USA > Idaho > Owyhee County > A historical, descriptive and commercial directory of Owyhee County, Idaho, January 1898 > Part 11
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HILL, W. J. Prominent among the adventurous spirits in the early sixties, who blazed the way for civilization and subsequent statehood amid the wilds of Idaho, was W. J. Hill, remembered by old-timers as "Old Hill," although when that appellation became attached to him he was little more than a beardless boy. He was born of Scotch parentage, near Prescott, Canada West, in 1840, and came to the Pacific coast in 1862, going that spring to the famous Caribou gold fields and traversing the now world-renowned Klondike region thirty-five years before any one dreamed of the fabulous riches that lay concealed beneath its frost and snow.
Returning to California, he crossed the Sierras to the mining camp of Esmeralda, Nevada, in the spring of 1863; thence to Salt Lake City and on to Boise Basin, arriving at West Bannock (now Idaho City) in August, 1863, where he participated in the stirring scenes enacted there that fall and winter, and mined in Bear gulch, a short distance above the town. After working out his claim there, he came over to Owyhee at the beginning of summer in 1864, and associated himself with Jared Lockwood and Frank Cable, who had located ranches in Jordan Valley, about ,twenty-five: miles from Silver City.
That summer he was one of the one hundred and fifty volunteers who went out on the trail of the Indian murderers of Jordan, after whom Jordan Valley was named. They overtook the Indians on the Upper Owyhee, where the savages, expecting pursuit, had fortified themselves in the rocks and bluffs on each side of the river. There were several hundred of the Indians, and, in the bloody battle that ensued, two of the whites were killed and Hill received a bullet through his left thigh, which caused him to walk by the aid of a crutch all summer. The Indians were dislodged and a hundred or so of them were left dead on the battlefield.
That winter Hill and his partners built the first livery stable in Silver City, packing in hay from Jordan Valley on mules and cayuses and selling it to the quartz-haulers for three hundred dollars a ton.
In 1865, 1866 and 1867 he kept what was known as "Hill's ferry," on the Owyhee river, at the junction of the old Chico and Humboldt roads, sixty miles from Silver City. While thus engaged, his thrilling adventures and single-handed fights with the Indians would make an interesting volume, in which fact would rival the fiction of a border novel. He was wounded many times, but he seemed to bear a charmed life, and the Indians became super- stitious over their inability to kill him. They thought the palefaced chief with the "big canoe" was some sort of a "bad medicine man" who was proof against their bullets and arrows.
It was here that our hero obtained the sobriquet of "Old Hill," a title which has clung to him ever since and which was originally bestowed upon
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him by those who did not know him personally, but supposed him to be some tough old case of a mountaineer.
In 1867, Hill and Henry Millard purchased the Owyhee Avalanche from John and Joe Wasson, running it with Hill as editor until 1870, when he pur- chased his partner's interest and became sole proprietor of the paper. In 1875 he started the Daily Avalanche, the first daily paper in Idaho, the press upon which it was printed being the first steam press in the territory.
Mr. Hill was largely instrumental in building the telegraph line from Winnemucca to Silver City, and paid three hundred dollars a month for the telegraph news for his paper.
While here he was elected county clerk, and subsequently sheriff and tax collector, performing the duties of those positions with honor to himself and credit to his constituents. Although Owyhee was a strong democratic county, yet so great was his popularity that any position within the gift of the people he could have had for the asking.
He was a man of wide and varied information, and, in addition to his acquirements in English, was a French and Spanish scholar. He wielded a trenchant pen, and was possessed of a vein of genuine Western humor, his witty paragraphs in the Avalanche being copied and commented upon by the press far and wide.
In 1873 Mr. Hill took unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Belle Peck, a charming and accomplished young lady. No special invitations were given for the occasion. Everybody expected to attend "Old Hill's" wedding, and did so. The Idaho Hotel and Masonic hall were chartered for the occasion, and it was a gay time in old Silver that night. Governor Bennett came over from Boise City and tied the knot. Mr. Hill's wife was born in California, and didn't take kindly to the snows of Owyhee, and longed for the sunny clime and fragrant flowers of her native state; so when the mining collapse came, in 1876, they went to California and located at Salinas, where they have been ever since, engaged in the newspaper business. Their only child, William C. Hill, who was born in Silver City, and is now twenty-three years of age, is his father's assistant in the office. Since he took up his abode in California, Mr. Hill has represented his district in the state senate during three sessions of the legisla- ture, and has been mayor of Salinas City for six years.
