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Federal Land-Grant College Process Extended to Territories [otd 02/18]
Congressman Justin Morrill.Library of Congress.On February 18, 1881, Congress passed "an act to grant lands to Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming, for university purposes." These lands could...
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Published Poet, Formidable Attorney, and Public Servant Herbert Ferguson [otd...
Herbert Ferguson.H. T. French photo.Colonel Herbert Van Allen Ferguson was born February 19, 1852, in Three Mile Bay, New York state, about 65 miles north of Syracuse. After attending a preparatory...
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Merchant, Mining Investor, Rancher, and Public Servant Alexander McKinlay...
Pioneer rancher, prospector, and merchant Alexander Duncan McKinlay was born February 20, 1853 in Clayton County, Iowa, 20-40 miles northwest of Dubuque. In 1877, a year after he married in Iowa, he...
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Emma Russell Yearian: Wife, Mother, and “Sheep Queen of Idaho” [otd 02/21]
Emma Russell, “Sheep Queen of Idaho,” was born February 21, 1866 in Leavenworth, Kansas. Her father had been born in Illinois and served in an Illinois regiment in the Civil War. By 1870, the family...
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Freighter, Rancher, Mine Owner, and State Senator George Rogers [otd 02/22]
George Rogers. Illust-State photo.Idaho state Senator George Bailey Rogers was born February 22, 1842 in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, 35-40 miles west of Madison.Dodgeville was a well-known center for lead...
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Chinook Thaw Floods Lower Clearwater and Other Rivers in the Region [otd 02/23]
The Lewiston Teller newspaper reported that on Sunday, February 23, 1879, "a regular Chinook visited us." The report provided no firm numbers, but the notorious Chinook wind can raise air temperatures...
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Rancher, Attorney, and Idaho Chief Justice Alfred Budge [otd 02/24]
Judge Alfred Budge.H. T. French photo.Alfred Budge, Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, was born February 24, 1868 in Providence, Utah, just south of Logan. Two years later, the family moved to...
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Six Miners Killed in Sudden Mining District Fire [otd 02/25]
On Tuesday, February 25, 1902, about three o'clock in the morning, the residents of the connected Standard Boarding and Lodging houses slept quietly. Most of them worked for the Standard Mine, located...
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Idaho Supreme Court Justice George Stewart [otd 02/26]
Idaho Supreme Court Justice George Harlan Stewart was born February 26, 1858 in Connersville, Indiana, about fifty miles east of Indianapolis. He was something of an intellectual prodigy: George leaped...
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Pocatello Brewer and Soft Drinks Bottler Robert Hayes [otd 02/27]
Robert Hayes.J. H. Hawley photo.Pocatello businessman Robert J. Hayes was born February 27, 1861 in Oswego, New York. The family moved to Chicago about six years later. Hayes struck out on his own at...
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John R. McBride, U. S. Representative and Chief Justice for Idaho Territory...
Judge McBride.Photo from findagrave.comOn February 28, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln – just 45 days before he was shot by John Wilkes Booth – appointed John Rogers McBride as Chief Justice of the...
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President Ulysses S. Grant Creates Yellowstone National Park [otd 03/01]
Geyser cone, Fire Hole Basin, 1871.W. H. Jackson photo, Library of Congress.On March 1, 1872, President U. S. Grant signed the bill that authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park.As far back as...
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Hatch Act of 1887 Authorizes Agricultural Experiment Stations [otd 03/02]
On March 2, 1887, the U. S. Congress approved the Hatch Act of 1887. The Act authorized grants to support agricultural experiment stations in the states. In most cases, such stations would be set up...
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Commission Created to Oversee Idaho Capitol Construction [otd 03/03]
On March 3, 1905 Governor Frank Gooding signed an Act to create a "Capitol Building Board." For some years prior to this, state officers and citizens had begun to find the old Territorial capitol...
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President Lincoln Signs Law to Create Idaho Territory [otd 03/04]
On March 4, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill that created Idaho Territory, splitting it off from Washington Territory. The signing culminated a period of intense political wrangling that...
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Gold Rush Fuels Murray Building Boom [otd 3/5]
The Lewiston Teller for March 5, 1885 published a glowing report from a correspondent in the new town of Murray, Idaho. The observer first noted that people in the entire mining district exuded...
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Arthur Goody: Canal Company Executive, County Commissioner, and Lewisville...
Commissioner Goody.J. H. Hawley photo.Prominent farmer and Jefferson County Commissioner Arthur James Goody was born March 6, 1871 in Cache County, Utah, 10-15 miles northwest of Logan.His father,...
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Legislature Authorizes Albion State Normal School [otd 03/07]
On March 7, 1893 the Idaho legislature passed a law to create Albion State Normal School, as they had authorized the Lewiston State Normal School earlier in the year [blog, Jan 6]. The Act required...
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Indian Leader, Teacher, and Idaho Senator Joseph Garry [otd 03/08]
Joseph Garry intraditional Indian regalia.Beal and Wells photo.Prominent American Indian leader Joseph Richard Garry was born March 8, 1910 near Plummer, Idaho. (Plummer is about 25 miles south of Post...
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Stricker Log Home at Rock Creek Burns Down [otd 03/09]
On March 9, 1900, the Rock Creek home of Herman Stricker and his family burned to the ground. In some ways, this was a mixed tragedy-blessing.Rock Creek. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.Even before white...
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