South Fork Companion

On April 19, 1927, crowds began to gather outside the brand new Egyptian Theater at least an hour before it was supposed to open, at 7:00 pm. Boise's first movie "palace" had created an expectant buzz in the city.

Egyptian Theater, ca. 1928*. City of Boise.

Of the five other movie houses in town, the Pinney Theater was the largest and fanciest. Former Boise mayor James Pinney [blog, Sept 29], a theater enthusiast, opened the Pinney in late 1908. Designed initially for stage plays, within a decade movie productions predominated.

As the grande damme of downtown venues, the Pinney got preference for the prestigious first-run movies. For example, the theater offered the first exclusive, limited engagement in Boise of The Birth of a Nation (Idaho Statesman, April 10, 1916). This highly controversial, but wildly popular movie by D. W. Griffith is considered historically important as the first true “feature” film.

However, the "Roaring Twenties" were in full swing, and moviegoers craved something modern for a venue. To some, the Pinney seemed stodgy and old-fashioned. The other four theaters in town were smaller and generally conventional in design. Boiseans were ready for the exotic.

Sensing an opportunity, a year earlier three Boise businessmen – Leo J. Falk, Harry K. Fritchman and Charles M. Kahn – incorporated a company to satisfy that desire. Two of them were especially well known to locals. Boise City was just five year old when Nathan Falk, Leo's father, opened a store there. Born in Boise in 1882, Leo ended up directing the extensive family holdings after his father died in 1903.

Fifteen years older than Leo, Fritchman was already a successful businessman when he relocated to Boise. He continued that success in Idaho, and served as Boise Mayor in 1911. Kahn moved to Boise from Portland in 1899 and established a thriving law practice. Prominent in the local Jewish community, Kahn served a term as City Attorney starting in April 1907.

Interior décor, Egyptian Theater. Theater photo gallery.

The partners contracted with the well-known architectural firm of Tourtellotte & Hummel to design a spectacular venue. At the time, "Egyptian" motifs were all the rage, so the designer offered his interpretation.

After almost a year of work, the doors finally opened on the 19th of April. Patrons found themselves in a bright lobby, tiled nearer the doors but with lush carpeting further in. Water fountains burbled somewhere. The walls looked like cut stone, with frescos embellished in bright blues, reds and greens.

Warner Bros. publicity poster.

The Egyptian opened with the movie Don Juan, starring the hugely popular John Barrymore. The release gave Boise theatergoers something else new: The first feature film with prerecorded – via the "Vitaphone"– sound effects and music (no dialog).

Today, the Egyptian is the only theater that has survived from that era. It went through several names in its history, before returning to the original. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. At considerable cost, a recent restoration addressed various building code issues while retaining the historic decor.

* The photograph was identified as "undated," but the marquee says: "Monte Blue in Across the Pacific." That silent film was released in 1926, so this showing would have almost certainly been in 1927 or 1928.

References: [French]

Arthur Hart, "Idaho history: [Boise Movie Theaters]," Idaho Statesman (September 13 and 20, 2009).

"Don Juan," The Internet Movie Database.

"Across the Pacific,"The Internet Movie Database.

Sue Paseman, "The Mysterious East Meets the Pragmatic West," Historical Essay, Boise State University (Dec 2004).

Arthur Porter, Jr. as a young man.
Porter family records.

Arthur Porter, Jr. – college professor, businessman, public servant, and religious leader – was born April 20, 1876 in Auckland, New Zealand. Mormon converts, the family moved to Utah in 1885.

Arthur, Jr. grew up there and went on to school at Brigham Young College in Logan. After earning his B.S. degree in 1896, he served as a missionary in Switzerland. While there, he took classes at the University of Geneva.

Even a minimal summary of Porter's multiple careers describes a life of incredible activity and achievement. He first taught in Utah and then in Preston, Idaho. However, in 1902, he began his long association with Rexburg and what is today Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYU-Idaho). At what was then Ricks Academy, he started out teaching mathematics and geography, as well as vocal music.

Starting with the 1905 school year, Porter was assigned to teach science classes: physics, chemistry, physiology, geology, and botany. Five years later, he added geometry and German to his teaching load. However, after one year of that, he was allowed to teach just German. Before his resignation from the full-time faculty over a decade later, in 1916, he also taught theology.

Off and on for another dozen years he taught there part-time. That included the period when the Academy became Ricks Normal College (in 1918) and then just Ricks College five years later. During this period, the school weathered a storm when the church closed many academies as a cost-cutting measure. Because it offered a wide range of college-level classes, Ricks escaped the axe. Porter was among those who argued for the school’s continuance. He would be heavily involved in the non-teaching affairs of the College for many, many years.

Arthur got his introduction to the newspaper business during his brief sojourn in Preston. He was a partner in running the Preston Standard. Porter sold his interest when he moved his family to Rexburg. Then, in 1908, he purchased a Rexburg newspaper that he would continue to publish for over forty years. Porter also owned farm property and engaged in extensive real estate activities. For a time, one of his companies owned a Rexburg hotel.

Arthur Porter with grandchildren, ca. 1947. Porter family records.

Porter's sense of civic duty led him into public service. Over the next half century he would: lead innumerable county and city committees and associations, serve six years on the Rexburg city council then later six years as mayor, serve two terms in the state House of Representatives, and end with four years as county Superintendent of Schools. He closed his public career only after a failed bid for a state Senate seat in 1954, when he was seventy-eight years old.

As if all that weren't enough, Porter remained very active in the LDS church for most of his life, as: missionary, Sunday school superintendent, stake Counselor, LDS hospital board member, and frequent and long-term committee member or leader.

Arhur Porter, Jr. died at the end of 1967. Rexburg's Porter Park is named in his honor, as well as the Arthur Porter Room (Special Collections) at BYU-Idaho.

References: [French]

David L. Crowder, Arthur Porter Jr., Community Builder, Man of Vision, Arnold Press, Rexburg, Idaho (© David L. Crowder, 1986).

David L. Crowder, The Spirit of Ricks: A History of Ricks College, Ricks College Press, Rexburg, Idaho (1997).

John Powell (ed), "Arthur Porter, Jr. Papers,"Arthur Porter Special Collections, Brigham Young University - Idaho, Rexburg (2003)

Dr. White. J. H. Hawley photo.

Edgar Lee White, Lewiston physician and hospital operator, was born April 21, 1883 in St. Louis, Missouri. The family moved to Spokane in 1888. For five years starting at age ten, Edgar worked as a newsboy in Spokane. He then entered the carpenter’s trade. After his high school graduation in 1903, he continued in carpentry, while also attending classes at Washington State College (now University).

White next pursued higher education in Missouri and then at the University of Chicago. In June 1909, White received his M.D. degree from Chicago’s Rush Medical College. He followed that with an eighteen-month internship at St. Luke's Hospital in Spokane. While there, Edgar met Catherine Rouse, a Registered Nurse. Dr. White moved to Lewiston in December, 1911, and he and Catherine were married four months later.

In Lewiston, White joined with an established physician to start his practice. However, the senior partner died in late March 1911, so Edgar carried on the practice alone.

Five years later, Dr. White and Catherine contracted for the construction of a new hospital in Lewiston. The two-story brick structure had room for thirty-two beds, plus a full basement. That level held a waiting room, kitchen and dining rooms, small treatment rooms, and various utility areas. The Idaho Statesman in Boise reported (June 24, 1916) on the new facility with the headline, “New Private Hospital at Lewiston is Real Model,” and said that it was “small but modern in all its equipment.”

Hawley's History noted that the doctor suffered "a great financial strain at the time," but the situation had improved considerably after four years. Dr. White wore many hats during those early years: President, general practitioner, Chief Surgeon, maintenance supervisor, handyman, and whatever else came up.