An old Idahoan, who recently visited Hill at his home in California, says that he keeps his trusty old "Henry" rifle as a souvenir of his life in Idaho, and would not part with it at any price. Its stock is splintered from bullets fired by Indians in battles where many a one of them was sent to the happy hunting grounds.
As known here, W. J. Hill was a splendid specimen of physical manhood- six feet high, straight as an arrow, active as a cat, brave as a lion and generous to a fault.
"Old Hill's" name will be cherished and his deeds rehearsed around hearth- stone and campfire so long as any of the old pioneers of Owyhee remain above the sod.
David B. Hyde.
Charles C. Johnstone.
Richard Z. Johnson.
Matthew Joyce.
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, The following tribute paid to Hill by a brother journalist (Jud Boyakin) when he left Idaho, in 1876, will serve to show the estimation in which he was held here:
"Mr. Hill has spent ten or twelve of the best years in his life in assisting to build up and heroically battling for the best interests of Idaho Territory- first as frontiersman and next as a journalist. His name is a household word throughout the land. His life, his deeds, his very action, are so well known that to attempt to recount them at this time were unnecessary. In truth, so deeply do we feel the loss of a man like him that we have the heart to say but little about it. We regard it as a public calamity, and in saying this we only ccho the expressed sentiment of the whole territory. He leaves an impress upon the country that will never be erased. * * * Good-bye, 'Old Hill'! May heaven's choicest blessings shower your pathway through life, and Cali- fornia's brightest flowers bloom for you and yours in your new home."
HAWES, MR. RICHARD S., was born in Cornwall, England, January 2, 1848. He left home in 1866 for the United States, and, after short sojourns in New Jersey and Connecticut, went to California by way of the isthmus. For about a year he was engaged in mining at Grass Valley, and from there went to Virginia City, where he mined-until 1872, when he left there for Silver City, arriving at the latter place. September 17, 1872. Was for several years night shift boss of the Empire and Poorman mines. In 1885 he engaged in the restaurant business at [Silver, City, which he continued until May, 1894, when he moved to De Lamar, where; he has since been located.
He is the main owner of the Afterthought mine, adjoining the Oro Fino group, on War Eagle mountain.
Mr. Hawes is a prominent member of the Masonic and I. O. O. F. fra- ternity, and an ex-officer of the grand lodge of Masons. While at Silver City he served three terms as justice of peace. Was married on War Eagle moun- tain, April 3. 1874, to Miss Phillipa Edwards.
HAYS, CHARLES MARSHALL, was born in Saline county, Missouri, April 22, 18.15. Crossed the plains in the year 1852, coming down the old emigrant road on the south side of Snake river, passing under the shadow of what is now known as War Eagle mountain, the thought never entering his youthful mind that thirteen years later he would return, to pass a quarter of a century at its very base; to marry and raise a family so near its majestic summit. Passing on, The Dalles, then a military post, was reached in the fall of that year. From thence down the Columbia river, and then to Portland, where the winter was spent. In the spring of 1853 he was found on Puget sound. Left the last-named place in 1857 for California, where he was educated in the public schools of Sacramento and San Francisco. In August, 1865, he left California, arriving at Ruby City, the then county seat of Owyhee county, on the eighth day of September, where he acted as Deputy County Recorder under his father, Gilmore Hays, the first Recorder of this county. Held that position until 1866, when he became Deputy District Clerk under Mr. Sol Hasbrouck, present Clerk of the Supreme Court of Idaho. Removed
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from Ruby City to Silver City in the fall of 1866. In 1868 was appointed Deputy United States Internal Revenue Collector, which position he held until 1869. Was married to Miss Rebecca L. Dye, a most worthy and amiable young lady, daughter of Job F. Dye, then a merchant of Silver City. The result of such marriage was eight children, two of whom are dead, the last-dying being Mrs. M. M. Getchell. Six are now living, among whom are Mrs. J. H. Hutchinson and C. D. Hays, the latter the only son. In 1868, the subject of this sketch was nominated on a citizens' ticket for the office of Recorder, and was defeated at the general election. In 1870, Hill Beachy, the proprietor of the railroad stage line, running from Boise to Winnemucca, Nev., a distance of 265 miles, made him agent at Silver City, with full power and authority to conduct all business from that office during the absence of the superintendent. When Mr. Beachy sold out his line to the Northwest Stage Company, Mr. Hays was retained as agent; and when Mr. John Hailey purchased the line