Senator and Partners Found D. L. Evans Bank in Albion, Cassia County [otd 9/15]
On Thursday September 15, 1904, State Senator David Lloyd Evans convened a group of leading businessmen in Albion, Idaho. Cassia County needed a bank, and they proposed to start one in what was then...
View ArticleGovernor, U. S. Senator, and Wool-grower Frank Gooding [otd 9/16]
Idaho Senator and Governor Frank R. Gooding was born September 16, 1859 in England. He was 8 years old when his parents emigrated to the U. S. and settled in Michigan. In 1877 Frank moved to California...
View ArticleWalgamott Slays Liquored-Up Gunman at Rock Creek Store [otd 9/17]
On September 17, 1877, traveling bank examiner Nathaniel Langford recorded an incident that highlighted the rather casual violence of those frontier days. Oddly enough, the surviving participant in the...
View ArticleWilliam J. McConnell: Vigilante, U.S. Marshal, Merchant, and Governor [otd...
W. J. McConnell. McConnell,Early History of Idaho.On September 18, 1839, William J. McConnell, third governor of the state of Idaho, was born in Commerce, Michigan, about twenty-five miles northwest of...
View ArticleGold Prospector Julius Merrill Reaches Boise City by Wagon Train [otd 9/19]
Julius Merrill. Merrill family archives.On September 19, 1864, gold-seeker Julius Merrill wrote in his journal, “We hitched up and turned our faces toward Boise City.” They camped about four miles...
View ArticleBusinessman, Public Servant, and Local Sports Legend Wes Deist [otd 9/20]
Wes Deist, 1960. Family photo.Sportsman and business leader Wesley W. “Wes” Deist was born September 20, 1923, in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. A committed Roman Catholic, after high school Deist entered...
View Article"Judge" William Clagett: Mining Investor, Lawyer, and "Silver Tongued" Orator...
Judge William Horace Clagett was born September 21, 1838 in Prince Georges County, Maryland, which wraps around the east side of Washington, D. C. In 1850, the family moved to Iowa. After high school,...
View ArticleOpening Day for the Academy of Idaho (Now Idaho State University) Classes...
On Monday September 22, 1902, the Academy of Idaho – precursor to today’s Idaho State University – celebrated its first opening exercise. Ironically, the people of Pocatello wanted the Academy so...
View ArticleLewis & Clark Return to St. Louis, First Train Arrives in Moscow [otd 9/23]
On September 23, 1806, Sergeant John Ordway wrote in his journal, “About 12 oClock we arived in site of St. Louis. Fired three rounds as we approached the Town and landed oppocit the center of the...
View ArticleCattleman Con Shea Drives Texas Longhorns to Owyhee Ranches [otd 9/24]
On September 24, 1870, the Owyhee Avalanche (Silver City, Idaho) published the following item: “From Texas – Con Shea, one of Owyhee's most adventurous and enterprising citizens, just got back from...
View ArticleAttorney General Roy Black, "Lady Bluebeard" Prosecutor [otd 9/25]
Attorney Roy Black.J. H. Hawley photoIdaho Attorney General Roy L. Black was born September 25, 1878 in Lagrange County, Indiana, about forty miles east of South Bend. He became a teacher at an early...
View ArticleLoyal P. Brown: North Idaho Merchant, Rancher, Developer, and Legislator [otd...
Loyal P. Brown.Historical Museum at St. Gertrude,Cottonwood, Idaho.North Camas Prairie businessman, rancher, investor, and public servant Loyal P. Brown was born September 26, 1829 in Stratford, New...
View ArticlePhysician, Businessman, and Civic-Improvement Leader Robert Lee Nourse [otd...
Dr. Nourse. Illustrated History photo.On September 27, 1864, Boise physician Dr. Robert Lee Nourse was born about 45 miles southwest of Louisville, Kentucky. He came from a distinguished lineage, with...
View ArticleArmy Pathfinder John C. Fremont at The Cedars on the Snake River [otd 9/28]
John C. Fremont, ca 1861-1865.Matthew Brady photo, Library of Congress.On September 28, 1843, an expedition led by Second Lieutenant John C. Frémont reached a point along the Snake River that would...
View ArticlePacker, Merchant, Theater Enthusiast, and Boise Mayor James Pinney [otd 9/29]
James Pinney. H. T. French photo.James A. Pinney – dubbed the “Father of Modern Boise” by historian Hiram T. French – was born September 29, 1835, near Columbus, Ohio. The family later moved to Iowa,...
View ArticleMerchant, Legislator, and Public Servant Ezra Monson [otd 09/30]
Ezra Monson. Family archives.Store owner, and Idaho Senator and Representative Ezra Peter Monson was born September 30, 1874 in Richmond, Utah. Richmond is located about thirteen miles north of Logan,...
View ArticleSpain Returns Louisiana to France, L&C Expedition Builds Canoes [otd 10/1]
On October 1, 1800, by the (poorly-kept) “secret” Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain returned what might be called “greater” Louisiana to France. “Returned” because Spain had received the region from...
View ArticleProspectors led by Elias Pierce Find Gold on Orofino Creek [otd 10/2]
E. D. Pierce. [Hawley]Speaking of this day in October 1860, Captain Elias D. Pierce said, “[On] the second we moved down and camped on the stream, afterwards called Oraphenia creek. Here we found...
View ArticleCivil Engineer, Surveyor, Stock Breeder, and Farmer David O. Stevenson [otd...
Civil engineer and County Surveyor David Osborn Stevenson was born October 3, 1851 in Dayton, Ohio. After high school, he moved to California and engaged in stock raising, mainly sheep. However,...
View ArticleFirst Women on Jury Duty and in the Legislature in Idaho [otd 10/4]
On October 4, 1897, Idaho saw its first trial in which women sat on the jury – they having been granted equal suffrage the year before [blog, Nov 3]. Quoting historian Hiram T. French: “The women who,...
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