A frame structure near the main building housed a nurse's school, with quarters. Catherine, as Head Nurse, was in charge of nurse training. She also served as Vice President, handled anesthesia, and "pinch hit" wherever help was needed.

White Hospital, Lewiston, ca 1918. J. H. Hawley photo.

A retired nurse who trained there recalled those years in an interview for the Lewiston Tribune. Students had to be dedicated. Living on site, they first worked a twelve hour day, starting at 7 o’clock in the morning, and followed that with two hours of classwork. They then rose the next morning to do it again – with a half-day off each week.

Edgar spent a year as a military cadet at Washington State, and joined the medical reserve of the Idaho National Guard in 1913. He would remain with the Guard for over twenty years. During World War I, Dr. White served as a surgeon at Camp Lewis in Washington state.

White Hospital operated for over thirty years, during which span the doctor delivered more than 3,000 babies. The Whites finally closed the hospital in 1946, although Edgar maintained a small practice from a basement office. Catherine died in 1955, Dr. White in 1963.

The old hospital was abandoned after serving as a low-rent hotel for awhile. The hulk was finally demolished to make way for a new building in 1970. All that remains of White Hospital are some patient ledgers, currently in the custody of a Lewiston museum.

Reference: [Defen], [Hawley]

Bob Weatherly, "White Hospital was Big Part of Early Lewiston," Lewiston Tribune (Oct 23, 1992). [Note: Article copy furnished by Tribune Managing Editor Paul Emerson.]

F. L. Sower. Beal & Wells photo.

Engineer and irrigation expert Forrest Lindsay Sower was born April 22, 1887 in Battle Creek, Michigan. The family soon moved to Idaho, and Forrest graduated from Caldwell High School in 1907. He then attended College of Idaho for a time before transferring to the University of Idaho. He earned a B.A. degree in 1911.

Also a talented musician and composer, Sower pursued that hobby at UI: He played professionally in various bands, and had a number of songs published. Forrest played several wind instruments as well as the organ.

Sower joined the U.S. Reclamation Service right out of school and worked on the early phases of the Boise Project. The Service, today’s Bureau of Reclamation, began its first Boise area irrigation project in 1905. That was the Deer Flat Reservoir, now known as Lake Lowell, about seven miles west of Nampa. The Service then spent several years building or improving canals in the area.

About the time Sower joined the Service, planning had been completed for the next major Project phase, Arrowrock Dam. In 1911, track layers extended a railroad spur running southeast out of Boise so trains could deliver materials and workers for dam construction. Crews completed the dam in 1915. At that time, Arrowrock was the tallest dam in the world and contained some of the most advanced design features known.

Arrowrock Dam, Boise River, ca. 1916. Library of Congress.

Sower worked his way up the promotion ladder over the next few years. The Boise Project added many new dams and canal systems to provide water to the Boise Valley and some of the nearby higher plains. For several years after about 1915, Sower acted as watermaster for the systems in operation around Wilder, 10-12 miles west of Caldwell.

He also maintained his musical interests; the Idaho Statesman reported (January 18, 1920), "A dance will be given in the near future for the benefit of the Wilder band. The band is practicing under the leadership of F. L. Sower."

In 1926, the Bureau of Reclamation transferred substantial assets to the various irrigation Districts for routine operation. Concurrent with that, Sower became assistant engineer and watermaster for the Boise Project Board of Control. That Board oversees and integrates the operations of the various irrigation Districts affiliated with the Project.

In 1934, Sower became Manager of the Nampa-Meridian Irrigation District. Ten years later, he was named Manager of the Boise Project Board of Control. He would hold that position for the rest of his life.

Forrest was a licensed professional engineer in the state of Idaho and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He was also a member of the American Federation of Musicians, being a member of the union Local in Nampa. He even organized his own dance band and conducted it for a number of years. An active Shriner, he also played in their local band.

Sower passed away in January 1959. His obituary noted that Forrest was “one of the prime movers in the program of covering irrigation ditches as a safeguard against summertime drownings of small children in the area.”

References: [B&W], [Hawley]

Boise Project, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Washington, D. C. (2009).

“Obituary: Forrest Sower,” Caldwell News-Tribune (January 16, 1959).

Francis W. Shepardson and James L. Gavin Gavin, Songs of Beta Theta Pi, Kessinger Publishing, Whitefish, Montana (June 30, 2005).

Idaho Governor David William Davis was born April 23, 1873 in Wales. The family moved to the U.S. two years later, and the father found work mining coal in the districts northwest of Des Moines, Iowa. This being before strict child labor laws, David began working in the coal mines there in 1885, when he was twelve years old.

Boy miners were once common. Library of Congress.

After three years he landed a job in the mining company store. Personable and hard-working, Davis showed a talent for the retail business. Around 1894, he was hired as the Manager of a farmers’ co-op store in the town of Rippey, 35-40 miles northwest of Des Moines. Within a few years, he became Cashier of a local bank. (As noted in another blog, back then the Cashier was an important bank officer.)

According to later accounts, David continued to suffer the ill effects of his time in the mines. Around 1899-1900, he finally had to take some time off. Then, around 1905, he moved to Idaho, which reportedly completed his rest cure. In 1907, Davis founded the First National Bank of American Falls. The bank prospered, and, in 1918, Davis was elected President of the Idaho State Bankers Association.

In 1912, Davis was chosen as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, and then voters elected him to the state Senate. The 1913 session of the legislature passed some key laws, including the creation of a State Board of Education and a Public Utilities Commission.

In 1916, the party selected Davis as their candidate for Governor against a very popular incumbent, Moses Alexander [blog, Nov 13]. Despite a near-total Democratic sweep – they won a majority in both houses of the legislature and all but a handful of executive-branch posts – Davis lost by only 572 votes out of 127 thousand cast.

D. W. Davis.
Library of Congress.

Two years later, Davis polled 60 percent of the vote in a successful run for governor. Supported by majorities in both legislative branches, Governor Davis led the state through sweeping changes in how it did business: rewording laws, restructuring and unifying state administrative offices (a badly needed reform), and addressing crucial needs.

The latter included provisions for veterans' welfare, a pension system for teachers, and an extensive road-building program [blog, Mar 13.] In 1919, the Governor also convened a conference that led to the formation of the Western States Reclamation Association. The Association, composed of fifteen states, sought to advise the Federal government on western irrigation projects. Davis was re-elected in 1920, and continued his program of reform and reorganization.

After leaving office, Davis was appointed Commissioner of the U. S. Reclamation Service, soon to the the Bureau of Reclamation. He served only briefly there before being selected as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior. He later held other positions in the Department before returning to Idaho. He lived to see enormous change in the state of Idaho, passing away in 1959.

References: [Defen], [Hawley]

“Commissioner of Reclamation Climbs Life’s Ladder,” Reclamation Record, Vol. 14, Nos. 11 and 12, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, Washington, D.C. (November-December 1923).

"Idaho Governor David William Davis,"National Governor's Association.

J.D. Cannon as western detective Harry Briscoe
in Alias Smith & Jones. ABC TV trailer.

Long-time stage, movie, and TV actor John Donovan "J. D." Cannon was born April 24, 1922 in Salmon, Idaho. A child of the Depression, teen-aged “Jack” (as he was then known) worked as a ranch hand, trapper, and outdoor guide.

He graduated from Salmon High School in 1940. Cannon credited his high school English teacher with arranging to get him to New York City and enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts there. That training was interrupted by service in the U. S. Army in 1942-1945.

After the war, he pursued further theatrical study in New York. Like most young actors, Cannon worked a variety of jobs to support himself: tour guide, restaurant cashier, and whatever else came along. He began his acting career in the Fifties on the stage.

J. D. proved his acting range in a wide variety of roles. These included Petruchio in the comedy The Taming of the Shrew, some serious Shakespearean characters, and – of course – assorted villains, often depraved. All that work helped hone his craft, but he never landed a plum starring role in a major production.