from the Northwest Stage Company, he still remained behind the stage counter. He held such position until 1880, and was acquainted with innumerable stage drivers, for whom he entertains the kindest feelings, often being heard to remark that the stage driver has a heart as big as a mountain, whose respon- sibilities are little appreciated by the traveling public, whose lives are in the hands of the stage driver who drives them through the valleys and over the mountains. In 1871 and 1872, Mr. Hays read law in the office of Mr. Richard Z. Johnson, afterward Attorney General Johnson, and was admitted in October, 1873, to practice as an attorney and counsellor at law, and solicitor in chancery, in all the courts of record of the then territory of Idaho. Mr. Hays has never forgotten his preceptor's kindness, regarding him as his best friend, and holding him up as an example for young lawyers to copy after.
In 1874, the republicans were seeking a candidate for sheriff. when Mr. Hays was approached by Mr. H. B. Eastman, and asked to allow his name to be placed before the republican convention for the office of sheriff. Having been but a short time before admitted to the bar, he reluctantly consented to allow his name to go before the convention. He was nominated on the first ballot, when ensued one of the hottest campaigns known in the history of Owyhee county. The county was strongly democratic, and the support of many democrats was necessary to his election. Money was spent lavishly by both sides in the campaign. The mining companies, and there were six or seven operating at that time on War Eagle mountain, were all, save one, against the republican nominee; but, to offset them, were wood and timber- men, principal among them John Catlow, Colonel W. H. Dewey, and the late William F. Sommercanıp, who espoused the cause of the republican candidate, using their influence and time in his behalf, besides spending their money to help pay the expenses of the campaign; and so earnest was the work of these gentlemen, and the candidate's republican friends, that when the battle had been fought, and the votes counted, it was found that, with the aid of democratic votes, he had a majority of over 200 votes, and had carried every precinct in the county but one. Much money had been lost by the opposing candidate, in betting on his own election, the amount being estimated at $10,000.00.
As sheriff, he used every effort to treat friends and enemies alike, making no distinction in his official duties. During his first term of office he was called upon in his official capacity to save the life of a man who got into an
Robert H. Leonard, Sr.
Mrs. Adelaide V. Leonard.
Q. F. Lambert.
Judge Elisha Lewis.
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altercation with a member of the Miners' Union, at South Mountain, a mining camp about thirty miles distant from Silver City. The man had been stabbed about 10:00 o'clock in the evening, and it was supposed that he could not live. which aroused an ill feeling in the breasts of the members of the union, who looked all night in vain for the man who had stabbed the member of the union. A telegraph line was then in operation from Silver to South Mountain. The following day, at 11:00 o'clock in the forenoon, the sheriff received a dis- patch from his deputy to come to South Mountain as soon as possible. Knowing that something of a serious nature had occurred, he went to Mr. Regan's stable, mounted the best saddle horse he had, and at 1:30 P. M. rode into the town of South Mountain, the horse and rider rather the worse for wear. But he rode not through the streets unobserved, for the friends of the person whom the infuriated men would have hanged, as well as the man they would have swung from a tree or telegraph pole, saw him pass the place where the object of the union's wrath was secreted, and it is said made the remark, "There goes the fair-haired boy." On his arrival, one of the friends of the man he had come to arrest and protect informed him that when he got ready to go he would deliver the man. The president of the Miners' Union waited upon the sheriff at once, and asked his business, which the sheriff told him. The president expressed a doubt as to his ability to take the man out of town, but was told very politely; that that; was what he came for, and proposed to do it. After resting for a while and preparing himself for the task by appointing Ed Ryan, Colonel Michael Lacey, Cornelius Sprowles, and a man named Malloy, as deputies,; and having them. furnished with double-barreled shotguns, he went to the livery stable of McLafferty & Pinkham, got a two- seated wagon, with George "Pinkham as driver, and left the stable. As he drove down the street to Johnny Biggs' saloon to get one man who had been interested in the altercation, he was suddenly reminded of the remark of the president as to his ability to do it, by reason of a crowd of men appearing upon the scene in a moment, following in a trot behind the wagon. Arriving at the saloon, the man last above spoken of came