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Award-Winning Children’s Author Carol Ryrie Brink [otd 12/28]
Author Brink. Publisher photo.Writer Caroline Ryrie was born December 28, 1895 in Moscow, Idaho. Misfortune dimmed her early years. When she was five, her father died of tuberculosis.The following...
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Moses Goodwin: Pioneer Builder, Mine Operator, Rancher and More [otd 12/29]
Moses Hubbard Goodwin, pioneer builder, mine operator, rancher, and lumber man, was born December 29, 1834 in Waldo County, Maine, northwest of Penobscot Bay. His grandfather, Aaron, was a ship’s boy...
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Ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg Assassinated, Fire Destroys Post Falls Sawmill...
Governor Steunenberg. University of Utah.On December 30, 1905, an assassin’s bomb murdered former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. The resulting investigation, arrests, and trials had worldwide...
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Mining Investor, Legislator, and Federal Marshal James Crutcher [otd 12/31]
James Crutcher. Illustrated History.On December 31, 1835, U. S. Marshal James I. Crutcher was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, east of Louisville. In 1860, James followed the rush to the gold fields of...
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Snake Brigade Leader Peter Ogden Laments Fur Trade Deaths [otd 01/01]
Peter Skene Ogden.Oregon Historical Society. On New Year's Day, 1829, Peter Skene Ogden wrote in his journal, “One of the trappers left in charge of the sick man arrived with his horse fatigued and...
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Boise Developers and Patrons Thomas J. Davis and Wife Julia [otd 01/02]
T. J. Davis. J. H. Hawley.On January 2, 1838, Boise pioneer Thomas Jefferson Davis was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father died when Thomas was a boy, so he and a brother were indentured to an...
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Businessman Peter Sonna Dedicates an Opera House for Boise City [otd 01/03]
On January 3, 1889, the Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise City, Idaho, headlined, “Dedication of the New Opera House under the auspices of the Boise City Board of Trade … ” The article went on, “The...
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Major Fire Devastates the Mining Town of Wardner [otd 1/4]
On January 4, 1890, a major fire broke out in a laundry behind a popular restaurant in the village of Wardner, Idaho, about a mile south of Kellogg. The small fire department and “hundreds” of...
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Silver City Merchant and Postmaster M. M. Getchell [otd 1/5]
Meserve Getchell.Directory of Owyhee County.On January 5, 1868, Postmaster Meserve M. Getchell was born in Baring, Maine, on the Canadian border and perhaps 25 miles inland from the Bay of Fundy. Mr....
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Lewiston Normal School Receives its First Students [otd 1/6]
On Monday, January 6, 1896, Lewiston State Normal School – today’s Lewis-Clark State College – opened its doors to receive its first students. That event was a key milestone on the long path to...
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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, his father sold the Montana property and...
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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 Shorb, noted microbiologist and vitamin B-12 investigator, was born January 11, 1907 in Wahpeton, North Dakota, about 35 miles south of Fargo.The family moved...
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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 from Madison. After graduating from high school,...
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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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Wanderer, Painter, and Sculptor 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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