He first appeared on television in 1958, on the Phil Silvers Show, the "Sergeant Bilko" comedy. Cannon played Master Sergeant Sherman (aka "Sherman the Shark"), a poker hustler. Then, in 1960, his serious acting credits landed him the role of U. S. President Andrew Jackson on the program Omnibus, funded by the Ford Foundation. He also had the lead role in two U.S. Steel Hour productions. The following year, he played the lead role in two episodes of the prestigious Play of the Week.

Still, in a 1970 interview, Cannon said, “It’s only been in the last ten years that I’ve been able to support myself as an actor.”

That was when, in the early Sixties, he began making a steady living with minor roles in hit TV shows. He appeared on such series as The Naked City, Wagon Train, The Untouchables, Rawhide, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Cannon also had roles in The Chrysler Theater and played Texas patriot Sam Houston for an episode of the series Profiles in Courage. He appeared in two made-for-TV movies in 1964 and 1965.

According to the Internet Movie Database, he played a police sergeant in his first standard movie role – An American Dream in 1966. He then had a minor speaking part as a prisoner in Cool Hand Luke, which starred Paul Newman. Despite his formidable acting ability, movie producers almost always typecast Cannon as a "heavy" or, at best, an unsympathetic character. Thus, in 1970 he appeared as a mobster in the minor cult classic, Cotton Comes to Harlem.

McCloud, program publicity photo, NBC.

Cannon did somewhat better with his many roles in made-for-TV movies. One 1974 role emphasized his acting range: that of a man involved in an inter-racial love affair, set in 1918 South Carolina. Although some affiliate stations declined to air the show, it was hailed as "an unusual combination of courage and taste in the welter of the prime-time pulp grind."

Cannon basically made his living for some thirty years as a TV actor, appearing in at least 80 episodes of numerous programs. Probably his best-known portrayal was that of Chief of Detectives Peter Clifford on the long-running series McCloud, which starred Dennis Weaver. His final appearance was a role on Law & Order, in 1991. He died in June 2005.

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

"J. D. Cannon, 83, Dies; Actor on McCloud," New York Times, June 5, 2005

"J. D. Cannon Filmography,"The Internet Movie Database.

Dick Kleiner, “Big Fish From Salmon,” The Springfield Union, Springfield, Massachusetts (August 20, 1970).

On April 25, 1882, Andrew J. Prichard* discovered an outcropping of rich gold-bearing quartz in the Coeur d'Alene River watershed. Prichard, and others, had unearthed signs of gold in the area before, but this find is credited with setting off the decisive rush into these Idaho mountains.

Coeur d’Alene mining area. University of Idaho Archives.

Rumors of gold in the Coeur d'Alenes had surfaced as early as about 1852. But such stories were common and no one paid much attention.

In 1859, Lieutenant John Mullan saw possible gold bearing strata when he built his military road through the area [blog, Feb 5]. After the discoveries became common knowledge, Mullen wrote a letter to an area newspaper editor in which said that he had observed “wide veins of quartz projecting at numerous points along the line of my road along the Coeur d'Alene, all of which indicated the presence of gold.”

In fact, one of their hunters returned to camp with some coarse gold dust he claimed to have found on the headwaters of the Coeur d’Alene River. The road-builders discounted the claim, figuring he had traded with some travelers from the gold fields in Canada. Mullan also said he “did nothing to encourage” any exploration because he “feared any rich discovery would lead to a general stampede of my men from my expedition.”

That seemed to work. Still, what appeared to be more substantial stories set off a failed rush in 1865. Also, Lewiston developer John Vollmer [blog, Jan 25] reportedly staked some prospectors in 1873 and 1874. They claimed to have discovered a good lode, but could not relocate it the second year.

Prichard entered Idaho from Montana in 1878 and trekked along the Coeur d'Alene River. He found some gold-bearing quartz upstream from today's Kellogg, but lacked the resources to exploit that discovery. Over the next few years, he kept searching the river and its tributaries for other outcroppings and for easier placer gold.

Prichard's April 1882 discovery finally convinced him that the gold fields could support "at least 15,000 to 20,000 men." A confirmed adherent of the Liberal League – a loose affiliation of "free thinkers"– Prichard tried to restrict the news to like-minded believers. In a message to a friend, he described the find and asked him pass it along “to as many Leagues as you can on this coast, and request them to get together and keep this information to themselves.”

Hydraulic placer mining, Eagle Creek, 1884.
University of Idaho Archives.

As usual in such cases, it soon became general knowledge. A relatively small rush in 1883 was swamped by the hordes that arrived the following year. Towns sprang up all over the place, including Eagle City, Murray [blog, Mar 5], Beaver City, Carbon City, Littlefield, Raven City, and Myrtle. Placer miners scrambled onto every promising stretch of river and creek.

Eagle City boomed to over two thousand inhabitants, and the District Court held its first term there in 1884. Yet Murray supplanted the town within five years, and Eagle City barely lasted into the next century. In fact, Murray remains as the only survivor from all those gold towns.

Actually, while many struck it rich in gold, the true wealth of the Coeur d’Alenes turned out to the huge deposits of lead-silver ore that were soon discovered in the region.

* Various references, including newspaper articles of the time, alternate between spelling the name as "Pritchard," versus sometimes without the "t". The "Pritchard" version also appears in some fairly recent history books. However, it seems that the family preference is for the spelling without the "t,"and the creek itself is shown as Prichard on U.S. Geological Survey maps.

References: [B&W], [lllust-North]

"First recorded Coeur d’Alene gold found in this creek," Spokane Chronicle (May 23, 1936).

"Placer Mining Sites," Reference Series No. 892, Idaho State Historical Society (1987).

On April 26, 1879, Warren P. Callahan filed on a lead-silver claim at the base of the ridge a mile or so west of the present town of Bellevue, Idaho. This filing was a major milestone for what would quickly build into a rush into the Wood River mining districts.

Wood River Valley, looking south. Illustrated History, 1899.

The Boise Basin gold discoveries of 1862 [blog, Oct 7] drew thousands of hopeful miners to southern Idaho. Soon, all the best claims had been staked, so prospectors began to broaden their explorations. Various parties visited the Wood River area in 1863-1865, and a few found enough “color” to do some mining there. However, the finds offered only minor returns, so no one particularly wanted to risk the unfriendly Indian bands that frequented the area.

In 1864, Callahan himself reportedly found the galena lode he would later claim. (From there, he went on into Montana.) Some prospectors knew that galena, a lead sulfide ore, often contains small amounts of silver. An ounce in twenty pounds of galena would be among the highest known silver fractions.

Few in the West, however, knew how to process the ore. Moreover, even a lode rich in galena versus useless stone, and high in silver fraction, required a major investment to pay out, because of the processing cost. In 1864, with gold fever in the air, no one had much interest in looking for silver.

By around 1875, however, silver discoveries in Colorado and Nevada had made shrewd (or lucky) investors fabulously wealthy – the Comstock Lode being perhaps the most famous. People all over the West searched eagerly for the next big strike. However, in Idaho deadly clashes with indigenous Indians [Bannock War, blog, June 8] delayed serious exploration until 1879.

Numerous other filings followed Callahan's and triggered a substantial rush into the region in 1880. The towns of Bellevue and Ketchum soon followed, and then Hailey in 1881. An experienced miner from Silver City toured the area and noted (Owyhee Avalanche, Silver City, Idaho, February 26, 1881) that the prospects were “exceedingly rich.” He also wrote, “There are about five hundred people in Bellevue at present, and the town contains four saloons, seven stores, five hotels and restaurants, two livery stables, a Postoffice and jail … ”

Main Street, Hailey, 1888.
Hailey Historic Preservation Commission.

