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Rancher, Mining Investor, and Probate Judge Frank Harris [otd 06/28]
Judge Harris, ca 1898. Illustrated History.Judge and state Senator Frank Harris was born June 28, 1854 in Placerville, California, 25-30 miles east of Sacramento. In the 1870s, he read law in two...
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U. S. Senator William E. Borah, the “Lion of Idaho” [otd 06/29]
W. E. Borah, ca. 1898.Illustrated History.Senator William Edgar Borah, celebrated "Lion of Idaho," was born June 29, 1865 in Wayne County, Illinois and later moved to Kansas. Tuberculosis cut short his...
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Banker, Rancher, and U. S. Senator John Thomas [otd 06/30]
Senator Thomas. Library of Congress.On June 30, 1928, Idaho Governor H. Clarence Baldridge appointed banker and rancher John W. Thomas to fill the U. S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Frank R....
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Idaho Legislature Passes a Driver’s License Law [otd 07/01]
On July 1, 1935, after protracted debate, the Idaho legislature approved a law that required car and truck drivers to obtain a state license. Oddly enough, the licensing process did not require a...
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“Ironclad Oath” Loyalty Provision and Idaho Political Infighting [otd 07/02]
On July 2, 1862, the U. S. Congress passed what was called the “Ironclad Oath” law. The law required Federal officials and employees to swear, not just that they would not, but that they had never...
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President Harrison Makes Idaho Territory the Forty-Third U. S. State [otd 07/03]
President Benjamin Harrison, ca. 1897.Library of Congress.On July 3, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill that made Idaho a state, the 43rd. The signing culminated one of the more...
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Major Pinkney Lugenbeel Picks Site for Fort Boise [otd 07/04]
Major Lugenbeel, ca 1880.U. S. Army Archives.On July 4, 1863 Major Pinkney Lugenbeel formally selected a spot to build a military encampment, which the U. S. Army initially called Camp Boise.A West...
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Vengeful Assailant Murders Judge John C. Brady in Rathdrum [otd 07/05]
On the night of July 5, 1901, farmer Henry Williambusse shot and mortally wounded newspaper editor and Probate Judge John C. Brady. This event was the violent climax to a dispute of two years...
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Newspaperman and Printing Company President Harry Syms [otd 07/06]
Harry J. Syms, co-founder and President of the Syms-York Company was born July 6, 1866 in Aukland, New Zealand. After learning the printer's trade, he found employment in several South Pacific...
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Silver Mining Town of Kellogg Platted [otd 07/07]
The Illustrated History of North Idaho said, "The original plat of the town of Kellogg was filed with the auditor of Shoshone County July 7, 1893."Kellogg, Idaho, ca 1907. University of Idaho Digital...
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Miner, Store Owner, and Dairyman Francis Marion “Frank” Davis [otd 07/07]
Francis Marion Davis was born on July 7, 1838 near Monmouth, Illinois, about 55 miles west and a bit north of Peoria. He lost his father when he was a boy, so he and his brother Thomas lived with and...
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Trapper Osborne Russell Observes "Beer Springs" (Today's Soda Springs) [otd...
In July of 1834, fledgling mountain man Osborne Russell wrote, "We travelled down this river and on the 8th encamped at a place called the Sheep Rock, so called from a point of the mountain terminating...
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Shelley Businessman and Theater Owner Francis Davis [otd 07/09]
Theater owner and Mormon Bishop Francis M. Davis was born July 9, 1883 in Provo, Utah. He first found regular employment when he was just twelve years old. After several years in various unskilled...
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First Structures Completed at Naval Ordnance Plant in Pocatello [otd 07/10]
On July 10, 1943 workers completed construction of the first usable structures for the Naval Ordnance Plant (NOP) about three miles north of Pocatello, Idaho. The Navy had authorized the Plant in the...
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Labor Clash in Coeur d'Alene Silver/Lead Mines Kills at Least Twelve [otd 07/11]
On the morning of Monday, July 11, 1892, striking union miners and a crew at the Frisco Mine exchanged gunfire. This lead-silver mine is located about four miles northeast of Wallace, Idaho. The crew...
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Strong Earthquake Rocks Central Idaho [otd 7/12]
In the early afternoon of July 12, 1944, a quick double-punch of earthquakes hit south-central Idaho. Later analysis placed the epicenter about forty-two miles west, and slightly south, of Challis,...
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Stagecoach Robbery, and Murder, in Portneuf Canyon [otd 07/13]
On the afternoon of July 13, 1865, the stagecoach traveling south from the Montana gold fields towards Salt Lake City reached a point about ten miles southeast of today's Pocatello. They entered a...
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Fur Trader Nathaniel Wyeth Selects Old Fort Hall Site [otd 07/14]
On July 14, 1834, Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth wrote in his journal: "Went down the river about 3 miles and found a location for a fort."This event occurred on Wyeth's second fur trading and trapping...
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Naturalist John Kirk Townsend Describes Fort Hall Area [otd 07/15]
Naturalist Townsend.Oregon Historical Society.On July 15, 1834, naturalist John Kirk Townsend described the site selected by Nathaniel Wyeth for the Fort Hall trading post [yesterday's blog].Townsend...
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Telegraph Line Links Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls) to the Outside World [otd 07/16]
On July 16, 1866, workers completed a new telegraph line from Utah into the stage stop at Taylor’s Bridge. Matt Taylor and has partners had received a franchise for their toll bridge from the...
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