Rick Just's Blog, page 71
January 16, 2023
WASPs in WWII (tap to read)
I’ve written before about the Aztec Eagles, the Mexican Air Force unit that trained during World War II in Pocatello. I didn’t mention how surprised the men who were learning how to fly were when they met their instructors. Some of the instructors were women.
It was a woman, Jacqueline Cochran, who formed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Cochran was a business executive and a pilot. In 1953 she became the first woman to break the sound barrier.
But it was in 1939 that Cochran broke a more persistent barrier when she wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt suggesting that women pilots could fill in for male pilots who went to combat. Her vision was to have the WASP pilots shuttle planes from place to place in the US as needed. It took her until 1943 to sell all the right people on the idea.
Cochran headed the new WASP. She sent out a call for women pilots that resulted in more than 25,000 applications. Initially, only those women between the ages of 21 and 35 and who had 200 flying hours under their belts could apply.
Jacqueline Cochran interviewed every applicant, picking 1,830 of them for training at the Avenger Field Flight School in Sweetwater, Texas. Not everyone who trained made the cut. Over the life of the program, 1,074 women became WASP pilots, serving at 126 bases across the country, including the base in Pocatello, Idaho, where they helped beef up the Mexican Air Force.
If you’d like to learn more about the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (though little about their training in Pocatello), check out this video.
Another short clip that includes some comments about the WASPs in Pocatello can be found here.
Four members of the United States Women's Airforce Service Pilots. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration. 
Jacqueline Cochran in the cockpit of a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.
It was a woman, Jacqueline Cochran, who formed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Cochran was a business executive and a pilot. In 1953 she became the first woman to break the sound barrier.
But it was in 1939 that Cochran broke a more persistent barrier when she wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt suggesting that women pilots could fill in for male pilots who went to combat. Her vision was to have the WASP pilots shuttle planes from place to place in the US as needed. It took her until 1943 to sell all the right people on the idea.
Cochran headed the new WASP. She sent out a call for women pilots that resulted in more than 25,000 applications. Initially, only those women between the ages of 21 and 35 and who had 200 flying hours under their belts could apply.
Jacqueline Cochran interviewed every applicant, picking 1,830 of them for training at the Avenger Field Flight School in Sweetwater, Texas. Not everyone who trained made the cut. Over the life of the program, 1,074 women became WASP pilots, serving at 126 bases across the country, including the base in Pocatello, Idaho, where they helped beef up the Mexican Air Force.
If you’d like to learn more about the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (though little about their training in Pocatello), check out this video.
Another short clip that includes some comments about the WASPs in Pocatello can be found here.
Four members of the United States Women's Airforce Service Pilots. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration. Jacqueline Cochran in the cockpit of a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.
January 15, 2023
A Famous Fossil (tap to read)
This photo from 1968, shows Bob Romig, curator of collections at the Idaho State Historical Society examining the skeleton of what is probably Idaho’s most famous fossil. The Hagerman Horse was a zebra-like creature about the size of a present-day Arabian horse.
The Hagerman Horse, so named by locals, was discovered in 1928. Scientists call it Equus simplicidens. Five nearly complete skeletons and 100 skulls were retrieved from the site, which is on the hillside across the Snake River from the town of Hagerman. Some paleontologists speculate that a herd of the horses may have been caught in flooding waters and drowned at the site. The Hagerman site remains the largest single discovery of this type of fossil found, and it is the earliest example of Equus, the genus that includes all modern horses, donkeys, and zebras.
It’s not all about the horses. Preserved within the sediments is one of the most diverse deposits of Pliocene animals. Over 100 species of vertebrates, including 18 fish, 4 amphibians, 9 reptiles, 27 birds and 50 mammals have currently been identified, as well as freshwater snails and clams, and plant pollen.
The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation owned and operated the site for a few years. It was traded for land that became Castle Rocks State Park in 2003. The National Park Service operates the site today as Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.
Not every state has a state fossil, but Idaho does. It is, of course, the Hagerman Horse.