For awhile, all the ore had to be shipped out of state. Loads went first by freight wagon to the railroad station at Kelton, Utah. Trains carried it to smelters in Salt Lake, or even as far away as Denver. To offset the substantial expense, investors selected only the richest ores for shipment. One ore body, reportedly the richest ever found in the U. S. up to then, assayed out at “112 ounces of silver to the ton.”

As soon as possible, developers built smelters in Hailey and then Ketchum. Their initial capacities were limited and ore shipments continued until they could be upgraded.

Finally, in May 1883, the Oregon Short Line completed a branch line into Hailey and the production of the mines skyrocketed. The railroad extended its branch into Ketchum in August 1884.

As so often happened, the boom times passed rather quickly. There would be later discoveries, but the Wood River economy soon turned more to stock raising and farming.

References: [B&W], [Hawley]

"Site Report - Wood River," Reference Series No. 206, Idaho State Historical Society (1981).

Merle W. Wells, Gold Camps & Silver Cities, 2nd Edition, Bulletin 22, Idaho Department of Lands, Bureau of Mines and Geology, Moscow, Idaho (1983).

"Idaho Lead-Silver Mining Camps, 1879-1884," Reference Series No. 668, Idaho State Historical Society (1984).

Gov. Stevenson. City of Boise photo.

On April 27, 1886, Idaho Territorial Governor Edward A. Stevenson issued a proclamation that said, in part, "The life and property of our citizens, and those of the Chinese as well, who are engaged in our midst in peaceful occupations, are entitled to and must receive the equal protection of the laws of our Territory."

Chinese miners had been active participants in the gold fields from the earliest days. Every region followed much the same pattern: Whites wrote district mining codes that excluded Orientals altogether, and might enforce the rules with violence. Then, unable to find enough cheap white labor, miners changed the rules to allow white owners to hire Chinese workers. Finally, whites began to sell played out (supposedly) claims, or abandon them to the Chinese.

In January 1866, the Territorial legislature passed a law that overrode local codes and allowed Chinese to work in the gold fields … upon payment of a $5 per month fee. With two or three thousand Orientals working in Idaho mines by 1868, this represented a tidy sum for the government. That number ballooned even further after the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The 1870 census for Idaho enumerated 4,274 Chinese (28.5 percent) among the Territory's 15 thousand inhabitants.

Yet they were still not really welcome, for various reasons: blind racism, perplexity at their "odd" diet and customs, and their infamous opium dens. There was probably an element of jealousy too. Chinese miners, often in communal groups, could wrest decent profits from claims that whites considered worthless. Few whites wanted to work as incredibly hard as the Orientals, but that was surely counted against them too.

Chinese Workers with White Miner. Personal Collection.

Predictable results followed: a host of discriminatory laws and taxes, calls for their expulsion, and unpunished white offenses against Chinese. Crimes against Orientals sometimes included mass murders that were conveniently blamed on the Indians. Members of various “Anti-Chinese Leagues” met openly to advocate their expulsion from the United States. The Idaho Statesman reported (February 27, 1886) on one such convention, which called for a boycott of businesses that employed Chinese labor.

Some elements within these organizations wanted stronger actions, although leaders said, “We denounce all violence and attempted violence on the person or destruction to the property of the Chinese.”

Stevenson’s proclamation came about partly because, in late 1855, vigilantes lynched five Chinese suspected of murdering a white storekeeper in Pierce. This atrocity even came to the attention of the Emperor of China, and the Chinese ambassador demanded an investigation. (Nothing much came of that, of course.)

With all that publicity, Stevenson had to respond to a tip that plans were afoot to expel the Chinese from Idaho, by force if necessary. His proclamation enjoined such actions "with the assurance that the law will hold those who may engage in such deeds responsible, individually and collectively, for the results of their acts."

The proclamation, and probably some internal squabbling, defused the conspiracy, so there was no outbreak of violence.

Collectively, the Chinese made a substantial, but largely ignored contribution to the growth of Idaho, and not just in terms of mining. However, the pressure against them never let up. The 1900 Census enumerated just 1,467 Chinese in the state (less than 1 percent).

References: [B&W]

Arif Dirlik, Malcolm Yeung (eds.), Chinese on the American Frontier, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (2003).

Proclamation [forbidding forcible expulsion of the Chinese after the first day of May 1886], Territory of Idaho, Edward A. Stevenson, Governor; April 27, 1886.

Boise dentist Edward H. Maberly was born April 28, 1853 in England. Apparently his father and part of the family lived for a time in Illinois before 1855-1860. However, Edward did not arrive in the U. S. until about 1869. At that point the family lived in Mount Carroll, a northwest Illinois village near the Iowa border. His father, older brother, and Edward engaged in carriage painting and construction. They all moved to Ellsworth, Kansas, in 1878 – missing the earlier wild times when the town was known as the “Wickedest Cattletown in Kansas."

In the early to mid-1880s, Edward left his father’s carriage business. Then, at some point, he met the daughter of a dentist who had a practice in south-central Nebraska. Liking the prospects better than his old trade, he turned to dentistry after marrying Alice in 1889. Within two years, Maberly was serving as a “circuit dentist,” on a route that took him to towns in northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming.

Fully-equipped dental “operatory,” 1900. RitterDental.com

In 1894, Maberly graduated from a dental college located in Kansas City and practiced briefly in Nebraska. He moved to Boise in 1895. According to the H. T. French History, "Soon after Dr. Maberly opened his offices in Boise, he saw the need of organization among the dentists of the state, and he got into correspondence with the dentists all over the state with the idea of uniting them in some manner, the first dental society in the state being the result of his efforts."

The Idaho State Dental Society – now Association – organized on a temporary basis in 1896. In June 1897, members adopted a Constitution and Bylaws, and established four standing committees. They also selected Maberly to be the first Secretary. After two years in that position, he became President of the organization.

In addition to his practice, Maberly served as Secretary of Idaho's first State Board of Dental Examiners, starting in 1899. The law that created the Board gave practicing dentists three months to register their names and business locations. New dentists had to appear before the Board to have their credentials assessed. In 1904, Maberly served on the Idaho State Conference Committee for the the Fourth International Dental Congress, held in St. Louis, Missouri.

Maberly Elk photo. Recreation magazine, 1898.

An "ardent sportsman," Maberly helped organize a state-wide sportmen's organization. Through that body, he urged the passage of laws for wiser fish and game management. He sent a photograph of elk in the Teton foothills to Recreation magazine, with the statement that the herd numbered "some 1,500" and had just been shooed away from stacks of hay in the valley.

He went on, "We rarely see so large a band of elk now; yet there are enough left to stock a vast territory if properly protected and judiciously hunted."

Maberly served several terms as President of the Intermountain Gun Club. He won many awards at shooting contests in Boise and around the Northwest, remaining competitive well into his sixties. In 1919, Edward and his wife acquired a place in Corvallis, Oregon, two of their children being enrolled in college there. Dr. Maberly closed his practice about a year later, but still spent much time in Boise.

On September 1, 1921, Edward was in Buhl, serving as judge for a field trial of hunting dogs – “work” he loved. The first trial had been completed when, according witnesses, he literally dropped dead of a heart attack.

References: [Brit], [French]

E. H. Maberly, "Elk in the Teton Foot Hills," Recreation, Vol. VIII. No. 2, G. 0. Shields, Publisher, New York (February 1898).

R. Ottolengui (ed), “Idaho State Dental Society,” Items of Interest: A Monthly Magazine of Dental Art, Science and Literature, Vol. 19, Consolidated Dental Manufacturing Company, New York (1897).

Transactions on the Fourth International Dental Congress, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A. August 29 to September 3, 1904, S. S. White Dental Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia (1905).

On April 29, 1899, a train packed with perhaps a thousand angry union members rumbled along the tracks leading from Burke and Wallace into the Kellogg-Wardner area. They were headed for the concentrator mill of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan (BH&S) Mining Company in Wardner, Idaho.

