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Mining and Irrigation Developer, and Boise Founder John A. O’Farrell [otd 02/13]
John O'Farrell. H. T. French photo.World traveler and Boise pioneer John Andrew O'Farrell was born February 13, 1823, in Ulster, Ireland. He went to sea after two years in a naval school: The round...
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Physician and Drug Store Operator William Anderson [otd 02/14]
Dr. William Hopkins Anderson was born February 14, 1835, in Florence, Pennsylvania, 20-25 miles west of Pittsburgh. He had family roots back to Revolutionary War times and his paternal grandfather...
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Wife, Sounding Board, and Philanthropist Lillian Bounds Disney [otd 02/15]
Lillian Marie Bounds, wife of the world-renowned entertainment innovator Walt Disney, was born February 15, 1899, in Spalding, Idaho. She grew up on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, where her father...
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Sheepmen John Wilson and Daniel Cummings Found Dead [otd 02/16]
On the morning of February 16, 1896, sheepman Edgar "Ted" Severe settled his flock and then set up camp. Twelve days earlier, a looming snow storm had chased him from the campsite, located about 26...
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Teacher and Newspaper Operator Frances Roberts, and Her Sister Nellie [otd...
Newspaper owner and publisher Frances Ida Roberts was born February 17, 1860, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her sister Nellie had been born in 1844. Their grandfather and father both ran newspapers, the...
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Idaho, Other Territories Can Now Get Land Grants for Colleges [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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Poet, Attorney, and Public Servant Herbert Ferguson [otd 02/19]
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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Today’s "On This Day item," along with the “Sheep Queen” biography of yesterday, recall the long and colorful history of stock raising in Idaho. As noted in the blog, that history included the...
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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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Idaho Territory Fends Off One Last Partition Attempt [otd 02/29]
On February 29, 1888, Congressional Delegate Fred T. Dubois sent the following telegram to Milton Kelly: “House committee on territories to-day reported unanimously against any division of Idaho. This...
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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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