Nez Percés Drub U. S. Army at Battle of White Bird Canyon [otd 06/17]

On June 17, 1877, a column consisting of U. S. Cavalry and a few civilian volunteers engaged Nez Percés warriors in the Battle of White Bird Canyon. This was the opening clash of the Nez Percés War, which ultimately forced a large part of the tribe off their ancestral homeland.

Chief Joseph, ca. 1895.
Illustrated History of North Idaho.

The reservation treaty of 1863 divided the Nez Percés into "treaty" and "non-treaty" factions [blog, June 9]. By the mid-1870's, many land-hungry whites had settled on areas held by non-treaty bands. They demanded that authorities force the Indians to move onto the small reservation in Idaho.

Chief Joseph of the Wallowa bands eloquently argued that the original 1855 treaty was still in force for those bands that had refused to sign the later document. That being the case, the authorities were obligated to remove the intruders. An Army staffer who studied the legal situation agreed, declaring that the newer provisions were "null and void" for the non-treaty bands.

Few whites wanted to hear that, so they declared that a majority had signed the 1863 and it was therefore binding on all. As noted in the earlier blog, that claim was at best specious, if not completely dishonest. Nez Percés leadership was not a democracy. Although family ties and a common language linked the bands, each was autonomous and their chiefs formed a council of equals.

The situation exploded when the Army ignored all that and moved ahead with plans to forcibly relocate the bands. Word reached Fort Lapwai on the 15th that the unrest had turned violent, so a force led by Captain David Perry moved out late that evening. They rode through the night and all the following day, with only brief rest stops, and arrived at White Bird Summit about midnight on the 16th. By then warriors had killed 8 to 10 civilians and burned many outlying buildings. The troopers and volunteers began descending into White Bird Canyon at about 4 o’clock in the morning.

Captain David Perry.
Nez Perce National Historical Park

John McDermott's book Forlorn Hope provides a detailed description of the action. After the first contact, Perry tried to arrange a battle line. Meanwhile, the small band of volunteers charged on horseback around the left. Effective counter-fire repelled their attack, so they gathered on a knoll to anchor the left flank.

At a crucial turn, a shot killed one of Perry’s buglers and the other lost his bugle. Then a ferocious Nez Percés counter-attack sent the volunteers fleeing from the field. With no bugler, Perry could not wheel his troops to meet the sudden assault from his exposed flank. His line collapsed into a confused retreat. Perhaps only some desperate stands by small, isolated groups saved the cavalry from total annihilation.

Once north of White Bird Hill, the cavalrymen made a fighting retreat across the prairie. Nez Percés warriors finally broke off the action when a column of armed civilians rode out to help the retreating force. The survivors reached Grangeville between 9:00 and 10:00 in the morning.

The Indians scored a decisive victory, despite being heavily outnumbered (60-70 warriors versus over 100 whites) and fighting with inferior weapons. The Army suffered thirty-four dead (to none for the Indians), and were driven headlong from the battlefield.

In the end, of course, the outnumbered and outgunned Indians were forced to flee Idaho. The tribe's ultimately unsuccessful attempt to escape into Canada is now legendary.
                                                                                 

References: [Illust-North]

“Battle of White Bird,” Reference Series No. 440, Idaho State Historical Society (June 1967).

Jerome A. Greene, Nez Perce Summer, 1877: The U.S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poos Crisis, Montana Historical Society Press: Helena (2000).

John Dishon McDermott, Forlorn Hope: The Nez Perce Victory at White Bird Canyon, Caxton Press, Caldwell, Idaho (2003).

Distinguished Federal Judge and Legal Educator Ray McNichols [otd 06/16]

Judge McNichols.
Photo courtesy of
University of Idaho College of Law.

Federal District Judge Raymond C. McNichols was born June 16, 1914 in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The family moved to Lewiston at some point, and Ray later graduated from the University of Idaho. During and after World War II, he served as an aviator in the U.S. Navy.