Wardner mine before bombing, ca 1899.
Washington State Archives.

Near Wallace, they had loaded up with "giant powder" (an early form of dynamite). The act of violence they planned arose from years of labor-management confrontation, which had reached a “critical mass” in the previous few months.

Few “good guys” appeared in this tragic opera. The companies generally extracted substantial returns from their properties, while paying the miners as little as possible for their dangerous and debilitating labor. For years, many refused to recognize the miners’ union as a legitimate bargaining unit. Plus, they routinely placed spies in the union ranks.

The unions countered with informers of their own. Some were men who understood and sympathized with the workers’ plight. More were persuaded by bribes, or compelled by threats and bullying. In fact, some radical union leaders considered violence and intimidation their preferred weapons … strikes were too slow and ineffective. Union thugs routinely taunted, threatened, and – when opportunity arose – beat up replacement workers.

On this crucial day in 1899, the union “army” had targeted the Wardner mill because the BH&S still adamantly refused to recognize the union, and persistently suppressed internal union activity. When the union men reached their destination, explosives experts set the charges while the rest stood ready to quell any resistance. In a brief scuffle, a Bunker employee was fatally wounded.

At one point, a small group of union men had become separated from the main body. These may have been a scouting party, or just some men who had gone off on their own – stories varied. When the bands stumbled into one another in the dark, they exchanged volleys of gunfire before the mistake could be sorted out. One union man in the smaller group died instantly in the hail of bullets

After the blasts, the union force ran the train back to Burke, groups of men dispersing along the way.

Wardner mine after 1899 bombing. Washington State Archives.

Alarmed by the flagrant show of force, Governor Frank Steunenberg called in Federal troops to impose martial law. A substantial number of union men were imprisoned in an open-air stockade, dubbed the "bull pen."

In the proceedings that followed, state authorities removed the county commissioners and sheriff from office for gross dereliction of duty. Evidence showed that they had ample warning that the union was planning a violent, illegal demonstration ... and did nothing about it.

Prosecutors convicted the secretary of the Burke for second degree murder for the killing of the Bunker employee. He was not, apparently, directly involved in the murder. The state based his conviction on the established legal principle that a willing, knowledgeable participant in a crime that leads to murder bears equal responsibility. (The state Supreme Court upheld the decision, but -- the State having made its point -- he was pardoned and released two years later.)

The violence did not end there: In 1905, a union assassin murdered retired Governor Steunenberg with a bomb at his front gate [blog, Dec 30].

References: [B&W], [Hawley], [lllust-North]

On April 30, 1909, the Oregon Short Line announced that they would soon begin a substantial upgrade to the railroad facilities in Idaho Falls. This notice followed several years of steadily rising activity at the town.

Train at older Idaho Falls depot, ca. 1905.
Bonneville County Historical Society.

The railroad history of Idaho Falls (then called Eagle Rock) began in 1879, when Utah & Northern Railway tracks arrived in town [blog, Apr 11]. For a time, Eagle Rock was “end of track,” with the usual large, wild tent city. Of course, those throngs moved on with the track-laying. However, new pioneers rode the train into the area and spurred a modest period of growth.

Nor did the freight business over the Eagle Rock toll bridge drop off that much at first. Basically, the wagon freight companies saw no reason to immediately shut down. They simply moved their southern terminus further and further north.

The “tipping point” came more or less when the Utah & Northern established a major station at Dillon in late 1880. After that wagon traffic – and toll revenue – declined sharply.

Fortunately, about then the U&NR decided to build its maintenance and support shops in Eagle Rock. The town’s population rose rapidly after that. With traffic increasing, the railroad also built a rough passenger terminal. However, Eagle Rock suffered a major blow in May, 1886: A huge wind storm wrecked the railroad roundhouse.

By this time, east-west traffic on the Oregon Short Line Railroad had grown substantially. Rather than rebuild in place, the company moved the shops to Pocatello, where they could more easily service both lines. The population of Eagle Rock plummeted immediately.

Long-term, farming and ranching helped soften the blow, and the numbers had almost recovered by 1899. A year later, an independent railway company completed a line north from Idaho Falls to St. Anthony. By then, the OSL had fully absorbed the U&NR. They built a new passenger station, situated near where the spur line tracks met the main OSL rails.

The arrangement puzzled, and annoyed, citizens. The new depot was too far from the old one, which continued to be used for freight … and that made a lot of extra work for patrons as well as railroad personnel. Moreover, the new depot was too small to handle freight business as well as passenger service. In fact, a local newspaper, the Idaho Register, asserted (November 9, 1900) that if a fire broke out in the new structure, “not a person in town would throw a bucket of water on it.”

In any case, crews soon began extending the rails all the way to West Yellowstone, Montana, gateway to Yellowstone Park. Even before the tracks reached “West” in 1909, the Short Line had leased the property; they would later also take over the company. The OSL (rightly) foresaw a major increase in traffic and, as noted above, decided to upgrade several of its Idaho Falls facilities.

Idaho Falls depot, after 1911. Bonneville County Historical Society.

The cornerstone of the project was a new, larger passenger depot. The company also expanded their freight terminal and added trackage to let through traffic bypass the downtown area. They also built a new roundhouse, sized to handle the larger locomotives that were becoming more common.

Although traffic declined after the 1920s, the passenger depot remained in use until 1964. At that point, the company built a new depot at a different location and demolished the old structure. Passenger train service to Idaho Falls ended seven years later.

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

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

Thornton Waite, Union Pacific: Montana Division, Brueggenjohann/Reese and Thornton Waite Publishers, Idaho Falls (1998).

A. R. Cruzen. Family archives.

Boise capitalist Alonzo R. Cruzen was born May 1, 1858 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, about fifty miles southeast of Des Moines. In 1886, he opened a small town bank in southwest Nebraska and invested in real estate around the state. Starting in 1890, he also “commuted” to Idaho to handle real estate investments in and around Boise.

Cruzen took an active role in Nebraska politics, serving on the Central Committee of the Republican party. In 1889, he became the youngest member of the state House of Representatives and was immediately made chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

In 1901, Cruzen’s political connections won him an appointment as Collector of Customs in San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, in the spring of 1903, a major smuggling scandal hit the news. By that time, 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.”

The Independent, of New York City, reported (Oct 29, 1903) renewed interest in possible smuggling into Puerto Rico. In the spring, the Grand Jury there had leveled smuggling charges against Cruzen, along with a naval officer and a civilian contractor. However, the United States District Attorney claimed that the accusatory testimony was “corruptly fabricated” and ordered a nolle prosequi (will not prosecute).

The Grand Jury brought new charges in October, and again the DA ordered them quashed. Much evidence indicated that smuggling did take place, even if Cruzen was not directly involved. In any case, Cruzen resigned in December. At some point, the Treasury Department sent a Special Investigator to Puerto Rico to look into the case.

Plaza in San Juan, ca. 1905. Archives of Puerto Rico.

In the end, it does not appear that authorities ever prosecuted anyone. When the Senate passed a resolution asking to see the Special Investigator’s results, President Theodore Roosevelt endorsed the Treasury Secretary’s refusal with the statement that, “I deem it incompatible with the public interest to forward the report.”

In 1904, Cruzen settled permanently in Boise. His firm profited greatly from various real estate dealings, and he added a two thousand acre ranch to his personal holdings. In 1907, the company bought a canal system to, in part, supply piped water to many users in Boise. By around 1920, Cruzen had acquired or started a bank in the town near his big ranch.

As in Nebraska, Cruzen became very active in politics. He led the Idaho delegation to the 1912 Republican Presidential Convention. When Teddy Roosevelt bolted the convention, Cruzen averred that Idaho’s Republicans “would not follow any third party or candidate.”

