Cattle Rancher, Idaho Governor, and U. S. Senator George L. Shoup [otd 04/01]

Senator George L. Shoup.
National Archives.On April 1, 1889, President Grover Cleveland appointed Lemhi cattleman George Laird Shoup governor of Idaho Territory – the last to hold that position. He was also, therefore, first to hold the position of state Governor. Shoup then became one of the state's first two U. S. Senators. Records suggest that some convoluted political machinations lurked behind this progression.

Shoup was born in Kittanning, about forty miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsy...