tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81444128720993773672024-03-18T08:22:32.287-06:00South Fork CompanionIdaho History, History, and Other Musings and RantsRevue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.comBlogger608125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-7454125780631543662024-03-18T01:02:00.000-06:002024-03-18T01:02:00.129-06:00Bonneville County Rancher, Developer, and Public Servant Hank Kiefer [otd 03/18]Henry W. “Hank” Kiefer was born March 18, 1851 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania … one of twelve children born to the family between 1844 and about 1863. As a boy, he served an apprenticeship as a machinist, while also working part-time for his father, a Master Tanner. His father died in 1865, his mother two years later. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhX2MEP8m4Y41eh4rQ4oiXWL76YtxFh3GKtMC5lyquGs-idBs7rsqqvfMKseU5zcL_Kx64KmyruXegmp-xfddZgDpogEPxl0qazzDDMFxP5zZdy-HW6BfKQQYvGK-UHM3zJFPYeRKgnNg/s1600/Promontory-69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhX2MEP8m4Y41eh4rQ4oiXWL76YtxFh3GKtMC5lyquGs-idBs7rsqqvfMKseU5zcL_Kx64KmyruXegmp-xfddZgDpogEPxl0qazzDDMFxP5zZdy-HW6BfKQQYvGK-UHM3zJFPYeRKgnNg/s320/Promontory-69.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden Spike Ceremony. National Park Service.</td></tr>
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In 1869, Hank decided to head West. French’s <i>History</i> specifically mentions June as the date when he arrived in Colorado. It may well be significant that the transcontinental railroad had been completed just a month earlier.<br />
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Within a year or so, Kiefer landed a job with Coe & Carter, a well-known Omaha firm that had major contracts to supply ties and lumber for the Union Pacific Railroad. Over the next few years, the job took Hank through Wyoming, Utah, and into Idaho.<br />
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In 1878, the Utah & Northern Railway extended its narrow gauge tracks across eastern Idaho, headed for Montana. Kiefer took charge of a logging camp on the South Fork of the Snake River. As the tracks approached the Montana border in the spring of 1879, Hank moved the camp closer to Monida Pass.<br />
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Kiefer worked on tie contracts in the Rocky Mountains until the spring of 1883. At that time, he purchased a ranch on Willow Creek, northeast of Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls). There, he raised cattle, farmed, and also planted an apple orchard. Four years later, Eagle Rock school teachers took their pupils on a field trip to see the first home-grown apples in the Upper Snake River Valley.<br />
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Hank spent the rest of the 1880s tending to his crops and livestock. Thus, the <i>Idaho Register</i> in Idaho Falls reported (October 1, 1887), “Hank Kiefer has purchased from Taylor & Smith one of the latest improved hay balers and will soon commence operating it, when he will be prepared to ship hay.”<br />
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In 1892, he was elected Assessor for Bingham County. At that time, the county encompassed most of eastern Idaho. He then served two years as sheriff, before being elected again as County Assessor.<br />
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In the summer of 1901, Kiefer, like many others, took a fling at the the Klondike gold rush, where he apparently did better than most. The following year voters elected him to a term in the Idaho Senate. <br />
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As his farm-ranch operation prospered, Kiefer invested in irrigation projects, real estate, and a mercantile company in Iona. He remained president of one canal company for nearly twenty-six years, until the holdings were reorganized as a cooperative water district.<br />
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In 1907, his expertise in land development, and his Republican Party loyalties, led President Theodore Roosevelt to appoint Kiefer to be Register for the U. S. Land Office in Blackfoot. He would subsequently be re-appointed to that position by President Taft.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgQKIKiXAJ1SuMHRKtzM0qaVJbrs710OeaednudXihz45OAE9QU-yeINAfQrX42IgNpu5zA5p42Ug135WYNWglbc07Y9Ps9fvrK5XW8IAmMUjlVLX0gYhRfyhIfDdZY6AyOQMg-0gyKA/s1600/IF_Libr-1915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgQKIKiXAJ1SuMHRKtzM0qaVJbrs710OeaednudXihz45OAE9QU-yeINAfQrX42IgNpu5zA5p42Ug135WYNWglbc07Y9Ps9fvrK5XW8IAmMUjlVLX0gYhRfyhIfDdZY6AyOQMg-0gyKA/s320/IF_Libr-1915.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Idaho Falls Carnegie Library construction, ca 1915.<br />
Bonneville County Historical Society.</td></tr>
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However, he still retained an interest in Idaho Falls and, in 1908, donated a lot to be used for a public library. A committee proceeded with a request for a Carnegie Library grant and the facility opened in 1916. After his tenure as Land Office Register ended, Hank became a member of the Idaho Falls City Council. In late 1917, he served a half-year as Acting Mayor.<br />
<br />
After that, Kiefer began winding down his active participation in business and politics. He lived a comfortable retirement until his death in 1937. <br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Barzilla W. Clark, <i>Bonneville County in the Making,</i> Self-published, Idaho Falls, Idaho (1941). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Mary Jane Fritzen,<i> Idaho Falls, City of Destiny, </i>Bonneville County Historical Society, Idaho Falls (1991). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“Golden Jubilee Edition, 1884–1934,” <i>Idaho Falls Post-Register </i>(September 10, 1934). </td></tr>
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Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-60885014365910353182024-03-17T01:02:00.000-06:002024-03-17T01:02:00.122-06:00Medical Researcher and Teacher Thomas C. Galloway, M.D. [otd 03/17]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Galloway.<br />
University of Idaho Archives.</td></tr>
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Eminent physician Thomas C. Galloway was born March 17, 1886 in Boise. As a researcher at the Northwestern University Medical School, Galloway made award-winning discoveries in the symptomatic treatment of "bulbar" poliomyelitis, one of the most dreaded diseases of the Twentieth Century.<br />
<br />
His father, of the same name, was among a handful of whites who first settled along the Weiser River in 1863 [blog, June 6]. The elder Thomas married in 1868 and began raising a family. After about fifteen years, Galloway owned a huge herd of horses. However, his oldest children were also approaching high school age, and he and wife Mary felt their local educational opportunities were limited.<br />
<br />
Father Tom sold his horses, and one of two ranches they then owned, and moved the family to Boise City. There, he bought a home as well as much other real estate. It was also there that Thomas, Junior, was born. The Galloways remained in Boise until the older children had completed high school, then moved back to Weiser in 1896-1899.<br />
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Thomas, Junior, arrived at the University of Idaho campus at a time of substantial growth. During that general period, contractors completed a new women's dormitory, a gymnasium, and a new science hall. Of course, he would have also been on campus when fire destroyed the Administration Building at the end of March 1906: He graduated that spring.<br />
<br />
He taught chemistry at the University for a year and then moved on to the University of Chicago. The <i>Idaho Statesman </i>proudly reported (May 19, 1911) that Galloway was “winning high honors in scholastic and athletic lines” there. As a junior at the University's Rush Medical College, he had already published a paper in the <i>American Journal of Physiology. </i>Moreover, having taken up wrestling for exercise, he had become a two-time wresting champion at the school.<br />
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Galloway earned a medical degree from Rush Medical College in 1912. He spent the rest of his life in the Chicago area, although we're told that, "At his ranch in Idaho, Dr. Galloway hosted family reunions each summer for fifty years."<br />
<br />
Thomas spent over a half century affiliated with the Evanston Hospital, and taught for many years at two other area hospitals and the Northwestern University Medical School. Galloway eventually served as Director of the Medical School. He authored or co-authored numerous medical publications.<br />
<br />
His most noted discovery involved the use of tracheotomy to treat "bulbar" poliomyelitis. This polio variant causes severe breathing difficulties even before paralysis impacts the diaphragm and lungs.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iron lung ward for treatment of polio victims, ca. 1953.<br />
U.S. Food & Drug Administration.</td></tr>
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Galloway carefully studied the risks associated with the tracheal operation versus the known breathing problems, including fatal respiratory arrest. His 94-page monograph describes the results and preferred procedure in great detail. His work is credited with saving hundreds of lives, and is still valid today, although polio vaccines have reduced the disease from a widespread, frightening scourge to a relatively uncommon pathology. <br />
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Dr. Galloway received many awards: An Honorary Doctor of Science degree from UI, recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by Rush Medical College, and the James E. Newcomb Award from the American Laryngological Association. Galloway passed away in February 1977.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: Richard J. Beck,<i> Famous Idahoans,</i> Williams Printing, (© Richard J. Beck, 1989). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Thomas C. Galloway, <i>Treatment of Respiratory Emergencies including Bulbar Poliomyelitis, </i>Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK (1953). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Rafe Gibbs,<i> Beacon for Mountain and Plain: Story of the University of Idaho,</i> The Caxton Printers, CaIdwell (© 1962, Regents of the University of Idaho). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Frank Harris, "History of Washington County and Adams County,"<i> Weiser Signal </i>(1940s). </td></tr>
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Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-31761744065026906822024-03-16T01:10:00.000-06:002024-03-16T01:10:00.122-06:00Steamboat Pioneer and Coeur d’Alene Booster Joseph C. White. [OTD 03/16]Coeur d’Alene developer Joseph Clarence White was born March 16, 1865 in a tiny settlement about 35 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska. The family moved to Colorado when Joseph was about eleven years old. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Denver. He completed a B.A. degree in 1888, even though the family had claimed a homestead in the Idaho Panhandle a year or so before that.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">J. C. White. [French]</td></tr>
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For four years, J.C. (as he was known throughout his adult life) worked as a railroad construction engineer in north Idaho. Then, in 1892, he claimed a homestead about 40 miles northeast of Moscow. The following year, the Idaho road commission appointed J.C. to survey potential routes in Latah County. Although he retained his homestead, J.C. apparently moved to Rathdrum some time after his marriage in January 1896. For two years around the turn of the century, he was the official Surveyor for Kootenai County. Following that, he served a term in the Idaho House of Representatives.<br />
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After his term, he had a fine home built in Coeur d’Alene. He headed a company that owned at least a share of an electric rail line connecting Coeur d’Alene to Spokane. Then, in June 1903, the company launched a large new steamboat, the <i>Idaho</i>, to operate on Lake Coeur d’Alene. Described as “a hustler, a mover and a pusher,” J.C. soon expanded his steamboat holdings, buying up smaller competitors.<br />
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He was also a man of “great personal charm,” who enjoyed life and liked to party. Thus, he became an enthusiastic and effective promoter of the business as well as recreational opportunities in the Coeur d’Alene region. He helped found a local Chamber of Commerce, which he led for a time, and encouraged the formation of other societies and associations.<br />
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Still, for all his charm and<i> bon vivant</i> nature, J.C. was not averse to the “hard-ball” competitive tactics of that era. Thus, in April 1908, he persuaded the owner of a controlling interest in his largest, most persistent competitor to sell out to him. His Red Collar Steamship Company would hold a virtual monopoly on lake traffic for perhaps a decade. However, that became less profitable over time as rail lines and better roads for trucks began to penetrate the east side of the lake.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqa0phazeZIfyI1TKl-JykjAc0n4dqMt81htoZnhhdi6U7iuGnxsGXCMiEx4otiD9y7N4CUSeswHEtnqGBSD1lHlWtNXk7R67v1ooXO8a3-_pNOZlxQ_NTYobNdaTC4cKA_rEnhVtUEZc/s1600/Steamer+Idaho.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="678" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqa0phazeZIfyI1TKl-JykjAc0n4dqMt81htoZnhhdi6U7iuGnxsGXCMiEx4otiD9y7N4CUSeswHEtnqGBSD1lHlWtNXk7R67v1ooXO8a3-_pNOZlxQ_NTYobNdaTC4cKA_rEnhVtUEZc/s400/Steamer+Idaho.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steamer Idaho. Washington State Archives, Digital Collections.</td></tr>
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Oddly enough, in his eagerness to promote the area, J.C. also weakened one of his main holdings. As chairman of a commission on roads, around 1920 he spurred construction of the first concrete-paved road in Idaho, connecting Coeur d’Alene to Spokane. Soon, the electric rail link began to lose money. That, plus increased competition against the steamship line, finally forced the company into receivership in August 1922. (A new owner for the Red Collar line held on until 1929, when it was sold as a log transport operation.)<br />
<br />
J.C. did not give up entirely; he had a smaller boat built for lake traffic and ran that until 1930. He also had numerous other interests and investments to keep him busy: several banks (sometimes as an officer), silver mines, and more. Moreover, in July 1931, at the age of 66, he accepted an appointment from the Idaho Bureau of Highways as maintenance supervisor for all of northern Idaho. He went into semi-retirement after about two years at that task.<br />
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Still, in 1940, now aged 75, he was serving as Weed Control Officer for Kootenai County. A year or so after that, he began to suffer from chronic heart disease and cut back entirely. He passed away in April 1953.<br />
<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French], [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“Death of J. C. White … ,” <i>Spokesman-Review,</i> Spokane, Washington (April 7, 1953).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Ruby El Hult, <i>Steamboats in the Timber,</i> The Caxton Printers Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho (© Ruby El Hult, 1952).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“[White Newspaper Articles],” <i>Silver Blade,</i> Rathdrum, Idaho;<i> Spokesman-Review, </i>Spokane, <i>Spokane Review, Spokane Chronicle</i>, Washington (June 1893 – March 1933).</td></tr>
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Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-52513314529950546562024-03-16T01:05:00.000-06:002024-03-16T01:05:00.121-06:00Workmans' Compensation Law Initiated in Idaho [otd 03/16]On March 16, 1917, Governor Moses Alexander signed Idaho's first Workers' Compensation law. The state thus joined a trend that began in this country around 1910-1911, and even earlier in Europe. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJRfFL0aXIrb4u3imacYLE_Hrh2GmiPUb61ljQHimymjGVnBGjllGBx3dSbmpk0MLCHf8J_jS7ZS7uK00q-INT-lTsIwx0jAMJH_SXsalEzWoqdpslcenPB2gNfLQKh7-1BvrNyg3vyk/s1600/Gov_Alexander.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJRfFL0aXIrb4u3imacYLE_Hrh2GmiPUb61ljQHimymjGVnBGjllGBx3dSbmpk0MLCHf8J_jS7ZS7uK00q-INT-lTsIwx0jAMJH_SXsalEzWoqdpslcenPB2gNfLQKh7-1BvrNyg3vyk/s200/Gov_Alexander.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Governor Alexander.<br />
McDonald, <i>Moses Alexander.</i></td></tr>
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Historically, records of the concept date back almost as far as we have writing … some four thousand years. It seems likely that the idea grew right along with the notion of one man paying another to work for him. Written laws, like the ancient Hammurabic Code of 1750 B.C., provided detailed schedules: so many drachmas (or other monetary unit) for loss of a finger, and so on.<br />
<br />
Ancient writings indicate that the codes based such schedules on the actual disability assumed to be associated with a specific, “quantifiable” injury … broken or severed limb, loss of an eye, crushed foot, etc. The concept of <i>impairment</i> (diminished ability to perform a task) due to an injury was undeveloped or non-existent. Thus, a “bad back” or double vision from a blow to the head might not be grounds for compensation, even if you lost your job because of it.<br />
<br />
In Europe, after a hiatus during the Middle Ages, the “common law” began to provide some recourse for an employee injured on the job. However, those precedents set the bar very high before the employer had to pay anything. The injured party had to prove a considerable degree of negligence on the part of the employer.<br />
<br />
If a worker’s actions, or those of a fellow employee, somehow contributed to the injury, the employer was off the hook. Stumble and fall off a scaffold that had no safety rails … sorry, you should watch your step. A guy above drops a hammer on your head … sue him.<br />
<br />
Workers might not even be compensated if they were injured by a "known" hazard of the workplace. They were judged to have "assumed that risk" when they took the job. People accepted exceedingly dangerous jobs – like hard-rock mining – because those positions paid better than ordinary work.<br />
<br />
The Industrial Revolution had brought with it many new risks, with more workers exposed to those dangers. Under common law, injured workers generally had to file civil lawsuits to have any hope of compensation. The worker usually lost, but not always … so employers had to worry about defending such cases, as well as paying off the occasional big loss.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoj7gmPmNdgpah1AzkJf06RT7w_tWWg90uhtQWOCjFfniVczBYKYvPNKqUgPaxOzx8H8Jtrv2N-cKDE-SVchjKu6PR0ip7lnTPm6hglvZYOXB11YamNL8JF_c6HgRQJb1P8pTYk_o6MU4/s1600/Workshop1919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoj7gmPmNdgpah1AzkJf06RT7w_tWWg90uhtQWOCjFfniVczBYKYvPNKqUgPaxOzx8H8Jtrv2N-cKDE-SVchjKu6PR0ip7lnTPm6hglvZYOXB11YamNL8JF_c6HgRQJb1P8pTYk_o6MU4/s1600/Workshop1919.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workshop, ca. 1919. Personal Collection.</td></tr>
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<br />
As suits by injured employees proliferated, industry leaders decided an insurance program, coupled with exemptions from all those legal actions, would be cheaper in the long run. In 1884, the first effective workers’ accident insurance laws went on the books in Prussia.<br />
<br />
The trend spread to the United States in 1905-1908. Observers usually credit Wisconsin with the first effective workers’ compensation laws in the U.S., in 1911. (Laws passed a year earlier in New York state had been gutted by constitutional issues.) During the next five or six years, over thirty other states followed suit.<br />
<br />
The Idaho governor called for a program in his 1913 message to the legislature, but nothing happened. The subject does not seem to have come up in the 1915 session. Then, in 1917, Governor Alexander urged passage of a system “drafted in accordance with the highest ideals of giving adequate compensation to the injured.”<br />
<br />
The legislature did pass such a law, which Alexander signed on April 16th.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Price V. Fishback, "Workers' Compensation,"<i> EH.net Encyclopedia, </i>Robert Whaples (Ed.), Economic History Association (March 26, 2008). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Gregory P Guyton, “A Brief History of Workers' Compensation,”<i> The Iowa Orthopaedic Journal,</i> Vol. 19 (1999) pp 106-110. </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Dylan J. McDonald (ed.), <i>The Moses Alexander Collection</i>, Idaho State Historical Society, Boise (2002). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-83719714123136599602024-03-15T01:33:00.000-06:002024-03-15T01:33:00.121-06:00Boise Developer and Saloon Owner Madison Smith [otd 03/15]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMz-khUdtPFhHjzlTt-T7cN_yI7h9MwFSpK-GVp3k3W0Xdx6rpZPH0651sjsCb679LpoIcnf9U04f0rKY5q9Xm9cION2Tcp-XWWSUrO9_dL1puXcFOCecamHTjYsQUfB6o1UvxHYCZdg/s1600-h/MC_Smith.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMz-khUdtPFhHjzlTt-T7cN_yI7h9MwFSpK-GVp3k3W0Xdx6rpZPH0651sjsCb679LpoIcnf9U04f0rKY5q9Xm9cION2Tcp-XWWSUrO9_dL1puXcFOCecamHTjYsQUfB6o1UvxHYCZdg/s200/MC_Smith.jpg" width="185" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madison Smith. H. T. French photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Boise pioneer Madison C. Smith was born March 15, 1839 in Richmond, Missouri, about 35 miles northeast of Kansas City. The family moved West in 1851, crossing Idaho in a wagon train. Local Indian unrest was rising at that time, but the party had no trouble. They settled in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Unfortunately, Indians killed Madison’s father in 1856, so he had to work the family ranch until his mother remarried.<br />
<br />
Madison was out on his own by 1860, and had built up a small stake. In 1864, he and his brother-in-law loaded a mule train with freight for the gold camps near Idaho City. That area was apparently well-supplied when they arrived, so they moved on to profitably sell their goods in Boise City. Although Smith retained some property and a house in Oregon, he made his home in Boise for most of his remaining years.<br />
<br />
Smith found odd jobs where he could for awhile, and then settled into working at a popular saloon. Finally, the<i> Idaho Statesman</i> reported (August 14, 1873) that “Jim Lawrence and M. C. Smith will open out, this week, a saloon in the brick building formerly occupied by … a barber shop. … They understand the business, have many friends, and will endeavor to please their patrons.”<br />
<br />
They moved into a larger space after six years or so, but the Lawrence & Smith Saloon remained a fixture on Main Street for at least 15-18 years. It appears that Madison went into business by himself around 1890. We do know he bought a lot near downtown a year after that (<i>Idaho Statesman</i>, June 14, 1891). <br />
<br />
In 1893, Smith took a minor flyer in politics: He ran for Boise City Tax Collector on the Populist Party ticket led by his nephew, who was running for Mayor. (His brother-in-law, Peter J. Pefley, had been elected mayor in 1887.) Voters crushed the Populist slate and there's no evidence that Smith took any further interest in politics.<br />
<br />
Madison, who never married, largely held aloof from the “boom" mentality of many frontier city developers. His conservative approach was surely influenced by a disappointment in 1896-1897. Smith had loaned money to his brother-in-law and sister to invest in a saddlery company. But the firm collapsed (<i>Idaho Statesman</i>, September 6, 1896), and he recovered less than half his investment.<br />
<br />
Even so, Madison was comfortable enough in his financial circumstances that he listed himself as “capitalist" in the U. S. Census for 1900. At that point, he still owned at least one saloon, and may have had property in Lewiston, where his brother-in-law had moved. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOlPMGJeteV47cwZcdOl93QtWP3PBTIaCR6qMyVV5YTV_2Gmx4jI0ujNoZ0Tpu025sT5E1dfsSaSuC0g19RYXGiGNJvbovLwyCTq6LVFmUAzMFnfOnBgRdHOq2ohDvmnXevvnOoE-EPk/s1600/UnionBlock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuOlPMGJeteV47cwZcdOl93QtWP3PBTIaCR6qMyVV5YTV_2Gmx4jI0ujNoZ0Tpu025sT5E1dfsSaSuC0g19RYXGiGNJvbovLwyCTq6LVFmUAzMFnfOnBgRdHOq2ohDvmnXevvnOoE-EPk/s400/UnionBlock.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union Block, Boise. Library of Congress</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Smith closely followed the building boom that gripped Boise in 1902. Various organizations initiated ten major projects that year, including a new Episcopal Cathedral, a high school, and several commercial blocks.<br />
<br />
One such project was the so-called “Union Block," on the northeast side of Idaho Street between Seventh and Eight, and one street over from Madison's saloon property on Main. Three years later, Smith sold the saloon and used the proceeds to buy an interest in the Union Block (<i>Idaho Statesman</i>, October 4 and November 29, 1905).<br />
<br />
Madison soon moved into an apartment in the Union Block and managed his leased properties from there. He passed away from pneumonia in June 1921, after a year of increasingly poor health.<br />
<br />Today, the Union Block – still in use – is on the National Register of Historic Places. Also, according to the Idaho State Historical Society, the Society now owns a fancy hardwood bar that once belong to Smith. He reportedly ordered it from “the Brunswick Company" around 1890, and it continued in use at various locations for about seventy years. The bar is still in use for special events at the main museum.<br /><u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: French, [Hawley]</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“Boise Building Chronology,”<i> References Series No. 672</i>, Idaho State Historical Society (1983). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-43089907423792955372024-03-14T01:02:00.000-06:002024-03-14T01:02:00.126-06:00Militia Organized Again, Then Becomes the Idaho National Guard [otd 03/14]In an interesting coincidence, two different March 14 dates are significant for the Idaho National Guard. On March 14, 1889, Edward A. Stevenson, governor of Idaho Territory, sent a letter to the Quartermaster-General of the U. S. Army, stating that the citizens of Boise had organized a company of militia. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EBX9juURUs4F_5pmWMfKYTCNXyOKmPCca5CDFdYSF4fz9dtNjl-LmTyz-BQwh88taNzzEZhG7-QHIWePYSscM2nUCHy4LZQKe202QMjGc-M1wjtlUBLJOz-SPa5O4mrTd6i6CDolefI/s1600/Stevenson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EBX9juURUs4F_5pmWMfKYTCNXyOKmPCca5CDFdYSF4fz9dtNjl-LmTyz-BQwh88taNzzEZhG7-QHIWePYSscM2nUCHy4LZQKe202QMjGc-M1wjtlUBLJOz-SPa5O4mrTd6i6CDolefI/s200/Stevenson.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Governor Stevenson.<br />
City of Boise photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This action followed over a decade during which the Territory had no authorized military force at all. In the early gold rush days, miners had assembled<i> ad hoc </i>companies to fight Indians. These Volunteer troops became somewhat more formalized for the so-called "Snake War" in 1864-1868, but many lasted only a few weeks.<br />
<br />
However, during Idaho's final Indians wars of 1877-1879, the Territory had companies of Idaho Volunteer Militia (a "Regiment," but in name only) as well as numerous local militia units. The latter included three from Boise City alone (the "Boise Mounted Rangers," etc.), and at least eight others (the "First Payette Guards" and so forth). All these organizations disbanded when the last groups of Indians had been forced onto reservations. Around 1879, Governor Mason Brayman urged the legislature to create a formal Territorial-wide militia. However, for various reasons, mostly political, nothing was done.<br />
<br />
So matters remained until President Grover Cleveland appointed Stevenson as Territorial Governor. The first actual Idaho resident chosen for that position, he had moved to Idaho in 1864, and was familiar with its militia history. Stevenson had, in fact, encouraged the Boiseans to form their company, which they styled the "Governor's Guards."<br />
<br />
The state had no particular budget for such an organization, so the governor asked the Quartermaster-General if the Army could, and would, provide suitable uniforms, arms, and ammunition. The General's specific answer was unreported at the time, but he must have been agreeable: The Governor’s Guards were in full operation by early May. The <i>Idaho Statesman</i> reported (July 3, 1889) that “the ladies of Boise” would present them with a “beautiful banner” during a ceremony on the 4th of July.<br />
<br />
Idaho soon had militia companies organized in Weiser, Grangeville, Albion, Eagle Rock, and Hailey.<br />
<br />
In 1889, Stevenson and his successor called for a constitutional convention, preparatory to asking Congress to make Idaho a state. That document explicitly defined a militia. Then,<span style="color: #073763;"> </span><b style="color: blue;">on another March 14</b> – in 1891 – a new state governor signed the Act that formally organized the militia, soon to be called the Idaho National Guard. The legislation also provided an appropriation to supplement funds from the federal government for uniforms and equipment. <br />
<br />
Within about a year, the Governor found a use for the new organization: He called the Guard out to restore order in the Coeur d’Alene mining districts, where union unrest had escalated into violence. <br />
<br />
In 1898, the U.S. President, for the first time, called out the Idaho Guard to meet a national emergency – the Spanish-American War. To bolster the severely undermanned Regular Army, President William McKinley mobilized Guards units from all over the country.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTItlyV0JXh7bi-rdCo9zoprxclESey8vWPIm_gvyVtUUfRqdZBcm1E-8piSiG4NSvZsgLbsZSssGypyj6_Y2BZow4V7TglKEYIaxj5eAL6SxkfS19k8Bzp5WAVpjtE0NbZLR4yFoybLI/s320/1st_Idaho-1899.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Idaho in the Philippines, 1899. National Archives.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Under that directive, the Idaho Guard became the First Idaho Regiment, a unit of the U. S. Army Volunteers. The First Idaho landed in the Philippines in early August, and saw most of its action helping check the Filipino insurrection. The regiment returned to the States and demobilized in September 1899.<br />
<br />
The Guard structure remained in place, of course. It’s next major call-up was for duty on the Mexican Border in 1916 [blog, June 18].<u> </u><br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [Hawley]</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Orlan J. Svingen (Ed.),<i> The History of the Idaho National Guard,</i> Idaho National Guard, Boise (1995). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-83102288933586852412024-03-13T01:07:00.000-06:002024-03-13T01:07:00.127-06:00Idaho State Highway Commission Created to Improve Transportation System [otd 03/13]On March 13, 1913, the Idaho legislature established the State Highway Commission. They thus joined a nationwide trend to raise highway planning and construction to the state level. Prior to that, roads had been almost exclusively a local concern.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOmbzXfnbXDlAw46tKxAQLZAfS5L-i5QfEu_Fp1tAU-nq3Aml4rTI7Nev28_D2hIv7LFDKjjo8d8B3ONLYSAk-ZV8XNvvjWNQ-dV9CVcJp2T3nkhPABA7b5CE2gJqWkNj41ILN-DQ4ko/s1600/EarlyRoad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOmbzXfnbXDlAw46tKxAQLZAfS5L-i5QfEu_Fp1tAU-nq3Aml4rTI7Nev28_D2hIv7LFDKjjo8d8B3ONLYSAk-ZV8XNvvjWNQ-dV9CVcJp2T3nkhPABA7b5CE2gJqWkNj41ILN-DQ4ko/s1600/EarlyRoad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Country "Road." National Archives.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Of course, emigrant wagons cut the first roads across Idaho, starting in the early 1840s. The pioneers naturally did only enough to make the route passable. In 1857-1860, the U. S. Army built the first planned roads in the area: The Lander Cutoff, shortening the distance to old Fort Hall, and the Mullan Road across the Idaho Panhandle [blog, Feb 5].<br />
<br />
Aside from those exceptions, private companies built most roads, usually as toll routes. Thus, in 1886, Silas Skinner and his partners completed their toll road into Silver City, Idaho [blog, May 19]. Grants for toll franchises – roads, bridges, and ferries – filled the legislative records throughout the early Territorial period.<br />
