South Fork Companion

Frontier Missionary and Peacemaker Father Pierre-Jean de Smet [otd 01/30]

2012-01-30T01:03:00.000-07:00

Father De Smet, 1860-65.
Library of Congress,
Brady-Handy Photograph Collection.

Roman Catholic priest Pierre-Jean de Smet was born in Belgium, January 30, 1801. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1821 and trained as a Roman Catholic missionary with the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. His first missionary work to the Indians was among the tribes along the lower Missouri.

In 1840, an Indian guided Father de Smet further west, where he met some Flathead Indians at Pierre’s Hole (today’s Teton Valley, Idaho). Encouraged by his missionary efforts there and in Montana, he returned with a group the following year. On that trip, the Bartelson-Bidwell emigrant party accompanied de Smet’s missionaries as far as Soda Springs [blog, Aug 8]. The Bidwell expedition was the first company of Americans to emigrate to California by wagon train.

Father de Smet’s group stayed at Fort Hall for a few days and then continued to Montana. There, the Catholics built St. Mary’s Mission, 25-30 miles south of today’s Missoula. That fall, Father de Smet traveled even further west at the invitation of Dr. John McLoughlin, Chief Factor of the Columbia Division of the Hudson’s Bay Company [blog, Oct 19].

Kalispel teepee and canoe on the Pend Oreille, ca. 1860.
Bonner County Historical Society.

On his way to Fort Colville, Father de Smet encountered a band of Kalispel Indians. Though lacking in height, the good Father possessed an impressive physical presence and abundant charisma. His three-day sojourn planted more seeds. Word of the “Black Robe’s” mission quickly spread among the tribes of North Idaho.

When he returned in the spring, he met with more Kalispels, as well as Indians from the Kootenai and Coeur d’Alene tribes.

Fulfilling a promise made by Father de Smet during those meetings, Father Nicholas Point and Brother Charles Huet soon came among the Couer d’Alenes to build a mission church. Their choice of location proved inauspicious: floods inundated the site in the spring. Father de Smet selected a new location about 8 miles west of the later town of Kellogg.

Sacred Heart Mission church, Cataldo, Idaho, 1957.
Library of Congress.

The Mission of the Sacred Heart was moved to near today's Cataldo, in 1846. Four years later, Father Anthony Ravalli arrived to design and build a new church for the mission.

Constructed with simple hand tools, the timber-frame structure contained no nails and took three years to complete. It is the oldest building in the state. (Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, it was among the sites automatically included when the National Register of Historic Places was created in 1966.)

Father de Smet spent the rest of his life striving, with little long-term success, to maintain peace between whites and the tribes of the Northern Plains. For his day, de Smet traveled an incredible amount: The equivalent of over seven times around the Earth, soliciting funds and new recruits. He passed away in St. Louis, in May 1873.

References: [Brit] [Hawley]

Robert C. Carriker, Father Peter John De Smet: Jesuit in the West, University of Oklahoma Press (September 1998).

Entrepreneur, Fur Trader, and Post Builder Nathaniel Wyeth [otd 01/29]

2012-01-29T01:08:00.000-07:00

Nathaniel J. Wyeth, 1840.
Illustration for Harper’s Magazine,
November 1892.

Entrepreneur Nathaniel J. Wyeth was born January 29, 1802, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Despite strong ties to Harvard on both sides of the family, the young Wyeth chose to go directly into business rather than attend college. He was highly successful in the ice business, rising to a general manager’s position.

However, pamphleteering by advocate Hall J. Kelley convinced Wyeth that he could make his own fortune by exploiting opportunities in the “Oregon Country.” (That region included today's Pacific Northwest, plus portions of British Columbia.) In early 1832, Wyeth organized a venture to pursue fur trading and trapping in the Rocky Mountains.

Unfortunately, the men he recruited in New England proved unsuitable, and six deserted even before Wyeth’s party started west from Missouri. Then, when they reached the trapper rendezvous, seven more men refused to continued with the expedition.

Wyeth’s party also had the bad luck to observe one of the most intense conflicts ever reported between trappers and hostile “Blackfeet” (actually Gros Ventre) Indians: the Battle of Pierre’s Hole [blog, July 18]. After visiting the Hostile’s redoubt the next day, Wyeth wrote, “It was a sickening scene of confusion and Blood[s]head. One of our men who was killed inside their fort we found mutilated in a shocking manner.”

Wyeth himself took some minor part in the battle, but his party of “Yankees” did not. Thus, his statement about “our men” was a sort of “editorial” license. His men did care for several wounded, one of whom died in their camp.

Wyeth was hard-working and conscientious, but in the end his lack of Western experience – and further bad luck – ruined this first expedition. Still sure there was profit to be had in the fur trade, Wyeth put together another attempt in 1834. This time he also transported supplies west to be sold, under contract, to another trapping company.

As recounted in my December 20 blog about Trapper Osborne Russell, Wyeth’s customer reneged on the contract. Undeterred, he then built Old Fort Hall, in Idaho, to sell his supplies directly to the trappers and Indians.

Still, this venture also failed, largely because more-established competitors, the British-Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in particular, had a strangle-hold on the business. Within a couple years, Wyeth sold his Fort to the HBC.

Fort Hall, ca 1849. Idaho State Historical Society.

For the next 20 years, Old Fort Hall was the most important Euro-American trading post in Idaho. Tens of thousands of Oregon Trail pioneers passed by the Fort on their way to the Pacific Coast.

Wyeth returned to the ice trade, paid off his considerable debts, and eventually went into business for himself. He left a substantial fortune when he passed away in August 1856. (Ironically, about the time Old Fort Hall was finally abandoned.)

References: [B&W]

H. M. Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln (1986)

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

Long-Time Boise Fire Chief William Foster [otd 01/28]

2012-01-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

Chief Foster.
Boise Fire Department.

Boise Fire Chief William A. Foster was born on January 28, 1870, in Grinnell, Iowa. The family moved to the high plains of northwestern Kansas when William was about fifteen years old. Then, in 1890, he moved to Idaho. He worked as a teamster hauling lumber for a time and then went into the freight business for himself.

After that, Foster spent five years representing a lumber company before moving out of state for a couple years. He returned to Boise in 1899-1900.

For awhile after 1894, Foster served as a member of the Boise City volunteer fire brigade. That organization had been formed in 1876, although records also point to an earlier volunteer unit. He returned to that duty after his brief hiatus out of state.

In late 1901, the city decided to fund a fully paid Fire Department. The new Department took over the following summer [blog, June 2]. It started with part-time leadership, a core of firemen, and a body of firefighters who were paid by the calls they answered. Early accounts state that Foster became part of the new, professional Department in 1903. That was the same year the Department got a full-time Chief.

Foster advanced steadily through the ranks, learning new skills as the department upgraded its equipment. Aside from the normal increases in population, and city acreage, these improvements were required because Boise was also growing UP – with its first “skyscraper” (six stories) in 1910 [blog, Jan 9]. In 1912, Foster was promoted to Assistant Chief, having been promoted to Captain some years earlier.

The Department added more equipment over the next several years, and motorized some of the horse-drawn rigs. Foster was promoted to the Chief’s position in 1917. Within a couple years or so, the Department employed nearly forty men, serving in four fire stations scattered throughout the city.

Chief’s car, 1912. Foster on left – then Assistant Chief.
Boise State University.

Idaho was then much more of a "farm state" than it is even today. Unfortunately, America's agricultural economy suffered greatly between the two World Wars, even before the Great Depression. (Much of the problem is blamed on excessive expansion to meet demand during World War I.) Naturally, Boise felt the pain along with the state.

As a result, Foster presided over a period when budgets were especially tight. Firefighters had to accept pay cuts, and crew numbers were pared to the bone. One entire fire station was closed in 1924. Yet fires still happened, and over the years the city, grudgingly perhaps, paid for a few new pumpers and ladder trucks.

During the Thirties, the Department began to give more attention to fire prevention. They initiated educational programs and sent fire inspectors out to advise property owners about particular problem spots. In 1938, the city created a formal office of Fire Inspector.

Chief Foster led the Department through all these profound changes until his retirement in 1939. He passed away in March 1958.

References: [Hawley]

“The Department’s History,” Boise Fire Department, CityofBoise.org (1999-2010).

“Foster 60th Anniversary,” Idaho Statesman (Oct 2, 1952).

Arthur Hart, Fighting Fire on the Frontier, Boise Fire Department Association (1976).

Educator, Attorney, and Supreme Court Justice John Rice [otd 01/27]

2012-01-27T01:02:00.000-07:00

Judge Rice.
John Campbell Rice Foundation photo.

January 27, 1864, Idaho Supreme Court Justice John Campbell Rice was born on a farm in Cass County, Illinois, about thirty miles west of Springfield. After high school, he attended Illinois College, in Jacksonville (not far south of where Rice was born). He graduated in 1885 and began teaching mathematics at the college.

Three years later, he enrolled in law school, first at Michigan State University and then Cornell University. He received his law degree from Cornell in 1890.

John T. Morrison, a fellow student at Cornell, had previously met Presbyterian minister William Judson Boone. Boone moved to Caldwell, Idaho in 1887, and Morrison followed him there during the summer of 1890.

John Rice joined Morrison in Caldwell that fall, and they became partners in a law practice. When Boone founded the College of Idaho [blog, Nov 5], the partners both served as instructors there for two years. Rice taught Greek and mathematics, and later, economics.

In 1897, Rice was elected to the Idaho House of Representatives. During his term he served as chairman of the judiciary committee. That legislature passed an Act to authorize the creation of a state Board of Arbitration to handle labor disputes. Another Act provided for the creation of irrigation districts to regularize the allotment of water rights.

After that, he was elected to the Caldwell city council, and served as mayor in 1902. His time as mayor corresponded roughly to the period when he relinquished the presidency of the Commercial Bank of Caldwell. Rice, along with several partners, including Albert K. Steunenberg [blog, Sept 11], had founded the bank in 1895. He resumed the presidency in 1907 and continued in that position until at least 1920.

He had other active business connections in Caldwell and around the state. Besides holdings in western Idaho, he helped organize the First National Bank of Saint Anthony, all the way across the state.

College of Idaho campus, ca. 1900. College of Idaho.

Rice also continued his involvement with the College of Idaho, although he no longer taught there. He had been among the principals when the College was incorporated in 1893 as a legal entity, separate from the Presbyterian Church. Rice remained a Trustee of the College through its darkest days in the Great Depression. (He was, in fact, chairman of the Board of Trustees when he died.)

Rice was first elected to the Idaho Supreme Court in 1916, and remained there until 1923. He thus served through the turmoil related to World War I, and the implementation of national Prohibition under the Eighteenth Amendment. He was also there when voters amended the state constitution to expand the Supreme Court from three members to five.

After another period in private practice, he was appointed to be a district court judge, a position he held when he passed away in November 1937.

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

Louie W. Attebery, The College of Idaho, 1891-1991: A Centennial History. © The College of Idaho, Caldwell (1991).

“John T. Morrison,” Reference Series No. 404, Idaho State Historical Society (September 1996).

"Necrology: John Campbell Rice,” Cornell Alumni News, Ithaca, New York (December 16, 1937).

Canal Manager and Ada County Sheriff James Bennett [otd 01/26]

2012-01-26T01:12:00.000-07:00

Sheriff Bennett.
Ada County Sheriff’s Office.

Ada County Sheriff James A. Bennett was born January 26, 1865 in Leavenworth, Kansas. The family moved to farm country 40-50 southwest of St. Louis, Missouri when James was a few years old. He grew up in that area and garnered what education he could from the common schools there.

James came to Idaho in 1886. This was a period of high optimism for stock-raising in Idaho. For example, the Idaho Statesman gushed (October 9, 1886) that the cattle business “has grown to wonderful proportions of late years.” As proof, it went on, readers should consider that “Millions of dollars are invested in stock in Idaho, and the returns from this source excel all others combined.”

A couple years earlier, the Oregon Short Line completed its tracks across Idaho, which further boosted stock raising. Sheep holdings particularly benefited, since sheep raisers rarely drove large flocks to distant markets. Now they didn’t have to.

Bennett easily found work and, in 1888, he claimed a homestead in Ada County, some of which he still owned thirty years later. Along with his stock raising and farming, he worked for some of the regional irrigation companies. Hawley’s History noted that “For eleven years he was headgate keeper and ditch walker for the Ridenbaugh ditch.”

The Ridenbaugh Canal runs along the Boise Bench, today passing through the residential and business districts of southwest Boise. The Bennett Lateral is a feeder canal in that area.

That feeder was first identified publicly in 1902. The Idaho Statesman reported (June 27, 1902) on Ada County government business concerning “what is known as the Bennett Lateral.” The item said, “It is therefore ordered by the County Board of Commissioners that measuring devices and weirs be placed in said canal.”

Ridenbaugh Canal. Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District.

In 1903, Bennett purchased a lot about five miles southeast of Boise. Later he built a home of “generous proportions … well back from the highway in a cluster of large maples and with a terraced lawn and flower gardens in front.”

He was elected Ada County sheriff in 1908. Bennett had a busy two-year term, during which the office gained a third deputy and the county jail got a new floor. Besides dealing with a rumored Tong war in the Oriental community, the sheriff also had to appear as a witness in a case before the Idaho Supreme Court. At the end of his term, Bennett returned to irrigation work and farming. (Election laws then precluded a second consecutive term.)

In the late 1910s, he served as superintendent of the Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District, a unit that served over 4,000 water users. Today, that District owns the century-old water rights of the original Ridenbaugh Canal.

In 1942, Bennett moved to Meridian, where he was elected a Justice of the Peace. Ill health eventually forced him to resign, and he died in 1947.

References: [Hawley]

“Brooks v. Orchard Land Co.,” The Pacific Reporter, Vol. 121, West Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota (1912).

“History,” Ada County Sheriff’s Office, online.

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

Millionaire Banker, Business Leader, and Developer John Vollmer [otd 01/25]

2012-01-25T01:09:00.000-07:00

John P. Vollmer, ca. 1875.
John P. Vollmer Family Archives.

Wealthy developer John P. Vollmer was born on January 25, 1847, in Wurtemburg, Germany. The family emigrated to the U.S. when John was about four years old, settling in Louisville, Kentucky. From there, in 1855, they moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.

After some years in a German-speaking private school, Vollmer attended the Indianapolis college that is now Butler University.

During the Civil War, he saw action as an under-age soldier serving a brief stint in an Indiana Volunteer regiment. After a short span as an apprentice clerk in a small retail business, he went to work for a large book company in Indianapolis. He spent several years there, advancing to a Chief Clerk's position.

Looking for greater opportunities, Vollmer relocated to Walla Walla, Washington in 1868. There, he managed a distillery producing “high wine” – a clear 100-120 proof alcoholic beverage, suitable for aging or infusing with other flavor elements.

John P. moved to Lewiston in 1870 and opened a grocery and wholesale liquor business. Three years later his growing temperance convictions led him to quit selling liquor, but he soon greatly expanded the mercantile side. He operated a wide range of enterprises that eventually owned over a score of outlets in various Idaho towns as well as in Washington state.

Vollmer initiated or backed many progressive improvements in the region, including: the first north Idaho telegraph line, telephone service four years later, and the Lewiston Water and Light Company. Other developments included several major irrigation systems, and construction of a “conservatively estimated” mile’s worth of Lewiston buildings. He was also a Trustee of the Lewiston State Normal School.

He had affiliations with steamboat and railway companies, and led the organization of substantial banks in Lewiston, Grangeville, and Genesee. By direct investment and through the banks he owned many thousands of acres of prime farm land, said to require “two hundred and forty-eight miles of fencing.”

Since Vollmer acquired much of his acreage via foreclosures, he was not universally admired. The Illustrated History of North Idaho stated that Vollmer had “as few enemies probably, as any man living, of his active, agressive [sic] temperament and extensive business interests.”

That statement is a considerable departure from what subscription histories of that period normally said in their biographies. Almost invariably they praised a pioneer’s “excellent qualities” and noted that the person was “highly esteemed by all.” (The exact words varied, but not the fulsome sentiment.)

Vollmer Mansion, Lewiston. John P. Vollmer Family Archives.

Still, while he was clearly seen as a hard-headed man of business, Vollmer seems to have had a more enlightened side – absent from many of the “robber barons” of his day. Thus, he and his wife were known for their literary interests, and their home was considered a center of Lewiston refinement and gentility. His various biographers always saw fit to mention “his fine private library.” He passed away in 1917.

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

Freighter William A. “Doc” Rankin – A Legend in His Time [otd 01/24]

2012-01-24T01:02:00.000-07:00

"Doc” Rankin. H. T. French photo.

William Allen “Doc” Rankin was born January 24, 1836, in Lafayette, Indiana. Several ancestors in his paternal line fought in the American Revolution, later being plantation owners in Virginia. Although Doc’s family moved to the Midwest (to Iowa after Indiana), they retained strong family ties to Virginia.

Thus, because his forebears were “old line” Virginians, the young man sympathized with the South during the Civil War. When the war began, Rankin was in Iowa farming and raising stock. In fact, he fit the demographic for one typical kind of “Copperhead” – "agrarians" with Southern roots. Copperheads were Northerners who opposed the war.

Rankin therefore began to procure horses and recruit like-minded men for the Southern forces. However, Iowa apparently became too “hot” for him in 1863, so he and five other men headed west. Along the way, they stopped at Fort Bridger, where Rankin made the first of many western acquaintances: old Jim Bridger himself.

After a winter in California, Doc entered the freighting business. He then “spent twelve years in driving his outfit across the deserts of the West and over pretty nearly all the trails that then led from one center of population to another.”

His draft animals and equipment wore down, of course, hauling heavy loads on primitive roads and over the rugged mountains. To avoid losing part of a freighting season, Rankin made time to recoup his outfit by spending several winters in California.

Rankin came to know “many of the ablest and most famous men of the West.” That included prominent politicians such as Brigham Young and George Hearst (later a U. S. Senator from California, and father of publisher William Randolph Hearst).

Freight outfit in the Sierras, ca 1866. Library of Congress.