down from a room above the saloon, pistol in hand, which the sheriff at once took as he entered the wagon; when Colonel Lacy gave the order to "follow me," which the driver did until he missed him in the crowd, and passed him, going as far as the grade leading to the old smelter, when Colonel Lacy came dashing up and informed the sheriff that he had passed the place of concealment of the man he was looking for. The wagon was stopped on the grade, the sheriff instructing the driver to remain there with the prisoner that he had until he returned, at the same time springing from the wagon, calling to his side his deputies, instructing them to open fire on the crowd if a shot was fired by any person under any circumstances. Fully one hundred men, wild with excitement, were all around him and the deputies, but he pressed on back to the place where the second prisoner was to be found. As the sheriff neared the place of con- cealment, surrounded by the crowd that had been seeking the man all the night before, the person for whom they had been looking emerged from the saloon of Malloy, coming from the rear end, down an embankment, with pistol in hand. It was but a moment until the sheriff was by his side, the deputies standing within close shooting distance. The prisoner asked to retain his pistol, which the officer permitted him to do, knowing that he was equal to any man
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he had if an assault was made upon him or any of the officers. The crowd sep- arated, and the sheriff and prisoner walked through their ranks, while they stood and looked in amazement, not uttering a word or making any demonstrations. The prisoner was placed in the wagon, the officer raised his hat to the still amazed crowd, said "Good evening, gentlemen," and was off for Silver City, the county seat. As they drove away, the sheriff was heard to remark: "Hit them on the back, George; let us get out of here as quickly as possible."
He was re-elected for a second term in 1876. In 1878 he was nominated on a citizens' ticket, and, although strongly supported by the Avalanche, was defeated. In 1875, John W. Stoddard and he were the first persons to plant a stake on a quartz lode in Wagontown district. They named it the Stoddard, and by reason of its great richness created an excitement, during which the Wilson lode was located, now known as the De Lamar lode. In 1878, he, together with John Upham and J. M. Dillinger, engaged in mining on Florida mountain, and built a quartz mill to reduce the ore, but made a failure. In 1881, the subject of this sketch went to Galena, on the head of Wood river, and from there to the middle fork of the Salmon, on a prospecting trip, but made no locations, and came home in the fall. In 1881, he was appointed deputy district attorney for Owyhee county, which position he held until elected county attorney in 1882. He was re-elected in 1884, 1886 and 1888. In the spring of 1882, he purchased a half interest in the Idaho Avalanche, of Dave Adams, and the year following the other half interest of Guy Newcomb. He conducted the paper as an independent sheet, and through its columns advocated strongly the mining industries of this county, insisting that, to prove the lodes permanent, deep mining must be done; that if worked to great depth they would prove permanent and richer. His views have been proven correct. He stood by the camp when every mining company had ceased to work, and through the columns of the Avalanche gave encouragement to miners and inine owners to stick to their mines. He not only wrote articles for his paper, upholding the good reputation of the camp, but wrote personal letters to induce capital to come to the camp; and it was he who finally induced Captain De Lamar to come to this county, and when he did come to visit all the mining camps. Of course, the older residents remember that when Captain De Lamar opened the Wilson lode and made a mine of it, calling it after himself, that capital was attracted to this county, and it was not long until the camps at Silver and De Lamar were attracting attention throughout the mining world.
He was Captain De Lamar's attorney from the time the captain came until he sold the De Lamar mine to an English syndicate. In 1889 he was elected to the constitutional convention from Owyhee county, with the understanding that his acts should be non-partisan. In that convention he was appointed on the committee on election and franchise, on committee on corporations, and was chairman of the committee on finance and revenue. He made the figures of the amount required to run the state government, upon the theory that the government would be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the constitution. In the constitutional convention, he took a bold stand against electing state and county officers at the time that the constitution was sub- mitted to the people for ratification; he and ten others, among whom were the late John S. Gray, Judge J. H. Beatty, A. B. Morse, of Payette; Mr. H. Mulder,
Judge James Lynam.