After leaving the service, McNichols attended the University of Idaho College of Law, graduating with his LL.B degree in 1950. He then opened a law practice with a partner in Orofino.

In 1954, Ray “threw his hat in the ring” for the Democratic nomination to run for Idaho’s U. S. Senate seat. He later withdrew (Idaho Falls Post-Register, May 30, 1954) from the race so as not to “dilute” the Democratic vote. (The Republican won the seat anyway.)

In 1960, McNichols served as Vice Chairman of the Idaho delegation to the Democratic Presidential Convention (Idaho Falls Post-Register, March 14, 1960). That convention selected John F. Kennedy as the party nominee. Several months after Kennedy’s assassination, President Lyndon Johnson appointed McNichols as a Federal Judge for the District of Idaho. During 17 years of full-time judicial service, McNichols presided over some 2,000 cases, achieving "legendary" status on the Federal bench.

In late 1976, a three-judge panel that included McNichols declared one provision of the original Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) to be unconstitutional. They ruled (Idaho State Journal, Pocatello, January 2, 1977) that a clause authorizing inspections of a business site without a search warrant violated the Fourth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. The U. S. Supreme Court later affirmed that decision. Thus, except in cases involving “closely regulated” industries, an OSHA inspector must obtain the owner’s consent or have a judge issue a search warrant.

During that same period, McNichols presided over a case brought by computer disk maker CalComp against International Business Machines (IBM). CalComp was a so-called “plug-compatible manufacturer” (PCM), which built computer peripherals for IBM personal computers. CalComp insisted that IBM had engaged in illegal monopolistic behavior, causing great harm to their company. The suit was filed in late 1973 and three years of discovery followed.

The actual trial began in mid-November 1976 and CalComp’s presentation ran into February. As soon as they finished, IBM countered with a motion for a directed verdict against CalComp, supporting it with a substantial legal brief. Judge McNichols weighed the evidence and then ruled in their favor, taking the case out of the hands of the jury. CalComp appealed, but a three-judge panel affirmed McNichols’ decision.

In 1981, McNichols chose "Senior" judicial status. After that he handled cases only part-time, but remained active in legal affairs for the rest of his life. In 1984, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America presented McNichols with the Outstanding Federal Trial Judge Award.

University of Idaho Law Library.

In addition to his legal activities, Judge McNichols taught classes for a time at the University of Idaho College of Law. After his death from a heart attack in December 1985, numerous prominent leaders – former governors, senators, and legal professionals – offered tributes to McNichols' judicial skills, wit, and "gentlemanliness."

He is honored at the University by the "Judge Ray C. McNichols Memorial Fund" and the "Raymond C. McNichols Moot Court Competition."

In moot court competitions, students prepare legal briefs and argue hypothetical appeals cases, often before real judges. This is training for appellate arguments, which involve arguing specific points of law after a trial verdict has been made. Unlike a trial, there is no presentation of testimony or other evidence and decisions are made by judges, rather than a jury.
                                                                                 

References: Bruce H. Bruemmer, Kevin D. Corbitt, “Historical Note,” California Computer Products, Inc., and Century Data Systems, Inc., vs. International Business Machines Corporation Records, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (December 1996).

“District Judge Ray C. McNichols,” U.S. Courts, District of Idaho.

“Idaho Federal Judge Ray McNichols Dies,” Spokane Chronicle (Dec 26, 1985).

Robert L. Knox, “New Developments in the Law on Monopoly: The Impact of the IBM West Coast Cases,” Vol. 14, Golden Gate University Law Review, San Francisco, California (1984).

“Raymond Clyne McNichols,” Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, Federal Judicial Center.

Oregon Treaty of 1846 Largely Settles U. S.-Canadian Border [otd 06/15]

President Polk. Library of Congress.

On June 15, 1846, the United States and Great Britain reached an agreement that settled almost all the remaining disputes about the border between the U. S. and Canada. This treaty, arranged under President James K. Polk, meant that the future states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and some of Montana were indeed part of the United States.

