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Pony Express Service Connects Salt Lake City with Bannock City
The Oregonian for August 11, 1863 reported that “Messrs. Davis, Patterson & Co. … are now engaged in carrying a weekly pony express between Salt Lake and Bannock City.”This venture was probably a...
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Presbyterian Missionary and Preacher’s Wife Narcissa Whitman [otd 08/12]
Narcissa Whitman.Oregon Historical Society.On August 12, 1836, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman wrote in her journal, “The hills are so steep and rocky that husband thought it best to lighten the wagon as...
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Butch Cassidy and Three Gang Members Rob Montpelier Bank [otd 8/13]
On Thursday, August 13, 1896, Montpelier, Idaho sweltered under a blistering afternoon sun. Three riders walked their horses along a street, trailing a pack mare behind them. Had the local jeweler seen...
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Snake River Steamboat Annie Faxon Explodes, Killing Eight [otd 08/14]
On the morning of August 14, 1893, the Snake River steamer Annie Faxon exploded, killing eight people and injuring eleven.Steamer Annie Faxon. Washington State University archives.Steamboats plied the...
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First Documented Visit to, and Sketch of, (Renamed) Shoshone Falls [otd 8/15]
On August 15, 1849, a guide led two men from a column of U. S. Army Mounted Rifles to see a great waterfall on the Snake river, three to four miles northeast of today’s Twin Falls, Idaho. They later...
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New Road to Idaho Planned, Gold in the Palouse?
On August 15, 1863, The Oregonian published a brief item about the Boise Road Company. It said, “The following gentlemen were elected directors at the meeting held at the Dalles on Wednesday, for the...
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Captain Relf Bledsoe: Indian Fighter, Businessman, Prospector, Mine Manager...
Capt. Beldsoe. Idaho State Historical SocietyIndian fighter, business leader, and public servant Relf Bledsoe was born August 16, 1832 in Henderson County, Kentucky. That small county is located along...
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Mountain Man, Explorer, and Survivor John Colter [otd 8/17]
On August 17, 1806, discharged Army Private John Colter headed up the Missouri River with his two new partners, Forest Hancock and Joseph Dickson. Captains Lewis and Clark had released him early from...
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Desert Land (Carey) Act Signed to Encourage Irrigation in the West [otd 8/18]
On August 18, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed the Desert Land Act of 1894, better known as the Carey Act. Sponsored by Wyoming Senator Joseph M. Carey, the Act was meant to improve the success...
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Philo Farnsworth, Inventor of the First Practical Television Recorder [otd 8/19]
Inventor and television pioneer Philo T. Farnsworth was born August 19, 1906 in Beaver County, Utah. The family moved to a farm near Rigby, Idaho during World War I. There, Philo set off on the path...
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War News: Bombardment at Charleston Essentially Closes Port to Blockade Runners
Pacific Coast newspapers had much to say about the course of the Civil War, based on dispatches sent on October 19, 1863. In The Oregonian, a report said, “The Weehawken and the Patapsco are in...
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Wildfire -- "The Big Burn" -- Ravages North Idaho [otd 8/20]
On August 20, 1910, serious forest fires in and around Northern Idaho “blew up” into arguably the worst wildfire in U. S. history. More than anything else, weather conspired to set the stage for this...
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Dr. Edward E. Maxey and Research on Spotted Fever [otd 8/21]
Dr. Maxey. H. T. French photo.Prominent Boise physician Edward E. Maxey, M.D, was born August 21, 1867, in Irvington, Illinois, about sixty miles east of St. Louis, Missouri. His father, also a...
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Stockman and Legislator William Allison [otd 8/22]
W. B. Allison. H.T. French photo.Salubria stockman and Idaho legislator William B. Allison was born August 22, 1845 in Glasgow, Ohio, about 60 miles south of Akron. The family moved twice before coming...
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Traveler Joel Palmer Tackles Notorious Three Island Crossing [otd 8/23]
Joel Palmer. Oregon Historical Society.On August 23, 1845, the small wagon train led by pioneer Joel Palmer approached the notorious Three Island Crossing, near today’s Glenns Ferry, Idaho. In his...
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Educator, Cultural Promoter, and Philanthropist Sofia Adamson [otd 8/24]
Youthful Sofia Adamson.LifeInLegacy.comEducator and philanthropist Sofia (Demos) Adamson was born August 24, 1916 in Pocatello, Idaho. Her parents were Greek immigrants. The family later moved to Los...
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"Buyer Beware" the Best Advice About Investing in Pioneer Mining Stocks
On August 24, 1863, the Editor of the Evening Bulletin in San Francisco published a column entitled “More Disgust from a Youthful Dabbler in Mining Stocks.”He began, “A short time ago I wrote you an...
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Screenwriter Talbot Jennings: From Mutiny on the Bounty to the The Sons of...
Talbot Jennings, ca 1935Screenwriter Talbot Lanham Jennings was born August 25, 1894 in Shoshone, Idaho. The family moved first to Caldwell and then Nampa. He graduated from Nampa High School and...
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Hotel Owner/Operator and "Hospitality" Industry Pioneer Frank Blackinger [otd...
Hotel owner and operator Frank J. Blackinger was born August 26, 1855 in Buffalo, New York. His father Valentine had come to America from Bavaria in 1839. Around ten years later, he traveled to “the...
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Helpmate, Education Advocate, and Philanthropist Kathryn Albertson [otd 8/27]
Kathryn (McCurry) Albertson was born August 27, 1908 in Boise, Idaho. After high school, she matriculated at the College of Idaho, a private, liberal arts institution in Caldwell. Kathryn never said...
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