The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Idaho

The following record is contributed by one who stands high in the councils of the church and in the civic affairs of the state, and the article merits a place in this history, as representing an element which has a distinct place in the annals of Idaho and which is contributing to her welfare and stable prosperity: The remarkable journey of the Mormon people from the borders of civilization to the wilds of the western wilderness, in 1847, is now a matter of history. The pioneer camp of that exodus comprised one hundred and forty-three souls, and was led by … Read more

The Alturas Senator Mining Company

The mines of Alturas Senator Mining Company are situated at Galena, Blaine County, Idaho, comprising ten claims, the most promising of which are the Senate and Gladwater. At one time these mines were yielding well, but, because of the decline in silver, operations were discontinued and the smelter dismantled. Some development is contemplated in this year, 1899. The company is composed of wealthy men in New York. Lewis Edwards, the president, and Dr. Barron, the president of the Carpenter Steel Works of New York, are the principal factors. The Ashland Group Mining Company have four silver-lead claims at Muldoon and two … Read more

Rival Claims and Pretensions

The claims of the European nations to ownership of the lands and resources of America rested on a somewhat flimsy basis in right. Its morality was that of might. There was a quasi yielding to these claims as against each other on grounds of discovery and formal occupancy. At the same time not one of these powers stopped for a moment to consider what rights of these people that were found there when they came would be violated by their assumptions. Barbaric nations never had any rights that nations calling themselves civilized have felt bound to respect. England, France, and … Read more

Prominent Cities and Towns of the State

Boise, The Capital City The following descriptive article is an excerpt from the souvenir edition of the Boise Sentinel, issued in June 1897: So much has been said and written and sung of “Boise, the Beautiful,” that the task of saying any-thing new seems utterly hopeless; and of this there is little need. While those who have made their homes here from the beginning, and those who from year to year have come to stay, might naturally be expected to be most fervent in their praises, they have not always been the happiest in laying appropriate tributes before the shrine … Read more

Political, Resumed

In 1890 there were two important supreme-court decisions rendered which were of popular interest. The legislature remained in session for a time beyond the sixty-day limit prescribed by the constitution, and the question was raised as to the validity of the laws passed after that limit was passed. The supreme court of the state decided that they were valid, and this decision was finally affirmed by the supreme court of the United States. The other decision concerned the great Mormon question and the test oath so stringently adopted by the early settlers of the territory. The territorial statute provided that … Read more

Political Secessionism And Crime

Before the mining period, commencing in 1862, Idaho was a comparatively unknown region belonging nominally to Oregon and afterward to Washington. During the years 1862-3 such was the rush of immigration to this section that Idaho was erected into a territory of the United States government. The enabling act to organize as such was passed by congress in the spring of the latter year, and on the 22d of September William H. Wallace, late delegate to congress from Washington, who had, on July l0th preceding, been appointed governor of Idaho by President Lincoln, issued his proclamation for organizing the territory, … Read more

Pierce City Gold Camp

Pierce City Gold Camp is now attracting considerable attention from capitalists. Ohio parties have purchased an interest in the Golden Gate Mining Company’s property, and are now carrying on work there. The Milling & Mining Company also have a five-stamp mill on their property three miles from Pierce City, have begun the milling of ore, and good results have been obtained. Some sixty thousand dollars in gold has been extracted by a three-stamp mill owned by the Dunn Brothers on adjoining property. The character of the ore in this camp is mostly free milling gold quartz. The Chapman group of gold-quartz … Read more

Owyhee County Its History, Towns, Industries

In 1862 the present county of Owyhee was a part of Boise County, which comprised all of the western portion of Washington Territory lying south of what was then called Idaho county, its area being nearly equal to that of Pennsylvania. When Idaho was created a territory by act of congress, March 3, 1863, Boise county became part and parcel of the territory of Idaho, and at the first session of the territorial legislature, held at Lewiston, Idaho, Owyhee County was created, December 31, 1863, out of all territory south of Snake River and west of the Rocky mountains. In … Read more

Labor Troubles In The Coeur d’Alene District

Bartlett Sinclair

The following account of the recent labor troubles in the Coeur d’Alene mining district is contributed by H. H. Smith, of the Cincinnati Post, who, as a reporter of the Scripps-McRae League, was present on the scene and made careful investigation of the matter: The blowing up of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mill at Wardner on April 29, 1899. entailing a financial loss of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and the murder of two men was the culminating act of violence in the ten-years war between labor and capital that has waged in the Coeur d’Alenes. In the … Read more

Internal Improvements

In 1892 twenty thousand dollars was voted by congress for the improvement of Snake river, and one hundred thousand dollars for the Boise public building. The river and harbor appropriation bill, passed by congress in April, 1896, carried twenty-five thousand dollars for the improvement of the Clearwater River, and five thousand dollars for the Kootenai between Bonner’s ferry and the British boundary. The appropriation for the Boise public building was increased from one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to two hundred thousand dollars and a building site was selected which cost seventeen thousand and five hundred dollars. Of the special … Read more

Illustrated History of the State of Idaho

Mining Scene Atlanta Idaho

Illustrated History of the State of Idaho was written in 1899 by the Lewis Publishing Company and comprised one of many large collections of state biography and history books published by the Lewis company. Our collection provides the entire manuscript including the histories and all 480 published biographies.

