Evan E. Filby's Blog: South Fork and More, page 120

Boise River Water Flows into the New York Canal [otd 06/20]

On June 20, 1900, a rude diversion structure turned water from the Boise River into the New York Canal. The diversion, though feeble, culminated nearly twenty years of effort to bring irrigation water to the higher benches paralleling the river.
New York Canal construction, ca. 1898.
Idaho State Historical Society.Individuals and small cooperative groups began diverting irrigation water from the Boise River less than a year after the 1862 gold discoveries in the Boise Basin. With limited resour...

Businessman, Educator, and Idaho Chief Justice James F. Ailshie [otd 06/19]

James Franklin Ailshie, Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, was born June 19, 1868 in Greene County, Tennessee, 50-70 miles east of Knoxville. He attended a "noted preparatory school" through his junior year and then moved to Missouri, where he taught school. After a couple years there, he took a principal’s job in Washington state. Ailshie then attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.
Waller Hall, Willamette University, 1880.
Salem Public Library Collections.
Ailshie received his...

War News: Union Army About to Attack in Tennessee, Lee Invades the North

The New York Herald published many dispatches for June 18, 1863 collected from various war zones. One from Murfreesboro, Tennessee said, “General Bragg has undoubtedly received reinforcements of three brigades, viz: Bates’, Clayton’s and Churchill’s. … Bragg now has eighteen brigades of infantry and cavalry. There are indications that, in cooperation with Buckner at Knoxville, he is about to assume the offensive, and invade Kentucky, striking at about Monticello or Carthage, in East Tennessee...

Idaho National Guard Mobilized for Mexican Border Duty [otd 06/18]

On June 18, 1916, state authorities mobilized the Idaho National Guard for duty on the Mexican border. The Governor had received instructions from the Secretary of War under the National Defense Act, passed by Congress two weeks earlier.
Pancho Villa, ca 1914.
Library of Congress.
Since about 1910, Mexico had been wracked by fighting between various revolutionary factions. In 1914, a coalition headed by Venustiano Carranza gained the upper hand. Because Carranza promised a constitutional govern...

Nez Percés Drub U. S. Army at Battle of White Bird Canyon [otd 06/17]

On June 17, 1877, a column consisting of U. S. Cavalry and a few civilian volunteers engaged Nez Percés warriors in the Battle of White Bird Canyon. This was the opening clash of the Nez Percés War, which ultimately forced a large part of the tribe off their ancestral homeland.
Chief Joseph, ca. 1895.
Illustrated History of North Idaho.
The reservation treaty of 1863 divided the Nez Percés into "treaty" and "non-treaty" factions [blog, June 9]. By the mid-1870's, many land-hungry whites had sett...

Northern Gold Activities Mixed, Many Headed for Boise Basin [otd 06/16]

A correspondent who signed himself as “Mudsill” wrote a letter from Lewiston on June 16, 1863, that was published in The Oregonian a week later. He said, “I arrived at this place yesterday evening. The town is dull, awful dull. Everybody has gone to Boise, and everybody else getting ready to go.”

This refrain had, of course, been operable for a good many weeks. All the northern gold towns had lost people, sometimes nine out of ten from their peaks. Mudsill went on, “This is not the route for m...

Oregon Treaty of 1846 Largely Settles U. S.-Canadian Border [otd 06/15]

President Polk. Library of Congress.On June 15, 1846, the United States and Great Britain reached an agreement that settled almost all the remaining disputes about the border between the U. S. and Canada. This treaty, arranged under President James K. Polk, meant that the future states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and some of Montana were indeed part of the United States.

The U. S.-Canadian boundary had been established as far west as the Continental Divide by the "joint occupancy" treaty of...

President Andrew Johnson Defines Fort Hall Indian Reservation [otd 06/14]

President Johnson, 1870-1880.
Library of Congress.On June 14, 1867, President Andrew Johnson approved an executive order devised by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The order defined a reservation bounded generally by the Portneuf, Snake, and Blackfoot rivers, and by regional divides to the south and east.

There was a slight "catch" involved, however. The Shoshone and Bannock bands for whom the reservation was created had not yet said they would stay there. Various accords signed in 1863, includi...

Florence Miners Doing Well and Feeling Optimistic

On June 13, 1863, The Oregonian reported that, “We were permitted yesterday to read a letter from Florence, written by an entirely reliable gentleman there, who says that the prospects of the miners in that vicinity are highly encouraging and even brilliant.”

With so many prospectors drawn out of the area by other rushes, those who remained around Florence could take their time searching. They continued to find good to excellent gold placers for the rest of the season. The item went on, “Wages...

Twin Falls County Sheriff Howard Van Ausdeln [otd 6/13]

Twin Falls County Sheriff Howard C. Van Ausdeln was born June 13, 1868 in Crawford County, Kansas, in the southeast corner of the state. He farmed and ran stock in Kansas until he was about thirty years old, when he moved to Utah.
H. C. Van Ausdeln. H. T. French photo.Howard acquired a ranch in the Bear River Valley near the town of Garland. He also engaged in real estate and ran a meat market in town. For a time, Van Ausdeln served as a Justice of the Peace.

In 1903, about the time constructi...