When Congress suspended coinage of silver dollars in 1873, miners decamped in droves from the silver mines of Nevada. Rankin’s freight business followed them to the gold fields of California, mainly in the Bodie area. Despite its rich and notorious reputation, the Bodie gold strikes proved short-lived, and rapidly tapered off after about 1880. His business declining, Doc moved to Boise in 1881.

He worked at various jobs in the area until 1889, when he took up a homestead two miles southwest of Boise. He remained there for the next quarter century. When H. T. French published his History in 1914, Doc’s biography said, “The street car line runs out Rankin street named in his honor, right past his door.”

Rankin took an active interest in the affairs of the Democratic Party in Idaho. However, he never ran for political office here, perhaps soured by an experience in Nevada, where he was reportedly “deprived of his rightful seat” in the legislature by election fraud.

When Old Doc passed away in 1917, the Idaho Statesman, Boise (December 16, 1917) said that during his years of traveling, “He came to be thoroughly familiar with the entire country, and was often referred to as an authority on road conditions of the West.”

References: [Brit], [French]

Church Leader, Suffragette, and Temperance Advocate Rebecca Mitchell [otd 01/23]

2012-01-23T01:03:00.000-07:00

Activist Mitchell.
J. H. Hawley photo.

Mrs. Rebecca Mitchell was born January 23, 1834, in Macoupin County, Illinois, 30-50 miles south of Springfield. Little is known of here early life. After she was widowed, she completed her education, first in local schools (which she attended with her own children) and then at the Baptist Missionary Training School in Chicago. For a time, she served as a missionary and church worker in Illinois.

However, the settled cities and towns of Illinois apparently offered too little scope for Mitchell’s missionary zeal. With limited resources, she looked to the “Wild West,” where gunfights were still common, “Judge Lynch” sometimes dispensed frontier justice, and churches were few and far between. In June 1882, she landed in Idaho Falls, then still called Eagle Rock.

Being almost destitute when she arrived, Mitchell made do with quarters in a weathered “board shanty.” She quickly set out to visit every family dwelling in the little settlement. For many years, the area had grown slowly, but the arrival of the railroad three years earlier had caused a surge. Rebecca’s enthusiasm matched perfectly with a genuinely-felt need among the locals.

On the Sunday after her arrival, she conducted the first Sunday school classes at her rude home. Organized schools were just getting started in the region when she arrived, often as the effort of a few families. Mrs. Mitchell sparked progress along those lines, organizing a day school.

Eagle Rock Baptist Church.
Bonneville County Historical Society.

Mitchell’s efforts to promote a church had begun as soon as she arrived. She sought funds locally and also wrote to Baptist organizations in the East. Donors in the New England states were particularly generous. The Anderson brothers – among the earliest Eagle Rock pioneers – donated the necessary land. Locals dedicated a new Baptist Church in November 1884.

For a time, the church provided space for a larger school as well as a library. Mitchell continued to teach until other schools and teachers became well established. After that, she concentrated more on her church and social work.

Mrs. Mitchell strongly supported the temperance movement, organizing the first local Women’s Christian Temperance Union. She also lectured all over the state and at national conventions, being known as an effective and entertaining speaker. Thus, the Idaho Falls Times reprinted (February 22, 1894) an item from the Weiser Signal about Mrs. Mitchell’s presentations in the Weiser area: “Her lectures are interesting and she always has a well attended house.”

Mitchell even spent one winter in Boise pushing for various reform laws and aiding in the advocacy for women’s suffrage. She also served as the chaplain of the Idaho House of Representatives … through 1934, the only women to have ever held that position.

Naturally, she also supported many causes in Eagle Rock, being “a prominent member of the Village Improvement Society.” Upon her passing, on September 30, 1908, several communities around the state held memorial services and promulgated resolutions of remembrance and honor.

References: [B&W], [Hawley]

Mary Jane Fritzen, Eagle Rock, City of Destiny, Bonneville County Historical Society, Idaho Falls, Idaho (1991).

“Golden Jubilee Edition, 1884-1934,” Idaho Falls Post-Register (September 10, 1934).

Large Cattle Drives Ravage Idaho Range and Herds [otd 01/22]

2012-01-22T01:06:00.000-07:00

On January 22, 1881, the Idaho Statesman described the substantial herds being driven over Idaho rangelands, both from the states to the west and by in-state stockmen. Counts taken on the main trail in Wyoming, and estimates from other routes, suggested that the previous year perhaps a quarter million head had been driven into Wyoming from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Cattle after they reach Wyoming, 1880s.
Wyoming Tales and Trails, online.

By far the largest drives originated in eastern Oregon, with some from Washington. The Statesman article, with a follow-up five days later, described the problems this caused for resident stockmen: the drives were stripping bare a wider and wider swath of trail forage, local cattle were swept into the moving herds and lost, or ranchers had to assign riders to identify and recover their own stock.

The Statesman writer said, “The transit of these immense herds across the stock ranges of central Idaho is an evil of the first magnitude to our farmers and small stock growers.”

Some commentators suggested that stockmen in northern Oregon and in Washington route their herds across the Idaho Panhandle. They claimed the distance to Cheyenne via the northern route was actually less, when the diversions required to avoid major mountain ranges were taken into account. The forage was also supposed to be better.

Whatever the accuracy of these statements, few drovers followed the suggestion, staying with the route through southern Idaho. Thus, in the Statesman’s opinion, “If the same number of cattle should be driven for two or three years more they will consume all the grass in the Snake river valley.”

A related but growing problem was the tendency of some stockmen to over-graze their own range. The presence of trail herds only aggravated that situation. This kind of competition raised the potential for clashes among cattlemen, even without the increasing presence of sheep bands.

The Statesman concluded, “The only practicable remedy for this, and the only hope of the afflicted is in the advent of the railroad, which will take the cattle at or near the points where they are purchased and collected.”

Laying track in the West. National Archives.

Fortunately, that remedy was not too much longer in coming. Less than three months after the newspaper articles, investors organized the Oregon Short Line Railroad. They planned to run the "shortest possible rail line" to connect Granger, Wyoming, to Huntington, Oregon.

OSL tracks reached the Idaho border during the summer of 1882 and were halfway across the state by the end of the year. The line had almost made it to the Oregon border by the end of the following year. By then, rail shipments of cattle and sheep were moving east out of Idaho.

That did not, however, totally end long drives within or across the Territory. As late as 1889-1890, some stockmen found it more economical to drive herds deep into Wyoming before consigning them to rail cars.

References: [B&W]

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

Visionary Developer Benjamin Shawhan and New Plymouth [otd 01/21]

2012-01-21T01:17:00.000-07:00

Benjamin P. Shawhan, cofounder of the town of New Plymouth, Idaho, was born January 21, 1862, in Keokuk County, Iowa, about thirty miles southwest of Iowa City.

East Hall, Morgan Park Military Academy. Chicago in Postcards.

He graduated from the Morgan Park Military Academy (a prep school) in Chicago, read law for a year, and then attended Beloit College in Wisconsin.

He then went to Kansas and became a partner with his father in an implement business. After a year of that, he helped found a new bank in Clay County, Kansas, 50-60 miles west of Topeka. He continued in the banking business until about 1889, when he and his new wife moved to New York City.

After three years at a big mortgage bank, Benjamin’s health deteriorated, so they relocated to the Payette, Idaho area. There, he became interested in the prospects for irrigated agriculture. Right away, Shawhan promoted and managed a major irrigation project for the Payette Valley Irrigation Company.

The canal diverted flow from the Payette River at a point above Emmett. Following first along the base of the ridge to the south, the canal eventually clung to the bench, with a height above the river valley increasing from 25-30 feet to over fifty. All told, the main canal twisted through around forty miles of cuts and fills.

The Company then needed to induce settlers to take up land to furnish customers for the water system. To accomplish this, Shawhan teamed up with irrigation advocate William E. Smythe. Smythe had become an exponent of irrigated agriculture after observing, first hand, the devastation caused by a Nebraska drought. He spearheaded the design of a planned town, to be called New Plymouth.

New Plymouth, today. Google Map satellite view.

The town was founded on cooperative principles, with an absolute prohibition of alcohol sales. The layout consisted of a huge horseshoe, with individual farm and home plots as well as commonly-held ground for parks and public buildings.

Colonists completed much of the early construction work during the winter of 1895-96. Besides grading nearly ten miles of streets, they also planted thousands of shade trees. Shawhan provided irrigation water for the plots, and the firm was soon renamed the Co-operative Irrigation Company.

In 1909, voters elected Shawhan to the first of two consecutive terms in the Idaho state Senate. During his time there, the state authorized a commission to plan Idaho’s participation in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle [blog, Mar 29], and provided funds for a school for the deaf, dumb and blind in Gooding. It also passed a direct-primary election law to replace party selection conventions.

After retiring from the legislature, Shawhan moved on to other irrigation projects. He also retained much land under cultivation in the Payette River valley. During the 1920s, he took part in several agricultural extension service field trials. Shawhan passed way in September 1937.

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

Ronald T. Shawhan, “The Descendants of Daniel Shawhan III,” The History and Genealogy of the Shawhan and Related Families, Volume I, rootsweb.ancestry.com (2000).

Mining Investor, Attorney, and Prosecutor Harry Fisher [otd 01/20]

2012-01-20T01:08:00.000-07:00

Attorney Fisher. H. T. French photo.

Attorney Harry Leroy Fisher was born January 20, 1873, on a farm in Daviess County, Missouri, 40-60 miles east of St. Joseph’s. He taught school there and also for a time in Ada County after coming to Idaho in 1891. Fisher then spent a year or two prospecting around the Boise Basin. From time to time, he also worked as a farm laborer.

For some years, along with his other jobs, Harry read law in private law offices in Missouri as well as Idaho. Then, in 1894, he enrolled at the Stanford University law school. Two years later, he returned to Idaho and was admitted to the bar.

Harry also kept his interest in mining. The Idaho Statesman reported (December 19, 1901) that he had leased a lode mine northeast of Idaho City. The article went on, “Mr. Fisher will drift on the hanging wall of the north ledge and hopes, when he gets opposite the big shot in the south ledge, to strike rich ore.”

Three year before, he had started a practice in Idaho City, the county seat of Boise County. He did well enough there that he was elected Boise County Prosecutor in 1902 and again in 1904. Along with that office, Fisher also ran for a position on the Idaho City Board of Trustees. During the latter election, such was his local renown that he won by a 3-to-1 margin.

Reporting on one sensational murder case he prosecuted, the Idaho World newspaper said, “The way he has carried this case all through entitles him to great credit and the hearty congratulations of every good citizen in the county.” His performance was considered even more remarkable because he was pitted against the “experienced and able” James H. Hawley [blog, Jan 17].

In 1907, Fisher moved to Boise, where he would remain for the rest of his life. In 1922, he successfully pleaded cases before the Idaho Supreme Court, including one for damage inflicted on his client’s crops by stock that invaded his land from a neighboring sheep company. Fisher won, and the court required the sheep company to pay for the full amount of the farmer’s losses as well as all court costs.

Superior, Montana, ca 1930. Vintage postcard.

Besides his active legal practice, he still invested widely in irrigation and mining ventures. Thus, a Spokane newspaper, the Spokesman Review, reported (Feb 26, 1933) that the Board of Directors “of the Oregon Creek Mining company was reelected at the annual meeting in Boise, Idaho, last Tuesday. Its members are Harry L Fisher … ”

Fisher was the President of the company. Three months later (May 21, 1933), the Spokesman Review headlined, “$700 Gold dug in Six Hours.” This nice return came from a Oregon Creek holding south of Superior, Montana … about forty miles northwest of Missoula and near the Idaho border. Fisher passed away in March 1940.

References: [French], [Hawley]

I. W. Hart, ex officio reporter, “John B. Kellar vs Hugh Sproat and The McMillan Sheep Company,” Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Idaho, Vol. 35, Bancroft-Whitney Company, San Francisco (1922).

Jerome Real Estate Developer and Banker Richard Traill [otd 01/19]

2012-01-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

Jerome developer Richard H. Traill was born on January 19, 1858 in Belleville, Canada, about 110 miles east of Toronto. He attended the Ontario College of Pharmacy in Toronto, graduating in 1876. Traill immediately moved to Chicago, where he operated drug stores in and around the city for over thirty years.

Drug store, ca 1905. Library of Congress.

Then recurring illness led him to look toward the West in hopes of finding a more healthful environment. Naturally, he also looked for favorable business prospects. At about the same time, the "North Side Tract" opened in Idaho. The Tract was located on the north side of the Snake River Canyon, across from Twin Falls.

In 1907, tract developers selected town sites to serve the plots they planned to provide with water. Jerome, located roughly sixteen miles south of Shoshone, was one such site. They began selling town lots at the end of September, 1907.

Ira Perrine [blog, May 7] had been cultivating investors in Chicago at least as early as an irrigation congress held there in November 1900. Although we do not know the specific connection, Traill liquidated his Chicago assets in 1907, and invested in ranch land and other real estate in the Jerome area.

The following year, Traill became a Director of the Gooding State Bank in Jerome. The fact that water first flowed into the North Side Canal during the year surely must have given his real estate investments a major boost.

In an interview reported (March 4, 1909) in the Idaho Statesman, Boise, Traill said, “Jerome is a wonderful town. It exemplifies to a nicety the push and enterprise of the west.”

North Side Canal, Milner Dam in the background.
Library of Congress.

Appointed as an agent for the State Land Board in 1909, Traill continued in that position for the following five years or so. Coincidentally, 1909 was a banner year for Jerome: The settlement was incorporated as a village, and a branch railroad connected the town to the main Oregon Short Line tracks at Gooding.

Although his biography does not specifically mention the property, it’s possible that Traill helped finance the North Side Inn. A “mission” or “California” style hotel, developers hurried the structure to completion to provide accommodations for the surge in traffic expected with the arrival of the railroad.

For a time after 1910, Traill took an active role in running one of his ranch properties. In 1914, Idaho’s governor appointed him to represent the Jerome area at a National Farmers’ Congress held in Fort Worth Texas. However, in late 1918, he returned to the real estate business in Jerome.

In 1920, Traill represented Jerome County in the state convention of the Republican Party. That same year, he helped organize the Jerome Chamber of Commerce, and became one of its first Directors.

He later moved to Los Angeles, California to live with one of his daughters and son-in-law. He died there in June 1940.

References: [French], [Hawley]

“Banking and Financial Notes: Western States,” The Bankers Magazine, Vol. 77, (July- December, 1908).

Blair Koch, “The North Side Inn to Rise Again,” Press Release, Crossroads Point Business Center, Jerome (June 22, 2008).

Freighter, Lumber Man, Rancher, and Mining Investor Josiah Hill [otd 01/18]

2012-01-18T01:06:00.000-07:00

On January 18, 1844, Coeur d’Alene pioneer Josiah Hill was born in New Brunswick, Canada. Like others in that part of the country, his father was from the state of Maine.

Clipper ship in Cape Horn ice, Currier & Ives print.
Library of Congress.

In about 1864, he traveled around the Horn to San Francisco and then to Seattle. He looked for opportunities there, but then returned to California. For three years, Josiah worked in the lumber industry, drove a stagecoach, and had various other odd jobs.

In 1870, Josiah started working his way east, with a variety of stops along the way. He then spent about two years in New Brunswick, during which time he got married.

Hill returned to the west in 1876. There, he engaged briefly in lumbering. Then, for about three years, he handled the freight stock – horses, mules, and oxen – for the Comestock Lode mines in Nevada. When those mines began to fade, he and a partner bought the animals and equipment, and hauled freight for the strikes around Bodie, California.

He sold that operation in 1881. For the next five years, Josiah had a succession of business dealings in Seattle, Portland, and Spokane. The final years involved a construction project with the Northern Pacific Railroad, with an associated logging operation.

He moved to what became Wardner, Idaho in 1886. Expanding from some lumber contracts in Kellogg, he soon built a sawmill in the region. The Illustrated History said, “When the town of Wardner consisted of one tent, Mr. Hill was here and has remained here since that time.”

With a base in the town, he operated a local stage line, handled a freight and passenger transfer service, and soon opened a livery stable. By about 1900, his son Roy was a partner in that business.

Hill also partnered with his brother in a ranch near Kellogg. That holding drew the two of them into some expensive litigation: Mine tailings washed downstream by the Coeur d’Alene River ruined a considerable portion of their property. At the end of September, 1903, they filed suit for damages against the mining company.

As could be expected, the company used every legal tactic their lawyers could devise to delay the process and make the suit go away. Five years later, the Mining and Scientific Press (October 31, 1908) reported, “The famous tailings suits of Josiah Hill, J. S. Hill, and others against the Standard Mining Co. have been settled out of court.”

Early Kellogg. University of Idaho Digital Collections.

Ironically, Josiah later invested in various mining interests himself. In 1918, he was the president of the Hill Mining & Milling Company, Kellogg, with interests in the Coeur d’Alenes. Three years later he became Vice President of a mining company with claims on Big Creek, two or three miles southeast of Kellogg.

Hill passed away at Kellogg in September 1923.

References: [Illust-North]

“Elgin and Ogden Company Formed,” Spokane Chronicle (July 18, 1921).

“General Mining News: Idaho,” Mining and Scientific Press, Vol. 97, No. 18, Dewey Publishing Company, San Francisco (October 31, 1908).

Sol. Hasbrouck, “Hill vs Morgan,” Reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Idaho, Vol. 9, Bancroft-Whitney Company, San Francisco (1906).

Sidney Norman, Northwest Mines Handbook, Vol. One, Northwest Mining Association, Spokane (1918).

Grant Horace Smith, Joseph V. Tingley, The History of the Comstock Lode, 1850-1997, University of Nevada Press, Reno (1998).

Iconic Lawyer, Boise Mayor, and Governor James H. Hawley [otd 01/17]

2012-01-17T01:09:00.000-07:00

Lawyer Hawley. Illustrated History, 1899.

Lawyer, Governor, Mayor, and Historian James Henry Hawley was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on January 17, 1847. His mother died when James was an infant and he grew up with his maternal uncle. In 1861, the family moved to California, where Hawley learned of the fabulous gold discoveries in Idaho Territory.

The following year, caught up in the excitement, Hawley hurried to Florence. He moved on to the Boise Basin in the spring of 1863. In the Basin, besides work in the gold fields, he also acted as an agent and distributor for the Idaho City newspaper that became the Idaho World.

