Idaho State University President Miles Reed [otd 11/26]
President Reed.Idaho State University photo.Miles F. Reed, president of the Academy of Idaho, precursor to Idaho State University, was born November 26, 1872 about 20 miles south of Dubuque, Iowa....
View ArticlePure Food, Dairy & Oil Commissioner William C. Howie [otd 11/27]
Commissioner Howie.H. T. French photo.Attorney William Clarence Howie, Idaho Food, Dairy & Oil Commission President, was born November 27, 1860, in Davis County, Iowa. He graduated from high school...
View Article“Rufus” Reid and Agnes Just Perpetuate Century Ranch Heritage [otd 11/28]
Robert “Rufus” Reid.Family Archives.*On November 28, 1906, twenty-year-old Agnes Just married Robert E. “Rufus” Reid in Blackfoot, Idaho. Agnes was the youngest child and only surviving daughter of...
View ArticleReverend Henry Spalding Establishes Presbyterian Mission at Lapwai [otd 11/29]
Henry Harmon Spalding.National Park Service.On November 29, 1836, Henry Harmon Spalding established a Presbyterian mission among the Nez Percés Indians. The initial location was on Lapwai Creek about...
View ArticleConvicted Murderer and Thief Hanged at Idaho Penitentiary [otd 11/30]
On November 30, 1901, authorities hanged convicted murderer Edward Rice. He was the first individual executed at the Idaho Penitentiary as a state institution and only the second in its history. Rice...
View ArticleWholesale Grocery Pioneer and Pocatello Developer Joseph Young [otd 12/01]
Joseph Young. J. H. Hawley photo.Western grocery wholesaler Joseph Taylor Young was born December 1, 1880 on a ranch near Logan, Utah. Three years later the family moved to Rexburg, Idaho, where he...
View ArticleAmerica’s Sherlock Holmes – Innovative Forensic Detective Luke May [otd 12/02]
Detective Luke May.Family Archives.On December 2nd, Luke S. May, who became known as America’s preeminent scientific detective, was born near Grand Island, Nebraska. Hawley’s History of Idaho and other...
View ArticleWorld Renowned Mining Engineer and Innovator Fred Brown [otd 12/03]
World renowned mining engineer Frederick C. Brown was born December 3, 1867 in London, England. Brown continued a long family tradition of accomplishment in highly technical fields – his father was a...
View ArticleMarine Corps Ace and Medal of Honor Winner Pappy Boyington [otd 12/04]
Pappy Boyington. USMC photo.Ace pilot and Medal of Honor winner Gregory “Pappy” Boyington was born December 4, 1912 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. His mother divorced and remarried while Greg was very young,...
View ArticleMerchant, Developer, and Industrial Commissioner George Fisher [otd 12/05]
Commissioner Fisher.J. H. Hawley photo.George Howard Fisher, Bancroft merchant and first Commissioner of the Idaho Industrial Accident Board, was born December 5, 1872 in Richmond, Utah (5-6 miles...
View ArticleAttorney, Mining Investor, and Territorial Secretary Robert Sidebotham [otd...
Robert Sidebotham. H. T. French photo.Pioneer lawyer and developer Robert A. Sidebotham was born December 6, 1834 along the Ohio River in Pennsylvania (west of Pittsburgh). He gained early exposure to...
View ArticleRhodes Scholar, Eminent Historian, and Pulitzer Prize Winner Lawrence Gipson...
Historian Gipson.University of Idaho Archives.Rhodes Scholar and eminent historian Lawrence Henry Gipson was born December 7, 1880 in Greeley, Colorado. The family moved to Caldwell, Idaho when...
View ArticleChief Forester Guy Mains of the Payette/Boise National Forest [otd 12/08]
On December 8, 1878, long-time Idaho forester Guy B. Mains was born in Clark County, Wisconsin, 40-50 miles east of Eau Claire. Guy’s father was a lumberman and he grew up in the midst of a flourishing...
View ArticleWallace and Grangeville Share Railroad Milestone Day(s) [otd 12/09]
On December 9, 1889, standard-gauge tracks of the Washington & Idaho Railroad (W&I RR) Company reached Wallace, Idaho. Wallace is one of several towns that arose from the discovery of placer...
View ArticleFranchise Granted for Taylor's Bridge Across the Snake River [otd 12/10]
On December 10, 1864, the Territorial legislature granted a bridge franchise to the Oneida Road, Bridge, and Ferry Company for a span across the Snake River in eastern Idaho.Taylor’s Bridge, 1871....
View ArticleGlenn Balch: Writer of Horse and Dog Stories for Young Readers [otd 12/11]
Writer Glenn Balch was born on December 11, 1902 in a tiny Texas town that’s now near the southern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. Young Balch grew up among animals and the countryside. He...
View ArticleMine Owner and State Senator Michael Carey [otd 12/12]
Idaho state Senator Michael Carey was born December 12, 1844 in Ireland. The family emigrated to the U.S. in 1850, settling in Keweenaw County, on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The area was known...
View ArticleCattle Ranchers Demand Limit Law on Sheep Grazing [otd 12/13]
On December 13, 1872, the Idaho Statesman (Boise) published a letter from pioneer J. H. Whitson, which said in part: “But the people of Ada county, and perhaps other counties need, ask for and demand a...
View ArticleMajor Earthquake Rocks Idaho Panhandle and the Pacific Northwest [otd 12/14]
Late on the evening of Saturday, December 14, 1872, residents in North Idaho felt a major earthquake that swayed buildings, caused shelved objects to rattle around, and agitated animals. In its report...
View ArticleFreighter, Mining Investor, and U. S. Marshall Joe Pinkham [otd 12/15]
Marshal Pinkham.Illustrated History.U. S. Marshal Joseph Pinkham was born December 15, 1833 in Canada. His grandparents were Welsh and had emigrated many years earlier to what became the state of...
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