The Hagerman Horse, so named by locals, was discovered in 1928. Scientists call it Equus simplicidens. Five nearly complete skeletons and 100 skulls were retrieved from the site, which is on the hillside across the Snake River from the town of Hagerman. Some paleontologists speculate that a herd of the horses may have been caught in flooding waters and drowned at the site. The Hagerman site remains the largest single discovery of this type of fossil found, and it is the earliest example of Equus, the genus that includes all modern horses, donkeys, and zebras.
It’s not all about the horses. Preserved within the sediments is one of the most diverse deposits of Pliocene animals. Over 100 species of vertebrates, including 18 fish, 4 amphibians, 9 reptiles, 27 birds and 50 mammals have currently been identified, as well as freshwater snails and clams, and plant pollen.
The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation owned and operated the site for a few years. It was traded for land that became Castle Rocks State Park in 2003. The National Park Service operates the site today as Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.
Not every state has a state fossil, but Idaho does. It is, of course, the Hagerman Horse.
January 14, 2023
An Idaho Giant (tap to read)
Idaho has its share of state symbols, ranging from the appaloosa horse to the Idaho Giant Salamander. One can argue about whether we need as many as we have or any at all, for that matter. I’m going to stay away from that one.
It does offer a good excuse to talk about a really amazing creature that is found almost nowhere else. The Idaho Giant Salamander lives only in Idaho, and in a small area of western Montana. It’s a giant only in comparison with other salamanders, coming in at about 13 inches in length. It can be found in streams and rivers doing mostly what it does best: eating. It has a voracious appetite, but as long as you have a spine you’re not likely prey. They eat mostly invertebrates.
Idaho Giant Salamanders are incredible animals, best known for one peculiar trick. Most of them choose to live their lives in streams scarfing down snails and such, but a small percentage of them find life on land a better gig. It’s not that they go back and forth. They’re either stream dwellers that have the necessary gills for that, or they live out their life on land, losing their gills and developing lungs. The land-dwelling salamanders develop a different, more upright body stance. Their head changes shape and their eyes take up a new position. Even their color changes. Most people looking at a stream-dweller and a land-dweller together would swear they were completely different species.
The Idaho Giant Salamander became Idaho’s official amphibian in 2015 following five years of lobbying efforts by persistent Idaho teen Ilah Hickman.
To learn more about the Idaho Giant Salamander, Google Windows on Wildlife Giant Salamander.
It does offer a good excuse to talk about a really amazing creature that is found almost nowhere else. The Idaho Giant Salamander lives only in Idaho, and in a small area of western Montana. It’s a giant only in comparison with other salamanders, coming in at about 13 inches in length. It can be found in streams and rivers doing mostly what it does best: eating. It has a voracious appetite, but as long as you have a spine you’re not likely prey. They eat mostly invertebrates.
Idaho Giant Salamanders are incredible animals, best known for one peculiar trick. Most of them choose to live their lives in streams scarfing down snails and such, but a small percentage of them find life on land a better gig. It’s not that they go back and forth. They’re either stream dwellers that have the necessary gills for that, or they live out their life on land, losing their gills and developing lungs. The land-dwelling salamanders develop a different, more upright body stance. Their head changes shape and their eyes take up a new position. Even their color changes. Most people looking at a stream-dweller and a land-dweller together would swear they were completely different species.
The Idaho Giant Salamander became Idaho’s official amphibian in 2015 following five years of lobbying efforts by persistent Idaho teen Ilah Hickman.
To learn more about the Idaho Giant Salamander, Google Windows on Wildlife Giant Salamander.
January 13, 2023
The Student Special (tap to read)
I’m currently reading Keith Peterson's new book, Inventing Idaho. It tells the story of how Idaho got its eccentric shape. It’s not just about decisions—made mostly by people who had never been here—but about the impact of the decisions on our history, which resonates even today when there is another move afoot to tweak the borders.
One result of Idaho’s shape is that we ended up with our first university in North Idaho, while most of the state’s population lived in Southern Idaho. For decades getting to Moscow from Boise, Pocatello, or Bear Lake meant taking the easier route, traveling outside the state.
