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| Sheriff Bennett. Ada County Sheriff’s Office. |
James came to Idaho in 1886. That was a period of high optimism for stock-raising in Idaho. Much of that was fueled by the completion of the Oregon Short Line railroad across Idaho two years earlier. The Idaho Statesman gushed (October 9, 1886) that the cattle business “has grown to wonderful proportions of late years.” As proof, it went on, readers should consider that “Millions of dollars are invested in stock in Idaho, and the returns from this source excel all others combined.”
Bennett easily found work and, in 1888, he claimed a homestead in Ada County, some of which he still owned thirty years later. Along with his stock raising and farming, he worked for some of the regional irrigation companies. Hawley’s History noted that “For eleven years he was headgate keeper and ditch walker for the Ridenbaugh ditch.”
The Ridenbaugh Canal runs along the Boise Bench, today passing through the residential and business districts of southwest Boise. The Bennett Lateral is a feeder canal in that area.
That feeder was first identified publicly in 1902. The Idaho Statesman reported (June 27, 1902) on Ada County government business concerning “what is known as the Bennett Lateral.” The item said, “It is therefore ordered by the County Board of Commissioners that measuring devices and weirs be placed in said canal.”
Bennett’s first wife, Maggie, died from tuberculosis and he remarried two years later. Maggie had come from an old pioneer family, with property in the Wood River area. In 1903, James was appointed executor so he could settle the estate, including payment of back taxes.
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| Ridenbaugh Canal. Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District. |
He then purchased a lot about five miles southeast of Boise. Later, James built a home of “generous proportions … well back from the highway in a cluster of large maples and with a terraced lawn and flower gardens in front.”
He was elected Ada County sheriff in 1908. Bennett had a busy two-year term, during which the office gained a third deputy and the county jail got a new floor. He also had to deal with a rumored Tong war in the Oriental community. At the end of his term, Bennett returned to irrigation work and farming. (Election laws then precluded a second consecutive term.)
By 1920, Bennett had risen to be superintendent of the Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District, a unit that served over 4,000 water users. Today, that District owns the century-old water rights of the original Ridenbaugh Canal. He remained with the District until at least 1924 but had retired to the life of a vegetable farmer by 1930.
In 1934, Bennett second wife was knocked down by a cow and died two weeks later from her injuries. According to the Boise Directory, he lived on the property southeast of town until 1942, when he married a third wife and moved to Meridian. There, despite his advanced age, he was elected a Justice of the Peace. Ill health eventually forced him to resign that position, and he died in 1947.
| References: [Hawley] |
| “[Bennett Deaths News],” Idaho Statesman, Boise (October 21, 1898 – July 24, 1947). |
| “[Bennett Water News],” Idaho Statesman, Boise (June 27, 1902 – May 22, 1924). |
| “History,” Ada County Sheriff’s Office, online. |
| J. Orin Oliphant, On the Cattle Ranges of the Oregon Country, University of Washington Press, Seattle (1968). |