The U. S.-Canadian boundary had been established as far west as the Continental Divide by the "joint occupancy" treaty of 1818 [blog, October 20]. That had left the area west of the Divide between latitude 42º N and 54º 40' N "in limbo." People commonly referred to that region as the “Oregon Country,” and some in the U. S. wanted all of it. (Note that "we" usually say "Americans" in cases like this ... but citizens of Canada are also "Americans," so I've tried to be very specific.)

Russian claims to the area complicated matters until they reached accommodations with the other two countries in 1824-1825. The Russians finally abandoned Fort Ross in northern California (Spanish-claimed territory) in 1841.

In the U. S., the issue boiled over during the 1844 presidential elections. The Democratic Party platform took an aggressive expansionist stance. Platform provisions demanded the annexation of Texas and laid claim to the entire Oregon Country. Their candidate, James K. Polk, eagerly ran on that platform. The Whigs equivocated and their candidate, Henry Clay, could not seem to make up his mind.

Southern expansionists supported the Texas annexation, partly because that would add another slave state to the Union. Northerners wanted the Oregon Country because it was seen as our “due” and would add several non-slave states. Claims and counter-claims muddled the Oregon issue in the minds of voters, whereas the Texas situation was clear-cut.

Disputed Pacific Northwest region.
Slightly modified Oregon Country map from Wikipedia Commons,
original creator not specifically identified.

Polk won the election by a close margin in the popular vote: less than 40 thousand out of over 2.6 million cast. Outgoing President John Tyler, a Whig, moved quickly to "steal his thunder." With Tyler’s urging, Congress passed a joint resolution to annex Texas. Texans then voted for a matching Ordinance of Annexation. Thus, statehood for Texas became a non-issue for the new administration.

With Texas relegated to "old news," rhetoric on the Oregon Question heated up. The inflammatory slogan, "Fifty-four Forty or Fight," espoused the position that the U. S. should demand the maximum concession on the Canadian border dispute.

However, as Texas statehood moved toward reality, it became clear that war with Mexico would almost certainly result. At the time, chaos gripped Mexican leadership, with the ministerial “lineup” changing almost monthly. The only constant, it seemed, was popular anger over the loss of Texas. Officials who made concessions to the U. S. would be driven from office. So, barring some major change in Polk’s position, Mexican leaders almost had to go to war … even though many knew Mexico would probably lose.

At the same time, American representatives in London warned that annoyed British officials were now considering preparations for war. Polk and his colleagues realized they were in no position to fight two foreign wars, especially when one of the opponents was the greatest power on Earth.

Thus, “cooler heads prevailed” and the new treaty ended the dispute with Great Britain just over a month after Congress declared war on Mexico.
                                                                                 

References: [Brit]

Walter T. K. Nugent, Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansion, Alfred A. Knopf, New York (2008).

Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People, Oxford University Press (1965).

President Andrew Johnson Authorizes Fort Hall Indian Reservation [otd 06/14]

President Johnson, 1870-1880.
Library of Congress.

On June 14, 1867, President Andrew Johnson signed a very brief Executive Order that authorized two reservations “as recommended by the Acting Secretary of the Interior.” One such reservation, located in southeast Idaho, was for the Shoshone and Bannock Indians. The input used by the Acting Secretary proposed a boundary that supposedly encompassed about 1.8 million acres. As written, the border description made no sense, but it was accompanied by a hand-drawn map that proved “good enough” at the time.

There was also another slight "catch" involved. The Shoshone and Bannock bands for whom the reservation was created had not yet said they would stay there. Various accords signed in 1863, including the “Box Elder Treaty” [blog, July 30], had been peace agreements, not reservation assignments.

Those treaties were largely meant to allow safe passage for white travelers through regions where the Shoshones commonly roamed. In return, government agents would give the bands provisions and other goods. The agreements outlined where the terms generally applied, but did not constraint the bands to remain within those (vague) boundaries.

This loose approach soon became untenable, largely due to white settlement. Many hunter-gatherer societies live “on the edge” of hunger. That was certainly true in the arid country occupied by the Sho-Bans (a modern term). White settlers naturally occupied the most productive lands first. Thus, they depleted natural food sources out of all proportion to their small initial numbers.