Southern Idaho students wanted to take advantage of their own state school, so before World War I, University of Idaho Officials teamed up with officials from Union Pacific Railroad to create a Student Special. The train’s starting point was Pocatello. From there, the well-outfitted train—passenger coaches, baggage cars, sleeper cars, and a dining car—made stops at American Falls, Shoshone, Gooding, Bliss, Glenns Ferry, Mountain Home, Nampa, Caldwell, and Parma. Boise, Idaho Falls, and Twin Falls students took spur lines to catch the train.
The Student Special took students to Moscow in the fall and back home again in the spring. There was also a Student Special that made visiting home at Christmas possible.
The in-state students got rolling views of Oregon and Washington on their trip, some of them traveling nearly 700 miles to get to Moscow. Many states employed special trains to carry students to university. Idaho had the distinction of having the longest route.
The Student Special operated until after World War II.
I highly recommend Peterson’s new book. It’s available at local bookstores or from WSU Press.
Arrival of Student Special train from southern Idaho, in 1922. University of Idaho Student Organizations Collection, Digital Initiatives, University of Idaho Library.
One result of Idaho’s shape is that we ended up with our first university in North Idaho, while most of the state’s population lived in Southern Idaho. For decades getting to Moscow from Boise, Pocatello, or Bear Lake meant taking the easier route, traveling outside the state.
Southern Idaho students wanted to take advantage of their own state school, so before World War I, University of Idaho Officials teamed up with officials from Union Pacific Railroad to create a Student Special. The train’s starting point was Pocatello. From there, the well-outfitted train—passenger coaches, baggage cars, sleeper cars, and a dining car—made stops at American Falls, Shoshone, Gooding, Bliss, Glenns Ferry, Mountain Home, Nampa, Caldwell, and Parma. Boise, Idaho Falls, and Twin Falls students took spur lines to catch the train.
The Student Special took students to Moscow in the fall and back home again in the spring. There was also a Student Special that made visiting home at Christmas possible.
The in-state students got rolling views of Oregon and Washington on their trip, some of them traveling nearly 700 miles to get to Moscow. Many states employed special trains to carry students to university. Idaho had the distinction of having the longest route.
The Student Special operated until after World War II.
I highly recommend Peterson’s new book. It’s available at local bookstores or from WSU Press.
Arrival of Student Special train from southern Idaho, in 1922. University of Idaho Student Organizations Collection, Digital Initiatives, University of Idaho Library.January 12, 2023
Olympian Georgia Coleman (tap to read)
Georgia Coleman, center in the photo, was born in St. Maries, Idaho. She was an Olympic champion, but the Idaho Statesman didn’t make the Idaho connection when reporting on her prowess in the pool at the time so she may not have lived long in the state.
Coleman won the silver medal in the 10-metre platform and the bronze medal in the 3-metre springboard competition in 1928 in Amsterdam. Four years later, in Los Angels she won the gold medal in the 3-metre springboard event and the silver medal in the 10-metre platform competition. She dominated diving competition for several years.
Coleman contracted polio in 1937. She recovered enough to start swimming again, but two years later died from polio-related pneumonia.
Georgia Coleman was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966.
You can see Coleman demonstrating her dives by Googling Georgia Coleman (1933), and watching a short video called Graceful Eve.
Coleman won the silver medal in the 10-metre platform and the bronze medal in the 3-metre springboard competition in 1928 in Amsterdam. Four years later, in Los Angels she won the gold medal in the 3-metre springboard event and the silver medal in the 10-metre platform competition. She dominated diving competition for several years.
Coleman contracted polio in 1937. She recovered enough to start swimming again, but two years later died from polio-related pneumonia.
Georgia Coleman was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966.
You can see Coleman demonstrating her dives by Googling Georgia Coleman (1933), and watching a short video called Graceful Eve.
January 11, 2023
The Potato Peeler (tap to read)
During World War II, local papers were hard-pressed to list the names of the local combatants who were promoted, received medals, were missing, or were killed in action. I found only two tiny mentions of Captain Ross C. Bales in the Idaho Statesman before they began reporting him missing, then KIA.
