinkable.” (Which is a shame, if true – and I’m afraid he’s right.)
                                                                                 

References: Richard J. Beck, Famous Idahoans, Williams Printing, (© Richard J. Beck, 1989).

Guila Ford, Elizabeth Jacox, “Lawrence Henry Gipson - 1880-1971,” Reference Series No. 1140, Idaho State Historical Society (January 1996).

“Lawrence Henry Gipson,” Dictionary of Literary Biography, Gale Publishing (1983).

Patrick Griffin, “In Retrospect: Lawrence Henry Gipson’s The British Empire before the American Revolution,” Reviews in American History, Vol. 31, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland (2003) pp. 171–183.

The Rhodes Scholarships.

William G. Shade (ed.), Revisioning the British Empire in the Eighteenth Century, Associated University Presses, Inc. (1998).

Attorney, Mining Investor, and Territorial Secretary Robert Sidebotham [otd 12/06]

Robert Sidebotham. H. T. French photo.

Pioneer lawyer and developer Robert A. Sidebotham was born December 6, 1834 along the Ohio River in Pennsylvania (west of Pittsburgh). He gained early exposure to business because his father “was engaged in manufacturing.” He graduated from the law school at Oberlin College and then moved west. There, he worked in California for a time and then taught school in Utah.

Sidebotham joined the rush to Idaho when the gold fields around the town of Rocky Bar opened up in late 1863. Although placer mining drew the early prospectors, the real wealth of the region lay underground. Lode mining requires much greater capital, to pay for tunneling and for milling equipment to handle the ore.

However, Rocky Bar sits in the midst of massive, rugged ranges, far from normal travel routes. Located 45-50 direct miles east of Boise, the “easiest” link to the city follows over one hundred miles of twisty creek and river canyon. Tools, bales of clothing, bags of flour – every ounce of supplies – arrived by pack train. But pack animals simply could not carry the heavy milling machinery needed to exploit the lode mines.

Thus, in January 1864, Sidebotham and two partners obtained a Territorial franchise for the “South Boise Wagon Road.” (“South Boise” was the original name for Rocky Bar.) The agreement required them to bridge many streams as well as the South Fork of the Boise River. Excluding the money spent building bridges, the stretch from the South Fork over the final huge ridge – about one-fifth of the total distance – cost two-fifth (41%) of the total.

Julius Newberg, a partner with much relevant experience, managed the construction. He had hoped to complete the road early in the summer, but bridge building and other obstacles slowed the work considerably.

The first wagons reached Rocky Bar in early October, releasing a happy round of celebration. A correspondent to an Idaho City newspaper wrote, “Long and loud huzzahs rent the air and made the welkin ring. All business was for the time suspended and everybody seemed loud in their praises of the energetic and thorough-going Newberg.”

Rocky Bar, ca 1867. Elmore County Historical Research Team.

Sidebotham was a Republican in a heavily Democratic district, yet voters there elected him to every county office he ran for. They also elected him to terms in the the Territorial Legislature, and the Council (equivalent to a state Senate).

In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Sidebotham to be Secretary of Idaho Territory, “a position now equivalent to that of Lieutenant Governor.” Robert moved to Boise City to handle his duties, which proved wise: He filled in as Territorial Governor for two years because one appointee departed under a barrage of criticism, and his successor never bothered to show up at all.

In later years, Sidebotham continued his law practice, but also held mining interests in the Wood River districts as well as in Colorado. For many years, he maintained a residence in Cripple Creek, Colorado, to be closer to mine holdings there. His wife, who ran a Boise millinery store during the 1890s, kept the family home in Boise. She and their children were very active in Boise society. Robert was on the train bound from Cripple Creek to Boise when he died in December 1904. He was buried in Boise.
                                                                                 

References: [French], [Hawley]

“South Boise Wagon Road,” Reference Series No. 94, Idaho State Historical Society, Boise (1964).

Merle W. Wells, Gold Camps & Silver Cities: Nineteenth Century Mining in Central and Southern Idaho, 2nd Edition,  Bulletin 22, Idaho Department of Lands, Bureau of Mines and Geology, Moscow, Idaho (1983).