By 1865-1867, many bands had become dependent upon the government allotments just to avoid starvation. Officials decided the only workable answer was to move the tribes onto reservations. There, they could be taught to become self-sufficient farmers. Just over a year after Johnson’s executive order, the tribes acquiesced to the "Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868," in which they agreed to occupy the reservation.

In return, the government made many promises. A reservation physician would provide medical service. Also, craftsmen (carpenter, blacksmith, etc.) would be available to teach these skills to the Indians. Tribesmen who made "good faith" efforts to cultivate the land would receive, for up to four years, an allotment of seed and necessary farm implements.

Fort Hall Reservation Indians, ca. 1875. Library of Congress.

A number of buildings would be erected at government expense, and each Indian would receive an annual allotment of warm clothing, or the materials to make those garments. Other clauses promised an allowance that might be used for food, presumably to carry them through the period until they could raise their own.

The Bridger Treaty also reserved the southern Camas Prairie for their use, and defined a new region in (future) Wyoming – today’s Wind River Indian Reservation. Negotiators assumed that the main reservation had already been fixed by Johnson’s Executive Order. However, a survey in 1873 had trouble dealing with the ambiguities in that first loose definition. As finally set, the Reservation encompassed about 1.2 million acres. (See Relief Map here.)

Sadly, the Sho-Ban suffered through years of broken promises: inadequate food and clothing, no seed or training, and so on. All that, plus white violation of the Camas Prairie provision, would set off the Bannock War of 1878 [blog, June 8]. Moreover, by the end of the century, re-negotiations drastically reduced the size of the reservation to around 540 thousand acres.

In 1936 and 1937, the tribes created a governing constitution and bylaws, and organized themselves into a Federally-chartered corporation. Today the Sho-Ban can, by and large, provide reasonable services and opportunities for their people.
                                                                                 

References: [Hawley]

Charles Joseph Kappler (ed.), Indian affairs: Laws and Treaties, Volume I, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. (1903).

Brigham D. Madsen, The Northern Shoshoni, The Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho (1980).

Shoshone Bannock Tribes web site.

Burke, Idaho, Ready for Almost a Century of Silver Production [otd 06/13]

On June 13, 1885, a group of prospectors met and “declared” the town of Burke. They picked a spot about six miles up Canyon Creek from Placer Center (soon to be Wallace), itself only a few months old. The gorge is so narrow at Burke that during the winter the bottom gets only two or three hours of direct sun.

Burke, ca 1888. University of Idaho Library.

The previous year, searchers had uncovered two fabulous silver lodes, the “Tiger” and the “Poorman.” Other prospects soon followed. However, only the Tiger saw much development during that year. Lacking funds, the discoverers bonded their claims to John M. Burke, a Virginian who had been a banker in Utah. He, in turn, passed the rights along to Stephen S. Glidden, a wholesale grocer in Thompson Falls, Montana.

Glidden sold his business the following spring, and he, Burke, and some others improved the roads and trails into the mountains. Further development proved the worth of the Tiger, and hinted at the high value of other claims. They needed a supply point, and a place to put an ore processor, and chose Burke as the best site available.

Growth was very slow at first. In fact, not until May 1887 did they get around to really organizing a town, with street names, specific lot sizes, property recording requirements, and so on. The hamlet then contained only about twenty actual buildings.

However, in December of that year, tracks from Burke linked to a new narrow gauge railway at Wallace. In January, 1888, the Wallace Press listed around 35 business buildings in Burke, including “… seventeen saloons, four general stores, one beer hall … and not a hotel in town.” (There were two boarding houses, however.)

The arrival of the railroad sparked a construction boom. By the end of the 1888 building season, Burke reportedly contained around three hundred buildings, including ore concentrators for the Tiger and Poorman mines.

