Evan E. Filby's Blog: South Fork and More, page 11

Tough Talk and Action Versus Snake War Violence [otd 11/25]

Governor Lyon. Library of Congress.The Owyhee Avalanche newspaper (Silver City, Idaho) for November 25, 1865 reported some “good talk” (their expression) by the Territorial Governor about the on-going Indian unrest.

Paraphrasing Governor Caleb Lyon [blog, Nov 14] the article said, [He] “says he will either fight or feed them, and for this purpose has requested, with all hopes of success, two regiments of cavalry. He says he does not expect to reduce them to a state of peace, except by offering th...

Branch Railroad Arrives in Rexburg, Headed for Yellowstone [otd 11/22]

On November 22, 1899, tracks of the St. Anthony Railroad Company were completed into Rexburg, Idaho. The goal of the Company, which had been incorporated in May, was to extend a rail line from Idaho Falls to St. Anthony. Reporting on the Rexburg arrival, the Fremont County Journal said, “All afternoon the construction train was puffing back and forth through town.”
St. Anthony in 1907.
Vintage postcard displayed at www.SFnewsandviews.com
The tracks reached St. Anthony the following spring. Over th...

Herrold Family Off To War

As some of you know, one of my COVID-19 “lockdown” projects has been to explore how many of my forbears served in the Civil War. That number is already nearly 190, and I expect to add many more. We have extracted and saved a lot of information. But it takes a long time to enter the data into our genealogical database because many new names spark additional research. (We use “Reunion” software to store the data on a Mac).

So far, we’ve found many great stories. And the last few days brought one th...

Boise Mayor, Merchant, and Prominent Mason Charles Himrod [otd 11/04]

Mayor Himrod. H. T. French.Boise merchant and Mayor Charles Himrod was born November 4, 1842, in Burdett, New York, about 55 miles southwest of Syracuse. After completing basic country schooling, he became clerk in a general merchandise store. After eight years of that, he traveled in 1864 with a government-organized emigrant party on the Oregon Trail. The train reached Boise City at the end of September.

Charles decided to settle in the new town and found a job in the dry-goods and general merch...

The Louisiana Purchase, and Oregon Country Compromise [otd 10/20]

An interesting coincidence happened On This Day.
President Jefferson.
National Archives.
On October 20, 1803, the Senate approved a treaty authorizing the acquisition of Louisiana from France. President Thomas Jefferson had originally sent negotiators to France to ensure American access to foreign markets via New Orleans. They were authorized, if necessary, to purchase New Orleans and a limited periphery around it. Instead, Napoleon’s minister offered all of Louisiana, and the Americans quickly a...

Kitty Wilkins, Horse Queen of Idaho and North American Supplier [otd 10/09]

On October 9, 1936, the Idaho Statesman announced that “Kittie” Wilkins had died the day before at her home in Glenns Ferry. The Statesman then reminded its readers of her place in Idaho history, when newspapers celebrated Wilkins as the “Horse Queen of Idaho” and the “Queen of Diamonds.”
Kitty Wilkins. Elmore County Historical Research Team.
Katherine “Kitty” Wilkins was born in the Rogue River area of Oregon, in 1857. The family moved around a great deal after about 1861 – with stops in Florence...

Guy Bowerman: Bank Organizer and Investor, and Banking Official [otd 10/08]

East Idaho banker Guy Emerson Bowerman was born October 8, 1866, in Coldwater, Michigan, about forty miles south of Lansing. Armed with just a public school education, Bowerman found bank employment in Dell Rapids, South Dakota (about 20 miles north of Sioux Falls). For fifteen years, he advanced into higher and higher positions at the bank.
St. Anthony in 1907. Vintage postcard.
Then, in 1899, Bowerman moved to St. Anthony, Idaho, the county seat of Fremont County. There, he and some partners org...

Classes Start at College of Idaho, Boise Basin Gold Towns [otd 10/07]

On October 7, 1891, classes began at the new College of Idaho in Caldwell. The Presbyterian Church's Wood River Presbytery began discussing the idea of an Idaho college in 1884. Leaders canvassed the membership and found a considerable groundswell of interest. That interest grew, so in 1889 the Presbytery asked the Reverend William Judson Boone [blog, Nov 5] to explore the idea further.
College of Idaho, ca. 1900. College of Idaho photo.The 1891 meeting of the Presbytery’s Education Committee acc...

British Canadian Trappers Camp Along the Salmon River [otd 10/06]

On October 6, 1824, a large band of fur traders, trappers, and camp keepers – the so-called "Snake Brigade" – returned to what they called "Canoe Point." (Probably located where the Pahsimeroi River empties into the Salmon, but possibly near Challis.) A unit of the Hudson's Bay Company led by Alexander Ross, the Brigade had earlier hidden their beaver pelts at the spot. At that time, Ross said, "Hiding furs in places frequented by Indians is a risky business."

Now he wrote, "Our cache of May is s...

Fur Traders, the "Overland Astorians," Enter Idaho Via Teton Pass [otd 10/05]

On October 5, 1811, a column of whites led by American Wilson Price Hunt mounted the slope out of Jackson Hole toward Teton Pass: “We climbed it, following an easy and much-traveled trail.  Snow whitened the summit and the northern slopes of the heights.  The Snakes served as our guides … ”

J. J. Astor. Library of Congress.The Hunt party represented the Pacific Fur Company, founded by fur trade magnate John Jacob Astor [blog, July 17]. Astor, with one American and several British-Canadian partner...