Evan E. Filby's Blog: South Fork and More, page 113

Gold Prospectors Found Elk City Deep in the Idaho Mountains [otd 8/6]

On August 6, 1861, a band of miners founded the mining town of Elk City, Idaho, about 35 miles east of the present town of Grangeville. Prospectors had first entered the area in the latter part of May. A large party left the Orofino area earlier in the month. Somewhat less than half penetrated the region, having ignored protests from a Nez Perce Indian chief because they had intruded onto reservation land.
Early Elk City. Idaho State Historical Society.
They found gold near the confluence of th...

Second Idaho Regiment Brought into Federal Service for World War I [otd 8/5]

On August 5, 1917, the War Department drafted the Second Idaho Regiment (National Guard) into the U.S. Army for duty in World War I, part of perhaps 300,000 guardsmen taken into Federal service at that time.

A year earlier, the government had directed the state to mobilize the Second Idaho to patrol the Mexican border [blog, June 18]. Under that call-up, the troops could not be sent outside the country. The troops had been demobilized when that duty was over.
Idaho Guard troops headed for trai...

Ag Secretary, Author, and Mormon Patriarch Ezra Taft Benson [otd 08/04]

LDS President and public servant Ezra Taft Benson was born August 4, 1899 in Whitney, Idaho (located 20-25 miles west of Bear Lake). He was named for his grandfather, who converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1840 and rose to be a member of its Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Growing up on the family farm, Ezra learned the “traditional” agricultural approach, which depended upon draft animals and offered little mechanization.
Sugar beet harvesting in the Mountain West, ca...

Large Amounts of Gold Dust Waiting for Shipment

On August 3, 1863, The Oregonian reported, “Our merchants are constantly receiving letters from their correspondents at Boise and at other trading points in the mines, full of complaints because of the impossibility of safely sending out the immense amounts of dust now accumulated.”

Unfortunately, dangers lurked along every trail. The newspaper said, “On account of the enormous expense of maintaining Expresses of sufficient strength to be prepared to resist the possible attacks of highwaymen a...

Track Star, Olympic Athlete, and Coach "Hec" Edmundson [otd 8/3]

Coach, University of Idaho track star, and Olympian Clarence “Hec” Edmundson was born August 3, 1886 in Moscow, Idaho. In 1901, Clarence enrolled in the UI prep school and soon established himself as an outstanding distance runner.
Edmundson wins! University of Idaho archives.
Hec – “Aw Heck!” being his preferred expletive – basically put UI track & field athletics on the map. At most meets, he ran the quarter mile, the half, the mile, and anchored the mile relay. In 1905, Hec led a three-m...

Lewiston Newspaper Golden Age distributed Its First Issue [otd 08/02]

On Saturday, August 2, 1862, the Golden Age newspaper released its inaugural issue in Lewiston, Washington Territory. The Age thus has the honor of being the first newspaper published in what would become, seven months later, Idaho Territory. The publisher was a man named A. S. Gould, about whom we know very little.
Front page, Golden Age.
Timothy Hughes: Rare and Early Newspaper blog.
A footnote in Bancroft’s History noted that, “Gould, a Republican, had hot times with the secession element w...

Lesson (Re)Learned: Always Cross-Check Your References

Today you get two “On This Day” (OTD) items for the price of one. As those of you who follow the blog regularly know, I have been making small revisions to articles posted during a previous year for a given day. (I have also added some totally new events, but – as you can imagine – it's not like I have a lot of choices for some dates.)

So, in addition to my Sesquicentennial blog/book writing, I have been looking over previous OTD items to get material ready for re-posting. And today, I checked...

First Scheduled Stagecoach Arrives in Boise City [otd 08/1]

On August 1, 1864, the first scheduled stagecoach arrived in Boise City. The coach was, in a manner of speaking, about a month late: Indian unrest and other problems had delayed construction of the necessary way stations. The Idaho Statesman (August 2, 1864) reported that, “The Overland Stage will leave this city to-morrow morning at eight o’clock, carrying passengers and mails.”

The item said that the line had “good comfortable coaches, and good stock” and assured readers that “their time thr...

Colonel William Dewey: Mining Investor, Road Builder, and Business Developer [otd 08/01]

Prominent Idaho pioneer Colonel William H. Dewey was born August 1, 1823 in Hampden County, Massachusetts (some sources give the birth year as 1822). Raised on a farm, he presumably followed that line until he moved to Idaho, by way of California, in 1863.

Dewey turned out to be what the Illustrated History called “a born miner.” A relative late-comer to the Owyhee mining regions, he balked at what he considered exorbitant real estate prices. Thus, in 1864 he and some associates started a new...

Rancher, Banker, and Idaho Legislator Victor LaValle [otd 07/31]

Victor LaValle. J. H. Hawley photo.Rancher and legislator Victor LaValle was born July 31, 1874 in Chickasaw County, Iowa, 30-50 miles north of Waterloo. His father died when he was just 14, so he had to take a man's role in the family. Still, he devised a program of self-education and went on to receive a degree from the Iowa State Normal School, now University of Northern Iowa.

He spent four years as Head of the Mathematics Department at a Normal college located in the county seat of Chickas...