July 2: State Insane Asylum

On July 2, 1886, Idaho Territory opened its first home/hospital for mentally ill individuals – forthrightly called an Insane Asylum. The legislature had authorized funds for the facility and construction began the year before. The location was a plot of donated land about a half mile from Blackfoot.

South Idaho Sanitarium, now Idaho State Hospital South.
Idaho State Historical Society photo.

Before the Idaho Asylum (later called a “sanitarium”) was built, the Territory had contracted with the state of Oregon to care for patients in their Salem facility.

Officials transferred thirty-six patients (26 man and 10 women) from Oregon when the Blackfoot facility opened.

Although the structure was mostly stone or brick (only the third story was wood frame), the Asylum burned down a little over three years after it opened. [See my blog for November 24 for more about the fire.]

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

June 21: UI Summer School

On June 21, 1899, the University of Idaho began a summer school session that attracted a fairly substantial enrollment. It was, reportedly, the first summer school in the Pacific Northwest.

Summer school class, July 1899.
University of Idaho Special Collections.

Records show that salaries for the next summer school session, in 1900-01, were budgeted out of federal Morrill Act allocations. This suggests that the summer curriculum focused generally on courses within the “land grant college” umbrella.

Between 1901 and 1912, the University offered no summer school, despite its apparent popularity. This was perhaps because a new President, James A. MacLean, arrived at the school in 1900. MacLean spent much of his tenure alternately fending off legislative attempts to dismember the University while begging them for funds to erect necessary facilities.

Enrollment for the “restart” session in 1912 topped 200 students. While impressive for the time, it is dwarfed by today’s typical enrollment of 3 to 4 thousand.
                                                                                 

References: Harrison C. Dale, Statutes and Decisions Relating to the University of Idaho, University of Idaho Press, Moscow (1944).

“Historical Timeline of the University of Idaho,” Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho.

Rafe Gibbs, Beacon for Mountain and Plain: Story of the University of Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho (© The Regents of the University of Idaho, 1962).

June 3: Bonneville County Courthouse

On June 3, 1919, voters in Bonneville County passed a bond election to fund a new county courthouse. After the county was formed in February 1911, court was held in an old two-story brick building on Broadway. The summer of the following year, the commissioners bought land about three blocks north for a new courthouse.

Bonneville County Courthouse.

However, nearly seven years passed before residents were willing to fund a new structure. After a survey of courthouses in other towns, the commissioners approved a set of architectural drawings and construction began late in the year.

Officials opened the new courthouse in March of 1921. The spring weather cooperated and thousands of locals showed up to hear speeches and tour the new building. Over the years, the structure grew overcrowded so an annex was added on the south side.

Further expansion in official business led to construction of the City-County Law Enforcement Building, completed in 1978. The following year, the old Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Courthouse interior.

Today, the building’s exterior looks much as it did almost ninety years ago. Interior offices spaces have been remodeled and many upgrades have changed the structure “behind the scenes.” Still, the interior’s public views retain much of the grandeur of that earlier day.
                                                                                 

References: [Hawley]

“Bonneville County Courthouse,” National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service.

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

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

Cruzen Case Follow-up

“Anonymous” raised a question as to whether or not Alonzo Cruzen (see below) was, or was not guilty of smuggling. The answer, such as it is, seems too complicated to bury among the Comments string … so here goes. (Plaza in San Juan, ca. 1905. Archives of Puerto Rico.)

First, there were no “Freedom of Information” laws back then, so it’s hard to say for sure. According to news reports, the Federal grand jury in San Juan indicted Cruzen at least two times for smuggling and/or receiving smuggled goods.

The Independent (Oct 29, 1903), reported that the first case was in the spring of 1903, with charges “that large quantities of liquors and other goods had been brought to San Juan from St. Thomas in naval vessels.”

Some context: By the spring of 1902 the transition from military to civilian rule for Puerto Rico was complete. Plus, after March 1, 1902, goods could move duty-free from the island to the mainland states (and vice-versa). Thus, contraband that had been successfully smuggled into Puerto Rico was “home free.”

Anyway, the grand jury issued a second set of indictments in October. As had happened the first time, orders from the U.S. District Attorney quashed those charges. The DA claimed the testimony against Cruzen was perjured “and instigated for purposes of spite and revenge.” We don’t have the records to say exactly when the Treasury Department sent a Special Investigator to Puerto Rico.

However, we do know that Cruzen resigned in December 1903. You could argue that he resigned simply because all the controversy made it difficult for him to do his job.

But then it got even more complicated: On Jan 18, 1904, the Senate asked for a copy of the report “by L. Cullom, special agent of the Treasury, with respect to the conduct of A. R. Cruzen.”

Nine days later, Roosevelt said no … stating, as we saw, that such a release would be “incompatible with the public interest.”

Cruzen’s connections seem to have been good enough to land the job in Puerto Rico. However, there’s nothing to suggest that this obscure party-faithful from Nebraska had the political clout implied by the President’s action.