Those properties easily lived up to their early promise. Output from the mines reached their mill capacities within a few years and continued even after a disastrous fire that destroyed the Tiger and Poorman mills, and supporting structures, in March 1896. At that point, miners had pushed their tunnels down over a thousand feet. With no pumps running, those deep shafts began to fill with water.

Undeterred, management immediately contracted for new, bigger and better equipment for the mines. Despite other huge discoveries in the Coeur d’Alene mining districts, in 1898 the Tiger and Poorman still produced around 14% of all the silver-lead ore in the region.

The 1890 census recorded 482 inhabitants in Burke itself, and that number had increased to over a thousand in 1900. After that, as throughout the Coeur d’Alenes, Burke’s prosperity rose and fell with the prices of silver and lead. The population peaked at over fourteen-hundred in 1910-1912, and then slowly but steadily declined, dropping below a thousand in 1940.

Burke, 1946. Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University.

For over half a century, Burke boasted a structure that was unique in the world. Built in 1896, the Tiger Hotel mostly served mine officials and workers, although visitors might rent a room if it was available. With the canyon being so narrow, the hotel's substructure was raised so Canyon Creek could flow underneath.

Unusual ... but the true oddity was the pair of railroad tracks running right through the lobby. (We're told that only heavy sleepers got the rooms directly over the tracks.) The hotel survived two World Wars, but was finally torn down in 1954.

The last mine near Burke shut down in 1982 (The Oregonian, Portland, June 13, 1982). The hamlet’s remnant is now often referred to as a “ghost town,” with 300, or 75 (depending upon whom you believe) inhabitants.
                                                                                 

Refrences: [Illust-North], [Illust-State]

Judith Nielsen, “Tiger Hotel Company,” Manuscript Group 80, University of Idaho Archives, Moscow (February 1993).

Irrigation Developer, Idaho Governor, and U. S. Senator James Brady [otd 06/12]

Senator and Governor James H. Brady.
Library of Congress.

U. S. Senator and Idaho Governor James Henry Brady was born June 12, 1862 in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. According to the biography in J. H. Hawley's History, Brady graduated from Leavenworth Normal School and then taught for three years while studying law. From this statement, one can infer that young James was a intellectual prodigy. Leavenworth Normal School closed after the 1876 year.

Very young professionals, including lawyers, often fudged their age back then so as not to put off potential clients. It appears that's what James did. When the 1880 U. S. Census recorder for Dickinson County, Kansas came round, James listed his age as 24, adding six years. He later began "correcting" that, giving his age as 36 for an 1895 Kansas state census.

After two years as a newspaper editor, Brady started a very successful real estate business, with offices in Chicago, St. Louis, and Houston. Extensions of that enterprise brought him to Idaho in 1895. From a base in Pocatello, Brady led irrigation and water power developments all over eastern Idaho.

One of those projects was an American Falls hydropower plant, which began operation in 1902. The initial structure included a diversion weir to direct flow into the power plant. (A dam impounding the entire river was not built until twenty-five years later.)

In 1907, The Oregonian, in Portland, reported (October 23, 1907) that “The Idaho Consolidated Power Company, with a capital of $2,000,000, has absorbed the American Falls Power, Light & Water Company, the Pocatello Electric Light & Power Company and the Blackfoot Power & Water Company.”

James had holdings in all of these companies and the paper noted that “Brady retains the presidency of the new company.” Power County, created in 1913, got its name from the presence of the American Falls hydropower plant. The town of American Falls easily won the county seat.

Brady also played a major role in the National Irrigation Congress, serving as its Vice President and on its Executive Committee. His activities for other national business development organizations gave him considerable name recognition outside the state of Idaho.

In 1909, Brady began a two-year term as Idaho Governor. During his tenure, Idaho instituted a school for the deaf, dumb, and blind, and made provision for orphaned or neglected children. The legislature also authorized local option liquor laws and implemented a direct primary system.

Brady failed in his re-election bid. However, Idaho's U. S. Senator Weldon Heyburn died in office and, in 1913, Brady was selected to fill the remainder of his term. At the completion of that term, Brady was elected for a full term that was to run into 1921.

