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Steamer Accident Kills Five on the Coeur d Alene River [otd 04/04]
On April 4, 1887, the steamer Spokane pulled away from the dock at Kingston, Idaho. (That's about seven miles west of Kellogg.) The little boat chugged along the winding course of the Coeur d'Alene...
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Aircraft Carrier Boss and Decorated Naval Hero Dixie Kiefer [otd 04/05]
Captain Dixie Kiefer.U. S. Navy photo.U. S. Navy Commodore Dixie Kiefer, winner of the Navy Cross and other medals, was born April 5, 1896 in Blackfoot, Idaho. The family moved around while Dixie was...
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Investor and Mining Millionaire Amasa Campbell [otd 04/06]
Amasa Campbell. Illustrated History.Mining investor and executive Amasa B. Campbell was born April 6, 1845 in Salem, Ohio, about twenty miles southwest of Youngstown. In 1862, he took a clerk’s job at...
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School Superintendent and Probate Judge Thomas Jeffreys [otd 04/07]
Judge Jeffreys. Illustrated History.Thomas M. Jeffreys, Probate Judge and Washington County Superintendent of Public Instruction, was born April 7, 1852 in Yamhill County, Oregon. The family had moved...
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Physician, Drug Store Owner, and Rancher John Plumer [otd 04/08]
Dr. John J. Plumer, a pioneer physician in De Lamar and then Hailey, Idaho, was born April 8, 1860 in Edina, a rural corner of Missouri about 150 miles northwest of St. Louis. John received his...
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Americans and British-Canadian Fur Trappers Meet Along Portneuf River [otd...
Peter Skene Ogden.Oregon Historical Society.On April 9, 1826, Peter Skene Ogden, for whom the Ogden River is named, wrote in his journal, "About 10 a.m. we were surprised by the arrival of a party of...
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Cattle Growers Meet in Shoshone, Discuss Disease and Over-Grazing [otd 04/10]
The April 10, 1886 issue of the Owyhee Avalanche in Silver City, Idaho reported on the Annual Meeting of the Idaho Territorial Stock Growers' Association. The meeting took place in Shoshone. The...
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Narrow Gauge Railway Tracks Reach Eagle Rock (Idaho Falls) [otd 4/11]
In 1879, the Engineering and Mining Journal contained the following brief item: "Ogden, Utah, April 11 – The Utah & Northern Railway has been completed to Eagle Rock Bridge, Snake River, Idaho, 210...
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Eastern Idaho Physician and Hospital Builder Edwin Cutler [otd 4/12]
Dr. Cutler. H.T. French photo.Edwin Cutler, M.D., was born April 12, 1868, in American Fork, Utah, midway between Provo and Salt Lake City. After high school, he attended Brigham Young University and...
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Newspaperman and Pure Food Enforcer James Wallis [otd 04/13]
J. H. Wallis. Photo from Rytting biography.Newspaperman and pure food crusader James Hearknett Wallis was born April 13, 1861 in London, England. The family moved to a town near Liverpool when he was...
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Army Leader and Western Explorer Benjamin Bonneville [otd 04/14]
U.S. Army General Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born to bourgeoisie parents on April 14, 1796, near Paris, France. His father, perhaps sensing how the political winds were blowing, sent the...
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Fur Trade Leader Donald Mackenzie Navigates Hells Canyon [otd 04/15]
Donald MacKenzie, ca. 1840s.Chautauqua County Historical Society,Westfield, New York.On April 15, 1819, fur trade leader Donald Mackenzie reported his "successful" ascent of the Snake River through...
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Congress Authorizes Fort Sherman Construction in North Idaho [otd 04/16]
Gen. William T. Sherman, ca. 1865.Library of Congress.On April 16, 1878, the U.S. Congress authorized the construction of a fort on Lake Coeur d'Alene at what would eventually become the city of that...
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Nampa Incorporates and Forms City Government [otd 04/17]
On April 17, 1891, the village of Nampa, Idaho was officially incorporated and proceeded to form a municipal government. The town – there's no consensus on the origin of the name – owes its existence...
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Rancher, Horse Breeder, and Sheriff Sam F. Taylor [otd 04/18]
Samuel F. "Sam" Taylor was born April 18, 1848 in Kentucky. Like his cousin, James Madison “Matt” Taylor [blog Dec 10], Sam traced his lineage back to Englishman James Taylor, who emigrated to Virginia...
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Grand Opening for Exotic and Modern Egyptian Theater [otd 04/19]
On April 19, 1927, crowds began to gather outside the brand new Egyptian Theater at least an hour before it was supposed to open, at 7:00 pm. Boise's first movie "palace" had created an expectant buzz...
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Educator, Newspaperman, and Rexburg Patriarch Arthur Porter, Jr. [otd 04/20]
Arthur Porter, Jr. as a young man.Porter family records.Arthur Porter, Jr. – college professor, businessman, public servant, and religious leader – was born April 20, 1876 in Auckland, New Zealand....
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Lewiston Physician and Hospital Founder Edgar White [otd 04/21]
Dr. White. J. H. Hawley photo.Edgar Lee White, Lewiston physician and hospital operator, was born April 21, 1883 in St. Louis, Missouri. The family moved to Spokane in 1888. For five years starting at...
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Boise Brewer and Capitalist John Lemp, Early Idaho Millionaire [otd 04/21]
Brewer, investor and eventual millionaire John Lemp was born in a small town about twenty miles north of Frankfurt, Germany, on April 21, 1838. His father died when he was twelve years old and, two...
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Watermaster, Irrigation Engineer, and Musician Forrest Sower [otd 04/22]
F. L. Sower. Beal & Wells photo.Engineer and irrigation expert Forrest Lindsay Sower was born April 22, 1887 in Battle Creek, Michigan. The family soon moved to Idaho, and Forrest graduated from...
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