Ross Bales, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bales of Caldwell, trained for three months at Gowen Field in Boise before heading overseas. Bales never forgot his home state, naming the first bomber he piloted the “Idaho Potato Peeler.”
The B17F with the Idaho name completed 21 combat missions with Bales at the helm. Returning from a bombing run on January 23, 1943, Bales had to make an emergency, wheels-up, landing, sliding the plane onto the runway at Chipping Warden, England. None of the crew were hurt, but the plane was too badly damaged to get back into service right away.
Captain Bales took the stick of another B17F. He carried his naming tradition forward with one important twist. The new plane became “FDR’s Potato Peeler Kids.”
The Caldwell native flew the second Potato Peeler on 13 more combat missions before crashing into the North Sea. The plan was last seen going down in a spin. Several parachutes popped, but no survivors were recovered.
Captain Ross C. Bales is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing in the Netherlands.
Thanks to Jeff Schrade who provided much of the information for this story.
BALES CREW, FDR Potato Peeler Kids. Captain Ross C. Bales is standing in the back on the left. This was the plane that went down in the North Sea.
The original Potato Peeler and crew. After Captain Bales performed and emergency, wheels-up, landing, it was badly damaged. The crew moved to the new plane, but the Potato Peeler was repaired. It went on to complete an additional 22 combat missions before being shot down on November 5, 1943. One crew member died; nine were POWs.
Ross Bales, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bales of Caldwell, trained for three months at Gowen Field in Boise before heading overseas. Bales never forgot his home state, naming the first bomber he piloted the “Idaho Potato Peeler.”
The B17F with the Idaho name completed 21 combat missions with Bales at the helm. Returning from a bombing run on January 23, 1943, Bales had to make an emergency, wheels-up, landing, sliding the plane onto the runway at Chipping Warden, England. None of the crew were hurt, but the plane was too badly damaged to get back into service right away.
Captain Bales took the stick of another B17F. He carried his naming tradition forward with one important twist. The new plane became “FDR’s Potato Peeler Kids.”
The Caldwell native flew the second Potato Peeler on 13 more combat missions before crashing into the North Sea. The plan was last seen going down in a spin. Several parachutes popped, but no survivors were recovered.
Captain Ross C. Bales is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing in the Netherlands.
Thanks to Jeff Schrade who provided much of the information for this story.
BALES CREW, FDR Potato Peeler Kids. Captain Ross C. Bales is standing in the back on the left. This was the plane that went down in the North Sea. The original Potato Peeler and crew. After Captain Bales performed and emergency, wheels-up, landing, it was badly damaged. The crew moved to the new plane, but the Potato Peeler was repaired. It went on to complete an additional 22 combat missions before being shot down on November 5, 1943. One crew member died; nine were POWs.January 10, 2023
Dubois (tap to read)
Fred T. Dubois was one of the more colorful political figures in a state known for producing them in quantity. He would probably bristle at the term “colorful,” however, because skin color was one thing he had very narrow views about.
Dubois, who had a ranch near Blackfoot, began his political career by getting appointed U.S. Marshal for Idaho Territory in 1882. From that position, he successfully campaigned to disenfranchise Mormons from voting on the grounds that their practice of polygamy was against the law.
Next, Dubois ran as a Republican for the position of Congressional delegate from the territory, defeating the Democratic incumbent, John Hailey. He was in that position until 1890, when Idaho became a state. In those days U.S. Senators were elected by state legislators, and in Idaho Fred T. Dubois was elected as a Republican in 1891.
Dubois helped negotiate a treaty with the Nez Perce during his term in office, taking the opportunity to disparage the Bannock Tribe by calling them lazy and shiftless. Dubois served until 1896, when he was defeated.
In 1900, Dubois again ran for U.S. Senate, defeating his former ally George Shoup. It was a Democratic legislature that elected him, and he showed his thanks by becoming a Democrat a few months later. He is the only Idahoan who has served in the Senate as both a Democrat and a Republican.