Idaho, the Gem of the Mountains, Origin of the Name

The Mountains have ever been the bulwarks of freedom. Valor is born there; virtue is cherished there, and these are the seeds of song and story. No land ever yet had a literature to endure that had not these for its theme, these off-springs of the pure, sweet atmosphere and sublime splendor of inspiring Mountains; and the more glorious the Mountains, the more glorious the song and story. What then may we not prophesy for Idaho when her torn and devastated placer fields all are terraced vineyards, as in Savoy, and the peace and rest of the old pastoral days … Read more

Idaho Since 1890, Political

Late in June 1891, the state supreme court rendered a decision pronouncing the act of 1891, purporting to create the counties of Alta and Lincoln out of the counties of Alta and Logan, to be unconstitutional, on the ground that the state constitution forbids the division of a county and the attachment of a part thereof to another county without a vote of the people in the portion to be separated. State Attorney General Roberts returned the following opinion to the state superintendent of public instruction: Women possessing the constitutional and statutory qualifications can vote at all school elections; but … Read more

Idaho Mines and Mining

Idaho is essentially a mining territory. It was her mines that first stimulated immigration to within her borders, and it is to the results of the mines that her present prosperity is due in a great measure. Now that mining has been reduced to a legitimate occupation, there is less reckless speculation, perhaps, than of old, but more solid, substantial business. The days of stock gambling in mining properties are about over. Science, aided by practical experience, has taught the best methods of treating ores. Capitalists no longer purchase prospects for fabulous prices on the strength of picked specimens or the vicinity of rich claims. It is a fortunate circumstance for Idaho that mining has been for the most part a steady, productive industry, yielding rich returns to the patient and intelligent prospector, and that it has not been necessary to rely on fictitious “booms.”

Idaho In 1890

The officers for the territory and state of Idaho for the year 1890 were: Governor George L. Shoup, Republican; secretary of state, Edward J. Curtis; treasurer, Charles Himrod; comptroller, James H. Wickersham; attorney general, Richard Z. Johnson; superintendent of public instruction, Charles C. Stevenson; chief justice of the supreme court, James H. Beatty; associate justices, Willis Sweet and Charles H. Berry. November 1, 1890, the following state officers were declared elected by the state board of canvassers and soon thereafter assumed office: Governor, George L. Shoup; lieutenant governor, Norman B. Willey; secretary of state, A. J. Pinkham; auditor, Silas W. … Read more

Idaho Historical and Descriptive

As to the exact time and period in which the United States acquired possession of what is now the state of Idaho there seems to have been somewhat of confusion in the minds of historical writers, and while it is scarcely demanded that we enter into a consideration of the various theories and conjectures that have been advanced, it is proper that the matter receive due attention and that the most authentic evidence be recognized. The majority of writers and text-books have assigned the region as a part of the vast area included in the Louisiana purchase, to which due … Read more

Historical Notes on the Work of the Catholic Church in Idaho

As the Catholic Church has ever been the pioneer in civilization, so that we find her name linked with the early history of all lands, so, too, is it true of Idaho. Long before the coming of the first settlers to our present “Gem of the Mountains,” we find the faithful Catholic priest, laboring not for earth’s golden treasures nor ambition’s honored guerdons, but for the upbuilding of that grand edifice whose comer-stone is Christ, for the elevating and saving of souls who, without the ministration of the “Anointed of the Lord,” would never have been drawn from the darkness … Read more

Geological Agencies

In General it may be said that the mountain ranges of Idaho are volcanic upheavals, the mighty bending upward of the crust of the earth’s surface when its inborn fires were lashed to unwonted fury in some stormy age of old eternity. The valleys were doubtless formed by this upheaval of its enclosing ranges, leaving the floor of the surface here comparatively undisturbed. This really rests on a foundation of aqueous rock of unmeasured thickness, on which the alluvial matter that forms its soils has been deposited. With this there are, in many places, deep deposits of water-worn pebbles and … Read more

Early Explorations

During the long period of time in which the Pacific coast of North America was being slowly brought to the knowledge of civilized man, the course of narrative shows that the Frenchman and Spaniard were the pioneers of exploration in this region, both by sea and land. Spain led the maritime nations in distant and successful voyages. The voyage of Columbus, under the auspices of Ferdinand and his noble queen, Isabella, whose reign over the united kingdoms of Castile and Aragon gave Spain so much glory in that adventurous and chivalrous age, had kindled every maritime Spaniard into a very … Read more

Discovery Of Gold in Idaho

It is reported that gold was discovered by a French Canadian in Pend d’Oreille river, in 1852. Two years later General Lander found gold while exploring the route for a military road from the Columbia to Fort Bridger. The earliest discoveries of which we have any authentic record, however, were probably made by members of the party with that veteran pioneer and path-finder, Captain John Mullan, the originator of the now famous Mullan road from Fort Benton to Walla Walla, a distance of six hundred and twenty-four miles. In a letter dated Washington, D. C, June 4, 1884, to Mr. … Read more