Evan E. Filby's Blog: South Fork and More, page 43

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 March 1863, while leading the nation through the Civil War, Lincoln signed legislation that created Idaho Territory.

Lincoln profoundly impacted the new Territory throughout his time in office. A week after the Territory was created, he appointed William H. Wallace as the first governor. Wallace was both a political ally and a personal friend of Linco...

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

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). 
Rev. Boone. College of Idaho photo.
In 1887, Boone took up...

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 success in law...

Wallace Creates New Fire Brigade After Destructive Downtown Fire [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. [French]
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 lines connected Wall...

Former Toponis Railway Station Fully Linked to 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 actually refers to when the Idaho Irrigation Company finalized details of its big land sale in the area (Idaho Statesman, Boise, November 1, 1907)...(IdahoHawley’s

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

Governor Wallace. [Hawley]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 I...

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.
float: righ...

Frontier Lawman, Rancher, and Business Leader Ed Winn [otd 10/29]

Sheriff Ed Winn.
Bonneville County Historical Society.Frontier marshal, sheriff, and businessman Ed F. Winn was born October 29, 1857, about 35 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Having learned the carpenter’s trade, Winn found work as a young man with the Union Pacific railroad. Around 1878, he joined Utah & Northern Railway crews as they laid track and built stations north across eastern Idaho.

Ed followed the rails as far as Dillon, Montana. He then returned to Eagle Rock (today’...

Volstead Act (Prohibition) Causes Turmoil in Idaho, Death at Caldron Linn [otd 10/28]

On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act to provide a framework for the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Prohibition, as it has always been known, did not ban the consumption of alcoholic beverages, per se. What it did was to ban the manufacture, transport, or delivery of beverages containing more than 0.5% alcohol – except for specific research and development uses.
Illegal brewery busted. National Archives.
Unfortunately, Prohibition became a prime exa...

Livestock Brand Laws, Rustling, and Modern Brand Inspection [otd 10/27]

On October 27, 1883, the Owyhee Avalanche said, “In as much as it is currently reported around the county, that there are horse, cattle and other thieves infesting our borders, we would recommend to the various horse and cattle men in this territory as well as the states of Oregon and Nevada, the propriety of having their brands and ear-marks advertised.

"It will aid the owners of horses and cattle in finding their animals, and have a tendency to discourage people from driving horses and ca...