An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 104

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524

USA > Idaho > Kootenai County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 104
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 104
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 104
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 104

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

A. Green is its secretary and physical director. An incumberance of $2,200 is still on the building, but so easy are the terms and so low the rate of interest that no apprehension is felt that difficulty may be en- countered in clearing it off.

Like most western towns, Grangeville is well sup- plied with fraternal and insurance orders, most of which maintain flourishing lodges. Those established so far as known are: Mount Idaho Lodge No. 9, A. F. & A. M., which owns a brick hall on Main street : Mountain Queen Chapter No. II, O. E. S., Mount Idaho Lodge No. 7, I. O. O. F .; Camas Prairie Encampment No. 18, I. O. O. F .; Mizpah Rebekah Lodge No. 12; Idaho Tribe No. 9, I. O. R. M .; White Rose Assembly, No. 212, U. A .; Buffalo Hump Lodge No. 30. K. of P .; Star Temple No. 5, R. S. : Grange- ville Camp No. 206, W. O. W .; Idaho Circle No. 160, Women of Woodcraft; Grangeville Hive No. 14, L. O. T. M. : Grangeville Lodge No. 5,840, M. W. A .; Hancock Post No. 28, G. A. R.

Such is Grangeville, past and present. To cast its horoscope is fortunately no part of our task, but with its favorable location, the agricultural wealth of its immediate environment, and the vast developed and undeveloped mineral wealth of its more remote tribu- tary territory, the pasturage of its hills and the timber of its mountains, with the enterprise and public spirit of its inhabitants and its prospects for railway con- nection with the outside world in the near future, we see no reason why it should not long continue to main- tain the rapid pace of progress it has so well main- tained during the past five or six years. In 1900 it had 1132 inhabitants according to United States census. In the last election, its citizens cast 576 votes, and its board of trustees in a resolution adopted March 21. 1903, constituting it a city of the second class instead of a village, claimed for it a population of 1800. May a continued growth at the same rate be its portion and the merited reward of its enterprising inhabitants.

COTTON WOOD.

This historic point was for many years during the early life of the county an important resting place for teams traveling from Lewiston to Grangeville, Mount Idaho and the mines. In 1863 Wheeler & Toothacher were in charge of the Cottonwood station, situated where Joslin's shop now is. They were succeeded about a year later by John Byram, and he by Joe Moore and Peter Ready, from the latter of whom it passed to Benjamin Norton, the man who lost his life during the Indian war. After the cessation of hostilities, L. P. Brown became practically the owner of the town- site by buying the place of Knighten, Harry Wilson and others.

A postoffice was established in the early days but the first business aside from that and a blacksmith shop was the store of F. B. King, opened about 1880. Some four or five years later, Charles Wood and A. A. Harris built a saloon. Robert Nugent tells the writer that when he came to the place in 1887. he found "Judge" Gilmore in charge of the blacksmith

shop, H. H. Nuxoll and Barney Stubert in a car- penter shop, and the business men just referred to at their respective places. Mr. Nugent bought out Wood & Harris's saloon. F. B. King's store was transferred to Weiler & Wax about 1891. Mr. Nugent started a restaurant in 1893, in which year a pork packing estab- lishment was also started. Dunham & Company, of Chicago, ran it for a couple of years, but eventually failed through mismanagement and gave the farmers a bill of sale of the property in payment of the sums due them. At present the building is used as a slaugh- ter house.

In 1893, the first paper of the town, the Cotton- wood Report, made its bow. Its first issue, bearing date January 27th, shows by its advertising columns that Wax & Goldstone were then engaged in the dry goods and grocery business ; that C. B. Wood was proprietor of the Cottonwood House; that Felix War- ren owned the Lewiston-Cottonwood stage line; that Revs. T. L. Buzzell and William Cronger were pas- tors of the Methodist and Catholic churches, respect- ively : that Davis & Sweet had a saw and planing mill : that F. M. Bridgfarmer was engaged in house, sign and carriage painting ; that J. W. Gains had a livery, feed and sales stable ; that J. W. Turner, M. D., was practicing medicine and surgery; and that Tan- natt & Hogan were engaged in the real estate business and in surveying, also were townsite agents. The paper shows, too, that a literary society was in ex- istence, of which E. T. Tannatt was president and Miss Ettie Simpson, secretary.