<br />
Some businesses and individuals opened roads on their own. In 1882, pioneer Charles Walgamott “built” a stagecoach road to carry patrons from the train station at Shoshone to his claim overlooking Shoshone Falls, perhaps the first tourist attraction in Idaho. They replaced the normal wheel tires (the outer metal strap) with a cutting band, and then simply ran their coach back and forth over the route. Charlie averred that the exposed edges “helped make the road, but say, for some time that was the roughest road any mortal ever traveled over.”<br />
<br />
The action shifted to more local oversight as towns and counties became organized. Thus, County Commissioners denied a renewal of the franchise for the old toll bridge at Eagle Rock (soon to be Idaho Falls), and declared it a public highway in April, 1889.<br />
<br />
Such fragmented control resulted in a patchwork of good to atrocious tracks that might or might not provide an actual transportation "system." The drive for greater state oversight began around 1891 in the heavily-traveled East, and slowly spread. The<i> Idaho Register </i>(Idaho Falls, June 7, 1912) noted that "Since that time about two-thirds of the states of the Union have adopted some form of state aid or state supervision."<br />
<br />
Idaho's new state Commission immediately began identifying routes for an integrated array of state highways. One priority was a modern highway to more or less parallel, and replace, the old Oregon Trail route across the state. Another would bridge the central Idaho wilderness to connect Boise to Grangeville and Lewiston.<br />
<br />
Construction of some parts of the new system began as soon as funds became available. In 1919, the state moved to consolidate its infrastructure development within a Department of Public Works. The Commission became the Bureau of Highways, reporting to that Department.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-3zK7yQIWO1jZ7LNHGMW4T72LohtH8mhEO8rfi3dT9xr7Jv3HSjxy4MMc8Xj0OGKtXiEF1FTj-9rP9C8G23rg_feWdaMY_RMORwXmew0esPV7tYQO786RuBmH1hHW82BdOE6juYl6tk/s320/1stTruck.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Idaho Highway Dept's “cook shack" and first truck, ca. 1920.<br />
Idaho Department of Transportation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Another reorganization followed in 1951, and then in 1974 highway-related activities became the responsibility of the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD). Eight years later, the state moved the vehicle licensing office from the Department of Law Enforcement to the ITD, where it became the Division of Motor Vehicles.<br />
<br />
The ITD's role is to extend the trend started in 1919: to integrate road, rail, water, and air transport to best serve the needs of people and businesses.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [Brit], [French], [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Mary Jane Fritzen,<i> Eagle Rock, City of Destiny,</i> Bonneville County Historical Society, Idaho Falls, Idaho (1991). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“Idaho’s Motor Vehicle History,” <a href="http://itd.idaho.gov/">Idaho Department of Transportation</a> (2006).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Charles S. Walgamott,<i> Six Decades Back,</i> The Caxton Press, Caldwell, Idaho (1936).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-14599754752847852024-03-12T01:03:00.000-06:002024-03-12T01:03:00.128-06:00State Authorizes Precursor to Idaho State Historical Society [otd 03/12]On March 12, 1907, Idaho's government authorized the "Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers" to become a state-supported entity called the "Historical Society of the State of Idaho." The enabling act included a $3,500 appropriation for expenses, and provision of space in the capitol building. The "Pioneers" organization had been created in 1881 to preserve memories of how the Territory was formed. That organization was largely dormant for many years, except for a revival in 1896 under Governor William J. McConnell [blog, September 18.] <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRVLUhGinCFe7LSBm3B7I_V1VMRh7_RyQ-fvjIAT6_aho1EiEMoVNUAbOd-JNW-2fvLojtHomrpf0evAjVdhr-LNQMla5DBAOeiVNVXu10Np7CbQL4UVwma63pknlHrUC5i2rWQh_qpI/s1600-h/JohnHailey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRVLUhGinCFe7LSBm3B7I_V1VMRh7_RyQ-fvjIAT6_aho1EiEMoVNUAbOd-JNW-2fvLojtHomrpf0evAjVdhr-LNQMla5DBAOeiVNVXu10Np7CbQL4UVwma63pknlHrUC5i2rWQh_qpI/s200/JohnHailey.jpg" width="170" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hon. John Hailey.<br />
Hailey, <i>History of Idaho</i> photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A couple months after the authorization, administrators appointed John Hailey to be the head librarian, a position he held for the rest of his life. Hailey had been among the first pioneers in 1862, built a considerable stagecoach enterprise, served in the Territorial Council, and acted as delegate to the U.S. Congress [blog, Aug 29].<br />
<br />
The creation Act also directed the governor to appoint a Board of Trustees for the Society. Governor Frank Gooding appointed the first, which included: James A. Pinney (progressive former mayor of Boise, blog Sept 29), Dr. Henry L. Talkington (history professor at the Lewiston State Normal School), and Mrs. Leona (Hailey) Cartee. The only daughter of John Hailey, Leona had pushed for formation of the Society, and would later help foster the Boise Public Library.<br />
<br />
Three years after the appointment, Hailey published a <i>History of Idaho </i>in part, he wrote, to correct "the many misstatements published about Idaho in early days, and particularly concerning the character and conduct of the good people of those days."<br />
<br />
The <i>Idaho Statesman</i> quoted (January 8, 1917) from Hailey’s fifth biennial report: Hailey noted that their historical exhibit had had to move three times and “now occupy five rooms in the old capitol building.” He also said, “We now have these five rooms pretty well filled up and will soon need more room.”<br />
<br />
When Hailey died in 1921, Ella Cartee Reed – Leona Cartee's sister-in-law – carried on as Secretary and Librarian. At the time of that transition, former Idaho Governor James H. Hawley [blog, Jan 17] was President of the Board of Trustees.<br />
<br />
In his letter of transmittal for the required 1923-1924 biennial report, Hawley argued that the Librarian and her Assistant "should be given a salary commensurate with the importance of their positions and the character of their duties." Hawley held the Board presidency until his death in 1929. To the end, he continued to ask, in vain, for an improvement in those salaries.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3dMS834QmInt3rwSKKKiYBruFpI_4gm5JIRFuy2xZvsO6Q4t_Sf_LT1OZzDpqAMLHXA4hylu_bWyiBXEWtplffwQ-ZFyJsHrR1SnoNteqL42iwnboa5TBsU84iUZzWITt8kkxbIS4mQ/s1600-h/Id_HistoryCtr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3dMS834QmInt3rwSKKKiYBruFpI_4gm5JIRFuy2xZvsO6Q4t_Sf_LT1OZzDpqAMLHXA4hylu_bWyiBXEWtplffwQ-ZFyJsHrR1SnoNteqL42iwnboa5TBsU84iUZzWITt8kkxbIS4mQ/s320/Id_HistoryCtr.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Idaho History Center.<br />
Wikipedia photo contributed by Amy Vecchione.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Reed retired in 1931. From then until 1947, perhaps because the position was an underpaid "labor of love," the position changed each time a new Governor took office. In 1939, the title became "state historian."<br />
<br />
Also in 1939, the legislature authorized new quarters for the Society's collections, but construction did not start until 1941 … and was then suspended due to World War II. Operations limped along with limited staff until about 1947, when the Society became the custodian of the Idaho State Archives. In 1949-1950, new construction initiatives finally gave the Society desperately needed new space.<br />
<br />
After about 1956, the Society began to offer paid memberships to the general public. Up until then, the organization had been funded entirely by legislative appropriation. Today, the ISHS operates programs at eight different locations in Boise and four historical sites around the state. Visitors will find exhibits and the Society's Public Archives and Research Library at the Idaho History Center, in Boise.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Reference: [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"Directors and Secretaries of the Idaho State Historical Society History," <i>Reference Series No. 882</i>, Idaho State Historical Society (1989). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>John Hailey,<i> History of Idaho, </i>Syms-York Company, Boise, Idaho (1910). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"Idaho State Historical Society History,"<i> Reference Series No. 848,</i> Idaho State Historical Society (1986).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>James H. Hawley,<i> Eighth Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Idaho</i>, Boise (1922). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-51905926302552325452024-03-11T01:04:00.000-06:002024-03-11T01:04:00.128-06:00Act Signed to Create Academy of Idaho, Today’s Idaho State University [otd 03/11]On March 11, 1901, Governor Frank W. Hunt signed an Act to establish an educational institution in Pocatello. Incorporated in 1889, the town had grown explosively and topped 4,000 citizens in the 1900 census.<br />
<br />
The authorization for a school, to be called the “Academy of Idaho,” came with a catch, however. The townspeople had to supply land for the institution. The subsequent dispute almost killed the Academy before it started. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifdGqg8QzGDBkz-hAMjF_YUg7xe_isLRm6JEM3MVsDfBIrXOEGRKn0xmPohmh-J9k9VuzY2BPjIqinVTjPA3Mheyn3zQgsdn_ajPq-1AUsYjlHEyNNBVdiy5pkzc9CjhHxMUJiQFwxJJE/s1600/Acad_Admin.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifdGqg8QzGDBkz-hAMjF_YUg7xe_isLRm6JEM3MVsDfBIrXOEGRKn0xmPohmh-J9k9VuzY2BPjIqinVTjPA3Mheyn3zQgsdn_ajPq-1AUsYjlHEyNNBVdiy5pkzc9CjhHxMUJiQFwxJJE/s320/Acad_Admin.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Administration Building, Academy of Idaho, ca. 1912.<br />
H. T. French image.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Heated arguments arose as various factions pushed locations all around the valley. Finally, with the legislature's deadline approaching, they settled on what is now the lower part of the ISU campus. Construction soon began, and the school greeted its first classes in the fall of 1902 [blog, September 22].<br />
<br />
The legislature tried to make sure the new school did not compete with the University of Idaho for students. In fact, they hoped the curriculum in Pocatello would encourage some to go on the Moscow. They specified that the curriculum should include “all the branches commonly taught in academies and such various courses as are usually taught in business colleges.”<br />
<br />
Legislators also considered vocational training appropriate, making the new school more or less equivalent to our notion of a two-year community college. John W. Faris, the experienced educator who became the Academy’s first Principal, had more ambitious plans. Still, he did quickly initiate a preparatory curriculum, knowing that many prospective students had limited (or no) access to high school classes.<br />
<br />
A few years later, he began what we now call a “continuing education” program, with a particular emphasis on summer classes for pre-college teachers. The <i>Idaho Statesman</i> reported (May 9, 1913) that the sessions were very popular, and reminded prospective attendees that, “ Special attention will be given to those courses of study required for the certification of teachers.”<br />
<br />
Encouraged by the response, school officials soon began to harbor aspirations to attain full four-year status. That battle would rage for over thirty-five years. The only immediate result was a slight expansion and a name change - to "Idaho Technical Institute" (ITI) - in 1915. And the legislature made the Institute’s subordinate role crystal clear: The curriculum “shall include two years and not more than two years of college grade and such work below college grade as the conditions of the educational system of the state render desirable.”<br />
<br />
As the school expanded, pressure from local boosters continued, but backfired again. In 1927, the legislature made ITI a subordinate division of the University of Idaho. For the next twenty years, the Pocatello school would be the "Southern Branch of the University of Idaho" (UI-SB).<br />
<br />
Although it was touch and go at times, the school survived the Great Depression and World War II. The vast influx of G.I. Bill students after the war caused many strains, but helped the UI-SB finally attain its goal. In 1947, the school became Idaho State College, an independent, four-year institution. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXY7BKhcJY6rBc8d4l2Je3PQxkAZwjSrb-S39ZBABXgLEb4s7fi_g5XNaQZNng7R4o73zNv3XDdqp7-s36rpNLWU6gp3bHwyiSAWFKp8EdD1Jtwm6L2qr8rSfTrdnpOQR2ykc6IrkwE4/s1600/ISU_Campus.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXY7BKhcJY6rBc8d4l2Je3PQxkAZwjSrb-S39ZBABXgLEb4s7fi_g5XNaQZNng7R4o73zNv3XDdqp7-s36rpNLWU6gp3bHwyiSAWFKp8EdD1Jtwm6L2qr8rSfTrdnpOQR2ykc6IrkwE4/s320/ISU_Campus.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main campus, Idaho State University.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After sixteen years of curriculum and enrollment expansion, they were given university status in 1963.<br />
<br />
In August 1986, the school dedicated its Research and Business Park, meant to act as an incubator for new ventures and to provide space for public and private research laboratories.<br />
<br />
Today, the university has an enrollment of over 15 thousand students, with three branch locations, and millions of dollars in research and teaching grants.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French], Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Diane Olson,<i> Idaho State University: A Centennial Chronicle,</i> Idaho State University (2000). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-76146168065503132622024-03-10T01:02:00.000-07:002024-03-10T01:02:00.232-07:00Colonel Judson Spofford: Civil War Veteran, and Idaho Developer [otd 03/10]Civil War veteran and Idaho developer Judson Spofford was born March 10, 1846 in Derby, Vermont, two or three miles from the Canadian border. The family had a proud military heritage. A great-great-grandfather was a colonel in the Revolutionary War and that man’s son served in the Quartermaster Corp. Another forebear served in the War of 1812. Judson enlisted in the 10th Vermont Regiment in July 1862. The regiment saw minor action initially, and just missed participation at Gettysburg in 1863.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTkou97npj8eEnhLI04JLEpZtt7V8G-38BNDfaDt8Zr364U-59NAv8PRQGqN9T3sn6GUgYSg6RMzxm8LE3VgSRXpmHewztP145sdAxXPpXvik03XtkyHIKUMNs5rhO_1Fdhyphenhyphen3WgZr1GU/s1600-h/Petersburg_Inf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTkou97npj8eEnhLI04JLEpZtt7V8G-38BNDfaDt8Zr364U-59NAv8PRQGqN9T3sn6GUgYSg6RMzxm8LE3VgSRXpmHewztP145sdAxXPpXvik03XtkyHIKUMNs5rhO_1Fdhyphenhyphen3WgZr1GU/s320/Petersburg_Inf.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union infantry in Fredericksburg trenches, 1863.<br />
Library of Congress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Later, the 10th Vermont fought in many celebrated battles of the Army of the Potomac: The Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg. In July 1864, they also took part in the relatively little-known Battle of Monocacy Junction, 30-40 miles northwest of Washington, D. C. That clash, while technically a Union defeat, kept Confederate troops from hitting the capital before reinforcements could arrive to drive them off.<br />
<br />
On March 25, 1865, Private Spofford himself was almost killed by a Minie ball during the Union counter-attack at Fort Stedman, in the Petersburg fortifications. The severity of his wound kept him in hospital when the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered two week later.<br />
<br />
