Clik here to view.
Track Star, Olympic Athlete, and Coach "Hec" Edmundson [otd 8/3]
Coach, University of Idaho track star, and Olympian Clarence “Hec” Edmundson was born August 3, 1886 in Moscow, Idaho. In 1901, Clarence enrolled in the UI prep school and soon established himself as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ag Secretary, Author, and Mormon Patriarch Ezra Taft Benson [otd 08/04]
LDS President and public servant Ezra Taft Benson was born August 4, 1899 in Whitney, Idaho (located 20-25 miles west of Bear Lake). He was named for his grandfather, who converted to the Church of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Second Idaho Regiment Brought into Federal Service for World War I [otd 8/05]
On August 5, 1917, the War Department drafted the Second Idaho Regiment (National Guard) into the U.S. Army for duty in World War I, part of perhaps 300,000 guardsmen taken into Federal service at that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Boise and Southwest Idaho Automotive Pioneer Harry H. Bryant [otd 08/05]
Boise Ford dealer Harry H. Bryant was born August 5, 1871 on a farm about eight miles northwest of downtown Detroit. The family homestead was just four to five miles north of where automotive pioneer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Madison County Farmer, Canal Builder and Probate Judge James A. Berry [otd...
Idaho pioneer and Probate Judge James Allen Berry was born August 6, 1854 in Bristol, England. His father, foreman at a basketmaking plant, suffered from ill health, so James began working at the age...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gold Prospectors Found Elk City Deep in the Idaho Mountains [otd 08/06]
On August 6, 1861, a band of miners founded the mining town of Elk City, Idaho, about 35 miles east of the present town of Grangeville. Prospectors had first entered the area in the latter part of May....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Murphy and Twin Falls Get Regular Train Service [otd 8/7]
Coincidentally, August 7 marks two different Idaho railroad milestones.On this day in 1898, the Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Railway initiated railroad service to Murphy. Colonel William H. Dewey [blog,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bartleson-Bidwell Emigrant Party Enter Idaho, Headed for California [otd 08/08]
John Bidwell, 1840.Meriam Library, Chico State University.On August 8, 1841, the group generally referred to as the Bartelson-Bidwell emigrant party entered what would one day become the state of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rancher, Businessman, and Party Leader Robert Coulter [otd 8/9]
Robert Coulter.Family portrait photo.Political operator, state Representative and agricultural pioneer Robert Coulter was born August 9, 1875 in Richmond, Kentucky, about eighty-five miles southeast of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cassia County Attorney and Idaho Chief Justice T. Bailey Lee [otd 8/10]
Thomas Bailey Lee, Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, was born about twenty miles southwest of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on August 10, 1873. He attended law school after graduating from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pioneer Miner, Merchant, and Stockman Orville P. Johnson [otd 08/10]
Western pioneer and Idaho freighter and stockman Orville Payne Johnson was born August 10, 1832, somewhere in Tennessee. Orphaned young, he knew his parents only by their first names, William and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cornerstone Laid for Alturas (now Blaine) County Courthouse [otd 08/11]
On August 11, 1883, officials for Alturas County laid the cornerstone for a new county courthouse. The projected cost of the highly ambitious structure, which was to include both the court facilities...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Presbyterian Missionary and Preacher’s Wife Narcissa Whitman [otd 08/12]
Narcissa Whitman.Oregon Historical Society.On August 12, 1836, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman wrote in her journal, “The hills are so steep and rocky that husband thought it best to lighten the wagon as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Butch Cassidy and Two Gang Members Rob Montpelier Bank [otd 8/13]
On Thursday, August 13, 1896, Montpelier, Idaho sweltered under a blistering afternoon sun. Three riders walked their horses along a street, trailing a pack mare behind them. Had the local jeweler seen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Snake River Steamboat Annie Faxon Explodes, Killing Eight [otd 08/14]
On the morning of August 14, 1893, the Snake River steamer Annie Faxon exploded, killing eight people and injuring eleven.Steamer Annie Faxon. Washington State University archives.Steamboats plied the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First Documented Visit to, and Sketch of, (Renamed) Shoshone Falls [otd 08/15]
On August 15, 1849, a guide led two men from a column of U. S. Army Mounted Rifles to see a great waterfall on the Snake river, three to four miles northeast of today’s Twin Falls, Idaho. They later...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Captain Relf Bledsoe: Indian Fighter, Businessman, Prospector, Mine Manager...
Capt. Beldsoe. Oregon Historical SocietyIndian fighter, business leader, and public servant Relf Bledsoe was born August 16, 1832 in Henderson County, Kentucky. That small county is located along the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mountain Man, Explorer, and Survivor John Colter [otd 8/17]
On August 17, 1806, discharged Army Private John Colter headed up the Missouri River with his two new partners, Forest Hancock and Joseph Dickson. Captains Lewis and Clark had released him early from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Desert Land (Carey) Act Signed to Encourage Irrigation in the West [otd 8/18]
On August 18, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed the Desert Land Act of 1894, better known as the Carey Act. Sponsored by Wyoming Senator Joseph M. Carey, the Act was meant to improve the success...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Philo Farnsworth, Inventor of the First Practical Television Recorder [otd 8/19]
Inventor and television pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth was born August 19, 1906 in Beaver County, Utah. The family moved to a farm near Rigby, Idaho during World War I. There, Philo set off on the path...
View Article