Evan E. Filby's Blog: South Fork and More, page 97

Boise Attorney, Businessman, and Education Leader Oliver Haga [otd 11/19]

Attorney Haga. H. T. French photo.Boise lawyer and education advocate Oliver O. Haga was born November 19, 1872 in Luverne, Minnesota (in the extreme southwestern corner, 25-30 miles east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota).

At the age of twenty, he had a job as school Principal in Wisconsin. In 1894, he graduated from Indiana’s Valparaiso University. (He later received a master’s degree from the school.)

After graduation, he moved to Idaho as the school Principal in Salmon City. He spent two years t...

Idaho Falls developer and Construction Leader William Keefer [otd 11/15]

William Keefer. J. H. Hawley photo.Idaho Falls developer and builder William W. Keefer was born November 15, 1852 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, 40-60 miles southwest of Harrisburg. Although he was a carpenter by trade, as a young man he spent two years teaching school.

In about 1873, he found work in the west. He ended up leading a construction crew building bridges and depots for the Utah & Northern Railroad in northern Utah and southeast Idaho

Financial problems slowed and then halted...

Bannock Stake Academy Building Dedicated … Future BYU-Idaho [otd 11/12]

On November 12, 1888, Mormon pioneers dedicated the school building for the Bannock Stake Academy in Rexburg, Idaho. With this small start, the Academy can justly lay claim to being the first organization in the state that eventually grew into an institution of higher learning. Not the first actual college, however; at least three Idaho schools taught college-level classes before them.
Principal Spori. BYU-I Archives.
The Stake selected Jacob Spori, a highly educated Swiss emigrant, as the firs...

Attorney and Boise Mayor (and Earthquake Witness) Joseph Pence [otd 11/09]

Mayor Pence. CityofBoise.comOn November 9, 1869, Boise Mayor Joseph Thomas Pence was born in Ottuma, Iowa. He graduated from Parsons College (Fairfield, Iowa) in 1892. Pence then taught at another small Iowa college, serving four years as Chair of its Department of Classical Languages.

After studying law for a year at Georgetown University, he transferred to Drake University Law School. He received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1900.

Pence moved to Boise immediately after graduation and opened...

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 Wallace as the first governor.

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

Merchant, Prominent Mason, and Boise Mayor Charles Himrod [otd 11/04]

Mayor Himrod. H. T. French.Boise merchant and Mayor Charles Himrod was born November 4, 1842, in Burdett, New York, about 55 miles southwest of Syracuse. After completing basic country schooling, he became clerk in a general merchandise store. After eight years of that, he traveled in 1864 with a government-organized emigrant party on the Oregon Trail. The train reached Boise City at the end of September.

Charles decided to settle in the new town and found a job in the dry-goods and general me...

Destructive Wildfire 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...

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...

Rustling, Stock Brand Laws, 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 cattl...

Newspaper Publisher Ben Read, Lurid Headlines Attract Readers [otd 10/18]

Ben Read. J. H. Hawley photo.Idaho Falls newspaperman Benjamin Harrison Read was born October 18, 1888 in Palco, located about 25 miles north of Hayes, Kansas. His father, a storekeeper, moved the family to Iowa when Ben was a young man. After high school he attended Grinnell College, graduating in 1910. (Grinnell is about 45 miles east of Des Moines.) After graduation, Ben worked at the Ames Times newspaper.

Within two years, he attained a partnership in the newspaper, which became the Ames...