After the war, Spofford spent three years in Vermont and then moved to West Virginia. There, he worked for a railroad company for a number of years. He was also active in party politics and, in 1880, President James Garfield appointed him Postmaster in Huntington. He acquired the "Colonel" honorific while in West Virginia – and certainly he had seen more action and suffered more than most "titular" colonels. Then the lung damage from his wound finally forced him to seek the more healthful climate of Idaho.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEScFqOnJJxwuNqDY4uHbY7y8g6WBE6Ze8t5zF0FnL_rlYBgueVzUlXTmFhFlMJ__XhDZsDw7JGy05x9F5IPSEFpW3KMawQb-s6ThaQqAg5T55HTRMI1U5hmpU1DCAYw552ASxc6DRFNE/s1600-h/Spofford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEScFqOnJJxwuNqDY4uHbY7y8g6WBE6Ze8t5zF0FnL_rlYBgueVzUlXTmFhFlMJ__XhDZsDw7JGy05x9F5IPSEFpW3KMawQb-s6ThaQqAg5T55HTRMI1U5hmpU1DCAYw552ASxc6DRFNE/s200/Spofford.jpg" width="151" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Col. Judson Spofford.<br />
J. H. Hawley photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Spofford arrived in 1884 and immediately purchased a Boise Valley farm. He then acquired and expanded a herd of purebred dairy cattle. From that, he produced a noted line of high grade butter. <br />
<br />
Farming led him into various irrigation canal projects, including improvements to what eventually became today's Riverside Canal. That enterprise sparked Spofford's interest in hydroelectric power, including a plant on the Payette River. <br />
<br />
In addition to these projects and various real estate developments, Spofford promoted construction of Boise's Broadway Bridge. This fueled considered expansion of residential areas in "South Boise" – on the southwest side of the Boise River. The colonel also helped initiate a street car line, including a branch that served South Boise.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74gM1g_1cE9i5-45K8jBIiriTkiZZ-2Jk2U1Drv09JZj2dICGjCur1JwduiJQABd4eKSi6nosFlpFi8GepkzvIk0WwPG9bAqsaWWaMS521bb39uMPWqV-MKHZKXS0ye0HZlBkJLoRCyc/s1600-h/StreetcarBrdway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74gM1g_1cE9i5-45K8jBIiriTkiZZ-2Jk2U1Drv09JZj2dICGjCur1JwduiJQABd4eKSi6nosFlpFi8GepkzvIk0WwPG9bAqsaWWaMS521bb39uMPWqV-MKHZKXS0ye0HZlBkJLoRCyc/s320/StreetcarBrdway.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">South Boise streetcar on the Broadway Bridge.<br />
City of Boise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Not content with all that, Spofford sought opportunities around the state. He invested in valuable mining properties, but competitors thwarted his attempt to build an electric railway to connect Lewiston and Grangeville. In his 1920 <i>History of Idaho</i>, Hawley wrote, "During the past third of a century there has perhaps been no one in Idaho who has been a more consistent supporter of the Gem State than he."<br />
<br />
Spofford remained vigorous and active well into his eighties. At one point, he even traveled back east to the Monocacy battlefield to consult with a historian writing an account of the battle. He returned in 1936 to take part in a parade of Grand Army of the Republic veterans in Washington, D. C. He was then the last known Union Army survivor of the Battle of Monocacy Junction. The colonel passed away about a year later at the veterans’ hospital in Boise. Spofford was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Marc Leepson,<i> Desperate Engagement, </i>Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, New York (2007). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td><i>Original South Boise Neighborhood Plan, City of Boise (2003). </i></td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"Pioneer-Dixie Ditch Company,"<i> Reference Series No. 509,</i> Idaho State Historical Society (1996). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Glenn H. Worthington, <i>Fighting for Time</i>, Press of Day Printing Company, Baltimore, Maryland (1932). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-20071010223907845102024-03-09T01:10:00.000-07:002024-03-09T01:10:00.135-07:00Rigby and Fremont County Physician Ray Fisher [otd 03/09]Prominent Fremont County physician Ray Homer Fisher, M. D., was born March 9, 1883 in Oxford, Idaho. At the time, Oxford was an important commercial and shipping center. One of Ray’s older brothers was George Howard Fisher, first Commissioner of the Idaho Industrial Accident Board [blog, December 5]. Their father was William F. “Billy” Fisher, a famous rider for the Pony Express. When the Express disbanded in late 1861, Billy settled in northern Utah, where George was born. He moved to Oxford five years before Ray was born.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsp5s5FKe2ndWNimsnXoVLN-IeKjHH2VAP42A2gRbA6fb4gJ4V5AXKKt4Z4kQSYc-mC-38e0bN4m99CJvH34BwvgHqjz-zF2VTEJ_X_2vzwkyMbqP6sKqGQG88aYX1AFMK2o3fxDWExto/s1600/Fisher%252C+RH.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsp5s5FKe2ndWNimsnXoVLN-IeKjHH2VAP42A2gRbA6fb4gJ4V5AXKKt4Z4kQSYc-mC-38e0bN4m99CJvH34BwvgHqjz-zF2VTEJ_X_2vzwkyMbqP6sKqGQG88aYX1AFMK2o3fxDWExto/s200/Fisher%252C+RH.jpg" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Fisher. Family Archives.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Ray attended public schools in Oxford until he was sixteen year old. He then entered the prep school at the Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University). His college major was chemistry, but he was also active in debate and public speaking. Fisher graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1904. After a year as a school principal in Fremont County and a brief stint as chemist for a sugar company, Ray landed a job at the University of Colorado. While he taught chemistry and toxicology, he also pursued a medical degree, gaining his M. D. in 1909. <br />
<br />
Fisher performed fill-in work in northern Utah and eastern Idaho before establishing a practice in Rigby. Almost immediately, he was appointed Health Officer for Fremont County, spending two years in that position. A few years later, after Jefferson County was split off from Fremont County, he served two years as Health Officer for the new county. From 1915 to 1919, Fisher was a member of the Idaho Board of Medical Examiners. Along with that he was Medical Examiner for the Jefferson County enlistment office during World War I. All that and his regular practice was apparently not quite enough, however: Fisher also held a position as Divisional Assistant Surgeon for the Oregon Short Line railroad for ten years.<br />
<br />
Professionally, Fisher held memberships in the American Medical Association, the Idaho State Medical Association and several regional medical societies. At one meeting of the state Association, he spoke on “Differential Diagnosis of Appendicitis and Typhoid.” Between 1916 and 1920, the doctor took three “sabbaticals” to pursue further education as an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist. <br />
<br />
Besides his practice and medical studies, Fisher invested in several local businesses, including a bank and a pharmacy. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. While he never held high office in the church, he served in several capacities, with a particular interest in education. Fisher also played an active role in Democratic Party politics, although he never ran for office himself. For a time, he chaired the Democratic Central Committee for Jefferson County.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw2y-Ta8y9VXuEW50BJ423Mn72ZuxLTNZPQaPXVn3eRSbZ3Uyg-MOLLiauo_9ykzAuM08qEf6TM3hB4gfCWWHbRzmM-yJ905XImObz_EPWZWYOafMLaMKboMSFNbOUCnr19gG23JxviU/s1600/Rigby_1919.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="600" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBw2y-Ta8y9VXuEW50BJ423Mn72ZuxLTNZPQaPXVn3eRSbZ3Uyg-MOLLiauo_9ykzAuM08qEf6TM3hB4gfCWWHbRzmM-yJ905XImObz_EPWZWYOafMLaMKboMSFNbOUCnr19gG23JxviU/s320/Rigby_1919.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rigby, ca 1919. [Hawley]</td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<br />
Early on, Fisher had developed an interest in history. Thus, he often presented historical talks to various social groups. Later, he took a special interest in the story of the Pony Express, building on a memoir produced by his father. As it happened, William Fisher was in Rigby when he died in late 1919, then the body was returned to Oxford for burial. Ray’s mother lived in Rigby until her death three year after her husband.<br />
<br />
Fisher remained in Rigby until 1927, when he moved his family to Oakland, California. (His oldest brother had moved there earlier, apparently during World War I.) He maintained his practice there until about two years before his death in April 1952.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French], [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Ray H. Fisher, “The Dry Creek Massacre,”<i> The Pony Express </i>magazine, Placerville, California (January 1950). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“[Ray H. Fisher News],”<i> Idaho Falls Times, Idaho Statesman, Ogden Standard-Examiner </i>(July 1914 – February 1922).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-23980486210092142862024-03-08T01:07:00.000-07:002024-03-08T01:07:00.139-07:00Indian Leader, Teacher, and Idaho Senator Joseph Garry [otd 03/08]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lzqTXW00_WdJ5WtjbTOAaCWoMTeCEVDs_FNXXVY6GmJsQ1ETOBxxt6HheQuEA-APN4X9IEgWamPlODDu02hgCzNadxsG65kmYc-vAPalkJSdtjpynXYb9fnIhLTEveeeFoKe3DD4nS8/s1600-h/GarryIndian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lzqTXW00_WdJ5WtjbTOAaCWoMTeCEVDs_FNXXVY6GmJsQ1ETOBxxt6HheQuEA-APN4X9IEgWamPlODDu02hgCzNadxsG65kmYc-vAPalkJSdtjpynXYb9fnIhLTEveeeFoKe3DD4nS8/s200/GarryIndian.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Garry in<br />
traditional Indian regalia.<br />
Beal and Wells photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Prominent American Indian leader Joseph Richard Garry was born March 8, 1910 near Plummer, Idaho. (Plummer is about 25 miles south of Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.) Of largely Kalispel and Coeur d’Alene Indian blood, Garry traced Flathead Indian heritage through his mother. For a variety of reasons, he was generally identified with the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. <br />
<br />
He was also a great-grandson of Chief Spokane, for whom that city was named, and sometimes appeared there in interpretative demonstrations of Indian ways and dress.<br />
<br />
After a common school education, Joe graduated from the preparatory school at Gonzaga. Over the years, he pieced together money enough for several years of college education, but was never able to complete a degree. In the early Thirties, he apparently survived by hunting, fishing, and working at various farms and ranches. Then, for four years after 1936, he held an administrative position with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.<br />
<br />
Garry enlisted in the U. S. Army in 1942 and served in Europe for three years. (Some accounts suggest he was a Marine, but enlistment and service records do not bear this out.) Recalled for the Korean War, he served there a year and emerged as a sergeant.<br />
<br />
Before and after his stint in Korea, Garry taught school in Plummer and twice served on the School Board there. In 1956, voters in Benawah County elected Joseph to the Idaho House of Representatives, the first Native American to be elected to that body. With that service as a base, Garry made a run for the U. S. Senate in 1960, but was defeated in the Democratic Party primary. Six years later, he was elected to the Idaho state Senate, becoming the first Native American to join that august group.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BDA1Kf__OPaT0Dgoq-va0P_6C1EnnOsSwWn9qciAKDoPk1CkMgOIwNEw2rM6roGoK0ceDQ3tUwJBhf6eR9_dfA-XxhvfLIXJq4bYR7lIjmQrqCndnFQiLtHJkZ871nyLA7sBtHRPCdo/s1600-h/GarryBiz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BDA1Kf__OPaT0Dgoq-va0P_6C1EnnOsSwWn9qciAKDoPk1CkMgOIwNEw2rM6roGoK0ceDQ3tUwJBhf6eR9_dfA-XxhvfLIXJq4bYR7lIjmQrqCndnFQiLtHJkZ871nyLA7sBtHRPCdo/s200/GarryBiz.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Garry,<br />
legislator and spokesman.<br />
Beal & Wells photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
However, Garry made his most important mark as a spokesman for his tribe and for the general Indian community. He began taking an active role in 1948, during a crucial period when the U. S. government sought, in the name of ending “paternalism,” to do away with the various tribal governments. <br />
<br />
One of several who spoke for his people, Garry insisted that those organizations should be retained: Through those leaders, Indians controlled their own destinies, and the lands which were both their heritage and the only source of economic hope for the future.<br />
<br />
Garry served 25 years on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribal Council (thirteen as its chairman), and also six years as President of the National Congress of American Indians. In 1957, while he served in the Idaho House, Garry was honored nationally as the “Outstanding Indian” for that year. The<i> Spokeman-Review</i> (Spokane, July 23, 1957) noted that Joseph was “the first Northwest Indian to be chosen for the honor.”<br />
<br />
Through these avenues and an extensive speaking schedule, Garry and others successfully protected the integrity of tribal lands and helped improve economic conditions on the reservations. But times changed, and other voices arose to lead the Tribes; Garry was no longer their spokesperson when he died at the end of 1975 after a long illness.<br />
<br />
Still, a statement from the National Congress upon his death noted that Garry "was responsible for the Indians holding on to their land base, and he invented tribal government, as we know it."<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [B&W] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>John Fahey,<i> Saving the Reservation: Joe Garry and the Battle to be Indian, </i>University of Washington Press, Seattle (October 2001). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Frederick E. Hoxie (Ed.), <i>Encyclopedia of North American Indians,</i> Houghton Muffin, NY (1996).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-54703571177721823722024-03-07T01:02:00.000-07:002024-03-07T01:02:00.125-07:00Legislature Authorizes Albion State Normal School [otd 03/07]On March 7, 1893 the Idaho legislature passed a law to create Albion State Normal School, as they had authorized the Lewiston State Normal School earlier in the year [blog, Jan 6]. The Act required that land be donated as a site for the school (the offer had already been tendered) but did not appropriate any funds for construction. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJWRO-0ZcyfgMzpegyoffx4w8Xyx76W1wMSNhPdILNm1Q_MIe3n9oVoRyb_A_vv472eS_ge-ZI_B8SesI014ZTErnSAoXaU8UXiyigUtdxuGlD9RkxUToJWHb-peA4eQxzNVWnvSJBTU/s1600/AlbionN-1910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJWRO-0ZcyfgMzpegyoffx4w8Xyx76W1wMSNhPdILNm1Q_MIe3n9oVoRyb_A_vv472eS_ge-ZI_B8SesI014ZTErnSAoXaU8UXiyigUtdxuGlD9RkxUToJWHb-peA4eQxzNVWnvSJBTU/s320/AlbionN-1910.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Administration building, ca 1910. H. T. French photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Nonetheless, the school began classes in September 1894, using a structure built by volunteers. The 1895 legislature authorized issuance of construction bonds and a new administration building was completed the following year.<br />
<br />
School enrollment grew steadily and, in 1901, the legislature provided funding for construction of a men’s dormitory. Officials called it Miller Hall, after Josiah Miller, who had donated the original plot of land. They added a women’s dormitory four years later. Over the next ten to fifteen years, Albion Normal acquired additional land and built more facilities.<br />
<br />
When the school first opened, officials had to face the reality that Idaho’s rudimentary school system produced few students qualified for a standard curriculum. Thus, the institution not only had to provide a considerable array of high school classes, they even had to dip down to the seventh and eighth grade for some candidates.<br />
<br />
That remained true even as late as 1914. Still, Hiram T. French wrote, “As fast as it is practical all studies properly belonging to the common school system are being eliminated, it being the aim finally to require a high school diploma for entrance.”<br />
<br />
Cost cutters made a number of attempts to eliminate the institution or move it into Burley. In an odd turn, one attempt failed because of foresighted (but flawed) planning in its passage. The bill, originated by the state Senate, included (<i>Idaho Statesman,</i> June 2, 1922) a tax levy, “to provide funds for starting the new buildings at Burley.” The Idaho Supreme Court overturned the Act on a technicality: revenue bills must be originated in the House of Representatives.<br />
<br />