In 1864, Hawley returned to California, where he studied at the City College of San Francisco and also read law in the city. After a year or so, he went to sea and “knocked around” the Orient for awhile before returning to the Boise Basin in 1868.

James continued his law studies and was also elected to the Territorial Legislature at the age of 23. The following year he was admitted to the Idaho bar and opened a Boise County law practice. He served in the Territorial Council (equivalent to the state Senate) in 1874, and was elected Boise County commissioner in 1876.

Starting in 1878 he served two terms as District Attorney in the second Territorial judicial district. After his second term, he moved to Hailey and practiced law there from 1884 to 1886. In 1885, he was appointed to a four-year term as U.S. District Attorney for the Territory. At the end of his term, he moved to Boise City. He lived in Boise from then on.

Although he handled legal cases related to mining, and spent over forty years in irrigation law and water-related litigation, Hawley became famous for his work in criminal law. In the early Twentieth Century, it was said that he had acted on one side or the other of “more murder cases than any other member of the bar in the United States.”

Hawley, older and more “laid-back.”
Idaho State Historical Society.

In 1892, Hawley provided legal counsel for the Coeur d’Alene miners’ union, but in 1899 he served as special state prosecutor in the actions involving union violence against the mining companies.

Later, he acted as special prosecutor during the cases resulting from the assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg.

He also spent six years defending cowboy-gunman “Diamondfield” Jack Davis against a charge of murdering two sheepmen in 1896. Although another man confessed to the killings, oddities in the Idaho legal system blocked Jack’s release until 1902 [blog, Dec 17].

Hawley was elected Boise mayor in 1902, and Idaho Governor in 1910. He was defeated in a second run for that office and in two runs for the position of U.S. Senator (in 1914 and again in 1918). His four-volume History of Idaho was published in 1920. He passed away in August 1929.

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

Edwin H. Peasley, Twelfth Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Idaho, Boise (1930).

Geologist, Mining Engineer, and State Mine Inspector Robert Bell [otd 01/16]

2012-01-16T01:15:00.000-07:00

Inspector Bell. J. H. Hawley photo.

On January 16, 1864, mining engineer Robert N. Bell was born in Yorkshire, England. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1877-1880 and worked first on a farm in Wisconsin. After a year or two there, he moved to Montana and joined a railroad construction crew near Bozeman, Montana. When that was completed, Bell found work in a nearby coal mine.

He moved to Salmon, Idaho in 1884 and began prospecting in the surrounding mountains. Two years later, he and a partner made a valuable find near Shoup, Idaho, 20-25 miles northwest of Salmon. Hawley’s History of Idaho said that, “During this period he completed a course in geology and mineralogy through the International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania.”

Bell soon combined his studies with personal observations and began to publish authoritative articles in a wide variety of industry and scientific journals. His knowledge of Central Idaho geology and mineral potential attracted the attention of key mining companies and investors. He spent fifteen years working at various mines and acting as a consultant in the industry.

During that period, the office of State Mine Inspector was elective. He first ran for that position in 1900 and missed election “by less than two hundred votes.” He ran again in 1902 and was handily elected. Voters re-elected him for the next two terms, each time with larger and larger majorities. He decided not to run again in 1908, apparently because he wanted time to develop a fruit ranch he had purchased in the Weiser area.

Bell ran again in 1910 and won by a wide margin. He held the position through 1920, then chose not to run after that. Besides his annual reports as Mine Inspector, Bell authored several monographs on Idaho mining resources and on the state industry. Mine safety was first among the Inspector’s responsibilities, but he was also expected to be a spokesman for the mining industry.

North Idaho mine, 1909. Idaho State Historical Society.

In 1917-1918, most Coeur d’Alene mines had cut lead-silver production and laid off many workers. The Spokane Chronicle asked Bell (January 15, 1918) to assess the situation. He briefly explained the market forces involved and asserted that a turnaround should come soon. The newspaper headlined its item: “Lead is Coming Back to Normal.”

Bell took an active role in national and regional professional organizations, including the Mine Inspectors Association of America, the Idaho Mining Association, the Utah Society of Engineers, and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He was also a member of the National Geological Society and the Boise Commercial Club.

During his second long stretch as Mine Inspector, Bell moved to Boise and invested in considerable real estate. That included a ten-acre estate four miles from downtown, where he built an elaborate home and installed “many modern improvements.” He lived near Boise until his death in December 1935.

References: [Blue], [French], [Hawley]

“Shoup and Ulysses,” Reference Series No. 386, Idaho State Historical Society (1980).

Wanderer, Painter, and Sculptor Charles Ostner Gets Paid [otd 01/15]

2012-01-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

Artist Ostner. J. H. Hawley photo.

On January 15, 1869, the Idaho legislature appropriated $2,500 to reward artist Charles L. Ostner for the equestrian statue of George Washington he had recently presented to the state.

Born in Baden, Germany in 1828, Ostner emigrated to the U.S. around 1848-1850. Stories that pose him as an untutored natural genius are just that … stories. In reality, Charles received an early grounding in art at the University of Heidelberg and made a living as a sculptor before coming to Idaho.

He settled first in California and began raising a family around 1852. Family members recalled that the artist had itchy feet, and often settled his wife and children someplace and then traveled extensively. Gold camps and other pioneer settlements held a deep fascination for him, yet there is no solid evidence that he prospected himself.

In 1862, gold excitement in Idaho attracted him to the Territory. By 1864, he had moved his family to the Garden Valley area. There, he had a small ranch and operated a toll bridge over the South Fork of the Payette River.

Historian Arthur Hart noted Ostner’s propensity for taking advantage of attention-grabbing events to sell his art, and the shoe seems to fit. H. T. French’s History presents the “untutored hobbyist” myth and what is almost certainly a fanciful tale about the George Washington statue. This major work supposedly grew out of deep-felt admiration for the “Father of our country.”

The story began with an almost mystical selection of the perfect yellow pine. The carving itself then required four years of winter nights – the only spare time he had – in freezing conditions, the only light provided by home-made tallow candles held in the trembling, crudely-wrapped fingers of his son. This fable even had a nice added touch: Ostner’s only model was the likeness of Washington printed on a postage stamp.

Ostner statue on the capitol grounds,
Ostner’s wife - center - and two daughters at the base.
J. H. Hawley photo.

Charles finished the statue in 1868, then moved his family to Boise and “gave” the bronzed figure to the state. No doubt the inspiring story of this untutored genius, persevering through such terrible trials, got wide circulation. Some proposed a handsome award of $7 thousand, but the young Territory could only afford $2,500.

After that, Ostner used Boise as a home base for his wandering ways. Hawley’s History of Idaho said “Mr. Ostner continued to make Boise his home throughout his remaining days but traveled largely during that period, going on trips to various parts of the world.”

His work included paintings on canvas, drawings, and a wide variety of lithographic masters. “Idaho’s Pioneer Artist,” passed away in 1913.

The statue stood on the capitol grounds until 1934 when it was moved indoors, refurbished, and covered in gold leaf. The figure still has a place in the newly-renovated Idaho capitol building.

References: [French], [Hawley]

Arthur Hart, “Idaho History: Charles Ostner was an artist, miner and wanderer,” Idaho Statesman (July 4, 2010).

James H. Hawley, Eleventh Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Idaho, Boise (1928).

Miner, Builder, Real Estate Developer, and Ferryman John Silcott [otd 01/14]

2012-01-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Ferryman Silcott. J. H. Hawley photo.

Clearwater ferry operator John M. Silcott was born January 14, 1824 in Loudoun County, Virginia, just west of Washington D. C.. The family moved to Ohio about four years later.

He grew up in Zanesville and as a young man worked as a carpenter, boat builder, and crewman on keelboats and river steamers. During the Mexican War, he worked at a government supply depot, after which he moved to New Orleans.

In 1849, he joined the eager rush to California. Silcott quickly discovered that his carpentry skills were in great demand, so he pursued his trade in San Francisco and Sacramento. With a solid stake, he and three partners bought proven claims in northern California. John prospected gold fields there and in southern Oregon until about 1858, when he followed the rush into British Columbia.

The Canadian venture did not pan out, and the cost of the expedition sent him back to carpentry when he ended up in Walla Walla, Washington. Again he did very well as the town expanded. In 1860, he moved to the old Nez Perce mission on Lapwai Creek, where the Indian agent had him erect a new building for the Agency. Silcott then stayed on there as a sub-agent.

Many years later, the Lewiston Teller related the story of “the first Christmas celebration in the Lewiston valley,” hosted by “Old Uncle John” Silcott. He invited “every white man within fifty miles” to a his party. The repast was short on traditional dishes – wild goose replaced turkey – but rich and bountiful nonetheless. Concoctions blended with “medicinal” alcohol from a five gallon container no doubt masked any possible shortcomings in the cuisine.

Not to be outdone, William Craig, an old mountain man turned settler, then hosted a New Years celebration. They did have to hurry two men off to Walla Walla for ten gallons of whisky.

The following year, Silcott built a ferry across the Snake River downstream from Lewiston. He benefited greatly from the surge in area traffic with the gold discoveries around Pierce, Elk City, and Florence. Encouraged, he built another ferry connecting Lewiston with the north shore of the Clearwater River. He also leased a ferry on the Spokane River.

Old western ferry. Library of Congress.

Silcott acquired land around Lewiston and helped plat the town. His real estate ventures did well, although not as well as they might had not newcomers “jumped” many of his lots. He also claimed a homestead on the north side of the Clearwater and built a home near the ferry landing.

In 1882-1885, Silcott sold off all his ferry holdings except the Lewiston-Clearwater vessel. He continued to run that ferry until a year or two before his death, successively lowering the fares to just cover his expenses.

Old Uncle John died in 1902 and was buried on the Clearwater homestead beside his Nez Perce wife, Jane, who had died in 1895.

References: [Hawley], [Illust-North], [Illust-State]

“Lewiston (Silcott) Ferry,” Reference Series No. 759, Idaho State Historical Society (1982).

Engineer, Developer, and Boise Mayor Ernest G. Eagleson [otd 01/13]

2012-01-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

Ern Eagleson. J. H. Hawley photo.

Engineer and Boise Mayor Ernest George Eagleson was born January 13, 1864 near Cadiz, Ohio, 30-35 miles southeast of Canton. The family moved to Iowa and then Nebraska. By 1881, “Ern,” as he was usually called, had gone to work as an engineering assistant for a railroad. A few years later, he attended a Normal school before continuing at the University of Nebraska. He graduated from their engineering program in 1889.

During the next four years, he worked as a railway construction engineer and then as a mining engineer in Wyoming. In the meantime, Ern’s parents moved to Boise City in 1891. Two years later, the Boise mayor appointed Ern to be City Engineer. He would serve four terms (eight years) in that position, although not in consecutive stints.

Eagleson found plenty of other work in the Pacific Northwest, including projects for mining companies, railroads, and irrigation districts. He also invested in real estate, with a substantial tract on the bench west of the Boise River plain. All this property needed was water to mushroom in value.

About the time his first term as City Engineer ended, a long-standing canal project seemed to be gaining momentum. Originally conceived over a decade earlier, the system would divert water onto the bench from the river about seven miles southeast of Boise. However, financial panics, mismanagement, and bad luck had repeatedly delayed the work. By this time, ownership of the necessary water rights had become clouded, so in early 1896 Ern located one further up the river.

The battle among competing developers was soon joined, and parts of the dispute ended up in the Idaho Supreme Court. Finally, Eagleson could proceed with the engineering and construction work. The first water flowed into the New York Canal in 1900 [blog, June 20]. Over the next decade, Ern served a term as Ada County surveyor, and six years as U.S. Surveyor General for Idaho. In 1914, Eagleson was selected as President of the Idaho Society of Professional Engineers.

Eagleson was elected Boise mayor in 1919. Commenting on Ern's two-year term, J. H. Hawley said that Boise development proposals could be “studied from the standpoint of a civil engineer who can correctly estimate upon municipal engineering problems and also from the standpoint of the business man.”

Early airmail fleet, Boise. City of Boise.

Oddly enough, probably the most dramatic engineering accomplishment in Boise during his first term was a state project: The Idaho capitol building gained its north and south wings. Ern was elected again in 1925. He was thus mayor when a Varney Airlines plane landed at Boise’s municipal airport on the first commercial U. S. airmail flight, from Pasco, Washington to Elko, Nevada. Boise-based Varney was one of several pioneer airlines that eventually became today’s United Airlines.

Eagleson continued to work in Boise, and passed away there in 1956. Eagleson Road and Eagleson Park subdivision carry on his name.

References: [Hawley]

“The Beginning of the New York Canal,” Reference Series No. 190, Idaho State Historical Society (March 1972).

City of Boise Guide and Directory (online)

“Corrected List of Mayors, 1867-1996,” Reference Series No. 47, Idaho State Historical Society.

Boise’s Dr. Mary E. Donaldson: Pioneer in Medicine and Elder Care [otd 01/12]

2012-01-12T01:14:00.000-07:00

Dr. Donaldson. H. T. French photo.

Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, M.D., was born Mary Craker on January 12, 1851 in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, about forty miles from Madison. After graduating from high school, she taught grade school for four years. She married at twenty and had a child who died young. The marriage didn’t work out and they were divorced soon afterwards.

In the mid-1870s, she turned to caring for a very sick brother, and they moved to Idaho in search of a more healthful climate. To support them during this period, Mary Elizabeth again found work as a teacher. Although the brother also contracted diphtheria, she succeeded in nursing him back to health.

Mary Elizabeth then married Thomas L. Johnston, an early Idaho pioneer. Her efforts as a nurse strengthen her desire to take a more serious role in medicine. Mary's new husband supported that interest, and she enrolled in the University of Wooster, in Cleveland, Ohio. She received her M.D. degree in 1892, quite an accomplishment at a time when there were hardly any women physicians.

Returning to Boise, she and her husband opened the Idaho Sanitarium, a spa-like institution meant to prevent and cure disease through proper diet and exercise. Although its methods separated them somewhat from traditional medical approaches, the Sanitarium proved very popular. Dr. (then) Johnston provide her personal medical services at the Sanitarium free of charge.

From about 1894 to 1898, Dr. Donaldson set up similar institutions in Milton, Oregon (8-10 miles south of Walla Walla, Washington) and then in Portland. After these were going concerns, she returned to Boise and stayed, perhaps because her husband died in 1898. Under her close attention, her practice and the Sanitarium prospered. In fact, her flourishing private practice allowed her to give free or reduced-rate services to those in need.

Idaho Sanitarium, H. T. French photo.

In 1912, Mary Elizabeth married Captain Gilbert Donaldson, a well-known Boise businessman and philanthropist. Attendees at the ceremony included, in the words of historian H. T. French, “some of the most notable men and women of the state and many others whose names are household words in Idaho.”

In 1881, long before she became a doctor, Mary Elizabeth had occasion to travel in the East. In Philadelphia, she visited an institutional home for elderly men and women. With the backing of influential friends of her new husband, such an institution was built in Boise, and called the Donaldson Home for the Aged. It was one of the first, if not the first of its kind in Idaho.

In addition to those accomplishments, Dr. Donaldson found time to promote various service organizations, push the cause of prohibition, and raise five orphaned children. She also helped found and promote a national women’s rights organization, and regularly contributed articles to its publications.

Dr. Donaldson continued in active practice into the 1920s. In the early Thirties, the couple moved to California, where Gilbert died in 1934. Mary Elizabeth passed away in Napa, California in 1941.

References: [French], [Hawley]

Noted Microbiologist and Vitamin B-12 Researcher Mary Shorb [otd 01/11]

2012-01-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

Dr. Shorb. University of Maryland.

Dr. Mary Shorb, noted microbiologist and vitamin B-12 investigator, was born January 11, 1907 in North Dakota. The family moved to Caldwell, Idaho when Mary was about three years old. There, William Judson Boone, founder and President of the College of Idaho [blog, Nov 5] became a close family friend. Early field trips with Dr. Boone, a skilled botanist, sparked Mary’s interest in biology.

Mary graduated from Caldwell High School, then entered the College of Idaho and received a B.S. degree in 1928. After two dead-end jobs, she decided to pursue an advanced degree. She married her childhood sweetheart, Doys Shorb, in 1929 and earned a Sc.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1933.

Even with her doctorate, she could only find another dead-end job, so after the birth of a daughter, she stayed home. Two other children followed. However, World War II created a shortage of technically trained people. In 1942, she took a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Two years later, Shorb began work that used Lactobacillus lactis Dorner (LLD) bacteria to ferment milk into yogurt. The bacterial growth media had to contain liver extract. “Everyone knew” this, and thought no more about it. Mary pondered the matter and made a crucial creative leap.

Medical practitioners used liver extract to treat pernicious anemia. The original treatment, discovered in 1926, involved massive consumption of the liver itself. Prior to that discovery, the disease was almost invariably fatal. Yet even in 1944, after years of study, no one had identified the extract’s active ingredient. Researchers had no direct way to tell if a sample even contained the substance, much less the amount present.

Shorb in the lab, ca 1948.
University of Maryland.

The details of Shorb’s development work are beyond the scope of this article. However, after she refined her LLD assay method for the anti-anemia “factor,” researchers needed only three months to isolate its crystals from two different sources. We know the substance as vitamin B-12. Dr. Shorb and Dr. Karl A. Folkers, a Merck Company chemist, shared the 1949 Mead Johnson Award for their B-12 work.

That same year, the University of Maryland made Dr. Shorb a full research professor. She rewarded them, and the world, by authoring or co-authoring nearly sixty journal articles on antibiotics, bacteriology, animal growth, and more.

Shorb received a long list of awards and honors: a 1957 Sigma Xi Research Award, Outstanding Woman of Maryland in 1951, Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Idaho in 1966, an honorary Doctorate of Science from the College in 1979, member of Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1987, and so on. She is further remembered at the University of Maryland by the Shorb Lectureship, with original funding from Merck & Company.

Mary retired in 1972. She and her husband then indulged their love of travel before health problems curtailed that. She passed away in August 1990.

References: Richard A. Ahrens, “Mary Shaw Shorb (1907 - 1990),” The Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 123, No. 5 (May 1, 1993) pp. 791-796.

