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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...
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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...
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Second Idaho Regiment Brought into Federal Service for World War I [otd 8/5]
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...
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Gold Prospectors Found Elk City Deep in the Idaho Mountains [otd 8/6]
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....
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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,...
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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...
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Rancher, Businessman, and Party Leader Robert Coulter [otd 8/9]
Robert Coulter.Family portrait photo.State Representative and agricultural pioneer Robert Coulter was born August 9, 1875 in Richmond, Kentucky, about eighty-five miles southeast of Louisville. In...
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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...
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Cornerstone Laid for Ambitious, and Expensive, Alturas/Blaine County...
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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Wildfire -- "The Big Burn" -- Ravages North Idaho [otd 8/20]
On August 20, 1910, serious forest fires in and around Northern Idaho “blew up” into arguably the worst wildfire in U. S. history. More than anything else, weather conspired to set the stage for this...
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Dr. Edward E. Maxey and Research on Spotted Fever [otd 8/21]
Dr. Maxey. H. T. French photo.Prominent Boise physician Edward E. Maxey, M.D, was born August 21, 1867, in Irvington, Illinois, about sixty miles east of St. Louis, Missouri. His father, also a...
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Freighter, Stockman, and Legislator William Allison [otd 8/22]
W. B. Allison. H.T. French photo.Salubria stockman and Idaho legislator William B. Allison was born August 22, 1845 in Glasgow, Ohio, about 60 miles south of Akron. The family moved twice before coming...
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