In any case, the need for teachers was so great that the school thrived in the 1920s. Although enrollment fell early in the Great Depression, it recovered to peak in 1939.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2WAivmw_n_DhbtC0_cktu6ZyG43CoSso7PtLMDWU7iYVg-9OONibyCqGWlH83ezLRzncBrWsSDXE6AuaUN_u2BLuNGY3D5w7ftoDtYRRnPO9yiTDPWG58wxCBsqmWrFF3ea4dXL9llXw/s1600-h/AlbionN-1922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2WAivmw_n_DhbtC0_cktu6ZyG43CoSso7PtLMDWU7iYVg-9OONibyCqGWlH83ezLRzncBrWsSDXE6AuaUN_u2BLuNGY3D5w7ftoDtYRRnPO9yiTDPWG58wxCBsqmWrFF3ea4dXL9llXw/s320/AlbionN-1922.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albion State Normal School, 1922. Albion Valley Historical Society.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
By then, however, the Albion and Lewiston schools were out of step with the times. Most states had abandoned the two-year Normal School track in favor of a four-year teachers’ college approach. Idaho had two of just five Normal schools remaining in the entire country. <br />
<br />
In 1943, Idaho reluctantly granted the Normals four-year status, the last state to make the move. Both schools began “acting the part,” and the legislature went along in 1947. Albion Normal became the Southern Idaho College of Education (SICE, with NICE in Lewiston).<br />
<br />
After a dip during World War II, the postwar influx of G.I. Bill students provided several years of surging enrollment for the newly-name SICE. However, the old arguments against having so many four-year schools soon arose again. With three other four-year schools turning out teachers, the state could dispense with one.<br />
<br />
In May 1951, SICE – once Albion State Normal School – held its final commencement exercise. The school had made an indispensable contribution to Idaho education, but it was doomed by its relatively isolated location.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French], [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"Albion State Normal School: Historical Sketch,"<i> Idaho State University Manuscript Collection </i>(online). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Keith C. Petersen,<i> Educating in the American West: One Hundred Years at Lewis-Clark State College</i>, 1893-1993, Confluence Press, Lewiston, Idaho (© Lewis-Clark State College, 1993). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-57557696259576053622024-03-06T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-06T01:00:00.131-07:00Canal Company Executive, County Commissioner, and Farmer Arthur Goody [otd 03/06]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGDtzBdyMJnRKbdu1kYeijQl3R2l-Z7bqw_LYbGBRDzwZuh0GIrCG3UYRlPyntVFTuAyhxC0Ia9Cd3obfA8LzPVam5KKLWaZm4NWUPspSU_GgSR-pkSszePu1K9LyFrFVb6NcfT9zQv8/s1600/Arthur_Goody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGDtzBdyMJnRKbdu1kYeijQl3R2l-Z7bqw_LYbGBRDzwZuh0GIrCG3UYRlPyntVFTuAyhxC0Ia9Cd3obfA8LzPVam5KKLWaZm4NWUPspSU_GgSR-pkSszePu1K9LyFrFVb6NcfT9zQv8/s200/Arthur_Goody.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Commissioner Goody.<br />
J. H. Hawley photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Prominent farmer and Jefferson County Commissioner Arthur James Goody was born March 6, 1871 in Cache County, Utah, 10-15 miles northwest of Logan.<br />
<br />
His father, Arthur Joseph, had come to the United States from England in 1863, when he was in his early teens. The parents – Mormon converts – followed a year later and settled on land north of the Great Salt Lake. By 1870, Arthur Joseph had married and moved to the area where Arthur James was born.<br />
<br />
In 1883, the family took up a homestead a mile or so east of Lewisville, Idaho. Lewisville, located 12-14 miles north of Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls), was one of several towns founded after the Utah & Northern Railroad laid tracks through Eastern Idaho in 1879. Arthur James worked on the family farm until he was twenty-two years old. (Although not “technically” correct, newspaper accounts of the time commonly referred to Arthur Joseph as “Sr.” and the son as “Jr.”)<br />
<br />
Then, in 1893, Arthur Jr. married and built a home in Lewisville. He also bought some unimproved farm land a mile south of town. With improvements to that tract, and purchase of additional acreage, Arthur soon developed a highly successful mixed-crop farm operation of his own.<br />
<br />
Arthur participated heavily in local civic affairs, including eight years as a Jefferson County Commissioner. He also served sixteen years as a school trustee. Arthur spent four years on the Lewisville town board and, after the village incorporated in 1904, served a term as mayor.<br />
<br />
Arthur took an active interest in various irrigation projects. That included working with his father on some of the precursors to the Great Feeder Canal, which went into operation in 1895 [blog, June 22]. Later, he served on the Board of Directors of the Little Feeder Canal Company (<i>Idaho Register,</i> May 23, 1902). Four years after that, he represented Lewisville at a national Irrigation Congress held in Boise (<i>Idaho Statesman</i>, July 22, 1906).<br />
<br />
In the spring of 1909, Arthur Sr. moved to Idaho Falls. (His wife had died three years earlier.) Not long after, Arthur Jr. bought his father’s ranch property and thereafter ran both operations. Under the title “Crops Fine at Lewisville,” the <i>Idaho Falls Times</i> reported (November 7, 1911) a remarkably productive year for his farms. On his original property, Arthur raised wheat, oats, alfalfa, sugar beets, apples, and raspberries. On the other, he raised more hay, grain, and sugar beets, as well as potatoes, plumes, prunes, and currants.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwZWOyQWIs84as91l5tY4C3ZmCiAmNZnRTuaSIcaBfNI58bGqpyYWHZ9EpIW3akqaBtnEuXD3Do8_G5BJ1MFuL6N_n_D1ppBZDfsclq-H3-7XFZ_-WhZh_vMi8B33WdEtu6cHvLOsksI/s1600/GFeederHdGate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwZWOyQWIs84as91l5tY4C3ZmCiAmNZnRTuaSIcaBfNI58bGqpyYWHZ9EpIW3akqaBtnEuXD3Do8_G5BJ1MFuL6N_n_D1ppBZDfsclq-H3-7XFZ_-WhZh_vMi8B33WdEtu6cHvLOsksI/s320/GFeederHdGate.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headgates, Great Feeder Canal.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Early in the Twentieth Century, farmers had begun to form cooperatives under various titles like “Farmers’ Society of Equity.” They hoped to present a united front in dealing with banks, shippers, and farm product buyers. The<i> Idaho Falls Times</i> reported (January 21, 1913) an organizational meeting in Lewisville, at which Arthur was selected as President of the local chapter. He was associated with the group when it became the Intermountain Farmers Equity.<br />
<br />
Besides his farm interests, Arthur held stock in a regional mercantile company. By 1920, he was President of the Great Feeder Canal Company, a position he held for many years. He passed away in September 1943. In 1990, the original Goody homestead qualified as an Idaho Century Farm, being still owned by a descendant of Arthur Joseph Goody.<br />
<u> </u><br />
References: [Hawley]<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Louis J. Clements, <i>Centennial Farm Families</i>, Upper Snake River Valley Historical Society, Rexburg, Idaho (March 1991). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Mary Jane Fritzen,<i> Eagle Rock, City of Destiny,</i> Bonneville County Historical Society, Idaho Falls, Idaho (1991). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>John L. Powell (Ed.), “Great Feeder Canal Company,”<i> Records Collection,
MSS 31,</i> Arthur Porter Special Collections, BYU-Idaho (January 23, 2002). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-48736251095804160212024-03-05T01:09:00.000-07:002024-03-05T01:09:00.122-07:00Gold Rush Fuels Murray Building Boom [otd 03/05]The<i> Lewiston Teller </i>for March 5, 1885 published a glowing report from a correspondent in the new town of Murray, Idaho. The observer first noted that people in the entire mining district exuded confidence. At a settlement 3-4 miles west of Murrayville (Murray's original name), the reporter "counted eleven buildings under construction."<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0v5Wcz-L7I0oiDyufEvEQrB_Tx4SDxtyelowgm6tzjyFQLWDn6aB1tJWV95NoR7L2rLjQjLWLCyRe3HUN65hKzhc7TK6rhJurGyskarmeF9mJwGKA8nLtGIezo7milAxnEIdmbseufmw/s1600/EaglePlacer.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0v5Wcz-L7I0oiDyufEvEQrB_Tx4SDxtyelowgm6tzjyFQLWDn6aB1tJWV95NoR7L2rLjQjLWLCyRe3HUN65hKzhc7TK6rhJurGyskarmeF9mJwGKA8nLtGIezo7milAxnEIdmbseufmw/s400/EaglePlacer.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Placer mining, Murray area, 1884. Note miners in foreground.<br />
University of Idaho Archives. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Miners were running large placer rigs on streams throughout the area. While the strikes were not spectacular, they provided solid returns and fueled hopes for more. <br />
<br />
The <i>Teller</i> correspondent wrote, "Murray is fast building up and assuming the air of a mining metropolis, and property here has a value outside of what is justified by present appearances."<br />
<br />
Around 1880, Andrew J. Pritchard and two other prospectors had worked their way up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. They found color on what came to be called Prichard Creek, deep in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, 5-6 miles from the Montana border. (It’s not clear when the “t” was dropped, but current maps show the stream with that spelling.)<br />
<br />
Pritchard tried to restrict the news to a few favored partners while he continued to look for better prospects. He made a major find in 1882 [blog, Apr 25], but – as usual – the news leaked out. By 1883 thousands of miners had rushed into the region, especially along Prichard Creek. All the early claims had been staked and filed, so late-comers pushed further up every likely looking stream.<br />
<br />
Murray got its start in January 1884 and grew rapidly. At the same time, the population of Pierce City, the original county seat for Shoshone County, had dwindled to perhaps a few dozen souls. A notion to split the county was quickly squelched, but just before Christmas the Territorial government decided to locate a new county seat. The Act called for an election the following summer.<br />
<br />
According to one pioneer, perhaps 2,500 people spent that winter in Murray and the nearby mining camps. Other reports suggest that 4 to 5 thousand were scattered throughout the Coeur d'Alenes.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJl8SIgpz0NhjFzg0r7MnMxYFuGsc8-5W9gkmjsO39hrDmfsNjTJng3gWv51f2jbbw76dh9HIz7TWHy3q0Gsjlr7sS_vEw1Rx36yHpmBvbFeS0lNO2Ha-HikjemXRsohO7Rin_8YGA0A/s1600-h/Murray1888.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJl8SIgpz0NhjFzg0r7MnMxYFuGsc8-5W9gkmjsO39hrDmfsNjTJng3gWv51f2jbbw76dh9HIz7TWHy3q0Gsjlr7sS_vEw1Rx36yHpmBvbFeS0lNO2Ha-HikjemXRsohO7Rin_8YGA0A/s320/Murray1888.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Murray, Idaho, ca 1888.<br />
The Sprag Pole Inn and Museum, Murray.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The <i>Teller</i> correspondent of March 5th went on, "Real estate changes hands daily and business prospects are bright. Two shingle mills are the latest improvements and parties are daily in search of business locations. There are twelve stores where goods of all kinds can be procured, three drug stores, several restaurants and a hotel."<br />
<br />
The reports seems to have been accurate. At the election on June 1, 1885, Murray easily won the county seat, garnering 1,075 votes to 457 for Delta. The<i> Illustrated History</i> said, “Add to these two votes cast for Beaver (the former name of Delta), two for Eagle and one for Littlefieid, and we have a total vote in the county of 1,537.”<br />
<br />
However, even then the seeds of change had been planted: To the south, prospectors had discovered rich lead-silver veins, and these turned out to represent the true wealth of the Coeur d'Alenes. "Placer Center," soon to become "Wallace," was founded a few months after Murrayville. It was destined to overshadow all the earlier camps and towns.<br />
<br />
While Murray bloomed and then began a slow decline, Wallace and the other silver towns prospered. Thus, in 1898, another election moved the county seat from Murray to Wallace, where it still is.<br />
<u> </u><br />
References: [French], [Illust-North] <br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"Counties and County Seats,"<i> Reference Series No. 10,</i> Idaho State Historical Society (July 1991). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-65223017492179982162024-03-04T01:05:00.000-07:002024-03-04T01:05:00.127-07:00President Lincoln Signs Law to Create Idaho Territory [otd 03/04]On March 4, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill that created Idaho Territory, splitting it off from Washington Territory. The signing culminated a period of intense political wrangling that first heated up in late 1858, after the Yakima Indian War. When Oregon became a state in February 1859, Washington Territory was left basically as a catch-all for the area north of Utah and west of (vaguely) the Rockies. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDA8qIl-m8VWAWpwFxj21cmH-aIzDYShHusvPMynQuket9ZGgUWMCxU0wIgvdLjGIgKHOlb86ekC53b4AK-gUEFs6j_a9Ifk_5uI3s3lKAGgAjd9SmrdYCq2O_eQ-qIyL-aewEtc88ja0/s1600/Pan_Gold-72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDA8qIl-m8VWAWpwFxj21cmH-aIzDYShHusvPMynQuket9ZGgUWMCxU0wIgvdLjGIgKHOlb86ekC53b4AK-gUEFs6j_a9Ifk_5uI3s3lKAGgAjd9SmrdYCq2O_eQ-qIyL-aewEtc88ja0/s1600/Pan_Gold-72.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gold pan with nuggets amidst black sand.<br />
National Park Service.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The bickering and horse-trading greatly intensified after Captain Elias Pierce’s party discovered gold along the Clearwater River in the fall of 1860 [blog, Oct 2]. Ignoring the boundary of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, prospectors poured into the region. <br />
<br />
Washington Territorial officials quickly created Shoshone County to provide an administrative structure for the Idaho mining districts. The county encompassed the region between near-future Lewiston and the Continental Divide, and south from the Canadian border to some amorphous boundary down towards Utah Territory. <br />
<br />
As more prospectors arrived and spread south, the legislature split Shoshone County along the Clearwater River. The area to the south became Nez Perce County, with Lewiston as the seat. And still the eager gold seekers pressed on, making more gold discoveries in the Boise Basin (a high mountainous plain northeast of Boise City, which did not yet exist).<br />
<br />
By the end of 1862, the population centers for Washington Territory had shifted dramatically … from the Puget Sound area to the gold fields of (future) Idaho and Montana. And the imbalance grew worse with every day that passed. Alarmed, political leaders in Olympia knew they had to shed all those voters that could challenge their control of the Territorial legislature.<br />
<br />
“Not so fast” politicos in Walla Walla and Lewiston said: Let’s keep the Territory intact, but move the capital to our more central location. Even Vancouver had a dark horse in the running. Located on the preferred wagon road between coastal Washington and the interior, they had hopes of winning the capital as a compromise candidate.<br />
<br />
After much maneuvering, the contest became a face-off between Olympia and Lewiston. A complete description of their respective agendas is beyond the scope of this article, but the Olympians got what they wanted. The split placed the border just west of Lewiston. That retained the maximum area for the future growth of Washington's population and economy, but dumped all those prospector votes. It was well they did. At the first census, completed in September of 1863, Idaho Territory had nearly three times the population of Washington Territory.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GbYR46X3pzbQ73_M16f8ZBc9AqZUhwSR8uifGSm61W_-bct1OkFm7iVFUEyOaI6j-ksC_k3fTtLdOt0QGolGOxjScR3deL5jz4h0V_oi6A4UM3uOGGtNzaPxbj_sAXYScHEIGt2BkvY/s1600-h/IdahoTerr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GbYR46X3pzbQ73_M16f8ZBc9AqZUhwSR8uifGSm61W_-bct1OkFm7iVFUEyOaI6j-ksC_k3fTtLdOt0QGolGOxjScR3deL5jz4h0V_oi6A4UM3uOGGtNzaPxbj_sAXYScHEIGt2BkvY/s320/IdahoTerr.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Combination of three U. S. General Land Office maps,<br />
