Evan E. Filby's Blog: South Fork and More, page 147

Medical Pioneer and Tuberculosis Researcher Edwin Guyon [otd 11/07]

On November 7, 1853, physician and medical pioneer Edwin F. Guyon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. By one account, his father was among the nearly 13 thousand yellow fever deaths (ten percent of the population) in New Orleans during the period 1853-1855. In 1855, his mother relocated the family to California, where she remarried.

They soon moved to Oregon and, when Edwin was about twelve, his stepfather went into cattle ranching. As a young man, Guyon became a successful small rancher himse...

Elections: U. S. President Abraham Lincoln and Lewiston Mayor Ankeny [otd 11/06]

President Lincoln.
National Archives, Matthew Brady.On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. In the midst of leading the nation through the Civil War, Lincoln signed legislation that created Idaho Territory in March 1863.

Lincoln profoundly impacted the new Territory throughout his time in office. A week after the Territory was created, he appointed William Wallace as the first governor.

Lincoln also appointed a Territorial Secretary, three justices for a...

Reverend William Judson Boone and the College of Idaho [otd 11/05]

Boone statue on College of Idaho campus.William Judson Boone, D.D., first and long-time president of the College of Idaho, was born November 5, 1860, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, 15-20 miles southwest of Pittsburg.

After high school, he studied at the College of Wooster (Ohio), from which he received A.B. and M.A. degrees. Study at the Western Theological Seminary (Pittsburgh) further prepared him for the ministry (they awarded him a D.D. degree in 1903).

In 1887, Boone took up the Presbyt...

Grangeville Wins County Seat From Mount Idaho [otd 11/04]

On November 4, 1902, voters decisively favored the transfer of the county seat of Idaho County from Mount Idaho to Grangeville. This result culminated a vigorous decade-long campaign to wrest the seat away from the older town.
Historic Grangeville. City of Grangeville.
Pioneer Loyal P. Brown established Mount Idaho as the first town on the Camas Prairie. He started in 1862 from a waystation on the road to the Florence gold fields [blog, Sept 26]. In 1875, his political maneuvering won the coun...

Idaho Supreme Court Justice Sullivan … and Women's Suffrage [otd 11/03]

Justice Sullivan. Illustrated History.The state of Idaho’s first Chief Justice, Isaac Newton Sullivan, was born on November 3, 1848, in Iowa, midway between Waterloo and Dubuque. After high school he studied at a college in Michigan and then in a judge's law office in Iowa. He was admitted to the bar of Iowa in 1879 and moved to Hailey, Idaho two years later.

Besides his law practice, Sullivan invested in a number of valuable mining claims as well as farm and ranch land around Hailey. His suc...

Destructive Conflagration in Wallace Spurs Creation of New Fire Brigade [otd 11/02]

On November 2, 1890, the citizens of Wallace, Idaho convened a public meeting and created a new fire brigade to replace their old fire department. By organizing Wallace Hose Company No. 1, the town hoped to improve their fire protection.
Lead-silver mill at Wallace. H. T. French photo.
The first cabins had been built in Wallace just six years earlier, after prospectors discovered placer gold in the area. Major finds of lode silver followed and the town mushroomed. Within a few years, rail line...

Toponis Railway Town Renamed for Gooding Brothers [otd 11/01]

Governor and U. S. Senator Gooding.
Library of Congress.James H. Hawley’s History of Idaho, asserts that Gooding, “the county seat of Gooding County, was founded on November 1, 1907, by Frank R. Gooding, then governor of the State of Idaho.”

The term “founded” somewhat overstates reality, because settlers had already occupied the area for over a quarter century. The 1907 date may refer to when Governor Gooding [blog, Sept 16] renamed an existing store the Gooding Mercantile Company.

White stockm...

Flagrant Voter Fraud in Idaho Territory’s First Elections [otd 10/31]

Governor Wallace. J.H. Hawley photo.On October 31, 1863, the brand new Territory of Idaho held its first elections. The Territory had been created six months earlier because of all the prospectors who rushed into the region with the discovery of gold [blog, Mar 4].

Less than a week after its creation, President Abraham Lincoln appointed William H. Wallace as the Territory’s first governor.

Born about fifteen miles north of Dayton, Ohio, Wallace took up a law career in Indiana and moved to Iowa...

Voter Fraud Scandal in Idaho Territory’s First Elections [otd 10/31]

Governor Wallace. J.H. Hawley photo.On October 31, 1863, the brand new Territory of Idaho held its first elections. The Territory had been created in early March because of all the prospectors who rushed into the region with the discovery of gold [blog, Mar 4].

Less than a week after its creation, President Abraham Lincoln appointed William H. Wallace as the Territory’s first governor.

Born about fifteen miles north of Dayton, Ohio, Wallace took up a law career in Indiana and moved to Iowa in 1...

Idaho Pathway to Montana, Critic and Modernist Poet Ezra Pound [otd 10/30]

On October 30, 1864, successful miners founded what they called “Crabtown,” after one of the “Four Georgians” who had discovered gold in Montana’s “Last Chance Gulch.” The town grew rapidly, and residents soon selected the more appealing name of "Helena." This continued growth in Montana played a key role in the development of eastern Idaho: All those thousands of miners needed supplies.
Early freight wagons. Library of Congress.
The best early route left the well-traveled Oregon Trail near Fo...