“Mary Shaw Shorb (1907 - 1990),” Maryland Women's Hall of Fame Online.

“Papers of Mary S. Shorb,” University of Maryland Archives.

Town of Franklin Accepts Being in Idaho and is Formally Incorporated [otd 01/10]

2012-01-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

According to Hawley’s History of Idaho, on January 10, 1873, the Idaho Territorial legislature passed a “special act” to incorporate the village of Franklin. The town had begun as a normal extension of the Mormon colonies pushing north from Salt Lake and other already-settled areas. Outposts had appeared in Utah’s Cache Valley around 1855 and several tiny towns were established by 1859.

Franklin plains with mountain backdrop.

In April 1860, thirteen Mormon families brought their animals and wagons to a spot not quite twenty miles north of the settlement at Logan. The mountains provided wonderful scenic views, but the plains between interested them most. An abundance of streams flowed onto the flats. They could graze stock on the foothills while raising food and forage crops near the available water.

The settlers laid out a town, which eventually came to be recognized as the first permanent settlement in the state of Idaho. Soon after laying out the town, the settlers dug irrigation ditches to divert water from the Cub River and its tributary creeks. Before the year was out, there would be around fifty families in residence.

The colonists also erected a log schoolhouse and recruited a pioneer’s daughter to start classes in the fall. Except for the missionary schools for Indian children in the Panhandle, the Franklin school thus set another first for Idaho. In 1863, Brigham Young moved Thomas Preston, the first Bishop of Franklin, to a post near Bear Lake and assigned Lorenzo Hatch as Franklin’s second Bishop.

Hatch House, Franklin, built in 1872.
Idaho State Historical Society.

At first, everyone, including the Idaho Territorial government, thought that Franklin and the other Mormon colonies were in Utah. Inhabitants there even voted in Utah elections. In fact, Charles C. Rich, founder of Paris, Idaho and father of Amasa [blog, Oct 25], served in the Utah Territorial legislature.

Finally, in early 1872, an official survey defined the correct Idaho-Utah border: it runs about a mile south of Franklin. Despite this, people in the region continued to act like they were in Utah. For example, later that year their representatives attended a Utah constitutional convention, hoping to frame a document that would lead to Utah statehood. (It didn’t. Their memorial never even made it out of committee.) Within a year or so, however, they reconciled themselves to their “new” status.

In 1874, a narrow gauge railroad began service between Ogden and Franklin. When construction stopped there, the town became a major terminus for stage lines and thousands of freight wagons running back and forth to Montana. The tracks continued north in 1878, and Franklin was again simply a commercial center for livestock, dairy, and grain producers in the area. It was estimated to have a population of about 600 in 1918, roughly what it has today.

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

Jo Ann F. Hatch, Willing Hands: A Biography of Lorenzo Hill Hatch (1826-1910), Kymera Publishing Company, Pinedale, AZ (1996).

“Idaho's Boundary Dispute with Utah (1860-1872),” Reference Series No. 1016, Idaho State Historical Society (1993).

Boise Builder, Real Estate Developer, and Mayor Walter E. Pierce [otd 01/09]

2012-01-09T01:02:00.000-07:00

Mayor Pierce. City of Boise.

Boise Mayor Walter E. Pierce was born January 9, 1860, in Bell County, Texas, between Waco and Austin. Indian unrest in that area forced the family to move to Kansas, where Walter’s father died that fall. The family spent the period of the Civil War and a couple years afterward near Vicksburg, Mississippi, before returning to Kansas.

With little education beyond “a course in a business college,” Walter found what work he could in Missouri and Kansas: sheep herder, hotel operator, railroad contractor, and, finally, real estate developer. Perseverance and natural talent eventually brought him notable success. However, falling farm prices and other outside factors crippled the Kansas economy in the late 1880s, so Pierce began to look elsewhere.

In Morton County, Kansas, Pierce had met John M. Haines and Lindley H. Cox. The three established the firm of W. E. Pierce & Company and moved to Boise City in 1890, shortly after Idaho became a state. Pierce and the firm would be a driving force in the city’s development for over half a century.

Walter quickly hit his stride as a real estate and business developer. He played a role in the Boise Rapid Transit Company, which built the city’s first electric trolley line in 1891. He soon rose to prominence in the city and took office as Mayor in 1895. Despite considerable nay-saying, he initiated the first street-paving program as well as other civic improvements that were later lauded as “the right thing to do.”

The Illustrated History, published in 1899, said “He was the most progressive mayor that Boise ever had, and under his management an immense stride was taken toward a more brilliant future.”

Idaho Building, ca 1918. J. H. Hawley.

In 1910, Pierce spearheaded construction of what many would later call Boise’s first skyscraper, the Idaho Building. The Idaho Statesman observed that the six-story structure, tall for its day, “towers above its neighbors like a mountain peak.”

Pierce and his company also expanded the interurban railway system to encompass most of the Boise Valley. They knew well that rail service added significant value to their real estate holdings and allowed them to turn properties over much more quickly. However, the automobile ended that, and in 1928 the interurban system was dismantled.

Still, Pierce’s primary developments continued to be home and building construction. The Hotel Boise, completed in 1930, was among the most important. It’s Historic Place nomination noted that the “reinforced concrete, eleven-story edifice was the tallest commercial structure in Boise for a generation.”

In 1947, Pierce sold a home he had built in 1914 to the state of Idaho for use as a Governor’s Mansion. Four years later, Pierce passed away and was buried in Boise’s Morris Hill Cemetery. The fine house served as the Governor’s home for over forty years until it no longer met the state’s needs and was sold at auction.

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

Arthur Hart, “Idaho history: 1910 was a big building year for Boise,” Idaho Statesman (April 11, 2010).

Kyle True, “Walter E. Pierce House,” Boise Architecture Project, online (2009).

Outdoorsman, Writer, Photographer, and Game Warden Otto Jones [otd 01/08]

2012-01-08T01:17:00.008-07:00

Outdoorsman Otto Jones.
J. H. Hawley photo.

Photographer and journalist Otto M. Jones was born January 8, 1886 on a ranch near Dillon, Montana. Two years later, his father sold the Montana property and they relocated to a sheep ranch on Dry Creek, about twelve miles northwest of Boise City. The family moved into the city about 1892.

Rather than attending high school in Boise, Otto went to a military academy in Virginia for a year and then spent two years in prep school at Washington State College (now University). He traveled around a bit, and then settled for two years in Ashland, Oregon. During this period, Jones began making his living as a writer, publishing articles on hunting, fishing, and other outdoor sports.

Otto returned to Boise in 1909 and was married to a native Boisean two years later. She became an indispensable assistant as he collected photographs of outdoor life and scenery to illustrate his articles. They became active in the “sporting life” in and around Boise. Both were outstanding skeet shooters, placing high or winning in many city and regional matches.

Fisherman and lady photographer on Big Creek. Otto M. Jones photo, Library of Congress.

Jones also served as an official for professional boxing and wrestling bouts. (Professional wrestling was then "straight," not a show.) His sports knowledge and credibility were such that the Idaho Statesman reported (April 26, 1916), “One of the best drawing cards for the Friday night wrestling match … will be the referee, Otto Jones.”

Otto’s sporting articles, with photographs, appeared in national publications, such as Field & Stream magazine. He also submitted material to the Idaho Statesman in Boise. For a time, he “owned” a page or two of the Sunday edition. There, he wrote about various outdoor activities, supported by his own sketches and photos.

His spread for Sunday, April 21, 1918 was about “Motor Touring” in the West. His text surely invoked nostalgic memories for many still-living pioneers. His comments about the old mining camps ring true today. He said, “These fast disappearing camps fairly teem with sentiments and reveries for the traveler who halts long enough in his whirling pilgrimage to explore and conjecture as to the life of the ghost towns … ”

In January 1919, Idaho Governor D. W. Davis appointed Jones to be the top state Fish & Game Warden. By then his stock of photos had “more than twenty-five hundred negatives” on file. The Library of Congress catalog notes that several hundred of his vintage images are archived in their files.

Shotgun Rapids, Salmon River, Idaho. Otto M. Jones photo, Library of Congress.

Jones held the Idaho Game Warden position into 1923. For three years starting in 1924 he served as Educational Director for the Oregon State Game Commission. After a period as a freelance and contract photographer, in 1931 he took a similar position with the Washington State Game Conservation Association.

After about 1936, in addition to his commercial photography, Otto spent four years taking real estate photos for the King County Assessor’s office in Seattle. He passed away there in August 1941 from an apparent heart attack.

References: [Hawley]

"Sports Magazine is Planned," Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon (July 24, 1924).

Fur Trader and Pioneer Cattleman Johnny Grant [otd 01/07]

2012-01-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

Johnny Grant.
National Park Service photo.

On January 7, 1833, John Francis “Johnny” Grant was born in Alberta, Canada. At the time, his father, Richard, was a clerk working for the British-Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). John’s mother died when he was eighteen months old. Richard took a furlough and escorted Johnny and his siblings to live with a grandmother in Quebec.

The Company soon promoted Richard to a Chief Trader position at a post in central Canada. He moved to the Columbia District in the Pacific Northwest around 1840. Two years earlier, the HBC had bought Idaho’s Old Fort Hall [blog, January 29]. Richard took over management of the Fort in 1842. When traffic increased on the Oregon Trail, he began trading fresh stock for worn-out emigrant cattle.

Around 1845, Richard decided to bring his children west. If his aging mother took sick or died, there would be no one to look after Johnny and the others. Arrangements and their travel took awhile, but John Francis arrived at Fort Hall early in the summer of 1847.

For various reasons, Johnny did not get along with his father at first and moved out on his own when he felt able – in about 1850. Along with trapping and fur trading, Johnny supported himself by dealing with Trail emigrants. In his memoir, Grant said, “Every summer we went on the road to trade with these newcomers at Soda Springs. I traded for lame cattle and they were always the best, because somehow the best got lame the quickest.”

As time passed, he reconciled with his father. When Richard’s resignation from the HBC became effective in 1853, they worked together to build up a fair-sized herd. These bands were the first significant stock holdings in what would become the state of Idaho.

In 1857, Johnny wintered in the Deer Lodge Valley of Montana, and then returned to Idaho. (By this time Richard’s health had deteriorated and he retired from the business.) Johnny returned to Montana two years later and built a ranch in the Deer Lodge area.

John generally got along well with the native inhabitants, and one of his Indian wives (he apparently had several) was sister to Tendoy, a powerful chief of the Lemhi Shoshones. However, clashes between whites and Indians had become more common, and it seems likely Johnny moved to Montana to avoid getting caught up in those disputes. Grant continued to build up his cattle and horse herds in Montana. However, when his wife died in 1866, he sold his holdings to stockman Conrad Kohrs and moved back to Canada. He died there in 1907.

Cattle allowed to drink. Library of Congress.

Starting from the herd established by Grant, Kohrs became one of the first Montana “cattle kings.” In 1870, his crews drove two thousand head of cattle across Idaho and then turned east across Wyoming into Nebraska. The Kohrs ranch operated successfully into the next century. Its core facilities form the basis for today’s Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.

References: [B&W]

John N. Albright, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Historic Resource Study, National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/grko/hrs/hrsi.htm (March 6, 1999: last update).

John Francis Grant, Lyndel Meikle (ed.), Very Close To Trouble: The Johnny Grant Memoir, Washington State University Press, Pullman (1996).

“John Grant Biographical Sketch,” Provincial Archives of Alberta, ArchivesCanada.ca (online resource).

Lewiston Normal School Receives its First Students [otd 1/6]

2012-01-06T01:08:00.000-07:00

On January 6, 1896, Lewiston State Normal School – today’s Lewis-Clark State College – opened its doors to receive its first students. That event was a key milestone on the long path to establishing a teacher’s college in the town.

Young students with teacher, ca 1892. Arizona State University.

The second session of the Territorial Legislature, in 1864, passed a “common” school law, but the system developed slowly at first. In fact, most of the earliest local schools were private ventures, or established by churches. Still, by 1880 the system had grown enough that the legislature created two formal school districts, one in Boise City, the other in Lewiston.

A decade later, schools statewide had grown even further, and many regions began to experience a shortage of qualified teachers. In fact, far too many teachers were hired simply because they would accept the meager salaries offered. Local school boards turned a blind eye to their lack of training.

That pressure continued to build, and received further impetus in 1892 when the University of Idaho greeted its first students [blog, Oct 3]. The public school system failed to provide even one student who was qualified to begin college-level classes. (The University would continue to offer prep-school classes for over twenty years.)

Thus, the 1893 Idaho legislature authorized a Normal school in Lewiston: “Normal” schools taught the “norms and standards” of primary-school teaching. To gain support from the southern counties, that same session authorized a Normal school in Albion. Neither school, however, received any state funding at that time.

Anxious to exploit the opportunity, Lewistonians donated some mostly-vacant land on the hill that overlooked the town itself. Then private citizens dug into their own pockets for some early planning and site preparation. However, not until 1895 did the legislature issue bonds to fund construction, and the building was not completed until May of the following year.

Lewiston State Normal School, ca 1898.
Idaho State Historical Society.

While they waited for their building, school administrators leased the second floor of a store in town and remodeled it into space suitable for Normal school classes. It was here the three faculty members, two men and a woman, greeted 46 students on January 6. Between them, the three taught a basic curriculum: English, Latin, history, civics, physiology, commercial arithmetic, mathematics, elocution, pedagogy, commercial law, and physical education.

Soon, the Normal School’s graduates were spread all over the state. They had to be well prepared with a broad and thorough education. Until the 1920s, one-room schools served well over half of Idaho’s primary students. In those districts, the lone Lewiston (or Albion) Normal-trained teacher was often the only person who actually knew how a school should be set up and run.

However, in the late 1920s the “Normal School” concept began to give way to a new “teacher's college” approach – and that initiated a new phase in the history of the Lewiston institution.

References: [French], [Hawley]

Keith C. Petersen, Educating in the American West: One Hundred Years at Lewis-Clark State College, 1893-1993, Confluence Press, Lewiston, Idaho (© Lewis-Clark State College, 1993).

Silver City Merchant and Postmaster M. M. Getchell [otd 1/5]

2012-01-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

Meserve Getchell.
Directory of Owyhee County.

On January 5, 1868, Postmaster Meserve M. Getchell was born in Baring, Maine, on the Canadian border and perhaps 25 miles inland from the Bay of Fundy. Mr. Getchell had a distinguished ancestry: his great-grandfather fought in the American Revolution and his mother was a Mayflower descendant.

He grew up on a farm, then found work in a sawmill as a teenager. Wanting something better, he clerked for a short while, then moved south into New Hampshire. After less than a year of working in a shoe factory, he decided to head west.

Getchell arrived in Silver City during the summer of 1889. By then, both mining and stock raising drove the economy of Owyhee County; Silver City was a thriving community. Meserve landed a job as a clerk in the drug store and also assisted an uncle at the post office. Late that year, the uncle bought the Idaho Hotel and Getchell took a position as clerk there.

Around 1892-1893, Meserve herded sheep on range north of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. (Records don’t say, but it’s possible Getchell’s uncle received a flock in the transaction for the hotel.) He then returned to Silver City and worked in a mill while also helping out at his uncle’s hotel.

In late 1893, Meserve received a temporary appointment to fill the postmaster’s position in Silver City. The following year, President Grover Cleveland made the appointment official for a full term. Meserve had clearly done a fine job: Cleveland, a Democrat, would not ordinarily appoint a staunch Republican to such a position. (Meserve later served as chairman of the Republican Central Committee for Owyhee County.)

Silver City Post Office, Courthouse next door.
Directory of Owyhee County.

Not content with just the postal business, Getchell stocked his shop with candy, tobacco products, stationery, and other notions. He also hired his younger brother Asher to help with the operation. In 1897, President William McKinley, a Republican, appointed Meserve for another term as postmaster

The following year, Meserve also became part owner of the Idaho Hotel. He had to find new help at the post office shop, since Asher went to work in the drug store. In fact, Asher remained in the drugstore business for over thirty years, including stays in Boise City and then Twin Falls.

Meserve married in 1891, but their one child died in 1893 and his wife passed away four years later. He remarried in 1898. Mining around Silver City peaked about 1900 and then began a steady decline. Most of the mines would be closed by 1912. Before 1910, the Getchells – Meserve, his wife, and two daughters – had moved to Seattle, where they made a home for Getchell’s parents.

Meserve was president of a sand and gravel business in the Seattle area. He would remain there until his death in January 1923.

References: [Illust-State]

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

“Owyhee County,” Reference Series No. 336, Idaho State Historical Society.

Major Fire Devastates Town of Wardner [otd 1/4]

2012-01-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

On January 4, 1890, a major fire broke out in a laundry behind a popular restaurant in the town of Wardner, Idaho. The small fire department and “hundreds” of volunteers responded quickly, but for some reason they did not have enough water available to check the flames. This being the dead of winter, firefighters heaved snow as fast as they could. Unfortunately, that failed to stop the fire, which continued for four hours.

Mining Town Fire damage, 1893. National Archives.

Named for railroad executive James F. Wardner, the town owed its existence to the discovery of rich lead-silver lodes in the fall of 1885. Over the next two or three years, it experienced “phenomenal growth,” especially after developers ran a rail line into the mining area. In 1888, new telephone lines connected Wardner to the outside world, encouraging further expansion.

Witnesses said the fire moved rather slowly along the block after the laundry and restaurant became fully involved. (Later, this invoked bitter complaints that even a moderate improvement in the water supply would have allowed the volunteers to stop the fire’s spread.) After consuming several business structures, the flames ate through the telephone office and then a connected block of four buildings.

Citizen had battled the fire for hours, yet now the flames began to threaten the main business district. Desperate, firefighters used “giant powder” to blast a substantial hotel and several nearby structures, but even that failed. They backed off again and totally demolished another large mercantile store, which finally provided a large enough gap to halt the flames.

The fire and counter-measures destroyed four large buildings, including the three-story Grand Central Hotel. Eighteen smaller office buildings and stores – including a jewelry, cigar emporium, barber shop, and tailor’s suite – were also lost. In addition to the telephone facility, the post office went up in smoke (officials did manage to save the mail itself, apparently). Last but not least, the town lost two restaurants and four drinking establishments.