Territorial period.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Lewiston, of course, also won by being designated capital of the new Idaho Territory. Their triumph would be short-lived, however.<br />
<br />
As then defined, the Territory was a "geographic monstrosity" - encompassing all the future states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. That gave it an area substantially larger than Texas ... actually, more than Texas and Illinois combined. Nearly 700 direct miles separated Fort Laramie, on the North Platte River, from the capital at Lewiston. That’s roughly equivalent to the distance from Philadelphia to Chicago, but there were no connecting roads to speak of.<br />
<br />
Idaho's structure soon changed drastically: Less than 15 months after its founding, Congress reduced it to its present size plus a chunk of Wyoming west of the Continental Divide. Eight months after that, Territorial legislators moved the capital from Lewiston to Boise.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Reference: [B&W], [Illust-State] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"The Creation of the Territory of Idaho,"<i> Reference Series No. 264,</i> Idaho State Historical Society (March 1969).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-61422327088461457152024-03-03T01:05:00.000-07:002024-03-03T01:05:00.125-07:00Civil War Veteran, and Soda Springs Developer George W. Gorton. [otd 03/03]Cavalry veteran and far-sighted businessman George Washington Gorton was born March 3, 1846 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He traced his lineage back to Samuel Gorton, one of the original (albeit controversial) founders of Rhode Island. His great-grandfather, Thomas Gorton, was a captain in the Rhode Island regiment that fought in the Revolutionary War battles of White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgl461Jb0D-yxvsv1PuZAFbscyO33xH-X7VSWoad88G9vSlh_F4XvZZJqxi1oHOGJuD3DiLlHYTU-ZH2waaGfjYfdQHPxTlGENl7LMBEUWLbRw4cubBYXqh9fGkUkV4bN4klvgPEL1PL0/s1600/GW_Gorton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="600" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgl461Jb0D-yxvsv1PuZAFbscyO33xH-X7VSWoad88G9vSlh_F4XvZZJqxi1oHOGJuD3DiLlHYTU-ZH2waaGfjYfdQHPxTlGENl7LMBEUWLbRw4cubBYXqh9fGkUkV4bN4klvgPEL1PL0/s200/GW_Gorton.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George W. Gorton [Illust-State]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
George’s parents moved from Rhode Island to Scranton a year or two before he was born. In the summer of 1863, Gorton, aged seventeen, joined the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment. During George’s early Civil War service, the regiment mainly scouted and raided near the coast to the east and south of Richmond, Virginia. <br />
<br />
But then they joined the breakthrough at Petersburg in 1865. The regiment played a significant role in the cavalry pursuit that, on April 9, put troops on the Lynchburg Road west of General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. A regimental history said, “The Eleventh had the honor of opening the attack in the final battle.”<br />
<br />
Confederate attacks soon drove the lightly-armed cavalrymen back. However, their delaying action allowed heavy formations of Union infantry to arrive, cutting off the only escape route. Lee’s formal surrender followed a few hours later.<br />
<br />
After the war, Gorton drifted west and, in 1870, he was living in Malad City, Idaho. He had a job with the company that operated the famous Oneida Salt Works, which reputedly produced “The purest in the world!” He married in 1877 and moved to Soda Springs and, by 1880, was a supervisor at the salt works.<br />
<br />
Gorton had taken an early interest in local politics. Thus during the 1880s, he served on the regional Grand Jury, and at various times as County Commissioner, Treasurer and Assessor. Also, in 1888, he was elected for one term in the Territorial House of Representatives. Late the following year, he was appointed a Deputy U. S. Marshal.<br />
<br />
When he left his position with the salt company is not clear, but in 1889 he purchased the inventory and property of a defunct Soda Springs mercantile firm. The business prospered under his management and Gorton was able to broaden his real estate investments. Sadly, in late 1890, a diphtheria epidemic hit the family and four of the couple’s daughters died in a period of two weeks.<br />
<br />
George continued his interest in local politics and again served as County Commissioner around 1893-1894.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MSCd7NVEbsLX2iHoFwgMOAUehN0iLtI1_i_MNx_7UYFtc7frufYoq0_9t3-6PJ1_6xHUZtmFeiSEEDLCYQl3jrIDMCmeqrGvUgjVHPJb1ZpNDH8cznhvDf2_5_yeP7Y6qzZf1KcckLA/s1600/ShearingSheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MSCd7NVEbsLX2iHoFwgMOAUehN0iLtI1_i_MNx_7UYFtc7frufYoq0_9t3-6PJ1_6xHUZtmFeiSEEDLCYQl3jrIDMCmeqrGvUgjVHPJb1ZpNDH8cznhvDf2_5_yeP7Y6qzZf1KcckLA/s320/ShearingSheep.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Multi-Station Shearing Machine. Library of Congress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Besides Gorton’s Wholesale and Retail Supply Store, and real estate,
George also invested in the sheep industry. In the spring of 1896, he
and a partner purchased a “sheep shearing machine,” and had it set up on
a ranch north of Soda Springs. The system they bought contained
twenty-five shearing stations, where the shearers used mechanical
cutters powered by a central steam engine.<br />
<br />
Before that, there had been a great deal of interest in the technology, which had been in use for many years in Australia. Various prototypes had been demonstrated around the United States, without much success. Gorton’s acquisition was certainly the first purchase of a commercial unit (made in England) in Idaho, and quite likely in this country. <br />
<br />
Sadly, Gorton’s health began to deteriorate the following summer. His doctor suggested a “rest cure,” first in Boise and then in San Diego, California. While this “bought some time,” George passed away in San Diego in January 1899. His body was returned to Soda Springs for burial.<br />
<u> </u>
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [Illust-State]<br />
Samuel P. Bates, <i>History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers,</i> Vol. III, Pennsylvania State Printer, Harrisburg (1870).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Samuel Greene Arnold, <i>History of the State of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations,</i> Applewood Books, Carlisle, Massachusetts (1859).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“[News Items for George W. Gorton],” <i>Blackfoot Register</i>, Blackfoot;
<i>Idaho Statesman</i>, Boise, Idaho; <i>Salt Lake Herald</i>, Utah (July 1868 –
January 1899).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td><i>Progressive Men of Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Fremont and Oneida Counties, Idaho</i>, A. W. Bowen & Co., Chicago (1904).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-30353263221957524482024-03-02T01:03:00.000-07:002024-03-02T01:03:00.126-07:00Hatch Act of 1887 Authorizes Agricultural Experiment Stations [otd 03/02]On March 2, 1887, the U. S. Congress approved the Hatch Act of 1887, named for William Henry Hatch, U.S. Representative from Missouri and chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture. The Act authorized grants to support agricultural experiment stations in the states. In most cases, such stations would be set up and administered by the "land grant" colleges spurred by the Morrill Act of 1862.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMO8QtllFT2poxhxgrIy3P1wqLQjwM4qvLgRMQTgIH61gEv1CryqeafWwUvI_K-ZvMrccz1N1uqNS5plSiR2JUVSqDlKvdID7ItASBm0HDy5VMF6nDhGFkNti-0ePtD7ui7eYHfX_AIJ0/s400/AgriPlots.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Agricultural experiment plots. Library of Congress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In Idaho, leaders established an on-campus experiment station at the University of Idaho (UI) even before classes began – although several years passed before they had land for experimental plots. Professors in the new Agricultural Department offered to answer questions from farmers and ranchers across the state. People could even send in samples of insect pests from their fields, and University experts would try to recommend ways to combat the infestations.<br />
<br />
However, an early attempt to form "substations" – and thereby qualify for more Hatch grants – failed miserably in the 1890s. Apparently, the University simply didn’t know enough about how to staff the stations with experts suited to local needs. <br />
<br />
In 1898, they replaced that effort with a program of traveling institutes, which proved extremely useful, and popular. In little more than a decade, the team of experts and their demonstration paraphernalia required a train of six rail cars to transport them around the state.<br />
<br />
The program benefited the presenters as well as the attendees: Traveling faculty observed first-hand those areas and agricultural products that needed more help than they could provide.<br />
<br />
After awhile, the university made the extension service a separate adminstrative unit. Before this, the UI President not only ran the University, he was head of the College of Agriculture, which also operated the experiment station. The President recommended (<i>Idaho Statesman,</i> December 28, 1902) that, “the two departments should be divorced and the presidency of the university and agricultural college should not be coupled with the responsibility for the work of the agricultural station.”<br />
<br />
With that change, and what they learned from the institute program, the University reactivated the substation system in 1906. The first of the new stations, near Caldwell, soon settled into long-term studies of irrigation techniques and tests of crop varieties suitable to Idaho’s climate and soil.<br />
<br />
Administrators remained flexible, however; in 1914 H. T. French described a station near Gooding that no longer existed when Hawley published his <i>History</i> in 1920.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfx31nbKby9aKbH1e_4eTcmlXRu7hH37ce41TB3KuTsnXv2YMCqRWYmqA7hfB4uo9KLUAyH9ThmvX6jQzOEe-IZ7mHQ-YPFYM1F-JJlsIkX7ltTarLHZYT8xf-_0ygbICYoqv4HUMyQGI/s320/Potato1932.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Potato cellar, Aberdeen Experiment Station, 1932. UI archives.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Guided by experience and changing conditions, administrators developed a policy whereby each station was designed to address specific regional farm and ranch issues. Thus, the Sandpoint Station, established in 1912, focused on crops that would grow well in the cooler, wetter climate of North Idaho. That same year, the Aberdeen Station began testing potatoes, grains, forage crops, and other plants suitable for irrigated or dry farming in that area.<br />
<br />
The Stations also tied into truly international efforts. Hawley noted that “United States Consuls and special agents” of the U. S. Department of Agriculture had been instructed to search the world for plant varieties suited to Idaho’s high altitude and arid climate. He wrote that, “Farming is being reduced to a science and crop failures will soon become a thing of the past.”<br />
<br />
Today, the University of Idaho maintains twelve research and extension centers spotted across the state, along with the main campus Center. Their work encompasses all areas related to farming and ranching: water use, soil conservation, animal and plant breeding, pest and disease control, animal care, and even food safety and innovation.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French], [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Keith C. Petersen, <i>The Crested Hill: An Illustrated History of the University of Idaho,</i> University of Idaho Press, Moscow (1987). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>University of Idaho <a href="http://www.uidaho.edu/cals/iaes.aspx">Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station</a> Home.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-78953557485971301422024-03-01T01:06:00.000-07:002024-03-01T01:06:00.128-07:00President Ulysses S. Grant Creates Yellowstone National Park [otd 03/01]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeBmv39O2gPBS4lcvCs-5N4B4-l_MLbdkeHPG5abNrTxRsnGn2fWZ1G5HeJh5djwglZ2dclSQjaWbnFBs1A2zfpoI5cv5GTe1JjLnNiIlv3yt_Y54SlZLseVCQc8v6e-hB_8zhvkGCgs/s1600-h/FireHole1871.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeBmv39O2gPBS4lcvCs-5N4B4-l_MLbdkeHPG5abNrTxRsnGn2fWZ1G5HeJh5djwglZ2dclSQjaWbnFBs1A2zfpoI5cv5GTe1JjLnNiIlv3yt_Y54SlZLseVCQc8v6e-hB_8zhvkGCgs/s200/FireHole1871.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geyser cone, Fire Hole Basin, 1871.<br />
W. H. Jackson photo, Library of Congress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On March 1, 1872, President U. S. Grant signed the bill that authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park.<br />
<br />
As far back as 1825, American fur trappers had become familiar with the geothermal wonders of this area. It has been established, however, that "Colter's Hell" – a geothermal area first reported by Mountain Man John Colter – was east of the future Park.<br />
<br />
In August of 1836, Mountain Man Osborne Russell [blog, Dec 20] trapped many streams feeding into Yellowstone Lake and the river. His <i>Journal</i> records a graphic impression of the geothermal features: “We fell into a broken tract of country which seemed to be all on fire at some distance below the surface.”<br />
<br />
To cross one stretch, they followed an elk trail, where “Our horses sounded like travelling on a plank platform covering an imense [<i>sic</i>] cavity in the earth whilst the hot water and steam were spouting and hissing around us in all directions.” <br />
<br />
One horse’s hind hoof broke through and released a jet of steam, but they otherwise crossed safely. Russell said, “The whole place was covered with a crust of Limestone of a dazzling whiteness formed by the overflowing of the boiling water.”<br />
<br />
In 1871, Dr. Ferdinand Hayden made an extensive survey of the region. He urged William H. Clagett, Delegate to Congress from Montana Territory, to find a way to preserve the area’s wonders for future generations. Clagett, later President of Idaho’s Constitutional Convention, introduced legislation to establish Yellowstone National Park – generally considered the first national park in the world.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6Dyii119ijSs59oyku3ieD8Nan-BpURb9v1rqtnWzPcRq86yIIC5OT3jkAHX-XgSepjXZ7WiOrnf5K_zA1ujNXxWedfRW4Se6SzKib98xAq0f3vbVwWbs-t3Pl0x9Ak-Wf5R1ioXsyg/s1600-h/YellowstoneStage.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6Dyii119ijSs59oyku3ieD8Nan-BpURb9v1rqtnWzPcRq86yIIC5OT3jkAHX-XgSepjXZ7WiOrnf5K_zA1ujNXxWedfRW4Se6SzKib98xAq0f3vbVwWbs-t3Pl0x9Ak-Wf5R1ioXsyg/s320/YellowstoneStage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stagecoach and hot springs in Yellowstone.<br />
Photo credited at PBS.org to Milwaukee Public Museum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Creation of the Park had an immediate impact in eastern Idaho. Within a year, a wagon road led into the western portions of the designated park area. Soon, excursion parties began shuttling into the Park, entering from Idaho or from central Montana to the north <br />
<br />
After 1880, railroad companies began major advertising campaigns to lure tourists to the Park. Easterners could take the Northern Pacific into Montana, or ride a Union Pacific branch line to Eagle Rock (today's Idaho Falls) or the Market Lake station a few miles further north. From there, they would stage into what became the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. Excursion coaches then took them through the Park.<br />
<br />
West Point graduate Hiram M. Chittenden (he retired as a Brigadier General) made a significant, but perhaps less-known contribution to the Park. The Army Corps of Engineers assigned him to duty there in 1891-1892 and again in 1899-1905. During those times, he oversaw construction of the road layout that is largely still in use today. His crews also laid deep beds of crushed stone to replace the old rutted dirt tracks. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLLNObN_O57SPFTgSZ7KBBZiAGvRwq6HNGz52S4XmfJ272dx-6eZUVZTTYRkJcgkE28-kjVGZE-qC2GWCiNU_77gsV3E1_OqK7yJH_BWcHrM14VVKx_vcldBgMa3jS07PJivtS7W0VJg/s1600-h/UP-Yellowstone.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLLNObN_O57SPFTgSZ7KBBZiAGvRwq6HNGz52S4XmfJ272dx-6eZUVZTTYRkJcgkE28-kjVGZE-qC2GWCiNU_77gsV3E1_OqK7yJH_BWcHrM14VVKx_vcldBgMa3jS07PJivtS7W0VJg/s200/UP-Yellowstone.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UP Yellowstone Route tourist decal, ca. 1930.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Early in the Twentieth Century, the railroad extended its tracks first to Ashton, Idaho and then, in 1909, all the way to West Yellowstone. The Union Pacific, parent company for the branch line, advertised its Park excursions all over the country. The Trenton, New Jersey, <i>Evening Times</i> carried (May 25, 1910) a typical blurb: “A vacation outing you will never forget. Yellowstone National Park is the wonder region of America. … direct to Yellowstone Station, at the very edge of the park … ”<br />