Dubois had an anti-Mormon, anti-Indian reputation, and he added to that by showing his stripes as anti-Filipino, anti-black, anti-Japanese, anti-Chinese, etc. during his second term in the Senate.
The Idaho Legislature chose William Borah to replace Dubois in 1907. He would serve in the senate for 32 years.
Dubois died in 1930 and is buried in the Grove City Cemetery in Blackfoot (photo). Controversial as he was, Fred T. Dubois has two towns named after him, Dubois, Idaho and Dubois, Wyoming. The latter Dubois was given the moniker by the U.S. Postal Service, to the chagrin of residents who had another name in mind.
Dubois, who had a ranch near Blackfoot, began his political career by getting appointed U.S. Marshal for Idaho Territory in 1882. From that position, he successfully campaigned to disenfranchise Mormons from voting on the grounds that their practice of polygamy was against the law.
Next, Dubois ran as a Republican for the position of Congressional delegate from the territory, defeating the Democratic incumbent, John Hailey. He was in that position until 1890, when Idaho became a state. In those days U.S. Senators were elected by state legislators, and in Idaho Fred T. Dubois was elected as a Republican in 1891.
Dubois helped negotiate a treaty with the Nez Perce during his term in office, taking the opportunity to disparage the Bannock Tribe by calling them lazy and shiftless. Dubois served until 1896, when he was defeated.
In 1900, Dubois again ran for U.S. Senate, defeating his former ally George Shoup. It was a Democratic legislature that elected him, and he showed his thanks by becoming a Democrat a few months later. He is the only Idahoan who has served in the Senate as both a Democrat and a Republican.
Dubois had an anti-Mormon, anti-Indian reputation, and he added to that by showing his stripes as anti-Filipino, anti-black, anti-Japanese, anti-Chinese, etc. during his second term in the Senate.
The Idaho Legislature chose William Borah to replace Dubois in 1907. He would serve in the senate for 32 years.
Dubois died in 1930 and is buried in the Grove City Cemetery in Blackfoot (photo). Controversial as he was, Fred T. Dubois has two towns named after him, Dubois, Idaho and Dubois, Wyoming. The latter Dubois was given the moniker by the U.S. Postal Service, to the chagrin of residents who had another name in mind.
January 9, 2023
Boise's City Halls (tap to read)
Today I’m writing about the city halls of Idaho’s capital city. The impetus is to alert you to a display of historical photos in Boise’s current city hall, developed by Boise City Arts and History. If you’d rather look online, you can do so through the link at the end of this post. Most of the information contained in this post is from the exhibit.
Boise’s council and mayor didn’t have a home in the earliest years of the city. It wouldn’t have mattered much if they did because they kept resigning and refusing to serve. Although the city was created in 1863, not everyone was thrilled with the idea of it being a city. It wasn’t until 1867 that a bona fide city council and mayor started meeting. They met wherever they could until the late 1870s when they settled on sharing a site with the volunteer fire department at 619 Main in a former blacksmith shop.
The fire station (irony alert) burned in 1883, so the city built a new, two-story structure called City Hall Station, the second story of which became the home of the city council and mayor. It was where Idaho Blueprint was located for 113 years before closing in 2022.
By 1891, the capital city of a newly minted state needed a new city hall. Voters approved the expenditure of $40,000 to build one. I’ll pause here to let you ruminate over the fact that you’d be hard-pressed to add a garage to a modest house today for that price. Done? Moving on.
City fathers selected Richard Johnson, the architect of the fabled Boise Natatorium, to design the structure. The Romanesque Revival structure was completed in 1893 on the southeast corner of Idaho and 8th streets. The Council chamber on the third floor of the building was decked out in curved oak rafters with a soaring ceiling. It was a building to be proud of.
All things age. By 1947 the functions of the city were crammed into spaces too small to… function. The cellar housed the police department. It was described by The Idaho Statesman as “foul-smelling” and “medieval.”
In 1948, the City of Boise purchased a former Ada County building at 6th and Bannock and converted it into the new City Hall. Meanwhile, after failed attempts to sell the beloved/loathed old City Hall, the red brick building at 8th and Idaho was torn down.