Roosevelt campaigning in 1912. Library of Congress.

His prediction proved to be accurate. Progressive Party, or “Bull Moose,” candidate Roosevelt ran third behind Wilson and Taft in Idaho. Although Roosevelt and Taft between them received 56 percent of the Idaho vote (the Socialist candidate polled 11.5 percent), the split gave Wilson the win and Idaho’s 4 electoral votes.

Although he remained interested in politics, Cruzen never held public office in Idaho. The investment company still owned irrigation properties in 1927, when Cruzen was 69. He passed away in 1942.

References: [Brit], [Hawley]

"Porto Rican Collector Out,"The New York Times (Dec 24, 1903).

Theodore Roosevelt, "Special Message To the Senate, January 27, 1904,"American Presidency Project.

"Roosevelt Camp is Gloomy,"The New York Times (June 22, 1912).

"Survey of the World: Porto Rico,"The Independent, New York (Oct 29, 1903).

On the morning of May 2, 1972, workers deep inside Idaho’s Sunshine Mine, 4 to 5 miles southeast of Kellogg, noticed smoke drifting in some of the tunnels. Not much concerned initially, the miners soon encountered thick, choking clouds that burned their eyes and throats. This was the start of a tragedy that profoundly changed the American mining industry.

Silver bars, Coeur d'Alene District. Hecla Mining Company.

The Sunshine Mine traces its “lineage” back to the Yankee Lode, claimed by the Blake Brothers in 1884. Official documents indicate that the Sunshine Mining Company was incorporated in November, 1906. The company reorganized in 1918, with new officers. Conflicting accounts make it somewhat unclear exactly when the Company acquired rights to the Yankee Lode, but they had certainly done so by 1921.

The Company’s operations attained only modest success until the discovery of a deep-level silver bonanza in the early 1930s. Over the following decades, miners drilled and blasted deeper into the ridge, extracting fabulous amounts of the metal. In 1972, the Company had over 400 men who worked underground, split into three round-the-clock shifts.

Miners figured the money made up for the known risks. The official U. S. minimum wage was $1.60 an hour, or $64 for a forty-hour week. In the mines, even a “common” laborer could make $250 a week. Rock bursts, cave-ins, and equipment mishaps all took their toll … but no one worried about fire: “hard-rock mines don’t burn.”

Flashes in strained electrical gear happened fairly often, and blasting was part of the work. Miners accepted the resulting smoke streams as normal. However, by around 11:40 on the morning of the 2nd, groups of miners in many parts of the mine knew that this was no ordinary, short-lived flare-up. Men hurried out, helping those who were affected. Later, a survivor, in re-living the moment, said, “The smoke was so think … sometimes you actually can’t see your hand in front of your face.”

Unfortunately, within an hour, perhaps half the underground crewmen were already dead or dying.

Around 1 o’clock, teams headed back down and rescued a few men. After that, they found only bodies until two final survivors came up a week later. In the end, 91 miners died from the combination of smoke and carbon monoxide poisoning. Today, not far off the Interstate, visitors can read the names of the victims, posted on the base of a Disaster Memorial statue.

Disaster survivor.
Frame captured from NIOSH video.

To this day, analysts are not entirely sure what caused the fire. Still, changes implemented in the fire’s aftermath – new procedures, better equipment, and greatly expanded training – have measurably improved mine safety. Hopefully, this country will never again have to deal with a calamity as terrible as the Sunshine Mine disaster.

In 2002, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released a video that provides an overview of the disaster. In addition to historic still photos, the video includes on-location reenactments and interviews with over two dozen survivors. Video: You Are My Sunshine.

References: Derek Rance, Dr. K. Warren Geiger, Technical Report on the Sunshine Mine, Behre Dolbear & Company, Inc., Denver, Colorado (2007).

Gregg Olsen, The Deep Dark:Disaster and Redemption in America’s Richest Silver Mine, Crown Publishers, New York (2005).

Sunshine Mine Fire, United States Mine Rescue Association, Uniontown, Pennsylvania

"Sunshine Mining Company,"Manuscript Group 275, Special Collections,University of Idaho (1995).

C. P. Coburn. [Illust-State].

Pioneer businessman and rancher Chester P. Coburn was born May 3, 1832 in central Vermont. He spent three years working in New York before, in 1852, he caught a boat for the route across Nicaragua to California. He apparently barely made expenses in the gold fields, so he began spending more and more time running a store. That led him into stock raising.

In late 1861, reports circulated about exciting gold discoveries in the Florence Basin of Idaho. Coburn sold his holdings and followed the rush. He again tried his hand in the gold fields but apparently re-learned an old lesson: Selling goods and services to hopeful miners is more profitable and reliable than being one.

Chester soon settled in Lewiston and established a livery stable. He also handled horses for Hill Beachy at the Luna House hotel. He was there in October 1863, when Beachy sensed odd behavior by a man who came into the hotel and bought several tickets for the morning stage to Walla Walla. Coburn then helped Beachy uncover evidence of the murders of packer Lloyd Magruder and four other men [blog, Oct 11].

By the following year, most of the mining excitement had moved south to the Boise Basin and Owyhee Country. Rather than follow that boom, Coburn sold his stables and located a ranch southeast of Lewiston. In 1865, he trailed a herd of 150-180 cattle from Oregon to his property. He soon expanded the operation to include a dairy business and a meat market.

Although the mining excitement had dwindled in the north, farming and stock raising expanded to fill the economic loss. Lewiston maintained its favored position as the head of navigation for north Idaho, and grew steadily. In 1870, Coburn, who was then a Deputy U. S. Marshal, was tasked to perform the decennial census for the area stretching from Elk City to Rathdrum. The paltry expense allowance did not come close to repaying his cost to cover such dangerous country, where there were few roads and no bridges.

By around a year after the census, the school-aged population had outgrown the haphazard quarters they had occupied earlier. At that time, Coburn was serving as school board President. He successfully canvassed property holders and businessmen for a plot of land and the resources to build a new, larger facility.

During the Nez Percé War of 1877, Coburn joined the Lewiston “Home Guard” unit, but they were not called upon for active duty. Although he never ran for office himself, he was very active in North Idaho politics. He traveled to numerous conventions in Boise at substantial personal cost in time and money.

Bridge at Lewiston, completed 1899. [Illust-North].

Around 1890, Coburn claimed land along the Salmon River and ranched there for the next eight years. Then he and his wife retired to a Lewiston home they had owned for thirty years.

In May 1898, when soldiers of the First Idaho Regiment mustered for duty in the Spanish-American War [blog, Mar 14], Coburn presented the Lewiston contingent with a battle flag. Two years later, he was elected as the first Vice President of the Nez Perces County Pioneer Association.

“Regarded as one of Idaho’s most valued citizens,” Coburn passed away in October 1911.

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

Long-time Pocatello architect Frank C. Paradice, Jr., was born May 4, 1879 in Ontario, Canada. Not long after, the family moved to Denver, Colorado. Frank Jr. graduated from high school in Denver and then studied architecture in Chicago at the Armour Institute of Technology. (The Armour was one of two institutes that later merged to form today’s Illinois Institute of Technology.)

Fargo Building, Pocatello, ca 1920.
Bannock County Historical Society.

Frank returned to Denver for hands-on architectural training with a firm there while he also worked for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Paradice spent several years designing depots and other structures in Colorado and New Mexico for various railway companies. After awhile, he opened his own architectural office and branched out into other construction areas: a court house in Alamogordo, summer resort at Cloudcroft, New Mexico, etc.

In 1908, he landed his first contract in Boise. Shortly thereafter, he formed a partnership with Benjamin M. Nisbet, who had worked for the noted Boise architectural firm, Tourtellotte & Hummel. The partners designed numerous building in Boise, as well as structures in Homedale, Parma, Caldwell, Ontario (in Oregon), and other towns in western Idaho.