Wardner, 1904. Kellogg in the distance. U.S. Geological Survey.

With regional mines booming, locals quickly replaced the losses. The 1890 U.S. Census enumerated about 860 people in Wardner, out of a total Shoshone County population of 5,882. The town continued to grow through the following decade, despite on-going labor-management disputes and violence [blog, Apr 29], and dips in metal prices.

Published in 1903, the Illustrated History of North Idaho proclaimed, “At this writing. conditions in the Coeur d'Alene country are quite favorable. All the mines are at work in full blast; the relations between the employers of labor and their employees are, perhaps, as pleasant as they have ever been in the district; … and the rate of output is greater than ever before.”

Of course, that did not last. Today, Wardner does not exist as a town. It is simply a residential adjunct to Kellogg, and tourism largely drives the rather weak local economy.

References: [Hawley], [Illust-North]

Businessman Peter Sonna Dedicates an Opera House for Boise City [otd 01/03]

2012-01-03T01:07:00.004-07:00

On January 3, 1889, the Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise City, Idaho, headlined, “Dedication of the New Opera House under the auspices of the Boise City Board of Trade … ” The article went on, “The dedication … will take place in the above opera house, in Sonna’s new block … ”

Sonna Building. Boise Architectural Project.

The location reference was to a large construction project financed and planned by businessman Peter Sonna.

Born in New York City in November 1835, Sonna followed the gold rush to California when he was a teenager. He remained a miner through 1862, prospecting successively in California, northern Idaho, and the Boise Basin. In 1863, he moved to Boise City and opened a hardware and general merchandise store.

By 1888, Sonna was a prominent leader in the Boise business community. That year, he began construction of a large project anchored at the corner of 9th and Main. The Peter Sonna Hardware Company occupied the ground floor. The second floor became the opera house – the first in Boise City – dedicated on January 3rd.

James A. Pinney, owner of a bookstore and a theater enthusiast [blog, Sept 29], served as first manager of the new opera house. The night after the dedication, the theater offered its first shows: “The brilliant social drama ‘Noemie’ … and “the laughable farce ‘Turn Him Out’.” During the following summer, Sonna and Pinney expanded the seating capacity to about 800 viewers and corrected some “slight acoustic defects.”

Mayor Sonna. City of Boise.

Three years after the dedication, Pinney built his own pavilion, the Columbia Theater. For over a decade, Sonna’s venue and the Columbia would be the main entertainment competition in Boise. In 1901, alterations raised the roof of the opera house about eight feet, and expanded to a seating capacity of a thousand. The following year, the Statesman reported that, “A new system of lighting, including several elaborate electric chandeliers, is being installed.”

In the years from 1891 through 1895, Sonna continued to add onto his structure, expanding the store floor space. He may have also added offices to the structure. In 1893, Sonna was elected to a term as Boise City Mayor.

In 1903, new managers leased the facility and tried to establish its name as the “Raymond Opera House.” Although their official news releases used that name, many people still knew it under the Sonna designation. In 1904, the Raymond announced (Statesman, January 31, 1904) that “by special request, a matinee and night performance of the scenic production, ‘A Nut-Meg Match,’ will be given.”

Then, according to Peter Sonna’s obituary, in the latter part of 1905, “the theatre was taken out of the corner building, and a third story added to conform to the rest of the block.”

Sonna died in July 1907. Within a few years, new owners converted the large store expanse into several smaller shops and restaurants. The rest of the structure became office space.

In 1976, developers had the façade remodeled to present a uniform appearance to the street. Today, the building is considered prime downtown real estate.

References: “Boise’s Progress,” Idaho Statesman, Boise (January 3, 1889).

Multiple relevant articles: Idaho Statesman (Dec 5, 1901 - July 10, 1907).

“Peter Sonna – November 22, 1835-July 9, 1907,” Reference Series No. 598, Idaho State Historical Society (1981).

Samantha Winkle, “Sonna Building,” Boise Architecture Project, online (2009).

Boise Developers and Patrons Thomas J. Davis and Wife Julia [otd 01/02]

2012-01-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

T. J. Davis. J. H. Hawley.

On January 2, 1838, Boise pioneer Thomas Jefferson Davis was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father died when Thomas was a boy, so he and a brother were indentured to an Illinois farmer. According to Hawley’s History, in 1861 the farmer rewarded their years of labor by outfitting them for a trip to the Idaho gold fields.

Unscrupulous guides led their wagon train into impossible country in the Lemhi area. The scammers hoped the party would abandon their vehicles and supplies, or sell them for a pittance. Instead, the angry gold-seekers loaded what they could onto the draft animals and burned everything else. After considerable hardship, they found their way to Elk City.

However, by the time they arrived, the “bloom” had gone off the North Idaho rush. Thus, after a brief period in Washington and Oregon, Davis headed for Idaho City. He prospected “with fair results,” but decided that supplying the miners offered more certain returns. In late 1862, he moved to Boise City, where he made his home for the rest of his life.

Over the next several years, Davis prospered by raising and selling vegetables and fruit locally and in the mining districts. The apple orchard he planted in 1864 returned substantial profits for some 35 years before the groves gave way to urban growth.

He also branched out into stock raising. His cowboys herded horses across ranges from near the Snake River all the way into Nevada. They kept his fine herd of Hereford cattle on pastures southeast of Boise City. Ahead of his time, Davis also owned several hundred acres of winter forage land in the Boise Valley and the hills further north. He not only fed his own herds, he supplied the Army at Fort Boise.

A strong Boise City booster, Thomas owned considerable real estate, was partner in a large mercantile store, held stock in at least two banks, and had many other investments in and around the city. A leader in the state Republican Party, Davis chose not to run for public office himself.

Julia Davis. J. H. Hawley.

Still, Davis was more than just a man of affairs. He loved music, played the violin, and served in the Boise City band in the early days. In April 1871, he married Julia McCrumb, a native of Ontario, Canada and niece of an Army surgeon stationed at Fort Boise. She became renowned as a gracious hostess and warm “greeter” to Boise newcomers. In her name, Tom Davis bequeathed a grand legacy to the city of Boise.

After she died, in September 1907, Davis gave a tract of land along the Boise River to the city. He stipulated that the bequest should be maintained as a public area under the name Julia Davis Park. He survived his wife by less than nine months. Today Julia Davis Park – now more than doubled in size – is the crown jewel of Boise’s extensive system of public spaces.

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

Julia Davis Park, CityofBoise.org

Snake Brigade Leader Peter Ogden Laments Fur Trade Deaths [otd 01/01]

2012-01-01T01:05:00.000-07:00

Peter Skene Ogden.
Oregon Historical Society.

On New Year's Day, 1829, Peter Skene Ogden wrote in his journal, “One of the trappers left in charge of the sick man arrived with his horse fatigued and informed me that our sick man, Joseph Paul, died 8 days after we left, suffering most severely.”

Ogden was then leader of the Snake Brigade, a band of trappers and support personnel working for the British-Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). They had encamped in northern Utah or southern Idaho. The exact location is unclear, but over the following two weeks they moved by stages onto Idaho’s Portneuf River.

Born in Quebec in 1790, Ogden had around twenty years experience in the fur trade. His career had blossomed, starting in 1809 with his apprenticeship as a clerk for the North West Company (NWC). The job brought out the best … and the worst … in the young man. His good head for the trade, natural aptitude for Native languages, and boundless energy fueled a rapid rise in the company.

However, the youthful Ogden also possessed a considerable temper, with a penchant for violence. The frontier environment allowed those tendencies free rein. At that time, the NWC was engaged in a bitter trade war with the older HBC. Ogden “made an example of” – executed – an Indian who had traded with their rival. With an indictment for murder in the works, the company transferred Ogden further west.

In 1821, the British government forced a merger of the two companies, after which most records refer to the more familiar HBC. Ogden did some fast talking to retain a position with the merged firm. Fortunately, the company decided they couldn’t afford to lose a man with his valuable experience and skills. Three years later, he assumed command of the Snake Brigade. Over the next five years, the Brigade explored and trapped watersheds in Idaho, every adjoining state, and even Northern California.

On this particular trip, they had traveled along the Humboldt River in Nevada and into Utah. A few days earlier, Ogden wrote, “Had a distant view of Great Salt Lake. Heavy fogs around it.”

Idaho mountain vista from north-central Utah.

From there, the Brigade had turned north toward Idaho. After mulling over Joseph Paul’s death, Ogden observed that, “there remains now only one man” out of all those who had been part of the Brigade back in 1819. He went on, “All have been killed – with the exception of 2 who died a natural death – and are scattered over the Snake Country. It is incredible the number that have fallen in this country.”

The Brigade’s 1828-29 hunt was moderately successful: Ogden said, “We have no cause to complain of our returns.” However, HBC management knew all too well how the dangerous and grueling work could wear a man down. The following summer, they gave Ogden another posting and assigned John Work to lead the Brigade [blog, Oct 23].

References: [B&W]

Peter Skene Ogden, T. C. Elliott (Ed.), “Peter Skene Ogden’s Journal - Snake Expeditions,” Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society (1910).

Mining Investor, Legislator, and Federal Marshal James Crutcher [otd 12/31]

2011-12-31T01:06:00.000-07:00

James Crutcher. Illustrated History.

On December 31, 1835, U. S. Marshal James I. Crutcher was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, east of Louisville. In 1860, James followed the rush to the gold fields of Colorado. After two years there, he tried his luck in Elk City, Idaho. Crutcher spent a few months there, made a quick trip into Oregon, and then returned to settle in the Boise Basin.

In 1865, Boise County voters elected him county sheriff. At that time, the county jail also served as the Territorial Prison. Crutcher had occasion to comment on the severe deficiencies of that facility: “The ventilation is so defective that during the summer season, the prisoners are necessarily allowed the freedom of the yard during the greater portion of the day, and complain of the oppressiveness of the heat at night.”

Crutcher was sheriff during the excitement that followed the shooting of Union man Sumner Pinkham by Confederate sympathizer Ferd Patterson [blog, Jul 23]. Whatever his personal views, Crutcher’s job was to uphold the law, and he stood off a band of Pinkham’s friends who wanted to lynch Patterson.

After his time as sheriff, he returned to his mining interests, eventually holding investments in “various mines which have yielded him good returns.”

In 1870, James became involved in a nasty split in Democratic Party ranks. A prominent lawyer who had previously served as Delegate to the U. S. Congress led one faction. Crutcher was part of an opposing group. Leaders finally agreed to fill the electoral ticket with an equal number of candidates from the two factions.

Crutcher, the party nominee for county sheriff, was the only man not elected. The disagreement escalated to violence in June 1870, when Crutcher’s brother-in-law shot the lawyer in a gunfight. Western code duello “rules” prevailed and a court released the shooter.

Between then and 1875, James moved his family (he married in 1865) to Silver City and established mine holdings there. Crutcher also remained active in public affairs. He represented Owyhee County in the 1886 Territorial Council, and was among the delegates who gathered in Boise in 1889 to frame a proposed state constitution.

Downtown Boise, 1900. Idaho State Historical Society.

In 1894, Crutcher was appointed U. S. Marshal for the new state of Idaho. At that time, he moved his family to Boise. He also established his primary business interests in that city.

Over the years, James and his wife, Adelma, had four children, none of whom survived to carry on the family line. When their last daughter died at age twelve, the Daily Capital said (January 3, 1899), “In any form and at any time the angel of death is most unwelcome; but when he enters the home and strikes down the young, the talented, the lovable, … then, indeed, he seems most cruel.”

James passed away in March 1915, while the much beloved “Auntie Crutcher” died in 1926.

References: [Illust-State]

James H. Hawley, Tenth Biennial Report of the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Idaho, Boise (1926).

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

“Poor Law Legislation,” Reference Series No. 151, Idaho State Historical Society.

Ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg Assassinated, Fire Destroys Post Falls Sawmill [otd 12/30]

2011-12-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Governor Steunenberg. University of Utah.

On December 30, 1905, an assassin’s bomb murdered former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. The resulting investigation, arrests, and trials had worldwide significance in the management-labor conflicts of the time.

Labor union support helped elect Steunenberg to two consecutive terms as governor. However, when union activists blew up the ore mill at Wardner and two men were killed [blog, Apr 29], the governor declared martial law. Union thug Harry Orchard planted the 1905 bomb to punish Steunenberg for what the unions considered his “betrayal.”

Authorities soon captured Orchard and he confessed to the deed. Prosecutors then tried to convict union leaders as instigators of the crime. This led to a sensational face-off in court between the celebrated Clarence Darrow for the defense and attorney William E. Borah [blog, Jun 29], soon to be famous in the U. S. Senate as the “Lion of Idaho.” The State’s case depended largely upon the tainted testimony of the bomber Orchard … and failed. Orchard “got off” with a sentence of life in prison.

For an exhaustive treatment of this incident, consult the linked blog that specializes in that topic: “Idaho Meanderings: Steunenberg, Trial of the Century, Labor, Legal, Political History.”

The episode was also the subject of the book: J. Anthony Lukas, Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America, Simon & Schuster (1998).

Post Falls sawmill, early 1900s.
North Idaho Museum.

On December 30, 1902, the sawmill that formed the centerpiece for the town of Post Falls, Idaho, was destroyed by fire. The Illustrated History observed, “As an evidence of the importance of the mill as a factor in the prosperity of the town it may be stated that at the time of the fire Post Falls had a population of six hundred. Two months later the population was but little more that half that number.”

In 1871, German emigrant Frederick Post acquired land at these Spokane River falls from the Coeur d'Alene Indians. He concentrated on other interests until 1880, and then built the Post Falls sawmill. Post leased the mill to other operators, ran it himself from 1886 to 1889, then leased it again.

As the mill prospered, the area grew, with enough settlement to support a general store and a school (built in 1888). Commissioners incorporated the town of Post Falls in 1891. Post finally sold the sawmill property in 1894. At the time of the fire, the mill belonged to the Idaho Lumber & Manufacturing Company.

Of course, Post Falls was an ideal location for a sawmill to process the region’s timber resources; the facility was soon rebuilt. The Falls also provided a prime setting for irrigation and power dams. Before the end of the decade, dams blocked each of the three natural river channels.

The local utility says the dams “currently provide a combined 14.75 megawatts of electricity.” With average household usage, that would supply about half the power required by the town.

References: [French], [Hawley], [Illust-North]

Moses Goodwin: Pioneer Builder, Mine Operator, Rancher and More [otd 12/29]

2011-12-29T01:15:00.000-07:00

Moses Hubbard Goodwin, pioneer builder, mine operator, rancher, and lumber man, was born December 29, 1834 in Waldo County, Maine, northwest of Penobscot Bay. His grandfather, Aaron, was a ship’s boy on the USS Bonhomme Richard under Captain John Paul Jones.

Moses learned the carpenter’s trade and worked first in Boston and then in Minnesota. From there, he moved on to Mississippi. Moses stayed there until the Civil War broke out and authorities attempted to draft him into the Confederate Army.

Back in the north, he contracted a bad cold. Hoping the “salubrious” climate of California would clear his lungs of the lingering illness, Moses booked sea passage there in late 1861. The change did help, and he was again able to work. The following spring, he chased rumors of fabulous gold strikes in Oregon. Finding the claims vastly over-blown, he took a job in a shipyard, helping build steamers for the river trade.

Pioneerville, ca 1875. Idaho State Historical Society.

Two years later, Goodwin again followed gold rush reports, this time into the Boise Basin. These stories were true and he prospected for awhile. However, he soon found he could do far better practicing his trade. Moses helped build a mill for the Mammoth Mine, near Pioneerville. He also built other mining and mill structures as well as the first large water wheel in the Territory.

From 1865-1867, Moses served as Superintendent of the Mammoth mill. He then became part owner of the facility and stayed on for another five years. However, the rigors of high altitude living brought on a relapse of his lung problem, so he liquidated his holdings and bought a ranch in the Payette Valley. He devoted some of his property to farming, but also apparently bought a considerable herd of cattle. Along with ranching, Moses did some building in the area.

Sawmill near the Boise River. Idaho State Historical Society.

During the national Centennial year, Goodwin traveled east with a new bride to visit family and attend the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Back in Idaho, he settled in Boise City, where he entered the lumber business. By the mid-1880s, he owned a water-powered sawmill and planing machine. For a number of years, he was the only manufacturer of doors, sashes and blinds in the Boise City area.

Moses took an active interest in politics, mainly as a Republican, but with a very independent attitude. In 1884 and again two years later, he served in the Territorial Legislature. During his terms in the House, that body authorized the construction of a new capitol building and an insane asylum, and created the office of Attorney General. Goodwin also served on the Ada County Board of Commissioners, at times as its chairman.

In 1903, Moses sold most of his lumber milling and planing properties, retaining only an investment interest. He did operate a retail lumber yard in the city until 1911, when he retired completely. He died suddenly in October 1912.

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

John Henry Sherburne, Life and character of the Chevalier John Paul Jones, Vanderpool & Cole, New York (1825).

Award-Winning Children’s Author Carol Ryrie Brink [otd 12/28]

2011-12-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

Author Brink. Publisher photo.

Writer Caroline Ryrie was born December 28, 1895 in Moscow, Idaho. Misfortune dimmed her early years. When she was five, her father died of tuberculosis.

The following year, her maternal grandfather, Dr. William W. Watkins, was shot to death on the streets of Moscow. Watkins was the first President of the Idaho State Medical Society, and I mentioned his murder in my blog about the Society [Sept 12]. That killing, plus a failed second marriage, was blamed for the suicide of Caroline’s mother in 1904.

Grandmother Watkins raised Carol, and gifted the budding writer with a love of storytelling and reminiscences of her own childhood on the Wisconsin frontier. Carol first wrote for herself and then published stories in a high school magazine. In 1914, she entered the University of Idaho (UI), where she worked on the Argonaut, the student newspaper. She also wrote several plays for student production.

However, after three years there, Carol decided Moscow and the University were “too small,” and transferred to the University of California – Berkeley. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Berkeley in 1918, and shortly thereafter married Raymond Brink, a University of Minnesota mathematics professor.

