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Fur Trader and Pioneer Cattleman Johnny Grant [otd 01/07]
Johnny Grant. National Park Service photo. On January 7, 1833, John Francis “Johnny” Grant was born in Alberta, Canada. At the time, his father, Richard, was a clerk working for the British-Canadian...
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Outdoorsman, Writer, Photographer, and Game Warden Otto Jones [otd 01/08]
Outdoorsman Otto Jones. J. H. Hawley photo. Photographer and journalist Otto M. Jones was born January 8, 1886 on a ranch near Dillon, Montana. Two years later, the family relocated to a sheep ranch...
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Boise Builder, Real Estate Developer, and Mayor Walter E. Pierce [otd 01/09]
Mayor Pierce. City of Boise. Boise Mayor Walter E. Pierce was born January 9, 1860, in Bell County, Texas, between Waco and Austin. Indian unrest in that area forced the family to move to Kansas, where...
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Town of Franklin Accepts Being in Idaho and is Formally Incorporated [otd 01/10]
Lorenzo Hill Hatch. Family Archives. On January 10, 1873, the Idaho Territorial legislature passed a “special act” to incorporate the village of Franklin. The Act defined the boundaries of the town,...
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Noted Microbiologist and Vitamin B-12 Researcher Dr. Mary Shorb [otd 01/11]
Dr. Shorb. University of Maryland. Dr. Mary (Shaw) Shorb, noted microbiologist and vitamin B-12 investigator, was born January 11, 1907 in Wahpeton, North Dakota, about 35 miles south of Fargo. Her...
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Boise’s Dr. Mary E. Donaldson: Pioneer in Medicine and Elder Care [otd 01/12]
Dr. Donaldson. H. T. French photo. Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, M.D., was born Mary Craker on January 12, 1851 in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, about forty miles northwest of Madison. After graduating from high...
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Engineer, Developer, and Boise Mayor Ernest G. Eagleson [otd 01/13]
Ern Eagleson. J. H. Hawley photo. Engineer and Boise Mayor Ernest George Eagleson was born January 13, 1864 near Cadiz, Ohio, 30-35 miles southeast of Canton. The family moved to Iowa and then...
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Miner, Builder, Real Estate Developer, and Ferryman John Silcott [otd 01/14]
Ferryman Silcott. J. H. Hawley photo. Clearwater ferry operator John M. Silcott was born January 14, 1824 in Loudoun County, Virginia, just west of Washington D. C.. The family moved to Ohio about four...
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Painter, Sculptor, and Wanderer Charles Ostner Gets Paid [otd 01/15]
Artist Ostner. J. H. Hawley photo. On January 15, 1869, the Idaho legislature appropriated $2,500 to reward artist Charles L. Ostner for the equestrian statue of George Washington he had recently...
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Geologist, Mining Engineer, and State Mine Inspector Robert Bell [otd 01/16]
Inspector Bell. J. H. Hawley photo. On January 16, 1864, mining engineer Robert N. Bell was born in Yorkshire, England. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1877-1880 and worked first on a farm in Wisconsin....
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Iconic Lawyer, Boise Mayor, Governor, and Historian James H. Hawley [otd 01/17]
Lawyer Hawley. Illustrated History, 1899. Lawyer, Governor, Mayor, and Historian James Henry Hawley was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on January 17, 1847. His mother died when James was an infant and he grew...
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Freighter, Lumber Man, Rancher, and Mining Investor Josiah Hill [otd 01/18]
On January 18, 1844, Coeur d’Alene pioneer Josiah Hill was born in New Brunswick, Canada. Like others in that part of the country, his father was from the state of Maine. Clipper ship in Cape Horn ice,...
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Teacher, Rancher, and Nez Perce County Commissioner Charles Leeper [otd 01/19]
Charles Leeper.Illustrated History photo. Nez Perce County pioneer Charles A. Leeper was born January 19, 1850, in Marion County, Indiana, on the outskirts of Indianapolis. Some time before 1870, the...
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Mining Investor, Attorney, and Boise County Prosecutor Harry Fisher [otd 01/20]
Attorney Fisher. H. T. French photo. Attorney Harry Leroy Fisher was born January 20, 1873, on a farm in Daviess County, Missouri, 40-60 miles east of St. Joseph’s. He taught school there and also for...
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Visionary Developer Benjamin Shawhan and New Plymouth [otd 01/21]
Benjamin P. Shawhan, cofounder of the town of New Plymouth, Idaho, was born January 21, 1862, in Keokuk County, Iowa, about thirty miles southwest of Iowa City.East Hall, Morgan Park Military Academy....
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Large Cattle Drives Ravage Idaho Range and Herds, Railroad Needed [otd 01/22]
On January 22, 1881, the Idaho Statesman described the substantial herds being driven over Idaho rangelands, both from the states to the west and by in-state stockmen. Counts taken on the main trail in...
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Church Leader, Suffragette, and Temperance Advocate Rebecca Mitchell [otd 01/23]
Activist Mitchell. J. H. Hawley photo. Mrs. Rebecca Mitchell was born January 23, 1834, in Macoupin County, Illinois, 30-50 miles south of Springfield. Little is known of her early life. After she was...
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Freighter and Rancher “Doc” Rankin – A Legend in His Own Time [otd 01/24]
"Doc” Rankin. H. T. French photo. William Allen “Doc” Rankin was born January 24, 1836, in Lafayette, Indiana. Several ancestors in his paternal line fought in the American Revolution, later being...
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Millionaire Banker, Business Leader, and Developer John Vollmer [otd 01/25]
John P. Vollmer, ca. 1875. Vollmer Family Archives. Wealthy developer John P. Vollmer was born on January 25, 1847, in Wurtemburg, Germany. The family emigrated to the U.S. when John was about four...
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Rancher, Canal Manager, and Ada County Sheriff James Bennett [otd 01/26]
Sheriff Bennett. Ada County Sheriff’s Office. Ada County Sheriff James A. Bennett was born January 26, 1865 in Leavenworth, Kansas. The family moved to farm country 40-50 southwest of St. Louis,...
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Educator, Attorney, and Supreme Court Justice John Rice [otd 01/27]
Judge Rice. John Campbell Rice Foundation photo. January 27, 1864, Idaho Supreme Court Justice John Campbell Rice was born on a farm in Cass County, Illinois, about thirty miles west of Springfield....
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William A. Foster, Boise Fireman and Long-Time Fire Chief [otd 01/28]
Chief Foster. Boise Fire Department. Boise Fire Chief William A. Foster was born on January 28, 1870, in Grinnell, Iowa. The family relocated to the high plains of northwestern Kansas when William was...
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Entrepreneur, Fur Trader, and Fort Hall Founder Nathaniel Wyeth [otd 01/29]
Nathaniel Wyeth, 1840. Illustration for Harper's Magazine, 1892. Entrepreneur Nathaniel J. Wyeth was born January 29, 1802, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Despite strong ties to Harvard University on...
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Frontier Missionary and Peacemaker Father Pierre-Jean de Smet [otd 01/30]
Father De Smet, 1860-65. Library of Congress, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. Roman Catholic priest Pierre-Jean de Smet was born in Belgium on January 30, 1801. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1821 and...
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Attorney and Teton Valley Developer Benjamin Driggs [otd 01/31]
Benjamin, Senior. Driggs Family Archives. Teton Valley pioneer and attorney Benjamin W. Driggs, Jr., was born January 31, 1858 in Pleasant Grove, Utah, about ten miles north of Provo. His father had...
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