Empire Building. Real estate image.

Their Boise projects included the Empire Building. The Idaho Statesman said that knowledgeable observers considered the Empire “the handsomest building in the entire northwest.”

At some point, Paradice became friends with then-Governor James Brady [blog, Jun 12], who was from Pocatello. Brady apparently pointed out that Southeast Idaho represented a wide-open field for a young architect. In 1914, Frank ended his partnership with Nisbet and moved to Pocatello. He immediately began tackling important projects there, including the Fargo Building (shown at the top), completed in 1916.

For nearly forty years, Paradice worked on an amazing range of structures: office buildings, schools, commercial laundries, hotels, at least one movie theater, stores (hardware, department, and others), a bank, warehouses, garages, and manufacturing plants. He did not confine his practice to just Pocatello. Frank designed projects in Burley, Blackfoot, and several smaller Idaho towns, as well as a structure in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

Still, as could be expected, Frank’s impact was felt most in Pocatello. He, perhaps more than any other architect, put his stamp on the city. That included many original designs as well as a number of renovations. As just one example, he drew up plans for a new men's dormitory at the Idaho Technical Institute (today’s Idaho State University). The Idaho Statesman in Boise reported (May 28, 1920), “Business men of the city are building the new dormitory and will rent it at a reasonable rate to the institute.”

Also, Pocatello High School was extensively rebuilt in 1939 using an Art-Deco style that Paradice designed. Many of the buildings he had a hand in are still in use. In most cases, subsequent renovations have stayed true to Paradice’s visions, at least for the exteriors.

Brady Memorial Chapel.
Posted by user Chooch72
at WayMarking.com.

One structure, which is on the National Register of Historical Places, highlights the architect’s versatility: the James H. Brady Memorial Chapel in Pocatello’s Mountain View Cemetery.

Frank participated in many social and service organizations in Pocatello and, for a long time, was the only Idaho member of the American Institute of Architects. Paradice was still handling projects when he died in February 1952.

References: [Defen]

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

"Frank H. Paradice, Jr.," Historical Directory of American Architects, American Institute of Architects, online compilation.

Bill Vaughn, Mary Jane Hogan, “Idaho State University Administration Building,” National Register of Historical Places Registration Form (1992).

According to the Illustrated History of the State of Idaho, “The original claims comprising the Hecla group were the Hecla and Katie May lode claims, located by James Toner on May 5, 1885.” The original claim of twenty acres was near Burke, about six miles northeast of Wallace.

Hecla Mine, Burke, Idaho, 1909. University of Idaho.

However, as happened for many claimants, Toner lacked the resources to fully develop the property. The initial prospect dwindled, and Toner eventually sold the rights, which then passed through several owners. Finally, a claimant who saw greater prospects for the plot purchased it. Then those rights became part of the holdings of the Hecla Mining Company, which Amasa Campbell, John Finch, and some other investors organized in October 1891 [blog, April 6].

For the next several years, other valuable investments preoccupied Campbell and Finch. Their co-investors showed little inclination to put a lot of money into development work on the Toner site. Thus, Hecla obtained very minimal returns from the claim, which they operated directly or through lease arrangements.

In 1898, Campbell and Finch led a reorganization of Hecla Mining Company. In the process, they also purchased a number of nearby claims. The company soon owned fifteen lode claims spread over about two hundred and fifty acres. The expansion increased the expected production and reduced the possibility that a promising ore vein might lead outside the areas they owned.

With renewed energy, Hecla poured money into support facilities and underground development. During the summer of 1900, the Company began paying its first dividends, an amount that approached $100,000 by the end of the year. That encouraged further investments in development, which built Hecla into one of the major mining operations in the region.

Hecla weathered a nationwide financial panic in 1907 and returned to profitability even before a spurt during World War I. The Idaho Statesman reported (February 18, 1917), “Wallace – The Hecla Mining company paid dividend No. 164 in January of 15 cents per share, amounting to $150,000, making grand total paid by the company $5,455,000. At this rate the Hecla will pay $1,800,000 the current year.”

The company derived most of its income from the production of lead, used for batteries, chemical-resistant sheeting, and (back then) paint. Silver was simply the icing on the cake.

Hecla Mine, Burke, 1910. University of Idaho.

Unfortunately, profits were by no means guaranteed because metals prices tend to fluctuate wildly. (For a number of years, on-going labor-management disputes also hampered profitably.)

In hopes of leveling out their metals revenue, Hecla began expanding into the area of zinc production. Zinc demand also depends upon battery manufacturing. However zinc is mainly used to make corrosion-resistant galvanized steel for roofing, chain-link fence, and other products.

The company struggled through ups and downs in metal prices and the Great Depression, but hung on. It even survived the crisis when the original Hecla claim petered out in 1944.

Today, Hecla Mining Company owns properties all over the West, and in Mexico. The company extracts substantial amounts of silver (it’s the top U. S. producer), lead, zinc, and small quantities of gold.

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

Corporate History, Hecla Mining Company, Coeur dAlene, Idaho (1991).

"Hecla Mining Company," International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 20, St. James Press, Farmington Hills, Michigan (1998).

John Scales. Commercial Directory.

Owyhee silver mine developer John Scales was born on the 6th of May, 1840 in County Clare, Ireland. The family moved to the U.S. and settled in Maine when John was a teenager. He first found factory work there before attending business school in New York. In 1868, he traveled to California via the Isthmus.

Scales decided Idaho offered better prospects and immediately moved to Silver City. Like most newcomers, he started out as a laborer and worked his way up to better-paying jobs. John soon had enough of a stake to invest in several mining properties.

In 1875, the Bank of California, which had funded much Silver City development, suffered a financial collapse. Large-scale corporate mining activity in the area nose-dived. Historian Hiram T. French observed that, “During the next fifteen years only the smaller properties, that were individually owned, were active.”

Two years after the collapse, Scales and a partner purchased a company that owned valuable claims and a mill west of Silver City. As French suggested, the partners remained active and extracted steady, respectable returns.

Within a decade, Scales was counted among the top operators in the Owyhee mining districts. As his affluence grew, he took an interest in local government: He served terms on the county commission in 1883 and 1885, and also as school superintendent. (He later sat on the county commission again.)

Large scale mining began to recover in the late 1880s. Millionaire mining investor Captain Joseph De Lamar played a major role in the recovery. In 1887 and 1888, he bought up numerous mining claims and consolidated them into the De Lamar Mining Company. In 1890, he sold the company to a group of London investors.

Around 1891, Scales discovered that the tailing stream from the big De Lamar mill contained significant quantities of gold and silver. Apparently the owners saw no profit in recycling the stream, or investing in a post-processor. Scales purchased land around Wagontown, a stage station not quite two miles downstream from Delamar. At first, he dammed Jordan Creek and caught the tailings there.

Scales’ tailing reservoirs and mill. Commercial Directory.

Soon, however, John made arrangements with De Lamar – the exact details of which are unknown – to process the tailings directly. He then built a flume to carry the outflow directly to “tailing ponds” excavated on property he purchased further down the hillside. In 1893, he built a mill to process what he had collected.

By the end of the decade, his ponds had impounded tailings worth in excess of a half million dollars in recoverable metals. In 1902, the company processed so much material, they ran out of chemicals. The Idaho Statesman reported (November 8, 1902) that “anticipating there would not be time to send for a fresh supply, they closed down for the winter.”

Around 1905, Scales bought property in Hollywood, California, and acquired a “beautiful home” there. He and his wife moved to California within a few years. John passed away in about 1909 and his wife returned to Idaho to keep house for their two sons, who had business interests in Nampa.

References: [French], [Illust-State]

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

Mike Hanley, with Ellis Lucia, Owyhee Trails: The West's Forgotten Corner, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho (1973).

