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Banker, Rancher, and U. S. Senator John Thomas [otd 06/30]
Senator Thomas. Library of Congress.On June 30, 1928, Idaho Governor H. Clarence Baldridge appointed banker and rancher John W. Thomas to fill the U. S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Frank R....
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Idaho Legislature Passes a Driver’s License Law [otd 07/01]
On July 1, 1935, after protracted debate, the Idaho legislature approved a law that required car and truck drivers to obtain a state license. Oddly enough, the licensing process did not require a...
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New Rush After Prospectors Find Gold in Idaho Panhandle
On July 1, 1863, the Golden Age, in Lewiston, reported that prospectors had discovered gold far to the north, near the border with Canada. The newspaper said, “Gold has been known to exist on the...
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Upcoming Event (Boise): 2013 Roundup, Wild West History Association
History lovers who live relatively near Boise, Idaho have an upcoming event they should consider attending: The 2013 Annual Roundup of the Wild West History Association. For those of you who are not...
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“Ironclad Oath” Loyalty Provision and Idaho Political Infighting [otd 07/02]
On July 2, 1862, the U. S. Congress passed what was called the “Ironclad Oath” law. The law required Federal officials and employees to swear, not just that they would not, but that they had never...
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President Harrison Makes Idaho Territory the Forty-Third U. S. State [otd 07/03]
President Benjamin Harrison, ca. 1897.Library of Congress.On July 3, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed the bill that made Idaho a state, the 43rd. The signing culminated one of the more...
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Major Pinkney Lugenbeel Picks Site for Fort Boise [otd 07/04]
Major Lugenbeel, ca 1880.Idaho State Historical Society.On July 4, 1863 Major Pinkney Lugenbeel formally selected a spot to build a military encampment, which the U. S. Army initially called Camp...
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Site Selected for a New Fort Boise
For this particular date, my regular "On This Day" article does double duty, being also relevant for the Sesquicentennial.
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Vengeful Assailant Murders Judge Brady in Rathdrum [otd 07/05]
On the night of July 5, 1901, farmer Henry Williambusse shot and mortally wounded newspaper editor and Probate Judge John C. Brady. This event was the violent climax to a dispute of two years...
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Newspaperman and Printing Company President Harry Syms [otd 07/06]
Harry J. Syms, co-founder and President of the Syms-York Company was born July 6, 1866 in New Zealand. After learning the printer's trade, he found employment in several South Pacific locations,...
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Silver Mining Town of Kellogg Platted [otd 07/07]
The Illustrated History of North Idaho said, "The original plat of the town of Kellogg was filed with the auditor of Shoshone County July 7, 1893."Kellogg, Idaho, ca 1907. University of Idaho Digital...
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Trapper Osborne Russell Observes "Beer Springs" (Today's Soda Springs) [otd...
In July of 1834, fledgling mountain man Osborne Russell wrote, "We travelled down this river and on the 8th encamped at a place called the Sheep Rock, so called from a point of the mountain terminating...
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Pony Express Links Boise Basin, Glowing Reports from the Mines
On July 8, 1863, the Deseret News in Salt Lake City published an article about Idaho Territory. An express rider, one H. McFarlane, had completed the first regular pony express run between Bannock...
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Shelley Businessman and Theater Owner Francis Davis [otd 07/09]
Theater owner and Mormon Bishop Francis M. Davis was born July 9, 1883 in Provo, Utah. He first found regular employment when he was just twelve years old. After several years in various unskilled...
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First Structures Completed at Naval Ordnance Plant in Pocatello [otd 07/10]
On July 10, 1943 workers completed construction of the first usable structures for the Naval Ordnance Plant (NOP) about three miles north of Pocatello, Idaho. The Navy had authorized the Plant in the...
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Union and Non-Union Miners Killed in Coeur d'Alene Battle [otd 07/11]
On the morning of Monday, July 11, 1892, striking union miners and a crew at the Frisco Mine exchanged gunfire. The mine is located about four miles northeast of Wallace, Idaho. The crew consisted of...
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Boise Basin Mining Hampered by Lack of Water, but Prospectors Still Coming
A correspondent for the San Francisco Evening Bulletin wrote a letter to the paper from Auburn, Oregon on July 11, 1863. The writer proposed to describe “the state of things in this region, and...
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Strong Earthquake Rocks Central Idaho [otd 7/12]
In the early afternoon of July 12, 1944, a quick double-punch of earthquakes hit south-central Idaho. Later analysis placed the epicenter about forty miles west, and slightly south, of Challis, Idaho....
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Stagecoach Robbery, and Murder, in Portneuf Canyon [otd 07/13]
On the afternoon of July 13, 1865, the stagecoach traveling south from the Montana gold fields towards Salt Lake City reached a point about ten miles southeast of today's Pocatello. They entered a...
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Fur Trader Nathaniel Wyeth Selects Old Fort Hall Site [otd 07/14]
On July 14, 1834, Captain Nathaniel J. Wyeth wrote in his journal: "Went down the river about 3 miles and found a location for a fort."This event occurred on Wyeth's second fur trading and trapping...
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