So what gives? I’ll leave that to your imagination … because unsupported speculation would be unfair (and might get me in trouble).

New Link Added

Probably not many of you who look in here regularly also check out the Links page (top-line tab). So … I figured I’d insert a heads-up on a new link that I have added there.

The genesis of the addition is interesting because it involves a lucky coincidence. Back on April 9, I reviewed the book The Good Times Are All Gone Now, written by Julie Whitesel Weston. Her book, of course, centers around mining activities in Kellogg, Idaho. (If you didn’t read the review, you really should.)

Coincidentally, a major event took place near Kellogg on May 2 -- and you’ll see the “On This Day” item for it shortly. During my research, I discovered an excellent video about the event. I thought Ms Weston would also be interested, so I sent her an e-mail about it.

During the subsequent exchange, I happened to mention that I really liked the music that plays in the background while you view her web page. She said it was created by Gavin Morrison, which I’d have known if I’d paid more attention to the credits displayed at the bottom of her home page.

She also said he had his own web page – “Manzanita” – and provided the link. So I visited, and if you like upbeat “easy listening” tunes (as I do) you’re at the right place. So go to my Links page, look under the Writers, Artists, etc. subhead and follow it to my new link. It's really a very attractive web page ... and he has sample tunes.

Looking Forward To: Fur, Fortune and Empire

The future-release book I mentioned in yesterday’s “Blog Modifications” item is called Fur, Fortune and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America. The author is Eric Jay Dolin, and the projected release date is this coming July. I have already added Dr. Dolin’s web page to my Links page, but here is the link again: Fur, Fortune and Empire. (Cover art, W.W. Norton.)

As you’ll see there, his previous release was Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America. If his new book does half as well as Leviathan did in the awards category, we truly have something to look forward to. As his site recounts, it was “selected as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007” by several metropolitan newspapers, won two maritime-related history awards, and some others honors.

According to the overview, the book takes a comprehensive look at the American fur trade, starting in the early 1600s and running roughly to the dawn of the Twentieth Century. Dolin is very clear about what the book does not cover: [it] “does not address the American fur trade as it evolved during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, nor does it cover the current highly charged political and ethical debate over animal rights and the propriety or – many would say – the impropriety of wearing fur. ”

Eric followed much the same approach in Leviathan. He provided rigorously-documented detail, spiced with colorful anecdotes and descriptions, but examined the whaling industry in its own pre-Twentieth Century context. For this, he was chastised by some “the glass is half-empty” reviewers. (Most reviewers, by the way, found the book enjoyable and authoritative.)

 The naysayers seemed to feel the book was “incomplete” because he didn’t engage in modern-day finger-wagging about the environmental damage done by the historical industry. How anyone can call a 480-page tome, with 90 illustrations, “incomplete” is a mystery to me. I expect those people will have much the same reaction to Fur Trade in America. This is no lightweight airplane-flight read, by the way: 464 page with (again) 90 illustrations.

There is no doubt that Dr. Dolin could, if he chose to, provide a learned discussion about ecological impacts, the nuances of environmental policy, wildlife and game management, and so on – just check out his biography, and his other publications.

By (my) good fortune, he is scheduled to be at the Museum of the Mountain Man during the 2010 Green River Rendezvous (July 8-11) in Pinedale, Wyoming. (Personal photo.)

The event actually precedes the formal release date, so this will be his first chance to talk about the book. (Eric assures me that the books will be available at that time. However, I'm guessing that a shipment won’t have made it to Pinedale – truly the middle of nowhere – by then.) Anyway, my wife and I are checking our summer schedule to see if we can be there.

Blog Modifications

Those of you who follow the blog may have noticed a couple new changes in its structure. These are both extensions of what I described back on April 5th, when I created the top-of-the-page tab that leads to a list of often-used references.

As I promised back then, I also created a “Comment Help” tab. At first, I only provided a link to the blog post where I provided step-by-step instructions for leaving a comment. This latest mod puts the instructions directly on that page, and adds a bit more detail. So now you can get help with just one click.

The other changes involve moving the list of interesting websites and blogs from the left-hand column to a “Links” tab.

I had been thinking about doing this for awhile, and then I received an e-mail about an upcoming book release. I wanted to add the author’s web site to my list, which made that skinny column on the left even longer. Putting the Links on a separate page allows me to include some explanation of what each linked website or blog is about.

Now that left column contains just my Profile, the Categories for blog posts, the Followers display, and the Archive. Can’t get away from the Profile and Archive, but I’d move the Categories list and Followers display if I could figure out how to do that.

I like the Followers feature … just wish I had more of them. In case you’re wondering what that’s all about, it’s basically a way to be informed, automatically, when I add a new post to the blog. A bit like having a Bookmark, but with the added benefit of knowing when there's new material.

I’m researching the new book release and will probably have more about that tomorrow.