Ira B. Perrine.
Grubb & Guilford, The Potato, 1912.

Twin Falls area developer Ira Burton Perrine was born May 7, 1861 in Indiana. He followed relatives to the Wood River Valley in 1883 and briefly pursued mining claims. He then decided he could do better selling dairy products. In the fall of 1884, Perrine wanted to move his small herd to a more protected spot for the winter.

Locals told him that early pioneer Charlie Walgamott could help him find a good spot. “Bert,” as he then called himself, drove his cattle south and found the Walgamott homestead without too much trouble. He arrived fairly late in the evening, but Charlie’s wife fed him and they provided a spot for the night. Charlie later said, “Next morning we drove the cattle to the Blue Lakes and with very little trouble worked them down the Indian trail to the valley below.”

The spot, deep in the Snake River Canyon, so impressed Perrine that he filed a claim and began raising fruits, vegetables, and other farm products. He also raised stock, partly because they could walk themselves out of the canyon: It rises over 500 feet in three-quarters of a mile, with one stretch where the grade is nearly 40 percent – steep even for a set of stairs.

Perrine studied how to efficiently divert water from the river to irrigate more and more land at Blue Lakes. He prospered and soon owned considerable property in Shoshone, located about thirty miles from his spread. There he could load his products onto the Oregon Short Line Railroad.

Much back-breaking labor converted the Indian trail into a decent road. Perrine eventually also cut a road into the south face of the canyon, across the river. Traveling over the countryside high above both sides of the canyon, he saw vast expanses of arable land. But that soil was bone dry for most of the year.

Perrine now knew what needed to be done to irrigate that land. The question was: How to do it? Years earlier, a river surveyor had recorded, but only in his notes, the notion that a dam at “The Cedars” could impound water to irrigate the high ground. The Cedars marked a spot where the Snake constricts from the high plain into its narrow canyon.

Milner Dam, 1905. Library of Congress.

Perrine had the same vision … and followed up. In June 1900, he filed water rights at The Cedars on both sides of the river. Various financial and technical obstacles slowed his vision for Milner Dam. Still, in the spring of 1905, water began flowing onto tracts around the brand new town of Twin Falls.

In February 1907, the legislature split Twin Falls County off from Cassia and made the town the county seat. Even before that, Twin Falls had rail connections to the outside world. Perrine continued to encourage development projects in south central Idaho for many, many years. He also had projects elsewhere, including a mineral-extraction company near Soda Springs (Twin Falls News, Aug 24, 1918).

Perrine was among those leading the push for a huge bridge to link Twin Falls with the north side of the Snake River Canyon. The “Twin Falls-Jerome Bridge” officially opened on September 15, 1927. Years later, the name was changed to the “I. B. Perrine Bridge.”

Two year after that, at aged 68, I. B. was still busy promoting growth for the region, in this case a fruit packing plant in Jerome. (North Side News, Jerome, reprinted in the Idaho Statesman, February 18, 1929.)

Perrine passed away in October 1943.

References: [B&W]

Jim Gentry, In the Middle and On the Edge: The Twin Falls Region of Idaho, College of Southern Idaho (2003).

Eugene H. Grubb, W. S. Guilford, The Potato: A Compilation of Information from Every Available Source, Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, NY (1912).

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

Fred Gooding. H. T. French photo.

On May 8, 1856, woolgrower and state legislator Fred W. Gooding was born in Devonshire, England. Fred began work in a factory there at the age of eight, laboring in the morning and attending country school in the afternoon.

The family emigrated to the U.S. in 1867 and settled in Michigan. As a young man, Fred worked on a farm in California before returning to the Midwest. There, he took business classes at what later became Valparaiso University in Indiana.

In 1882, he moved to Ketchum, Idaho. After a year or so in the mines, Gooding opened a wholesale-retail butchering business. With the extension of the railroad to Ketchum in 1884, the area boomed [blog, Apr 26] and Fred’s venture prospered along with it. However, the surge died remarkably soon, done in by falling silver prices and labor troubles. Production from the mines dropped abruptly in 1888.

Thus, that same year, Fred moved to a small settlement near the Toponis Railroad station, about fifteen miles west of Shoshone. There, he took up the sheep business. Gooding started in a big way, acquiring nearly four thousand sheep within a couple years. Unfortunately, an unusually severe winter in 1889-1890 ravaged his herds and left Fred heavily in debt. His good credit gave him time to recover and he soon had a new herd and began paying off what he owed.

In 1895, Fred moved to a new residence in Shoshone, but retained his sheep holdings. By around 1898, he owned well over a thousand acres of land, and sometimes had as many as thirty thousand sheep on his ranch. (Toponis, where Fred started out in sheep, became Gooding in 1907 [blog, Nov 1], named in honor of Fred and three brothers.)

Among other business activities, he established the First National Bank of Shoshone, and later became one of the directors of the First National Bank of Jerome. He and two brothers spearheaded construction of a water system for Shoshone, and an electric light plant.

Western sheep shearing. Library of Congress.

Gooding eventually owned over three thousand acres of private range and irrigated farm land. He became one of the largest wool shippers in the region. A charter member of the Idaho Wool Growers Association, he served two terms as the organization’s president.

In 1921, the state “fast-tracked” emergency legislation to create a new commission to oversee the Idaho sheep industry. At its first meeting, the commission elected Fred as its chairman. The measure addressed the fact that, according to the Twin Falls News (February 21, 1921), “Sheep scabies are prevalent throughout Idaho to the extent that the federal government threatened to quarantine Idaho sheep … ”

In additional to several terms in various county offices, Gooding served on the Shoshone city council and as mayor. He also served two terms in the Idaho legislature, holding the position of president pro temp of the Senate after his election in 1909.

Fred developed a strong interest in improving Idaho’s road system as a way to encourage commerce and settlement. In fact, such was his advocacy and leadership in improving Idaho’s road system, he earned the nickname “Good Roads” Gooding. When the governor created the first Roads Commission, he appointed Gooding as its chairman. Fred Gooding passed away in July 1927.

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

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

"Site Report - Wood River,"Reference Series No. 206, Idaho State Historical Society (1981).

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Educator, Newspaperman, and Rexburg Patriarch Arthur Porter, Jr. [otd 04/20]

Lewiston Physician and Hospital Founder Edgar White [otd 04/21]

Watermaster, Irrigation Engineer, and Musician Forrest Sower [otd 04/22]

Banker, Idaho Governor, and Reclamation Manager D. W. Davis [otd 04/23]

Movie, TV, and Stage Actor J.D. Cannon ... "McCloud" Co-Star [otd 04/24]

Prichard Tries to Hide Coeur d'Alene Gold, Sparks Rush Anyway [otd 04/25]

Major Lead-Silver Discoveries Spark Rush to Wood River Area [otd 04/26]

Governor Issues Proclamation to Protect Chinese from Attack [otd 04/27]

Sportsman and Idaho Dentistry Pioneer Edward Maberly [otd 04/28]

Angry Union Men Blow Up Wardner Mill, Kill One Non-Union Worker [otd 04/29]

Railroad Touts Plans for Larger Passenger and Freight Terminals in Idaho Falls [otd 04/30]

Investor, Political Operative ... and Alleged Smuggler ... Alonzo Cruzen [otd 05/01]

Ninety-One Miners Killed in Sunshine Mine Disaster [otd 05/02]

North Idaho Rancher and Businessman Chester Coburn [otd 05/03]

Versatile Southeast Idaho Architect Frank Paradice [otd 05/04]

Prospector Files Original Claims for Today’s Hecla Mining Group [otd 05/05]

Owyhee Mining Investor and Developer John Scales [otd 05/06]

Irrigation Pioneer and Twin Falls Developer Ira B. Perrine [otd 05/07]

Idaho Woolgrower, Businessman, and Legislator Fred W. Gooding [otd 05/08]