Truman C. Catlin: Stockman, Irrigator, and City of Eagle Developer [otd 12/21]

Truman Catlin. J. H. Hawley photo.Rancher and developer Truman C. Catlin was born December 21, 1839 in Farmingdale, Illinois, about eight miles west of Springfield.

In 1862, he boarded a Missouri River steamboat for Fort Benton, Montana. By chance, his party encountered one of Captain John Mullan’s road expeditions [blog, Feb 5] and traveled with them across Montana and Idaho to Walla Walla, Washington.

After spending the winter there, Catlin came to the Boise Basin. Idaho City and the Basin w...