Brink had been an Instructor at the UI Preparatory School starting in 1909. It’s unclear whether or not Carol took high school classes at the Prep, but they evidently became friends at that time. By the time they married, Raymond had completed a Ph.D. and spent a year in France. Except for Raymond’s two sabbaticals in France and a one-year lectureship in Edinburgh, they lived in Minnesota until his retirement.

The couple had a boy and a girl, and Carol eventually began to write stories for children. She had to make time to write, she said, “sometimes at the kitchen sink, on the end of the ironing board, or when the children were in bed.”

Her first published book, Anything Can Happen on the River, released in 1934, benefited from her experiences during one of the family’s visits to France. Her second book, Caddie Woodlawn, in 1936, grew from her grandmother’s stories about early Wisconsin. That book won a Newbery Medal, awarded to outstanding works of children’s literature.

Three of her children’s books – All Over Town (1939), Two are Better Than One (1968) and Louly (1974) – hark back to her early life in small-town Idaho. She also wrote a trilogy of Idaho-based adult novels as well as a nonfiction reminiscence. One of the novels, Buffalo Coat (1944), includes a character loosely based on her murdered Grandfather Watkins.

They moved to La Jolla, California around 1960. Raymond passed away there in 1973, Carol in 1981. All told, Carol published about thirty books during her career, most of them novels. About a third of them have been reprinted or are readily available today in used form.

She received many awards and honors besides the Newbery – including an honorary Doctorate from the University of Idaho in 1965.

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

Bernice E. Cullinan, Diane Goetz Person, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature, The Continuum International Publishing Group, New York (2005).

Eighteenth Annual Catalogue of the University of Idaho, 1909-1910, Tribune Publishing Company, Lewiston Idaho.

J. M. H. Olmsted, “R. W. Brink – An Obituary,” American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 81, No. 8) (Oct 1974), pp. 873-875.

People and Places of Buffalo Coat, Latah County Historical Society (online).

Mary E. Reed, Carol Ryrie Brink, Western Writers Series, Boise State University (1991).

New Home Dedicated for Neglected Children in Boise [otd 12/27]

2011-12-27T01:14:00.001-07:00

On December 27, 1910, a new, larger building was dedicated for use by the Children’s Home Finding and Aid Society. This ceremony was the culmination of over three years of effort, and continued a tradition that went back over half a century.

Children’s Home. ca. 1918. J. H. Hawley.

Records as far back as 1660 in Massachusetts describe how governments in the U.S. grappled with the problem of orphans and other homeless children. Orphanages proved costly and not very effective. In 1853, New York tried a new way to avoid institutionalization: a “placing-out” approach where neglected children ended up in foster homes.

Over the next half century, “children’s aid” and “home finding” societies grew up all over the country. For the approach to work, of course, these organizations needed a residence where the children could live until they were placed in foster homes … or longer if they could not be placed.

The movement came to Idaho in 1907, when a national “children’s home-finding” society asked the governor if such an organization could be established in the state. The governor responded enthusiastically and put the representative in touch with potential donors. That led to the first tangible step toward a Home when Mrs. Cynthia A. Mann donated a block of land on Boise’s Warm Springs Avenue.

However, a cottage opened in May 1908 proved inadequate. So the state appropriated $20 thousand to help, with the stipulation that the organizers also come up with that amount. A fund-raising campaign allowed them to match the grant. The Society considered the structure dedicated in 1910 to be ideal for their needs. It was made largely of stone with an interior constructed of the best available fire-resistant materials.

The second floor contained separate dormitory rooms for boys and girls. These were large, bright with natural sunlight, and designed for good ventilation. This floor also housed a nursery for the youngest children. Quarters for the immediate caring staff were also located nearby on the second floor, along with medical facilities. The first floor contained administrative offices, some apartments, a large kitchen, and the dining hall.

Besides orphaned and abandoned children, the Home provided a refuge for youngsters from families unable to care for them … due to unemployment, sickness, catastrophic emergency, or whatever. Mostly, the Society hoped that the families could regain a stable environment and recover their children.

National legislative changes in 1966 mandated a new foster care approach and made orphanages obsolete. The Children’s Home arranged its last adoption in 1968. Rather than disband, the Society recreated itself as a source of affordable behavioral health services to families and individuals.

Main building, Children's Home Society.

Today, the private, non-profit Children’s Home Society still provides those services as well as training professionals in the behavioral health fields. Besides family and individual counseling, they work to ease the transition into foster care, matching the child’s background and needs to an appropriate family.

References: [French], [Hawley]

Hastings Hornell Hart, Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children, Russell Sage Foundation, New York (1910).

Canal Builder and Idaho Falls Mayor Joseph Clark [otd 12/26]

2011-12-26T01:04:00.000-07:00

Mayor Clark. Idaho Falls Post-Register.

On December 26, 1837, future Idaho Falls Mayor Joseph A. Clark was born in North Carolina. The family owned slaves, but Joseph’s father so opposed the institution that he freed them and later moved the family to Indiana. After graduating from a small Indiana college in 1862, Joseph began a career as a civil engineer.

Starting in 1872, Joseph served five consecutive terms (10 years) as county Surveyor for Hendricks County, Indiana (west of Indianapolis). Then, in 1885, he and his family moved to (then) Eagle Rock, Idaho. At that time, stock raising far surpassed crop production in the area.

When Clark arrived, a number of cooperatives and private companies were trying to expand regional canal systems to allow greater irrigated agriculture. Joseph found work there and also, in 1887, received a contract from the U. S. General Land Office to survey portions of the Lemhi and Nez Percé Indian reservations.

By the late 1880s, several larger canals systems had been built and much more extensive acreage came into production. In 1891, land developers/speculators led a successful campaign to change the town’s name to Idaho Falls. Their promotions were indeed successful in attracting more settlers.

Among the newcomers were farmers who founded New Sweden to the west of Idaho Falls. They then constructed a considerable canal system there, and established the first formal Irrigation District in the Upper Snake River valley. Clark was one of the principles in the construction of the Great Feeder Canal, which delivered its first water in the summer of 1895. The Feeder and its auxiliary canals eventually became the largest irrigation system in the Upper valley.

Great Western Canal construction.
Bonneville County Historical Society.

By 1897, irrigators were operating over 500 miles of major canals in Bingham County alone. (At that time Bingham encompassed today’s Bingham and Bonneville counties.) Besides his investments in canal projects, Clark also operated an Idaho Falls mercantile store.

In 1899, the village Board elected Joseph as its chairman. A year later Idaho Falls qualified as a “city of the second class” – a designation primarily based on population. Clark was then elected as the city’s first mayor.

For several years before that, ambitious developers had tried to promote an electrical power system for the growing city. Clark had been one of the most active backers of the idea. Finally, he and other advocates persuaded voters to pass a bond election for a municipal power plant. As a result, a hydro-power plant soon went into operation [blog, Oct 22].

Joseph left office in 1902. Meanwhile the city continued to grow: The Oregon Shore Line railroad built a new station, some streets were paved, two new banks opened, and the main city school was expanded.

Clark passed away in September, 1905. Two of his sons – Nathan and Barzilla – would later serve as mayors of Idaho Falls, Barzilla serving twice. Barzilla and a third son, Chase, each served a term as Idaho governor.

References: [Illust-State]

Annual Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the Year 1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. (1887).

Mary Jane Fritzen, Idaho Falls, City of Destiny, Bonneville County Historical Society, Idaho Falls (1991).

“Golden Jubilee Edition, 1884–1934,” Idaho Falls Post-Register (September 10, 1934).

John V. Hadley (Ed.), History of Hendricks County, Indiana … , B. F. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, Indiana (1914).

Civil Engineer and Western Dam Builder John Savage [otd 12/25]

2011-12-25T01:01:00.000-07:00

Jack Savage. National Academy of Sciences.

On December 25, 1879, world-renowned civil engineer John Lucian Savage was born on a farm about twenty miles south of Madison, Wisconsin. After graduating from Madison High School, “Jack” enrolled at the University of Wisconsin. During two summers while he was in school, he worked as a draftsman for the U. S. Geological Survey.

Jack graduated in 1903 and was offered a teaching position at Purdue University. More interested in field work, he joined the U. S. Reclamation Service, Idaho Division. In that capacity he worked on the Minidoka Dam project, beginning in 1904. Savage also provided engineering input for diversion dams and canals in the Boise and Payette river watersheds.

Jack’s work along the Snake River provided immense satisfaction for the young engineer. The Service’s projects brought water to the land. And with water, Jack said, “Farmers moved in to work the soil. Crops grew. Then came villages and towns. That's why I think this is the happiest, most thrilling work in the world.”

Impressed with prospects in Idaho, he left the Reclamation Service in 1908 and went into consulting work in Boise. While there he participated in projects all over the southern half of the state: Salmon River Dam, canals near Twin Falls, Swan Falls power plant, American Falls, and the Arrowrock Dam on the Boise River. He also found time to develop a farm and ranch near Nampa.

While the consulting was lucrative, by 1918 Jack had apparently decided he wanted to work on more challenging projects. He therefore accepted a position as Design Engineer back in the Reclamation Service (the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation after 1923). In 1924, he became Chief Design Engineer, with responsibility for all civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering designs.

Hoover Dam, 1942. Ansel Adams photo, National Archives.

For over twenty years, Savage contributed to most of the famous western water projects of the era: Hoover Dam, Parker Dam on the Arizona-California border, Shasta Dam, the All-American Canal that irrigates California’s Imperial Valley, and Grand Coulee Dam. He was also involved with many other lesser-known projects

Experienced co-workers admired his remarkable design skills and engineering insights. Yet Jack always deflected that kind of attention and insisted that “important developments are accomplished by the joint efforts of a large number of engineers and not alone by any individual.”

Such was his reputation that other governments asked him to consult. He helped with actual or proposed projects in Mexico, Australia, Israel, Afghanistan, India, China, and at least a dozen other countries. These tasks continued after his retirement from the Bureau in 1945. Although he never sought personal recognition, he won it anyway: several Gold Medal engineering awards, elected into at least two different Halls of Fame, numerous Honorary memberships, three Honorary Doctorates, and more.

At some point in his career Jack moved to Colorado, his home base until his death in December 1967.

References: [French]

Abel Wolman, W. H. Lyles, John Lucian Savage: 1879 - 1967, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C. (1978).

Murray Newspaperman and Developer Adam Aulbach [otd 12/24]

2011-12-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

Prominent Murray, Idaho newspaperman Adam Aulbach was born December 24, 1846 in Belleville, Illinois, 4-5 miles southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. He started early in the newspaper business, first in Belleville and then with the St. Louis Republican. In 1863, he and four other young men headed west with a wagon train.

Murray, Idaho, ca 1888. The Sprag Pole Inn and Museum, Murray.

For a year or so, he prospected in the Montana gold fields. The Illustrated History noted that he served with the Vigilance Committees there, and Aulbach never denied his involvement. In 1864, he enlisted in the First Nevada Cavalry, and served for two years.

Adam then worked for newspapers in Salt Lake City and Corinne, Utah before moving on to the San Francisco Chronicle. Aulbach bounced around the west for a time after that and then spent a year or so in the East. While there, he added stints at the Philadelphia Record and New York Herald to his resume.

In 1884, Aulbach established a newspaper in Belknap, Montana – a Northern Pacific Railway station along the Clark Fork. Most of his news concerned the mining boom in the Coeur d’Alenes of Idaho. So, during the summer, he hauled the whole outfit into Murray [blog, Mar 5] on the backs of forty-five mules. The town, located on Prichard Creek about 12 miles north of Wallace, was then only a few months old. He published the first issue of the Idaho Sun on July 8, 1864. The following year he changed the name to the Coeur d'Alene Sun.

Over the next five years or so, he started or purchased newspapers in Wardner, Wallace, Mullan, and Burke. In mid-1890, Aulbach leased the Sun to focus on the Wallace Press. The Sun limped along and was suspended for six months until Adam returned to Murray in late 1892. The Sun ceased publication for good in 1912.

Aulbach served in the state legislature for a time and also branched into other endeavors. The 1903 Illustrated History said that he, “owns the Murray water plant and has heavy interests in mining, and is one of the leaders of the county.”

Aulbach reminiscing for chronicler Rickard.

He was still there in 1919, when the bloom had gone off the mines and the Murray economy was “dependent upon the operations of a single dredge.” Reporter Thomas Rickard wrote, “He is one of the few pioneers surviving in honorable circumstance, and despite his 73 years of action, continues to take an energetic part in all movements for the public good … ”

Many years later, people in the region still remembered him: The Spokane Chronicle announced (Nov 28, 1932), “Adam Aulbach, editor and mining man of the Coeur d’Alenes, is being invited to be the guest of the Northwest Mining association on the first day of the annual mining convention.”

Aulbach passed away about seven months after the meeting.

References: [Illust-North]

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

“Invite Aulbach to Mining Meet,” Spokane Chronicle (Nov 28, 1932).

Thomas Arthur Rickard, The Bunker Hill Enterprise, Mining & Scientific Press, San Francisco (1921).

Kidnapping and Murder in the Coeur d'Alene Mining Districts [otd 12/23]

2011-12-23T01:08:00.000-07:00

On the evening of December 23, 1897, “persons unknown” kidnapped mine foreman Fred D. Whitney from his apartment in Frisco, about four miles northeast of Wallace, Idaho. Then he apparently broke for freedom and the abductors shot him. Whitney died two days later.

Frisco, ca 1897.
University of Idaho Special Collections.

The Coeur d’Alene mining district experienced considerable labor unrest during the 1890’s. Lode mining for silver and lead involves brutally difficult and dangerous labor, with constant threats from cave-ins, flooding, and other hazards. Union organizers thus found fertile ground for their recruiting efforts.

Unfortunately, the great silver discoveries in the Coeur d’Alene region generally coincided with a gradual depression in silver prices. Ironically, the large production from those mines contributed to the slump. Mine owners naturally sought wage concessions, which fueled the militancy of the unions. This was, unfortunately, a period of intense labor-management strife anyway. Radical unionists faced off against equally intransigent owners, and both ignored the “voice of reason.”

The first widespread dispute in the Coeur d’Alene region occurred in July 1891. Miners were already paying monthly “hospital dues” – a health care fee. They demanded the right to designate which institution received those funds, rather letting the companies make that decision. It does not appear they particularly distrusted the choices the owners might make, they simply wanted the freedom to choose … and they won on that issue.

Events turned more serious the following year. To offset higher freight rates imposed by the railroads, owners announced a lower wage scale for some types of workers. When the unions went out on strike, the companies imported replacements. That clash escalated to violence that resulted in the deaths of six men [blog, July 11]. Subsequent talks reached an uneasy settlement, but confrontations and intimidation continued.

As often happened, a three-way clash developed, with non-union workers (“defectors” or imports) adding to the volatile tension between union workers and company representatives.

Ore Mill, Coeur d’Alene mining district, ca 1898.
Illustrated History of the State of Idaho.

In 1894, a band of radical unionists – as many as forty men, by some reports – threatened a supervisor, a foreman, and two other men who were apparently suspected of being in league with the company. The group ordered the four to leave the country and, to back up their threat, they murdered one John Kneebone. Kneebone was supposedly viewed as a turncoat by the union men. No one was ever arrested or charged for that killing.

It is not known why the band of kidnappers targeted Fred Whitney in 1897; he was a union member himself. As foreman he had virtually no say in setting wages. (In the heated atmosphere of the times, it might even have been a personal vendetta, with little connection to the “big issues.”) Despite $17 thousand in aggregate rewards offered, the killers were never identified.

Nor was this the end of the strife: Two years later, the area experienced yet more violence [blog, Apr 29].

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

Idaho Counties and Districts Adjusted After Creation of Montana Territory [otd 12/22]

2011-12-22T01:05:00.000-07:00

On December 22, 1864, the government of Idaho made multiple adjustments to the legislative districts and county structure of the Territory. These changes accounted for the fact that, in May, Congress had removed the region north of the Bitterroot Valley and east of the Continental Divide from the original Idaho Territory.

Original Idaho Territory with general county boundaries.
Adapted from J. H. Hawley with future borders tinted in color.

Created in 1863 [blog, Mar 4], the initial Territory included all of future Montana and Wyoming. The first Idaho Territorial legislature adjusted many of the county definitions “inherited” within the former boundaries of Washington Territory. They reduced or redefined the four counties west of the Continental and Bitteroot divides – Boise, Idaho, Nez Perces, and Shoshone – to include three new entities: Alturas, Oneida, and Owyhee counties.

That first legislature also defined ten counties to the east. However, in May 1864, most of those counties became part of the new Montana Territory, or were returned to Dakota. With all those areas removed, Idaho had to define new legislative districts, and decided to also modify the Territory’s county structure.

On December 22nd, the legislature created three more counties. By then, prospectors had discovered immensely valuable gold fields in the Boise Basin. Idaho City, the county seat of Boise County, was by far the most populous town in the Territory. However, the city’s population was in a constant state of flux as prospectors and businessmen chased the latest gold rushes around the Boise Basin.

Boise City, tiny by comparison, had a solid core of businesses that served the rapidly growing farm and ranch population of the Boise Valley. It was also the transportation and freight hub of southwest Idaho. Those economic realities promised a bright future of stability and steady growth. Thus, the legislature partitioned western sections of Boise and Idaho county to create Ada County. They made Boise City the county seat. (Just a couple days later they made it the Territorial capital.)

Idaho Territory, 1865.
Adapted from J. H. Hawley.

The legislature also created Kootenai and Latah counties up in the "Panhandle," splitting that region off from Nez Perce County. However, that legislation had no real effect since neither region had enough permanent residents to rate a local government.

Kootenai County finally received a boost when Northern Pacific Railroad tracks entered the area in 1880, followed by much new settlement. The county formally organized in 1881 and selected Rathdrum as the county seat. The seat moved to Coeur d’Alene after Bonner County was split off in 1908.

Latah County followed a much different – and rather bizarre – route. That area grew much more rapidly, and the inhabitants soon began to press for their own county offices. However, officials in Nez Perce County opposed such a move since they handled those functions (and the attendant budget). Locals finally executed a desperate ploy: Latah County has the distinction of being the only county organized by an act of the U. S. Congress (in May 1888).

References: [Hawley]

“Ada County,” Reference Series No. 300, Idaho State Historical Society (July 1967).

