Evan E. Filby's Blog: South Fork and More, page 143

Pacific Northwest Earthquake Rocks Idaho Panhandle [otd 12/14]

Late on the evening of Saturday December 14, 1872, residents in North Idaho felt a major earthquake that swayed buildings, caused shelved objects to rattle around, and agitated animals. In its report of the incident, the Lewiston Signal said, “The violence of the first shock created considerable alarm among those who had never experienced such a thing before.”

The initial strong shock stopped clocks, and rattled crockery and glassware all around the region. Many Lewiston residents heeded the n...

Cattle Ranchers Demand Limit Law on Sheep Grazing [otd 12/13]

On December 13, 1872, the Idaho Statesman (Boise) published a letter from pioneer J. H. Whitson, which said in part: “But the people of Ada county, and perhaps other counties need, ask for and demand a relief that is of much more importance than the retrenchment so much talked of. It is a law ‘Restricting the herding of sheep,’ as in Oneida county, passed by the last legislative Assembly.”

Sheep grazing, Dubois research station, Idaho.
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Whitson then described the prob...

Michael Carey – Mine Owner and State Senator [otd 12/12]

Idaho state Senator Michael Carey was born December 12, 1844 in Ireland. The family emigrated to the U.S. in 1850, settling in Keweenaw County, on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The area was known for its extensive copper deposits, and Carey started work in the regional mines as a teenager. He emigrated to California gold country when he was twenty years old.
Early Silver City. Directory of Owyhee County.
In 1870, Michael moved to Silver City, Idaho, where he managed area mines for the next e...

Boise’s Water Supply, a Local “Taj Mahal,” and Geothermal Development

Hosea Eastman. H. T. French photo.In the words of the Owyhee Avalanche (August 27, 1881), brothers Benjamin M. and Hosea B. Eastman were “rattlers in the way of enterprise.” Not referring to the deadly snake, the writer meant the two regularly shook up the status quo. Their far-sighted improvements and innovations led Boise development for over forty years.

Both were born in the White Mountains area in north-central New Hampshire. Hosea was born in 1835, while Benjamin was five years older. Be...

Blackfoot Attorney and Idaho Supreme Court Justice William Lee [otd 12/11]

The Honorable William A. Lee, Idaho state Senator and Supreme Court Justice, was born December 11, 1859 in the extreme southeast corner of Nebraska. He was only four years old when his father was killed in the Civil War. William graduated from Washington University (St. Louis) with his LL.B. degree in 1885, and established a practice in Nebraska.

In 1892, Lee came west and opened a law office in Ogden, Utah. Five years later, he moved his practice to Salt Lake City. There, he helped write a m...

Franchise Granted for Taylor's Bridge Across the Snake River [otd 12/10]

On December 10, 1864, the Territorial legislature granted a bridge franchise to the Oneida Road, Bridge, and Ferry Company for a span across the Snake River in eastern Idaho.
Taylor’s Bridge, 1871. Library of Congress.
James Madison “Matt” Taylor was one of the principals in the Company.

In 1858, Taylor began hauling freight to a Colorado camp called Cherry Creek. When the camp became Denver, he purchased some lots. Then gold discoveries near Bannack (now a ghost town) and Virginia City, Montana...

Railroad Milestone Day(s) for Wallace and Grangeville [otd 12/09]

On December 9, 1889, standard-gauge tracks of the Washington & Idaho Railroad (W&I RR) Company reached Wallace, Idaho. Wallace is one of several towns that arose from the discovery of placer gold in the Coeur d’Alenes, followed by even greater discoveries of silver and lead. The first cabin was built there in 1884, and soon companies were operating numerous famous lode mines in the area – including the Bunker Hill, and the Sunshine.
Wallace railway depot, now a museum.
Idaho Tourism pho...

Forester Guy Mains of the Payette/Boise National Forest [otd 12/08]

On December 8, 1878, long-time Idaho forester Guy B. Mains was born in Clark County, Wisconsin, 40-50 miles east of Eau Claire. Guy’s father was a lumberman and he grew up in the midst of a flourishing timber industry. Even so, Guy decided he wanted to teach and eventually attended the Stevens Point Normal School (now University of Wisconsin – Stephens Point).

Barber Mill, 3-4 miles southeast of Boise, 1906.
Idaho State Historical Society.After four more years of teaching, he “returned to his r...

Rhodes Scholar, Eminent Historian, and Pulitzer Prize Winner Lawrence Gipson [otd 12/07]

Historian Gipson.
University of Idaho Archives.Rhodes Scholar and eminent historian Lawrence Henry Gipson was born December 7, 1880 in Greeley, Colorado. The family moved to Caldwell, Idaho when Lawrence was very young and he later attended Caldwell High School. He left the high school after a year and took preparatory classes for a year at the College of Idaho. Lawrence excelled as a long distance runner at both institutions.

Gipson later recalled his youthful interest in history, but apparent...

Attorney, Mining Investor, and Territorial Secretary Robert Sidebotham [otd 12/06]

Robert Sidebotham. H. T. French photo.Pioneer lawyer and developer Robert A. Sidebotham was born December 6, 1834 along the Ohio River in Pennsylvania (west of Pittsburgh). He gained early exposure to business because his father “was engaged in manufacturing.” He graduated from the law school at Oberlin College and then moved west. There, he worked in California for a time and then taught school in Utah.

Sidebotham joined the rush to Idaho when the gold fields around the town of Rocky Bar open...