<br />
As automobiles grew in popularity, rail traffic declined and the lines were eventually discontinued.<br />
<br />
Today, a substantial portion of tourists traveling the Interstates through Idaho, and stopping at its motels, list Yellowstone National Park as their destination.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3" summary="Ref"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [B&W], [Brit], [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Rae Ellen Moore,<i> Just West of Yellowstone,</i> Great Blue Graphics, Laclede, Idaho (© 1987, Rae Ellen Moore). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Osborne Russell, Aubrey L. Haines (Ed.),<i> Journal of a Trapper, </i>University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln (1965). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td><i>West Yellowstone History</i>, West Yellowstone Tourism Business Improvement District (2010). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-15581742954379877932024-02-29T01:11:00.000-07:002024-02-29T01:11:00.146-07:00Idaho Territory Fends Off One Last Partition Attempt [otd 02/29]On February 29, 1888, Congressional Delegate Fred T. Dubois sent the following telegram to Milton Kelly: “House committee on territories to-day reported unanimously against any division of Idaho. This ends the fight.”<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWxJ3BOFs2rgNM1RUEF-4-ortIzTy0sBV-4rBoADNZ96tOkIbwekg6PRitkfCVKR8WYBiEiVLOdUAK3V0u8uDtyUiRx3SWVuY7b-qoAYIAL1bZmHXdgELUVCyRcUREatqWAwsvSUOkw4/s1600/Milt_Kelly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWxJ3BOFs2rgNM1RUEF-4-ortIzTy0sBV-4rBoADNZ96tOkIbwekg6PRitkfCVKR8WYBiEiVLOdUAK3V0u8uDtyUiRx3SWVuY7b-qoAYIAL1bZmHXdgELUVCyRcUREatqWAwsvSUOkw4/s200/Milt_Kelly.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judge Kelly. Illust-State photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Milton Kelly was the operator-editor of the <i>Idaho Statesman</i>, published in Boise. He was born near Syracuse, New York, in 1818. He became a lawyer in 1845 and practiced for many years in Wisconsin. Kelly moved to Placerville, Idaho in 1863. He then represented Boise County in the first Idaho Territorial legislature. <br />
<br />
In April 1865, President Lincoln appointed him an Associate Justice for the Territorial Supreme Court. Six years later, he moved to Boise City and bought the <i>Statesman</i>.<br />
<br />
Kelly actually showed remarkable restraint when he inserted the telegram text in the next day’s issue. His brief editorial about it did advise the partition supporters to “help build up Idaho instead of trying to tear it to pieces.”<br />
<br />
As noted in several of my blog articles, many residents of North Idaho did not want to be part of Idaho Territory. That became especially true in Lewiston after the south “stole” the capital away to Boise City in 1864. The northerners hoped to become part of Washington, or perhaps a totally new territory.<br />
<br />
The partition notion also had another root. The Republican-dominated U. S. Congress made Nevada a state in October 1864, even though its population fell well below the preferred minimum for statehood. (As a state, the region offered a Representative and two Senators who were “safely” Republican.)<br />
<br />
To “bulk itself up,” in 1866 and 1868 the new state added major chunks of Utah and Arizona territories. Anti-Mormonism bolstered the Utah acquisition. And clearly the mining camps in the wedge that became southern Nevada benefited from being part of a state rather than a weak Arizona Territory.<br />
<br />
Emboldened, starting around 1869 Nevada officials tried to carve a chunk out of southern Idaho. Thus, in January of 1870, Nevada Senator William Stewart introduce a bill to add all of Idaho south of the Snake River to his state. News moved slowly in those days. (Boise had to wait five years before it had a telegraph link to the outside.) Even so, nine days after the bill was introduced, protesters held a mass meeting in Idaho City to denounce it.<br /><br />
The bill hung around the halls of Congress for some time, but apparently died in committee, finally. Attempts to give the Panhandle to Washington, in 1874 and 1882, also failed. Backers of these ploys were simply no match for the political savvy of the Idaho leaders and their allies in Congress. Although the partitionists seemed to be close to their goal at times, the Territory remained intact.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xNB3fdcIrvMyjWNePChfOUWCnVE9gZxyrFpb_yVbpP16HSlON0bzk94TvZS-ukmZd4tVEXqYsaW5xxNo3HGks5KG_AUyNls5_C3hlcBR0Ers4hyphenhyphenzcgqz7DbPr2Zh_XzgHKFbgOplOQY/s1600/Fred_Dubois.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xNB3fdcIrvMyjWNePChfOUWCnVE9gZxyrFpb_yVbpP16HSlON0bzk94TvZS-ukmZd4tVEXqYsaW5xxNo3HGks5KG_AUyNls5_C3hlcBR0Ers4hyphenhyphenzcgqz7DbPr2Zh_XzgHKFbgOplOQY/s200/Fred_Dubois.jpg" width="171" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delegate Fred Dubois.<br />
Library of Congress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The Nevada annexation scheme surfaced yet again in 1886. By that time, miners had exhausted the best silver lodes in Nevada, and the state’s population was plummeting. (It lost almost a quarter of its people between 1880 and 1890). Adding the growing population of southern Idaho could offset the decline.<br />
<br />
Led by Idaho’s shrewd and politically astute Delegate, Fred T. Dubois [blog, May 29], the Territory and its allies fought back in Washington, D. C. Internally, they made concessions to North Idaho – guaranteeing a university there [blog, Oct 3], and so on. This eroded northern support for partition. Shortly after Dubois sent his triumphant telegram, Idaho began to prepare for statehood.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [B&W], [Illust-State]</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“Constitutional Convention and Ratification,”<i> Reference Series No. 476</i>, Idaho State Historical Society.</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“Good News from Washington,”<i> Idaho Statesman,</i> Boise (March 1, 1888).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-28663757940287414582024-02-28T01:05:00.000-07:002024-02-28T08:52:26.421-07:00John R. McBride, U. S. Representative and Chief Justice for Idaho Territory [otd 02/28]<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlvxVkyB46FNMRpNeLvpRJayHJ-YV9BPzg6xhnpz8G_AlKXy-BTpxJ_kDbceXR2o20YGtW9zlvY_eqwe1AdkrKjRqHWgoT4q6Yyph9IFRNkIH_iIpWs-VsYPhrRhep1WBLJaud4y5GXEY/s200/JR_McBride.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="155" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judge McBride.<br />
Photo from findagrave.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On February 28, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln – just 45 days before he was shot by John Wilkes Booth – appointed John Rogers McBride as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Idaho Territory. The appointment typified the patronage system of the times, but the result turned out to be a happy exception to the norm.<br />
<br />
Although Territorial governance followed the same structure as the Federal system, voters in the Territory had no say over the executive and judicial branches: The President appointed the Governor and a panel of three judges. One of the three was designated as the Chief Justice.<br />
<br />
In those early days, appointees to positions in Idaho were almost never residents of the Territory. They usually came from the more settled Midwest, or the East. For many, the transition to the “Wild West” came as a major cultural shock, and quite a few fled after getting one good look. To make matters worst, the salaries were miserably poor.<br />
<br />
James H. Hawley, who was elected as state Governor in 1910, lived through that era [blog, Jan 17]. In his <i>History</i>, he observed that the system supplied judges that were "lawyers of only mediocre ability or political henchmen, who received their appointments as a reward for services to the party, rather than for their legal ability."<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Zpz-Qy3pEDm5TsEDLoZClczf5gn97FO-Yze8_OI2H0s2_z82aloPb_wtlHaX6qy0858Qrue3yjPhV7iCzhj6obYVuJbhCGegIjpbMSrYNSHARKjzlgS3MDszXG04GymQ_XxKtxxqwjw/s1600/Emigrant1847.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Zpz-Qy3pEDm5TsEDLoZClczf5gn97FO-Yze8_OI2H0s2_z82aloPb_wtlHaX6qy0858Qrue3yjPhV7iCzhj6obYVuJbhCGegIjpbMSrYNSHARKjzlgS3MDszXG04GymQ_XxKtxxqwjw/s320/Emigrant1847.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emigrant train, ca 1846. Library of Congress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This could have been similar. A loyal Republican, McBride got the appointment after being defeated in a bid for re-election to Congress. However, unlike many who came later, he knew the West. His family had emigrated to Oregon in 1846, when John was thirteen years old. He studied law while also serving as a school superintendent in Yamhill County, and was admitted to the Oregon bar in 1857.<br />
<br />
In 1860, Oregon voters elected him to the state Senate. Two years later, he won election to the U. S. House of Representatives, where he was awarded some worthwhile committee assignments. However, his 1864 re-election bid failed, whereupon he received the Idaho Judgeship. <br />
<br />
Commenting on this appointment, Hawley wrote: "an able jurist and an honest man, Judge McBride most favorably impressed himself upon the litigation of the territory and ... was beloved by the bar of the state and highly esteemed by all of its people."<br />
<br />McBride soon got down to business, traveling all over the Territory. The<i> Idaho Statesman</i> reported (August 10, 1865) one example: “Judge McBride, after a full hearing and a very thorough investigation, issued a peremptory mandate ordering Slocum to pay over to Dr. Smith, the Territorial Treasurer, about $14,000 … ” In this case, Slocum, the Treasurer for Boise County, had found some pretext to withhold “a large amount of funds” from the Territorial treasury. McBride made him pay up. <br />
<br />
McBride was the only one of the first four Chief Justices appointed to the Territory who served most of the usual term – the others lasted an average of under 11 months. McBride resigned in July 1868 to establish a private law practice in Boise. He was soon called back into public service to supervise the construction of the U. S. Assay Office in Boise City [blog, May 30]. He then served as Superintendent while the Office was being readied for business.<br />
<br />
In 1872, McBride moved to Salt Lake City and established the firm of Sutherland & McBride. After eight years in Utah, he relocated his law practice to Spokane. He passed away there in July 1904.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French], [Hawley] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Jonathan Edwards,<i> An Illustrated History of Spokane County, State of Washington, </i>W. H. Lever, San Francisco (1900).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"McBride, John Rogers,"<i> Biographical Directory of the U S. Congress</i>, online. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-81029281575145278332024-02-27T01:07:00.000-07:002024-02-27T01:07:00.121-07:00Pocatello Brewer and Soft Drinks Bottler Robert Hayes [otd 02/27]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8sAp9TZizSiC4grw7Xq-adpQ5LDxWIxaonqmUo-dgxYNSc9apiT2L2EQ-VBKTMuAALCP29ABIyAxzPXLpcMzbXm3naGqGEAHf4qydFJtaVf1YKC-e-_1Bi5YSyS2bk0YRC6a7nID5sM/s1600-h/RJ_Hayes.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8sAp9TZizSiC4grw7Xq-adpQ5LDxWIxaonqmUo-dgxYNSc9apiT2L2EQ-VBKTMuAALCP29ABIyAxzPXLpcMzbXm3naGqGEAHf4qydFJtaVf1YKC-e-_1Bi5YSyS2bk0YRC6a7nID5sM/s200/RJ_Hayes.jpg" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Hayes.<br />
J. H. Hawley photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Pocatello businessman Robert J. Hayes was born February 27, 1861 in Oswego, New York. The family moved to Chicago about six years later. Hayes struck out on his own at age sixteen, making his way west by “night herding” – tending draft animals – for a freight outfit. He then landed a job with the Union Pacific Railroad, first in Cheyenne, Wyoming, then in Rawlins. <br />
<br />
After three years of that, Hayes returned to night herding, working for a freight line that operated between Helena, Montana, and Fort Benton. For a time, he held a contract to furnish the Northern Pacific with wood. Then, for about six months, he operated a pack train out of Bozeman.<br />
<br />
Unable to find steady work, he took odd packing jobs in California and Arizona. Meanwhile, the Utah & Northern Railroad, a UP subsidiary, built a narrow gauge railroad across Eastern Idaho into Montana. To support that operation, the company built yards and a set of shops in Eagle Rock (later Idaho Falls). In 1884, Hayes hired on at the shops.<br />
<br />
However, after two years, he moved to Blackfoot to take a position as Deputy Sheriff. During his two-year tenure in Blackfoot, the railroad relocated its shops from Eagle Rock to Pocatello. That change fueled even more explosive growth in that junction town.<br />
<br />
Sensing opportunity, Hayes also moved to Pocatello. There, he partnered with Nathan G. Franklin and went into the business of bottling soda water. Such drinks were growing rapidly in popularity at that time. The firm of Franklin & Hayes got in on the ground floor; there plant was one of the first, if not <i>the</i> first built in southern Idaho.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsXD6qkzfosWgTGydJh43DGMDFCMD_tfru8tISqGaaTw1qVf3Xzz_bft56cN62qDlpXVstOa4kSzlFhUGfCt8XMLfTGTE89Bfnw8r43TTENqLMrWJ5cGw7c-3xPjpyVe4XEbQVK-8V2I/s1600-h/F&H_Brewery.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimsXD6qkzfosWgTGydJh43DGMDFCMD_tfru8tISqGaaTw1qVf3Xzz_bft56cN62qDlpXVstOa4kSzlFhUGfCt8XMLfTGTE89Bfnw8r43TTENqLMrWJ5cGw7c-3xPjpyVe4XEbQVK-8V2I/s320/F&H_Brewery.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Franklin & Hayes Brewery, Pocatello, 1907.<br />
Bannock County Historical Society.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
They soon developed a full line of soda waters and soft drinks. In time, they also built a brewery and added beer to their product line. The business was not without danger. The <i>Idaho Statesman</i> reported (October 9, 1900) that Franklin had been hit by a soda bottle explosion “and it is feared the sight of his right eye is destroyed.”<br />
<br />
The partnership flourished, shipping beverages to many points in Idaho as well as into Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. According to Hawley's<i> History of Idaho</i>, the company "grew to be one of the largest of the kind in the state, with one of the best equipped plants."<br />
<br />
Hayes was very active in Republican party politics, being Chairman of the Pocatello Central Committee for a time. He also served on the Bannock County Board of Commissioners and chaired that body for awhile. Despite his prominence within the party, Hayes never ran for any higher political office.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzq2WRbOnvsuK9O1-Y6L8FDtHD34MpHcUBOLkwGVPTQNT-2OqG5KlYF_r4awl5rvXlXnyMh6DWZ09iQHzp2AAfvsZx3M7ZB4Rpl-Pe1OiO4G6Fe4udceTMkE8U8MBRYUX_pqWzA-PbSJM/s1600-h/F&H_Logo.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzq2WRbOnvsuK9O1-Y6L8FDtHD34MpHcUBOLkwGVPTQNT-2OqG5KlYF_r4awl5rvXlXnyMh6DWZ09iQHzp2AAfvsZx3M7ZB4Rpl-Pe1OiO4G6Fe4udceTMkE8U8MBRYUX_pqWzA-PbSJM/s320/F&H_Logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Franklin & Hayes letterhead. eBay memorabilia image.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Although he sometimes hunted and fished, Hayes generally favored less strenuous activities. He enjoyed music and the theater, and was, according Hiram T. French, “very fond of lectures and a good speech.”<br />
<br />