“The Creation of the Territory of Idaho,” Reference Series No. 264, Idaho State Historical Society (March 1969)

Farmer, Cattleman, and Eagle Developer Truman C. Catlin [otd 12/21]

2011-12-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

Truman Catlin. J. H. Hawley photo.

Rancher and developer Truman C. Catlin was born December 21, 1839 in Farmingdale, Illinois, about eight miles west of Springfield. In 1862, he boarded a Missouri River steamboat for Fort Benton, Montana. By chance, his party encountered one of Captain John Mullan’s road expeditions and traveled with them across Montana and Idaho to Walla Walla.

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

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

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

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

Catlin was one of the first (Hawley’s History says “the first”) to run such drives: moving a thousand head into Wyoming in 1876. After that, he and various partners regularly drove cattle east until the coming of the railroad in 1883-84.

Meeting the interurban, 1915. Idaho State Historical Society.

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

In 1917, Catlin sold off his major cattle interests; Hawley suggested that this was because “nearly all of his cowboys entered the army.” After that he concentrated on farming and a dairy operation for which he procured blooded Jersey and Holstein milk cows. He passed away in June 1922.

References: [Hawley]

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

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

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

Mountain Man Osborne Russell Goes "Free" [otd 12/20]

2011-12-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Old Fort Hall. Idaho State Historical Society.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fire Destroys Several Buildings in Grangeville [otd 12/19]

2011-12-19T01:02:00.000-07:00

Early on the morning of Sunday, December 19, 1897, a major fire broke out in downtown Grangeville. The fire started in a two-story brewery/saloon. The account in the Idaho County Free Press noted that, “In a few minutes the entire building was a mass of flames.”

Historic Grangeville. City of Grangeville photo.

Although there was no wind, the roaring flames quickly spread to a photo-gallery on the west side and continued into the restaurant next door. The newspaper itself had offices in the nearby Camas Prairie Bank building, which caught fire from the “fierce heat” of the saloon fire. That structure soon became fully engulfed, and the heat and sparks began to threaten the Grange Hall, located across the street to the east.

Volunteers scrambled to form a bucket brigade to wet down the exposed wall. The Free Press said, “This, together with the melting snow upon the roof, proved sufficient to keep the flames from spreading east of Hall street.”

Finally, the bank building fell in upon itself and the flames subsided. Many of the fire crews rushed to the west, where the fire had momentarily stalled at the twenty-five foot wide vacant lot on that side of the restaurant.

A tailor’s shop occupied the spot beyond the lot. The Free Press report said, “Fortunately the latter is only a small box of a building, and speedily a corps of workers were astride its ridge pole spreading blankets and deluging them with water in the very face of the roaring furnace, and after thirty minutes of hot work the restaurant collapsed and the danger was over.”

The eighty-foot width of Main Street offered some protection to structures on the south side. However, sparks did ignite the façade of the Palace Hotel as well as a nearby meat market. Fortunately the hotel owner, one W. F. Schmadeka, “had equipped his premises with a fire pump and 250 feet of rubber hose. A steady stream of water was kept playing on the entire front of the block.”

Grangeville businesses, ca 1897. Idaho State Historical Society.

The firehose work extinguished all the sparks and secondary fires, but the heat from the primary conflagration was so hot “it cracked the plate glass of Schmadeka’s new brick building and blistered the paint all along the front of this block.”

Considering the spectacular nature of the fire, business losses were relatively light. Although the bank was a total loss, employees did manage to save the books and records.

The Free Press saved it’s files, ledger, books, and an editor’s desk. They somehow replaced their presses and managed an issue, with the story of the fire, five days later.

The report declared that winter weather, including recent heavy snow, helped prevent a worse catastrophe: “But for the snow thus protecting the roofs, a dozen fires would have been started in as many different points and the entire town would have gone up in smoke.”

References]: [Illust-North]

“Grangeville Fire,” Idaho Statesman (December 22, 1897).

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

2011-12-18T01:06:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

Meanwhile, in 1882, Weiser’s first newspaper, the Weiser Leader, began publication. Founded by two partners, one with considerable newspaper experience, the other with none, the Leader passed through a succession of owners through most of a decade.

At some point, Lockwood went to work at the Leader for awhile. He then took a job in Caldwell for three months before returning to Weiser to begin publication of the Signal. The newspaper did very well. In September 1891, Lockwood bought the Leader and combined it with the Signal. Although Lockwood did not retain the Leader name, the purchase established a publishing lineage back to Weiser’s earliest days. The Illustrated History considered the Signal to be “one of the best [newspapers] in southwestern Idaho.”

Lockwood took up an active role in Democratic Party politics. The party nominated him to run for the state Senate from Washington County in 1898, but he was defeated and never ran for public office again. Lockwood also served as an officer of the Idaho Press Association.

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

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

Downtown Weiser, ca 1908. Vintage postcard.

Those interests included a ranch near Riggins, and mining properties about twenty miles east of that town. Sadly, less than a year later (October 26, 1907) the Signal reported, “Former Signal editor, Robert Edwin Lockwood, accidentally shot and killed himself at his ranch at Riggins.”

In the succeeding years, the Signal Publishing Company controlled the newspaper, which dropped back to a weekly in 1912-1913. It then returned to a semi-weekly schedule until 1925, when it became a daily.

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

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

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

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

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

2011-12-17T01:06:00.000-07:00

Diamondfield Jack Davis.
Denver Public Library, Western Collection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While lawyers appealed Jack’s conviction, the actual shooter and an associate confessed to the killings [blog, Oct 13]: They pled “self-defense” and were acquitted on a murder charge. Yet despite this, Jack twice came within hours of being hanged for the crime. Authorities finally conceded that perhaps a miscarriage of justice had occurred … and, in July 1901, commuted the hanging sentence to life in prison!

Davis spent another seventeen months in prison before a pardon finally set him free. Afterwards, Jack moved to Nevada and prospered until the Depression crippled his mining investments. He died in January 1949 from injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

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

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

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

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

2011-12-16T01:14:00.000-07:00

Governor Hunt. J. H. Hawley photo.

Idaho Governor Frank W. Hunt was born December 16, 1861 in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati. His father was an officer in the U.S. Army, and that is perhaps how Frank took up mining in Montana around 1885. Three years later, he moved to a mining camp about 25 miles north of Salmon City, Idaho.

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

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

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

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

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

Wardner mine after 1899 bombing. Idaho State Historical Society.

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

During a succession of eighteen convention ballots, war hero Frank Hunt’s stock rose as various hopefuls dropped by the wayside. Hunt won the state election by just 2,160 votes out of over 56 thousand cast. During his term of office, Hunt approved legislation that established the Academy of Idaho, precursor to Idaho State University, in Pocatello.

His bid for re-election in 1902 failed and he retired from politics. Hunt then returned to mining, with interests that included properties in Nevada. While in Goldfield, Nevada, he contracted pneumonia and died there in November 1906. His remains were returned to Boise for burial in the Masonic Cemetery.

References: [Hawley]

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

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

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

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

2011-12-15T01:07:00.000-07:00

Marshal Pinkham.
Illustrated History.

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

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

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

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

In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Pinkham as U. S. Marshal for Idaho Territory. In its biography of Marshal Pinkham, the Illustrated History said, “He entered upon the duties of his position at a time when the region was largely infested with a lawless element and when crime held sway in many districts. He was ever fearless in the discharge of his duty, and to his efforts is largely due the rapid transformation of the state to its present condition of advanced civilization.”

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

Pinkham performed his duties so effectively that he was reappointed for a second term, which ran until 1878. After that, Pinkham apparently invested in central Idaho mining ventures. He followed the 1879-1880 rush into the gold and silver fields of the Wood River area and opened a general store in the boom town of Ketchum.

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

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

Pinkham passed away in July 1921.

References: [Hawley], [Illust-State]

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

Pacific Northwest Earthquake Rocks North Idaho [otd 12/14]

2011-12-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Idahoans recorded at least three quick shocks and others apparently felt four. These were all within a few minutes of the first event. No one in Idaho reported any delayed aftershocks. However, several locations between the Idaho border and the Cascades – many in Washington and a couple in Oregon – recorded intermittent aftershocks into the early morning hours. Contemporary accounts indicate that people felt the quake all over the Pacific Northwest, including parts of Montana and Canada.

In Wallula, Washington, 20-25 miles west of Walla Walla, witnesses reported a heavy shaking that lasted almost a minute, followed by five lighter shocks accompanied by rumbles like “a heavy peal of thunder.” In Portland, people noticed swaying chandeliers and some stopped clocks, but no actual damage.

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

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

References: [Illust-North]

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

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

2011-12-13T01:17:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eventually, the limit laws became moot. By around 1890, most of the available rangeland was claimed and market factors began to favor sheep products – wool plus meat – over cattle. Thus, many stockmen began raising sheep along with cattle, or abandoned cattle altogether. In fact, whereas cattle outnumbered sheep by more than three to one in 1880, sheep outnumbered cattle in the following census.

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

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

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

References: [B&W]

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

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

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

Idaho Statesman, Dec 17, 1872.

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

2011-12-12T01:19:00.000-07:00

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

Early Silver City. Directory of Owyhee County.

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

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

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

Ore wagons, Ketchum area. Idaho State Historical Society.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blackfoot Attorney and Idaho Supreme Court Justice William Lee [otd 12/11]

2011-12-11T01:08:00.000-07:00

The Honorable William A. Lee, Idaho state Senator and Supreme Court Justice, was born December 11, 1859 in the extreme southeast corner of Nebraska. He was only four years old when his father was killed in the Civil War. William graduated from Washington University (St. Louis) with his LL.B. degree in 1885, and established a practice in Nebraska.

In 1892, Lee came west and opened a law office in Ogden, Utah. Five years later, he moved his practice to Salt Lake City. There, he helped write a major revision of the Utah legal code and served four years as Assistant Attorney General.

Meanwhile, in 1896, the American Falls Canal & Power Company retained Lee as an attorney. He became their General Counsel in 1904. Although based in Utah, the company sought to develop irrigation projects in Idaho. They planned for systems along the Snake River from above Blackfoot to below American Falls.

Lee came to Idaho in 1911 to represent the Company, but soon resigned that position to open a practice in Blackfoot. Unfortunately, tragedy struck soon after he arrived there. A son died from what was ruled an accidental gunshot to the head. The Idaho Register reported (June 4, 1912), “The revolver, a 38-calibre, had been borrowed by the boy who left his own gun, a 22-calibre, at home. Five chambers of the revolver had been emptied.”

From his offices in Blackfoot, William handled cases at all levels of the state courts, at federal circuit and district courts, and even the U. S. Supreme Court. He was a member of the American Bar Association, and served as vice president of the Idaho State Bar Association

In 1918, in his first try for public office, voters elected him to the state Senate by “a comfortable majority.” In that body, he served as a member of several committees, including the Judiciary Committee. He also Chaired the Committee on Code and Law Revision.

The Hawley biography for William Lee said that he traced his lineage back to the Lees of Westmoreland County, Virginia. (The Westmoreland Lees played a prominent role in the Revolutionary War, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee was born in the county).

U.S. destroyer laying smoke, 1918. National Archives.

Perhaps because of those roots, he had a strong interest in military history. One of William’s sons graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy and served on a destroyer during World War I. Naturally, the father followed the war news closely, and studied analytical reports after the war.

In 1920, the Idaho ballot included a Constitutional amendment to expand the state Supreme Court from three to five members. The measure enjoyed considerable support, so voters were also asked to select from a slate of candidates to fill the new positions. The amendment passed handily, and William A. Lee was one of the Justices elected at that time. He had ascended to the position of Chief Justice when he died in September 1926.

References: [Hawley]

Carl F. Bianchi (Ed.), Justice for the times: A Centennial History of the Idaho State Courts, Idaho Law Foundation, Boise (1990).

“Idaho State Supreme Court Justices, 1890-1993,” Reference Series No. 347, Idaho State Historical Society (1993).

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

2011-12-10T01:08:00.000-07:00

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

Taylor’s Bridge, 1871. Library of Congress.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The presence of the railroad spurred development in the area, especially when the company shops were located there. By the time the railroad relocated those shops to Pocatello in 1887, ranching and agriculture had grown enough to ensure the survival of the town.

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

Reference: [Illust-State]

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

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

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

2011-12-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

On December 9, 1908, the first train arrived in Grangeville, on the Camas Prairie. Established in the 1870s, Grangeville had grown to become the largest town on the Prairie, and then the county seat of Idaho county [blog, Nov 4].

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

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

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

In 1899, Grangeville’s Idaho County Free Press reported (December 29), “The Northern Pacific surveyors are now camped north of town on the Milt Cambridge place and are running the line with Grangeville as their objective.”

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

References: [Hawley], [Illust-North]

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

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

2011-12-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

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

Barber Mill, 3-4 miles southeast of Boise, 1906.
Idaho State Historical Society.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sheep grazing on National Forest land. USFS photo.

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

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

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

References: [Hawley]

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

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

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

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

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

2011-12-07T01:07:00.000-07:00

Historian Gipson.
University of Idaho Archives.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Rhodes Scholarships.

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

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

2011-12-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

Robert Sidebotham. H. T. French photo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rocky Bar mill area, ca 1867. Idaho State Historical Society.

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

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

In later years, Sidebotham continued his law practice, but also held mining interests in the Wood River districts as well as in Colorado. He died in December 1904.

References: [French], [Hawley]

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

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

Merchant, Developer, and Industrial Commissioner George Fisher [otd 12/05]

2011-12-05T01:06:00.000-07:00

Commissioner Fisher.
J. H. Hawley photo.

George Howard Fisher, Bancroft merchant and first Commissioner of the Idaho Industrial Accident Board, was born December 5, 1872 in Richmond, Utah (5-6 miles south of Franklin, Idaho).

His father, William F. “Billy” Fisher, was one of the first riders hired in 1860 for the Pony Express. Billy was best known for his gallop from Ruby Valley Station (50-60 miles southeast of today’s Elko) in Nevada across three hundred miles of desolate territory to Salt Lake City. His message summoned troops to quell an Indian uprising.

Billy later settled in Utah, where George was born, and then moved to Oxford, Idaho. George completed his early schooling in Utah and then joined a brother in raising purebred racing horses. In 1893, he served a three-year mission in the Hawaiian Islands for the LDS church. While there, he learned the Hawaiian language and visited the leper colony on the island of Molokai.

Back on the Mainland, he taught school for a time and also attended the Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University). In 1898, the Democratic Party offered George the nomination to the Idaho House of Representatives and, according to H. T. French, he “was elected by the largest majority ever polled by a candidate for this office in this district.” At the time, he was the second-youngest member elected to that body.

After his return to private life, George went on the road to sell farm and ranch equipment. The regional companies he represented had customers in Utah and all over Eastern Idaho. During his rounds, George saw an opportunity in Bancroft (located on the rail line about 15 miles west of Soda springs).

He moved there in 1906 and within a year had purchased a general store, which he later ran in partnership with his son-in-law. In time, he would own considerable farmland and other real estate in the area, as well as a “commodious” two-story brick home.

Fisher served as Bishop of the Bancroft Ward starting in 1907. During his tenure, he directed the construction of a meeting hall as well as a church in Bancroft. He relinquished those duties when he was appointed to the Industrial Accident Board.

Garage, ca 1920. University of Idaho Special Collections.

In 1910, George was elected to one term in the the Idaho Senate. Then the 1917 session of the state legislature passed the state’s first comprehensive Workers’ Compensation Law. Among other provisions, the Law authorized formation of the Idaho Industrial Accident Board.

Governor Moses Alexander [blog, Nov 13] appointed Fisher to be a member of that Board. That group immediately selected him as Chairman, making him the first Commissioner of what is today the Idaho Industrial Commission. He held that position by reappointment until 1923.

Fisher then retired from public service to focus on his real estate, mercantile, and farming interests. Late in life, he moved to Salt Lake City, where he passed away in December 1946.

References: [French], [Hawley]

“Timeline of Commissioners,” State of Idaho Industrial Commission, Boise.

Marine Corps Ace and Medal of Honor Winner Pappy Boyington [otd 12/04]

2011-12-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

Pappy Boyington. USMC photo.

Ace pilot and Medal of Honor winner Gregory “Pappy” Boyington was born December 4, 1912 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. His mother divorced and remarried while Greg was very young, so he grew up thinking his last name was Hallenbeck. Not until some years later did he discover his birth name.

He grew up in the Idaho Panhandle but eventually graduated from high school and then college in Washington state. Greg served in the Reserve Officers Training Corps at the University of Washington and became a full-fledged Marine aviator three years after graduation. He spent several months as a flight instructor before resigning in 1941 to join the American Volunteer Group, the famous “Flying Tigers” who fought in China.

He took the job for the money. By the time he joined the AVG, Greg had already led a troubled life: He was divorced and owed child support and other debts. Also, like many of Native American heritage – he was part Sioux Indian – Greg fought with alcoholism all his life.

The twists and turns of Boyinton’s flying career are too convoluted for this brief essay. Back in the Marines, he saw duty in the South Pacific … a period when he acquired the sobriquets “Gramps” and “Pappy” because he was a decade older than almost everyone he flew with.

Finding himself at loose ends after one assignment, he wrangled permission to assemble his own command, the legendary “Black Sheep Squadron.” His pilots were not, however, the band of misfits and screw-ups depicted in the later television program. They were simply men who had no specific assignments: green replacements just in from the States, members of disbanded units, and so on.

As squadron leader, Pappy added impressively to his bag of enemy aircraft. His victory total is somewhat clouded. The official number is 28, but some commentators suggest 22 might be more accurate. (Either toll would be an impressive accomplishment.)

Marine Corsair in the South Pacific. USMC photo.

Beyond that, however, Pappy welded Marine Fighter Squadron 214 (the official designation) into a supremely deadly fighting force. The squadron flew their F4U Corsair fighters from rough island bases and pummeled Japanese aircraft, shipping, and ground installations. During a span of just under three months, the unit recorded 97 confirmed air-to-air victories and awarded Ace status to eight pilots.