Patrick McCabe.
Dongald McDonald and wife.
John McVann.
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Mr. Underwood and W. H. Clagett, voting with the democrats, taking the ground that the election would be illegal and partisan, as being against the wishes of the democrats in said convention, as well as of the democratic party It was by reason of the stand taken by these eleven that the constitution was ratified by the people and Idaho is a state today.
It was through the exertions of Mr. Hays in said convention that Cassia county (which had been part of Owyhee) was joined with Owyhee for senatorial purposes.
When Mr. Hays returned from the convention, he wrote an editorial nam- ing Governor Shoup and William H. Clagett as the most available men for the United States senate upon the admission of Idaho. Having written and pub- lished them as such, he went to work on those lines, and used all his influence in their behalf; and when the primaries were held for the purpose of electing delegates to the county convention, to nominate candidates for the legislature, a bitter partisan fight arose between those favoring F. T. Dubois and the Clagett and Shoup men.
Captain De Lamar was elected as joint senator from Cassia county, and Joseph Hawkins was elected as a representative. Both were Shoup and Clagett men.
Under the constitution,; the system of electing county attorneys was changed to the present system. "At' the first election for state, district and county officers under the state government, Mr. Hays received the nomination for district attorney of the third judicial district, embracing at that time Boise. Ada, Washington and Owyheë counties. .... He was elected, and entered upon the duties of his office, which he filled with general satisfaction to the people and with credit to himself. In 1894 he was again nominated for said office, and was elected by a plurality over his opponents of between 600 and 700 votes. His term of office will expire January 1, 1899. He has since his election to that office probably prosecuted more criminals, and convicted more, than any other district attorney in Idaho in the same length of time. In the past two years and a half he has prosecuted eight murder cases, convicting one of murder in the first degree, for which the murderer was hung; three for murder in the second degree, and four for manslaughter. Probably one-third of all the con- victs in the state prison are from the third judicial district. Mr. Hays never abuses a prisoner before the jury, invariably gives him a fair opportunity to introduce his evidence, and never tries to take any advantage. When a pris- oner is convicted, he has never been known to sign his petition for a pardon. In 1894 Mr. Hays sold the Avalanche to L. A. York, the present proprietor.
Mr. Hays and family now live in Boise City, and, though they have moved away from Silver, yet Mr. Hays is considerably interested in Owyhee county, where he pays taxes on a ranch of 640 acres, besides stock and other personal property.
Mr. Hays is a staunch republican, as he has ever been, and in the late presidential election was a warm supporter of Mr. MeKinley. In politics he is not an unknown quantity, his enemies and his friends alike always knowing where to find him.
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HYDE, MR. DAVID BROWN, was born in Rome, New York, August 12, 1854. Spent his early life there in schooling, and left home in 1872, coming direct to Silver City, where he mined for about a year, and then engaged in the cattle business, in partnership with his brother, Michael Hyde, and in January, 1888, located at Bruneau valley, where he has since resided, engaged in ranching.
He is postmaster of Bruneau township, which office he has held since 1889. Is also justice of the peace of the township, and is a member of Elmore lodge, A. F. & A. M. Is married to the daughter of J. H. Crocheron, of Sinker Creek.
He owns the hotel and blacksmith shop at Bruneau, and has a well-culti- vated ranch of 160 acres, besides a thrifty orchard of 300 hardy fruit trees.
JOHNSON, MR. CHARLES CHRISTOPHER, was born in Monroe county, Illinois, February 22, 1838. Came to this coast in 1852 with his parents, who settled in Yuba county, California, and at an early age he engaged in mining, and also served his time as a machinist.
Was one of the earliest arrivals in Owyhee county, coming to Ruby City in the summer of 1863, and was for several years engaged as machinist by the prominent mining companies at Silver City, until 1869, when he located a ranch at Reynolds creek, being one of the earliest settlers in that locality, and has since permanently resided there, engaged in ranching and stock raising, in partnership with George Cook, another time-honored and respected pioneer of this county.
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