Hayes was perhaps plagued by poor health. Although he was only in his early fifties, he retired from active participation in the soda and beer business about 1914. Or, perhaps, he saw the coming of prohibition, which would ruin the most profitable part of their business. The partners had already been fined $500, each, for some violation of the local option liquor laws <i>(Idaho Statesman</i>, April 12, 1913).<br />
<br />
Hayes passed away in August 1918.<br />
<u> </u><br />
References: [French],<i> </i>[Hawley]Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-15880284297632217702024-02-26T01:05:00.000-07:002024-02-26T01:05:00.126-07:00Idaho Supreme Court Justice George Stewart [otd 02/26]Idaho Supreme Court Justice George Harlan Stewart was born February 26, 1858 in Connersville, Indiana, about fifty miles east of Indianapolis. He was something of an intellectual prodigy: George leaped through a “common” education to himself teach at country schools in his late teens.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJbIFWVuwFVNsFWg52SFFN3Iq13EcRxiFKsxHer3asw7-Lepu8fb8id81SZHEx3ZRYVimrXeJzpEt8BSep9BzM61OJ1zyyGf6oxDk7UlDfXqEhcaFlsnAbaBMcNgm3igscYDxfNETbw8k/s1600/ValpoLaw1879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJbIFWVuwFVNsFWg52SFFN3Iq13EcRxiFKsxHer3asw7-Lepu8fb8id81SZHEx3ZRYVimrXeJzpEt8BSep9BzM61OJ1zyyGf6oxDk7UlDfXqEhcaFlsnAbaBMcNgm3igscYDxfNETbw8k/s320/ValpoLaw1879.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Law School at Valparaiso, ca 1880. Valparaiso University Archives.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After several years, he entered Northern Indiana Normal school, in Valparaiso. (In 1900, the school became Valparaiso College, now University.)<br />
<br />
George completed their “scientific” course in 1879, at the age of twenty-one, and immediately entered the school’s law department. He graduated in 1881 and was soon admitted to the Indiana bar. <br />
<br />
In 1882, Stewart opened a law office in Fowler, Indiana, 15-20 miles northwest of Lafayette. After four or five years there, “on account of failing health,” he moved to a small town in southwest Nebraska. For the next several years, he made a name for himself. Not only did his practice flourish, but he was also elected as county Prosecuting Attorney.<br />
<br />
Stewart moved to Idaho in 1890, and immediately involved himself in Republican Party activities. He opened a practice in Boise City with a partner who had over a quarter century of experience with Idaho law. It’s perhaps no surprise that he was elected to the state Senate in 1893. Two years later, he ran for the office of Boise City Mayor, against developer Walter E. Pierce [blog, January 9]. Stewart lost the razor-thin election, 438-436.<br />
<br />
George soon partnered with another rising young attorney, William E. Borah. (Borah went on to become a six-time U. S. Senator from Idaho [blog, June 29].) In 1896, the sitting Judge of the Third Judicial District resigned and the governor appointed Stewart to replace him. <br />
<br />
When election time came two years later, Democrats and a major faction of Silver Republicans united to nominate a “fusion” candidate to fill the District Judge position. The Prohibitionist Party made no selection, while the Populist candidate withdrew in favor of the Fusion nominee. (One rather wonders what sort of “deal” they cut.) Thus, loyal Republican Stewart faced what appeared to be an insurmountable challenge. Yet, such was Stewart’s reputation, and political skill … he won handily.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucw0CvUb5iQHFAJQcxX9UFp-xUsChy0sW5_Abu3vCFMRVrMaaZWfFjMxbgVVEFtjoLAY8CN2PXJiuh6Q6gcqDL2s-OmmqbPnogiKjZ_ysnWtzU44lG_Yu_0ekK3XsvXO01GBZy5fFTG0/s1600/GH_Stewart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucw0CvUb5iQHFAJQcxX9UFp-xUsChy0sW5_Abu3vCFMRVrMaaZWfFjMxbgVVEFtjoLAY8CN2PXJiuh6Q6gcqDL2s-OmmqbPnogiKjZ_ysnWtzU44lG_Yu_0ekK3XsvXO01GBZy5fFTG0/s200/GH_Stewart.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judge Stewart. H. T. French photo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In 1899, Governor Steunenberg selected Stewart as judge for the trial of union miners involved in bombing the Bunker Hill & Sullivan ore mill. (The judge for the district that included Shoshone County declined to serve.) Despite the high emotions and drama of those trials, George emerged with his reputation as a jurist not just intact, but enhanced.<br />
<br />
Thus, running on his very successful district court record, Stewart was elected to the state Supreme Court in 1906. Historian Hiram T. French noted, "In due course he became chief justice during the last two years of his term."<br />
<br />
Despite some questions about his health, he was re-elected "by a good majority" in 1912. French wrote his <i>History</i> during the course of that term and said, "His present term bids well to copy fair his past."<br />
<br />
That was not to be, however. Stewart suffered a stroke in March of 1914 while he was presiding over the district court in Moscow. He recovered enough to return home but the consensus was that he might never be strong enough to resume his duties.<br />
<br />
In May, he entered a sanitarium in Portland, where it was hoped their program of fresh air, light exercise and constant nursing care would restore him to full health. Sadly, he suffered two more small attacks during the summer. He died from a final massive stroke on September 25, 1914.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [French], [Hawley], [Illust-State] </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>"Idaho Jurist Dies,"<i> The Oregonian</i>, Portland, Oregon (September 26, 1914). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>[Stewart newspaper items],<i> Idaho Statesman,</i> Boise (March 27, May 12, July 21, 1914). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-52802372626941031992024-02-25T01:10:00.000-07:002024-02-25T09:07:41.510-07:00Woolgrower and Boise Business Executive Thomas McMillan [otd 02/25]Sheep rancher and later Boise investor/manager Thomas McMillan was born February 25, 1865 in Scotland. As a young teenager, he worked in a Glasgow bank. His older brother John came to the United States in 1881, and their father brought the rest of the family over a year later.<br />
<br />
Thomas followed John west and herded sheep in Wyoming for a while. Then, around 1886, the brothers each settled down near Corder Station, located about twenty miles southeast of Boise. When John became postmaster at the station, he persuaded the Post Office to call the place Mayfield, after an ancestral home town in Scotland.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsO4N03-pfQYKX7puAa8sZ4xrh7s-AFX_tu8UZTR_qmqp6jooDUqUhmPncoAIKIOXN9AH3dTwoJZWFfOTlDD8tydjSk585rMbnpKQhtbqaNkejspzncFZ74c85pLPILNjiXHW0HpRRvAU/s1600/McMillan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="360" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsO4N03-pfQYKX7puAa8sZ4xrh7s-AFX_tu8UZTR_qmqp6jooDUqUhmPncoAIKIOXN9AH3dTwoJZWFfOTlDD8tydjSk585rMbnpKQhtbqaNkejspzncFZ74c85pLPILNjiXHW0HpRRvAU/s200/McMillan.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas McMillan [Hawley]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For the next thirty years, the McMillan Sheep Company was a major wool producer for Idaho. In 1893, John played a prominent role in the creation of the Idaho Wool Growers Association. Thomas was not among the Charter Members, but he soon joined the organization. Both brothers served terms as president of the Association.<br />
<br />
In 1897, Thomas married Roxie Corder, daughter of the pioneer operator of Corder Station. He then began to spend more and more time in Boise. With the sheep company prospering, the brothers were looking for other promising investments. One such project turned out to be a new luxury hotel to replace the famous, but antiquated Overland Hotel in the heart of downtown. The brothers teamed up with two other sheepman, one related by marriage. None of them knew anything about the hotel business, so a fifth investor was a man who had helped operate the Overland.<br />
<br />
Construction of what they called the Idanha Hotel took about ten months and on, January 1, 1901, the investors hosted a private opening for friends and family. Two days later, they let the general public in. (The Overland was torn down in 1904 and replaced with an office building.)<br />
<br />
As president of the Idanha Company, John moved permanently into Boise after the hotel opened. Thomas, however, split his time between Boise and Mayfield for about the next decade. Still, in 1906, he was among a group of investors who bought a majority interest in the Boise National Bank. He became an active Director of the bank.<br />
<br />
By the spring of 1910, Thomas had moved his entire household to a residence about two blocks north of the Idanha. Three or four years later, he began a long tenure as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Idanha Hotel Company. Then, in 1915, he added a Director’s position with the Boise Stone Company to his duties. A couple years later, he withdrew from any active role in the sheep business. By early 1920, he was managing the main quarry for the Stone company. It’s not clear how long that lasted, but he was still loosely associated with company almost two decades later.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb20-0tVeEltpbKak43EQvQkEtuQdMD2AMgD3YwylSVpJ6JTEjyQbdRg-jCDOkWCvAT-FJXIzM5SUPubtbzy5HgpslaTsjWTFZMsu_V7JJd0agj85p9oL0YOkvw3ffmNiVuMIMiApvxxg/s1600/IdanhaHotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb20-0tVeEltpbKak43EQvQkEtuQdMD2AMgD3YwylSVpJ6JTEjyQbdRg-jCDOkWCvAT-FJXIzM5SUPubtbzy5HgpslaTsjWTFZMsu_V7JJd0agj85p9oL0YOkvw3ffmNiVuMIMiApvxxg/s320/IdanhaHotel.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Idanha Hotel. Library of Congress.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Thomas was a Vice President for the Boise National Bank from 1923 through 1932. After that, he became more involved with the Idanha company and eased out of an active role with the bank. Thus, when brother John died in 1936, Thomas took his place as president. He and Roxie also moved into a suite at the hotel. Thomas would remain president until his death in September 1953.<br />
<br />
However, around 1940, when Thomas was in his mid-seventies, he brought his oldest daughter, Mrs. Roxie (McMillan) Johnson on board as Vice President and manager of the Idanha. Having assumed a major management role in the late Forties, she sold the hotel in 1962. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Idanha has since been converted to apartments and small shops.<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>References: [Hawley]</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td><i>City Directory: Boise</i>, R. L. Polk & Company, Detroit, Michigan (1900-1953).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Dick D’Easum, <i>The Idanha: Guests and Ghosts of an Historic Idaho Inn</i>, Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho (1984). </td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>“[McMillan News],”<i> Idaho Statesman, </i>Boise (September 26, 1893 – Nov 7, 1938).</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Sandra Ransel, Charles Durand,<i> Crossroads: A History of the Elmore
County Area, </i>Elmore County Historical Research Team, Mountain Home,
Idaho (1985). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8144412872099377367.post-43176468500726575872024-02-25T01:05:00.000-07:002024-02-25T01:05:00.127-07:00Six Miners Killed in Sudden Mining District Fire [otd 02/25]On Tuesday, February 25, 1902, about three o'clock in the morning, the residents of the connected Standard Boarding and Lodging houses slept quietly. Most of them worked for the Standard Mine, located on Canyon Creek, about five miles northeast of Wallace, Idaho.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQ9AA3kTC-hsGE0fBUb_ZDz5zdFzK38OR2mBysRudHMoyiFmFaUXABzjtIJKI0LuGQ_Uv2MmMUu5UZRGGIFfU_QMC9YtQ5MqqcbUmZM8nLaaVhaZuEoWJUAi9BAyGc411bQIUaDxl9Ws/s1600/Std_Mine.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQ9AA3kTC-hsGE0fBUb_ZDz5zdFzK38OR2mBysRudHMoyiFmFaUXABzjtIJKI0LuGQ_Uv2MmMUu5UZRGGIFfU_QMC9YtQ5MqqcbUmZM8nLaaVhaZuEoWJUAi9BAyGc411bQIUaDxl9Ws/s320/Std_Mine.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standard Mine, ca. 1910. University of Idaho archives.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<br />
Placer miners prospected Canyon Creek for gold in 1884. However, as happened for many Coeur d’Alene strata, they failed to note the valuable lead-silver lodes buried in these ridges. The following spring, Timothy McCarthy and three partners explored the area and located the Standard Mine. Born in County Cork, Ireland, McCarthy left home in 1874 for work in the mines of New Zealand and Australia. He came to this country in 1880 and, after three or four years in California, moved to northern Idaho. Within a month after finding the Standard, his skill allowed them to find another dozen claims in the area. There were collectively referred to as the Standard Group.<br />
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The claims proved so promising that the owners built an ore mill the following year. They located their mill closer to Wallace, near the mouth of the Creek. The partners sold the property to a large mining company in 1891. After awhile, rail lines served many claims along the canyon. By the turn of the century, observers considered the Standard Group the most productive properties in all the Coeur d'Alenes.<br />
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On this morning in 1902, flames suddenly flared in the wood frame structure of the Boarding and Lodging houses. The fire probably started from the stove in the room where the men’s work clothes hung to dry. However, the destruction was too complete to be certain later.<br />
<br />
The fire moved so quickly, there was no time to use the building's fire fighting apparatus. Some men had no warning at all. Even those who awoke in time had to resort to desperate measures … the flames blocked the internal staircase leading to the building exit. About a dozen men, some also with severe burns, were injured leaping from the top floor windows. <br />
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Fearing that the fire would spread to the Standard Mine works, firefighters dynamited the home of one William Fletcher. That stopped the flames, but the home was a total loss, along with the residence halls.<br />
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Searchers found the bodies of four men – all but one under twenty-five years old – among the ashes and charred timbers. Newspapers as far away as Boise, Portland, and Seattle reported about the fire. The Portland and Seattle articles provided complete lists of the known dead as well as those of the seriously injured. The <i>Oregonian</i>, in Portland, said, “There is no hope for the recovery of McCallum and Bowhay, and very little for Yarbrough.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWU2SOU5aqEuPW7ENGYqPnoG4hzbHbmHCnJzKmWVpBlnQ_gaxBlAF6CgayOBfIAx-Ut3nd6TSJRw5C3DBqpCXWaxDaESf8FjLu1hHCmhPy6ErgEH2mmGrq4qi9ZSbX3kcOdWSOwD46RJ0/s1600/WJ_McConnell.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWU2SOU5aqEuPW7ENGYqPnoG4hzbHbmHCnJzKmWVpBlnQ_gaxBlAF6CgayOBfIAx-Ut3nd6TSJRw5C3DBqpCXWaxDaESf8FjLu1hHCmhPy6ErgEH2mmGrq4qi9ZSbX3kcOdWSOwD46RJ0/s200/WJ_McConnell.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">W. J. McConnell, <i>Early History of Idaho.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Indeed, doctors and their hospital assistants were unable to save the first two. Thomas Yarbrough survived despite excruciating burns. Nine men required treatment for lesser injuries suffered in the fire or in jumping to safety. The report in the<i> Idaho Statesman</i> said, “W. C. McConnell, who is named as among those less seriously injured … is a brother of Mrs. W. E. Borah.”<br />
<br />
Besides being brother-in-law to future U. S. Senator Borah [blog June 29], William C. McConnell was also the son of former Idaho Governor and U. S. Senator William J. McConnell [blog, Sept 18].<br />
<br />
The<i> Illustrated History </i>described the event as "one of the worst disasters of its kind in the history of the Coeur d'Alene."<br />
<u> </u><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3"><tbody>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Reference: [Illust-North]</td></tr>
<tr align="left" valign="top"><td>Newspapers: “[Deadly Mining District Fire],” <i>Seattle Daily Times, Idaho Statesman</i>, Boise, <i>The Oregonian</i>, Portland (February 25-26, 1902). </td></tr>
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Revue Guruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10925903211294652386noreply@blogger.com1