Pappy was shot down in January 1944 and spent twenty months in Japanese prisons. For his actions and leadership, Boyington received the Congressional Medal of Honor, a Navy Cross, and several lesser medals. The original Black Sheep squadron received a Presidential Unit Citation.

Some years later, Boyington wrote his autobiography – Baa Baa Black Sheep – as well as a novel growing loosely from his experiences in China. He also served as a adviser for the highly fictionalized, but exciting television show.

Greg “Pappy” Boyington died in January 1988; he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

References: “Colonel Gregory Boyington, USMCR (Deceased),” Who’s Who in Marine Corps History, United State Marine Corps.

Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Bantam Books, New York (1977).

Guila Ford, Elizabeth Jacox, “Gregory ‘Pappy’ Boyington - 1912-1988,” Reference Series No. 1133, Idaho State Historical Society (January 1996).

Bruce Gamble, Black Sheep One, The Life of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, Presidio Press, Novato, California (2000).

Colin D. Heaton, “Black Sheep Leader,” World War II History Magazine, Herndon, Virginia (June 2000).

Renowned Mining Engineer and Innovator Fred Brown [otd 12/03]

2011-12-03T01:09:00.000-07:00

World renowned mining engineer Frederick C. Brown was born December 3, 1868 in London, England. Brown continued a long family tradition of accomplishment in highly technical fields – his father was a naval engineer and a grandfather rose to the rank of Admiral in the Royal Navy*. Frederick came to the U. S. in 1883, working first in Dakota Territory. From there, he moved to Leadville, Colorado, where he became known as an outstanding mining engineer.

Poorman mill and tramway, ca 1895. Directory of Owyhee County.

Brown came to Idaho in 1892. He had been tasked to assess copper mining properties in the Seven Devils region, 25-30 miles northwest of New Meadows. After a brief period as mine superintendent in Mexico, he served as superintendent and general manager of the Poorman Mines near Silver City, Idaho.

In its earliest heyday, the Poorman had been one of the richest properties in the region, but had fallen into disrepute due to mismanagement. Brown served there during a period when, under new management, it began to reclaim its earlier luster.

Brown spent several years after 1897 in New Zealand, where he served as general manager for two gold and silver mines. He also married there, and the couple had two children. Brown soon attained a world-wide reputation as an innovator in the practical business of extracting gold from many kinds of ore bodies. A New Zealand newspaper of the period said, “Few people would dream from his retiring manner and bearing, that Mr. Brown is looked upon today in England and other countries, as one of the leading authorities on ore treatment.”

Brown published regularly in mining journals in this country and overseas. Among other advances, he developed a new form of manganese steel that found considerable use in a wide range of mining applications. In a report to a conference of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, a speaker credited the alloy with enabling major improvements in equipment durability and consequent reductions in cost. That included a four-fold increase in the expected working life of dredge buckets.

Belshazzar Mine.
Idaho State Historical Society.

Around 1910, Brown and his family returned to Idaho, where they settled along the river south of Boise. In 1918, new ownership of the Belshazzar Mine in the Boise Basin made Brown the Supervisor of a small crew trying to make the mine a paying proposition.

Originally discovered in 1875, the Belshazzar produced good to excellent returns for over thirty years, but the operation shut down in 1909. Brown’s crew finally tapped into a highly productive vein. For the 1927 season, the Belshazzar was the second largest gold producer in the state. (Available records do not show how long Brown continued as Supervisor.) Production ceased in late 1931, but some exploratory work has been performed in more recent years.

* For centuries, large ships – warships in particular – represented perhaps the most complex and innovative technology harnessed for mankind’s use. To some extent, they still do.

References: [Brit], [Hawley]

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

Walter S. McKee, “Manganese-Steel Castings in the Mining Industry,” Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Vol. LIII, published by the Institute, New York (1916).

Victoria Mitchell, “History of the Belshazzar and Mountain Chief Mines, Boise County, Idaho,” Idaho Geological Survey Staff Report 08-3, University of Idaho, Moscow (2008).

America’s Sherlock Holmes – Forensic Detective Luke May [otd 12/02]

2011-12-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

Detective Luke May.
Family Archives.

On December 2nd, Luke S. May, who became known as America’s preeminent scientific detective, was born in Hall County, Nebraska. Hawley’s History of Idaho and other references list the year as 1886. The family, however, gives the year as 1892, with support from the Social Security Death Index. This is highly plausible: By adding six years to his age, the youthful detective-to-be could pose as being in his early twenties – still quite young, but not a mere boy.

The family moved to Salt Lake City when May was very young and there he actively pursued his interest in detective work. After intensive study of the available literature, May opened his own detective agency, which did well. Then, in 1914, he and a partner, J. Clark Sellers – later famous in his own right – founded the Revelare International Secret Service.

A year later they moved the company headquarters to Pocatello, Idaho. The biography in Hawley’s History lists a half dozen specific cases – the Breckenridge murder, Lorenzen lava bed mystery, etc. – with no further explanation. This implies that these cases were so notorious that his readers would know all about them.

Revelare developed an international reputation, aided by instruments and techniques developed by May himself. Among other advances, he pioneered the use of tool marks to identify and verify physical evidence. Hawley noted that Luke was “an expert in the use of chemicals” and concluded that “His work indeed stands as the last word in detective service in the northwest.”

During World War I, Sellers enlisted in the Army, which disrupted the firm’s work somewhat. In 1919, they added another partner and moved their headquarters to Seattle. The partners soon left to pursue their own careers, but May’s reputation flourished during the next two decades. Newspaper and magazine articles began referring to him as “America’s Sherlock Holmes.”

In the Thirties, he started to write “true crime” articles for popular detective magazines. He also published a popularized book of case files, as well as two texts on scientific detection.

Evidence object from Luke May Papers.
University of Washington Special Collections.

May felt strongly about the need to apply logic and science to criminal investigation. He thus took every avenue to educate law enforcement officials and ordinary people. He helped found crime laboratories for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Chicago police department, and elsewhere.

During World War II, Naval Reserve officer Lt. Commander Luke May was called to active duty shortly after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He emerged as a Commander, but never discussed what he had done. Given his skills, it seems safe to assume that Commander May met and trained intelligence officers, showing them how to turn field observations into useful information.

May passed away in July 1965. “America’s Sherlock Holmes” either directly, or through years of education, helped revolutionize criminal investigation, establishing the basis for much of how this work is done today.

Reference: [Hawley]

J. Beck, “Luke May of Seattle – ‘America's Sherlock Holmes’,” Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 37, No. 1, American Academy of Forensic Sciences (1992) pp 349-355.

Darrell Klasey, “J. Clark Sellers,” The California Identification Digest, Vol. 10, No. 1, California State Division, International Association for Identification, Oakland (2010).

Mindi Reid, “May, Luke (1892-1965),” Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, HistoryLink.net.

Grocery Pioneer and Pocatello Developer Joseph Young [otd 12/01]

2011-12-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Joseph Young. J. H. Hawley photo.

Western grocery wholesaler Joseph Taylor Young was born December 1, 1880 on a ranch near Logan, Utah. Three years later the family moved to Rexburg, Idaho, where he grew up and went to school. As a teenager, he attended Ricks Academy [blog, Nov 12] before going to work for the St. Anthony Lumber Company.

Joseph next found employment with the Oregon Short Line Railroad, helping upgrade depots and right-of-way fencing in eastern Idaho. He then rose to a position as railway freight agent in Dillon, Montana. From 1904 to 1909, he worked at a wholesale fruit and produce company in Ogden and attained a General Manager’s position. During this period, he also married, fathered a child, and was widowed (in 1908).

In January 1909, Young sold his Utah interests and moved to Pocatello. At some point, he had forged ties with investors in Wichita, Kansas. The group founded the Idaho Wholesale Grocery Company, with its headquarters in Pocatello. For business reasons, the company President remained in Kansas while the Vice President, his brother, lived in Idaho. Joseph acted as company Secretary and General Manager.

According to Hawley’s History, the firm “was the first Idaho corporation to engage in the wholesale distribution of food products in southern Idaho.” Within a decade, they had branch facilities in Idaho Falls, Twin Falls and Burley.

Young also had many other Idaho investments and positions. Among these was his job as President of the first confectionery company to serve the wholesale candy trade in southern Idaho. He was also a Director of the Idaho Loan & Investment Company. The latter enterprise specialized in residential home building in and around Pocatello. Young helped organize the Idaho Fire Insurance Company, and became its first President.

A year after he arrived in the city, Young was elected President of the Pocatello Commercial Club. An enthusiastic promoter, Joseph used his Presidency to boost the town’s economy any way he could. Interviewed for a regional magazine, Young crowed, “We will be the largest city in the state in five years.”

Early Pocatello. Pocatello Downtown Historic District.

Certainly the potential existed: The town had grown from around 500 people in 1892 to around 10 thousand by 1910, and to about 15 thousand for the next census.

At one point, Young tried to promote a Quaker Oats company plant for the city. Under his leadership, locals were able to offer a tract of valuable land near the railroad yards to "sweeten the pot." (Apparently, Spokane – close to the vast grain fields of the Palouse Region – won that one.)

Young’s involvement with the wholesale grocery business expanded in the 1920s, eventually leading to a position as President of the Western States Wholesale Grocery Company. Despite his enthusiasm for Pocatello, he eventually moved to California to be closer to those large markets. He passed away there in January 1953.

References: [French], [Hawley]

“Central Eureka Mine Dispute,” Daily Evening Tribune, Oakland, California (April 18, 1940).

The Western Monthly, “See America First” League, Salt Lake City (December 1909).

Convicted Murderer and Thief Hanged at Idaho Penitentiary [otd 11/30]

2011-11-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

On November 30, 1901, authorities hanged convicted murderer Edward Rice. He was the first individual executed at the Idaho Penitentiary as a state institution and only the second in its history. Rice had been convicted of murdering Matthew Mailley, a Wallace store owner, the previous year.

Wallace, ca 1898. Illustrated History.

The evidence was largely circumstantial, in that there were no direct witnesses. A potential customer had found the store door locked at 9:30 on a Thursday morning in October 1900. Finding Mailley’s thriving business closed at that time of day was unusual, to say the least.

The person then entered – available accounts do not specify how – and found the storekeeper’s body. He had apparently been stabbed twice. Account books showed an $800 shortfall of cash and checks in the store and on the murdered man’s body.

Suspicion soon fell on Edward Rice, a casual laborer who had been around town for awhile. Rice had cadged small loans off numerous locals, some of whom had taken to dunning him for repayment whenever they ran into him. Later on the day of the murder, Rice had not only paid off over $100 of those debts, he had “purchased a hat and pair of trousers.”

Investigators also found two bloodstained handkerchiefs at the crime scene, both of which bore marks assigned by the Wallace laundry to Rice’s belongings. Unable to explain this evidence, Rice’s lawyer tried to raise doubts about the chain of custody on the items.

At his trial, Rice’s lawyer surely did his best to focus attention on those doubts, and the fact that no witness had placed Rice near the scene of the crime. Available accounts do not report what story they advanced to explain his sudden relative affluence. (Throughout this affair, Rice’s activities suggest that he was, in fact, of substandard intelligence.) The attorney’s presentation clearly did not impress the jury: They “found a verdict in thirteen minutes.”

Naturally, the matter did not end there. The scarcity of direct evidence was emphasized in his appeals, which went all the way to the Idaho Supreme Court. One of the other issues the defense raised was that “popular excitement and prejudice” about the case prevented him from getting a fair trial. The High Court conceded that such sentiment certainly justified a request for a change of venue, but no such request was made.

Old Idaho Penitentiary.
Wikimedia Commons, attribution to Peter Wollheim.

Up until 1899, executions had been carried out at the county level. Then the law was changed to require that all such acts be carried out at the State Penitentiary. The only previous execution at the Penitentiary had been under a Federal order, when Idaho was still a Territory.

Early in 1901, even as his appeals proceeded, Rice somehow obtained a knife and ostensibly tried to commit suicide by cutting his own throat … but failed. One last-ditch appeal called for time to examine of his sanity, but that too failed and the execution proceeded.

References: [Illust-North]

“[Appeal Denied, Rice to Hang],” Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise, Idaho (November 30, 1901).

"Executions," Idaho State Historical Society monograph.

"State Versus Rice," The Pacific Reporter, Vol. 66, West Publishing Company, St. Paul (1902).

Reverend Henry Spalding Builds Presbyterian Mission at Lapwai [otd 11/29]

2011-11-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

Henry Harmon Spalding.
National Park Service.

On November 29, 1836, Henry Harmon Spalding established a Presbyterian mission among the Nez Percé Indians. The initial location was on Lapwai Creek about 10 miles east of today's Lewiston. Two years later Spalding moved the mission to a spot on the Clearwater River near the mouth of Lapwai Creek.

Born in New York state, Henry was in his early thirties when he established the mission. After graduation from Western Reserve College (now part of Case Western Reserve University), he entered a seminary in Cincinnati. Spalding left, however, when he was appointed as a missionary to the Nez Percé.

Eliza (Hart) Spalding, born in Connecticut, was three or four years younger than Henry. The family moved to Oneida County, New York, in 1820. Henry and Eliza met through a mutual acquaintance and corresponded for a year or so before they met. Their common interest in missionary work matured the relationship and they married in 1833.

Three years later, Henry and Eliza traveled west with Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa [blog, Aug 12]. On the way, the couples attended the 1836 fur trade rendezvous on the Green River, in Wyoming. There, they caused a sensation because, while they were not the first missionaries to attend a rendezvous, they were the first who brought their wives.

The missionaries continued on to the Columbia River, obtained supplies from Fort Vancouver, and then separated. The Whitmans built a mission near today’s Walla Walla, Washington, while the Spaldings established theirs at Lapwai. It was difficult and costly to supply the Lapwai mission, so the settlement developed slowly.

That improved somewhat when, toward the end of 1838, the missionaries opened a blacksmith shop. During the heat of one summer, Spalding turned the natives to digging ditches for irrigation. Thus, the mission is credited with the first irrigated farming in what would become the state of Idaho. Crops grown included potatoes, another first.

Nez Percé Bible. University of Idaho Special Collections.

Spalding also procured a printing press and began publishing materials in the Nez Percé language, including the Bible.

Unfortunately, Henry had strict Puritanical notions of morality: Polygamy (fornication, to him), liquor, and gambling were all equally sinful. His tactless denunciations angered the Indians, and created friction with other missionaries who took a more gradual approach to converting native ways.

The 1847 massacre – ironically, also on November 29 – at the Whitman mission in Washington caused a suspension of both operations. Spalding was on his way to visit the mission when the killings occurred. Henry escaped death only through the intervention of a Roman Catholic priest … a crowning irony since Spalding was vehemently anti-“Papist.”

The Spaldings moved to Oregon, where they settled for a time. Eliza died in 1851 and Henry remarried two years later. He again served as missionary to the Nez Percé after about 1859, and resumed activities at Lapwai in 1862.

After a sojourn in the East around 1870, Spalding returned in 1871 to build a new school among the Nez Percé. He died in August 1874.

References: [B&W], [Brit], [Illust-North]

Malcom Clark, Eden Seekers: The Settlement of Oregon, 1818-1862, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York (1981).

“Lapwai Mission,” Nez Perce National Historical Park, National Park Service.

“Spalding’s Mission,” Reference Series No. 945, Idaho State Historical Society (January 1993).

“Rufus” Reid and Agnes Just Continue Century Ranch Lineage [otd 11/28]

2011-11-28T01:07:00.000-07:00

Robert “Rufus” Reid.
Family Archives.*

On November 28, 1906, twenty-year-old Agnes Just married Robert E. “Rufus” Reid in Blackfoot, Idaho. Agnes was the youngest child and only surviving daughter of Nels and Emma Just.

Born in Denmark in 1847, Nels A. Just was ten years old when his family came to the United States. They had already converted to the LDS Church, and aimed to settle in Utah. The Justs traveled as part of one of the so-called “handcart” companies and arrived at Salt Lake in September 1857.

Emma Thompson was born in England in 1850. Also Mormon converts, the family emigrated to the U. S. in 1854. Both the Thompsons and the Justs joined the ill-fated “Morrisite” splinter group and suffered through its eventual dissolution. By the late 1860s, Nels had worked at various jobs, including running freight into Montana.

Emma married a soldier in 1865. After his discharge, the couple moved around as her husband found work. According to Bonneville County historian Barzilla Clark, “During the winter of 1866-67, we find her cooking at the stage station at Taylor’s Bridge.” (Taylor's Bridge eventually became today's Idaho Falls.)

From there, they went to Montana where, unfortunately, her husband abandoned her. After the birth of their son, she returned to live with relatives in the Blackfoot area. Divorced, Emma married Nels in 1870. They settled along the Blackfoot River and began raising livestock. Some of these he sold under contract to the Army at Fort Hall. Nels would also figure prominently in later irrigation efforts.

Besides Fred from her first marriage, the couple raised four sons of their own, and then Agnes. Agnes attended Albion Normal School to qualify for a teaching certificate. On one of her trips home, she met “Zeke” Reid (Robert Ezeckiel went by Bob, Zeke, or Rufus at various times), who then worked for her father.

Agnes taught a few years before marrying Rufus in 1906. After the marriage, they moved in with Nels and Emma at the homestead ranch along the Blackfoot River. Nels died in 1912, while Emma lived until 1923.

Rufus and Agnes in 1907. Family Archives.*

Agnes Just Reid later became a noted Idaho article writer, columnist, and poetess. The Reid sons, in their turn, acquired various portions of the old homestead.

As part of the state’s Centennial celebration, the Idaho State Historical Society prepared a list of “Idaho Century Farms and Ranches.” The specific criteria state that the farm or ranch must have been “owned and operated in Idaho by the same family for at least 100 years, with 40 acres of the original parcel of land maintained as part of the present holding.”

As of 2004, the list contained nearly a hundred ranches established during the Territorial period, along with 175 farms, many of which also raised livestock. Four of the ranches trace their roots back to the original holding established along the Blackfoot by Nels and Emma Just.

* Family archives: Presto Press, Presto Preservation Association.

References: [French]

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

Idaho Century Farms and Ranches, Idaho State Historical Society (2004).

Agnes Just Reid, Letters of Long Ago, Fourth Edition, Cedar Creek Press, Boise, Idaho (1997).