War bond sales, WW-I. Library of Congress.

His national reputation earned him a number of important committee assignments. His seat on the Military Affairs Committee particularly interested Brady. Despite deteriorating health, he threw himself into legislative programs intended to support World War I soldiers and sailors, and their families.

The Senator had a heart attack and died in January 1918. Hawley, a political opponent but personal admirer of Brady, wrote, "his dying regret was that he could not live to do his part in the solution of the problems which he saw would confront this country after the victory, which he knew would come to the arms of the Allies."
                                                                                 

References: [Hawley]

“Brady, James Henry, (1862 - 1918),” Biographical Directory of the United States Senate, online.

“Idaho Governor James Henry Brady,” National Governors Association, online.

Albert R. Taylor, “History of Normal-School Work in Kansas,” Transactions, Vol. VI, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka (1900).

Prolific and World Famous Bridge Designer David Steinman [otd 06/11]

D. B. Steinman.
Boston College collections.

David Barnard Steinman, considered one of the greatest bridge designers of all time, was born June 11, 1886 in New York City. He grew up almost literally in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, which turned his thoughts in that direction. The first in his family to attend college, he received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1911.

Even before the doctorate was finished, the University of Idaho hired Steinman as a civil engineering instructor. A technical publisher later issued his doctoral dissertation as a book that became a must-have text among professionals of the day.

Steinman proved to be an enthusiastic and popular teacher. He handled, at his request, a heavy teaching load of engineering courses. But not content with that, Steinman also organized and taught the first classes in architecture offered by the University. Remarkably, he attained full professor status before he moved on after just four years.

He actually executed his first bridge design while in Idaho. Limited to logs for material and the Boy Scout troop he led as Scoutmaster for a construction crew, Steinman developed innovative ways to complete the design anyway. Beyond that and his teaching, he found time to lead an extensive program of campus improvements.

However, although he enjoyed teaching, a relatively new, little-known university offered too little scope for someone of Steiman's genius and drive. In 1914, he took a job in New York City with one of the leading bridge designers of the era. After a brief period with another well-known designer, Steinman started his own engineering firm in 1920. Soon, he and another designer formed a partnership that would work together for a quarter century.

Entire books have been written about the many bridges (over 400) Steinman and his partner designed and built, the innovations he devised, and the string of awards he won. Some of the projects they tackled were considered almost impossible, and many required new designs and approaches.

One example was the Waldo-Hancock Bridge across the Penobscot River in Maine, completed in 1931. The historian for the Historic American Engineering Record program wrote that, “Technologically, the Waldo–Hancock Bridge represented a number of firsts.”

It was one of the first two in the United States to use pre-stressed cabling, which reduced the installation and adjustment time. Also, for the first time, parts were pre-marked as to where they were to be installed – another significant cost savings. The bridge was also the first to include a tower truss type that would later be used in the Golden Gate Bridge.

Like engineers worldwide, Steinman was shocked by the wind-caused collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940. He went on to make major contributions to our knowledge of bridge aerodynamics.

Mackinac Bridge.
Wikipedia Commons, submitted by “Jeffness” in April 2007.

Steinman considered the Mackinac Bridge his "crowning achievement." The span, which connects the bulk of Michigan to its upper peninsula, held the record as the longest suspension bridge in the world for forty years. It's still the longest in the Western Hemisphere.

While Idaho could hold him for only four years, the University can point with pride to a remarkable number of his students who went on to make important engineering contributions. One of his students became Chief Engineer for the Hoover Dam project. Another worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority and consulted with Israeli officials on water projects for the Jordan River.

Steinman was working on a design to bridge the Strait of Messina, to connect Sicily to the Italian "boot," when he died in August 1960.
                                                                                 

References: [Brit]

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

Katherine Larson Farnham, Waldo-Hancock Bridge, HAER No. ME-65. Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Washington, D. C. (November 1999).

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).

Richard G. Weingardt, Engineering Legends: Great American Civil Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers (August 1, 2005).