As the Steve Miller Band noted, time keeps slipping into the future. By the late 60s, it was time to start looking for a new city hall site. This time, city leaders picked the entire block between Capitol, 6th, Main, and Idaho streets for a new building. Built in 1975, City Hall has undergone some renovations and narrowly escaped an earthquake disaster. The most recent upgrade was the removal of the flag plaza in front of the building, replacing it with a more accessible, cleaner-looking plaza featuring metal sculptures that the public seems to find more interesting than the controversial metal “window frames” that once lived there.
You’ll find many more photos and much more information on the history of Boise’s city halls, courtesy of Boise Arts and History, at this link.
City Hall Station served as both a fire station and Boise City Hall. You can almost see it--the building with the tower--right behind the many-armed power pole in the center of this picture. Idaho State Archives image 69-4-14
Boise's red brick city hall served for more than 50 years.
Boise’s council and mayor didn’t have a home in the earliest years of the city. It wouldn’t have mattered much if they did because they kept resigning and refusing to serve. Although the city was created in 1863, not everyone was thrilled with the idea of it being a city. It wasn’t until 1867 that a bona fide city council and mayor started meeting. They met wherever they could until the late 1870s when they settled on sharing a site with the volunteer fire department at 619 Main in a former blacksmith shop.
The fire station (irony alert) burned in 1883, so the city built a new, two-story structure called City Hall Station, the second story of which became the home of the city council and mayor. It was where Idaho Blueprint was located for 113 years before closing in 2022.
By 1891, the capital city of a newly minted state needed a new city hall. Voters approved the expenditure of $40,000 to build one. I’ll pause here to let you ruminate over the fact that you’d be hard-pressed to add a garage to a modest house today for that price. Done? Moving on.
City fathers selected Richard Johnson, the architect of the fabled Boise Natatorium, to design the structure. The Romanesque Revival structure was completed in 1893 on the southeast corner of Idaho and 8th streets. The Council chamber on the third floor of the building was decked out in curved oak rafters with a soaring ceiling. It was a building to be proud of.
All things age. By 1947 the functions of the city were crammed into spaces too small to… function. The cellar housed the police department. It was described by The Idaho Statesman as “foul-smelling” and “medieval.”
In 1948, the City of Boise purchased a former Ada County building at 6th and Bannock and converted it into the new City Hall. Meanwhile, after failed attempts to sell the beloved/loathed old City Hall, the red brick building at 8th and Idaho was torn down.
As the Steve Miller Band noted, time keeps slipping into the future. By the late 60s, it was time to start looking for a new city hall site. This time, city leaders picked the entire block between Capitol, 6th, Main, and Idaho streets for a new building. Built in 1975, City Hall has undergone some renovations and narrowly escaped an earthquake disaster. The most recent upgrade was the removal of the flag plaza in front of the building, replacing it with a more accessible, cleaner-looking plaza featuring metal sculptures that the public seems to find more interesting than the controversial metal “window frames” that once lived there.
You’ll find many more photos and much more information on the history of Boise’s city halls, courtesy of Boise Arts and History, at this link.
City Hall Station served as both a fire station and Boise City Hall. You can almost see it--the building with the tower--right behind the many-armed power pole in the center of this picture. Idaho State Archives image 69-4-14 Boise's red brick city hall served for more than 50 years.
January 8, 2023
Firth (tap to read)
How do you go about getting a town named after you? Well, you could set out to be a beloved politician (good luck), or a war hero. That might get you a town or two. Or, you could just donate the land to get the town started.
That was how Lorenzo Firth did it, though having a town named after him probably wasn’t his goal. He was a homesteader who had come over from Wakefield, England as young boy. He liked to tell the story about how he and a friend about his age were captured by Indians, who tied them to wild ponies and poked and prodded the horses to make them run and buck. The boys thought they were going to be killed, but the Indians turned them loose after they’d had their fun.
Firth worked on a ranch near Rock Springs (now Wyoming). It was there that he met and became friends with noted mountain man Jim Bridger.
Firth married Dorcas Martin in 1873 in Uinta, Utah Territory. They moved to Basalt, Idaho Territory in 1887. It was there that he homesteaded, with their land bisected by railroad tracks. The Oregon Shortline Railroad built a small depot near the Firth place and people began to call the stop Firth. When Lorenzo donated land for a school and town site, that sealed the deal. In 1905 the fledgling community was dedicated as Firth.
Pictured is the Lorenzo Firth homestead in 1894. Left to right in front are daughter Mabel Firth, son Thomas on the rocking horse, Marion Firth in the arms of her mother Dorcas, Lorenzo Firth, and his daughter Emma. Holding the horse team are Nels Fred Nelson and Mary Ann Firth Nelson. In the spring wagon is “Auntie Karr and daughter and person unknown.” The photo is courtesy of Marlene Reid from the book she and husband Wallace edited to celebrate Firth’s centennial in 2005.
That was how Lorenzo Firth did it, though having a town named after him probably wasn’t his goal. He was a homesteader who had come over from Wakefield, England as young boy. He liked to tell the story about how he and a friend about his age were captured by Indians, who tied them to wild ponies and poked and prodded the horses to make them run and buck. The boys thought they were going to be killed, but the Indians turned them loose after they’d had their fun.
Firth worked on a ranch near Rock Springs (now Wyoming). It was there that he met and became friends with noted mountain man Jim Bridger.
Firth married Dorcas Martin in 1873 in Uinta, Utah Territory. They moved to Basalt, Idaho Territory in 1887. It was there that he homesteaded, with their land bisected by railroad tracks. The Oregon Shortline Railroad built a small depot near the Firth place and people began to call the stop Firth. When Lorenzo donated land for a school and town site, that sealed the deal. In 1905 the fledgling community was dedicated as Firth.
Pictured is the Lorenzo Firth homestead in 1894. Left to right in front are daughter Mabel Firth, son Thomas on the rocking horse, Marion Firth in the arms of her mother Dorcas, Lorenzo Firth, and his daughter Emma. Holding the horse team are Nels Fred Nelson and Mary Ann Firth Nelson. In the spring wagon is “Auntie Karr and daughter and person unknown.” The photo is courtesy of Marlene Reid from the book she and husband Wallace edited to celebrate Firth’s centennial in 2005.
January 7, 2023
A Hard Loaf of Bread (tap to read)
Landmarks—even natural landmarks—can suddenly disappear, as New Hampshire’s Old Man of the mountain did not long ago. Today we’re giving a little digital tip of the hat to a landmark that is still there, but has vanished from view for all practical purposes.
Bread Loaf Rock was and is on the hillside between Horseshoe Bend and Boise in Boise County. You could look down from the roadway and see it, if you didn’t look too long and drive off one of the switchbacks. It looks like a bread loaf with the end slice cut off and ready to serve in front of it. In case you couldn’t see that for yourself, people used to paint the end of it white so it stood out. It’s still there, but that winding, sawdust-filled (really) road that kept slipping off the mountain is no longer the main route. The road is much improved, but the bread loaf is mostly hiding. You can still see it from a pullout, but the angle isn’t as good as it once was.
It’s not the most spectacular rock formation one could see, but countless kids enjoyed pointing it on road trips.
By the way, in looking for images of this I discovered that there are a few other rocks with that name around the country, including one at the City of Rocks National Reserve.
Bread Loaf Rock was and is on the hillside between Horseshoe Bend and Boise in Boise County. You could look down from the roadway and see it, if you didn’t look too long and drive off one of the switchbacks. It looks like a bread loaf with the end slice cut off and ready to serve in front of it. In case you couldn’t see that for yourself, people used to paint the end of it white so it stood out. It’s still there, but that winding, sawdust-filled (really) road that kept slipping off the mountain is no longer the main route. The road is much improved, but the bread loaf is mostly hiding. You can still see it from a pullout, but the angle isn’t as good as it once was.
It’s not the most spectacular rock formation one could see, but countless kids enjoyed pointing it on road trips.
By the way, in looking for images of this I discovered that there are a few other rocks with that name around the country, including one at the City of Rocks National Reserve.