In 1895, the town began building rapidly, and it is since that date that the Cottonwood of today has come into existence. Without attempting to fix the dates of the coming of later business houses or the sequence of their establishment, we summarize the pres- ent business houses of the town as follows : Three mer- chandise stores, Samuel Goldstone's, Brown & Brust's and Harry Nuxoll's; three livery stables, J. T. Hale's, C. C. Burge's, and J. M. Eller's ; J. W. Turner's drug store and that of the Idaho Drug Company : the Idaho County Bank, of which E. M. Ehrhardt is cashier ; the saloons of Lyons & Dixon, John Peterson and John Funke; and the brewery of Schobert & Peterson; the St. Albert hotel, of which A. B. Rooke is proprietor, and the Cottonwood hotel (closed at this writing), owned by John Proctor ; harness and saddles, Schiller & Simons ; planing mill, sash and door factory, Web- ster & Wright ; a steam flour mill of twenty-five bar- rels capacity, J. W. Crawford ; blacksmiths, J. F. Dav- idson. E. Joslin and S. Saux; meat market, Simons Brothers; millinery and dress making, Mrs. William Bash: bakery, Mrs. Alice Tipton; grain warehouse, Samuel Goldstone; barber, John Caldwell; hardware and implements, H. H. Nuxoll ; printing office (Camas Prairie Chronicle), Frank S. Wimer, proprietor ; fur- niture, J. N. Moden ; a Chinese laundry. It is said that a large creamery, capable of handling the cream from four or five hundred cows, is in project, also a new brewery. J. M. Wolbert, an attorney, is engaged in the real estate business, and George W. Coutts is also engaged in the practice of law. The dentists of

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

the town are Drs. T. W. Bray and J. E. Smith, and the physicians practicing there are Drs. J. W. Turner and R. Truitt. Samuel R. Libby, the postmaster, is a watch repairer and jeweler.

The churches of the town at this time are the Catholic. Rev. H. A. Kremers, pastor ; the Baptist, to which Mr. Daik ministers ; and the Methodist, without a pastor at the time of the writer's visit. There is a large four-room public school in Cottonwood in which three teachers labor, namely, Prof. E. O. Stein- inger. Miss Mary T. Hayden and Mrs. Gussie H. Clark. A Catholic school is maintained by Rev. H. A. Kremers in connection with the church, intended, it is said, as a forerunner of a sisters' school. Fra- ternal orders are well represented, there being sub- ordinate lodges of the I. O. O. F., Rebekalis, K. of P., M. W. A., and K. O. T. M. The first mentioned order has a large two-story hall with lodge and banquet rooms above and an opera and dance hall below.

While Cottonwood is as yet without a railroad it has daily stage connections with Grangeville, Lew- iston and Keuterville, and tri-weekly with Kamiah. The O. R. & N. survey passes through the town.

Cottonwood enjoys a very favorable situation on the creek from which it takes its name. It is conven- ient to a large stock raising country, and there are six saw mills within ten miles of the place. The rich surrounding country furnishes the business men of the town assurance of a reasonably abundant and permanent patronage, and as the country grows their business and their number must enjoy a corresponding increase.

STITES.

The eastern terminal of the Clearwater Short Line is Stites, a prosperous, bustling little town of perhaps three hundred inhabitants. It has enjoyed a phenom- enal growth during the brief period of its existence. and the energy, confidence and public spirit of its people are an abundant guarantee of further develop- ments to be effected in the future. Stites possesses an excellent geographical location, and not without rea- son has it been given the sobriquet of "The Gate City of Idaho County," for through it must pass by far the major portion of this region's travel and con- merce. The entire mining country of the interior is tributary to it. as is also the southern portion of Camas prairie. Nearly all of the stock shipments of the county are made here, constituting it a forwarding point of no little importance, as is shown by the fact that in ten days last August $35,000 worth of cattle and hogs were placed aboard the cars there. Within the same period 30,000 pounds of wool were shipped.

As will be seen by reference to a map of the county, Stites is situated within the old Nez Perces Indian reservation near its eastern edge. Its site was there- fore Indian land until the opening of the reserve, and for more than a year after it remained unclaimed, but in 1897 Jacob Stites took as a homestead a tract which included the spot upon which the town was later built. In May, 1899, he relinquished his right to the lower

forty of his homestead with the understanding that J. M. Shannon, N. B. Pettibone and J. G. Rowton, who had organized themselves into a firm known as the Stites Townsite Company, should make applica- tion to the government to have the tract set aside for townsite purposes. Application was made accordingly and not without success. At this time, Kooskia or Stuart was the railroad termintis, but shortly afterward Charles Sweeney and W. E. Travis, owners of large mining interests in Idaho county, induced the company to extend its road three miles further, though for nearly a year afterward Kooskia continued to be the general passenger and freight terminal. Then, however, a station was built at Stites, which thereupon became the actual as well as nominal terminus of the road.

In September, 1899, Robert Olcott and M. P. Strecker erected a small grocery store in the new town and a little later Duke Robins built a small stand for the dispensing of soft drinks. Then Dr. E. E. Briley opened a drug store and a physician's office, Duke Robins put up the Tanner hotel, Almon L. Young started a lumber yard, and James Jump established a grain depot near that of Mr. Sweeney, whose ware- house was the first building erected at the terminus. These were the pioneer business houses of Stites. Others have followed from time to time since until the substantial little city of today has been built up in answer to the demands of trade.

One of the largest general stores in the county is located in Stites, that of A. H. Greving. There are two other general merchandise establishments, those of Strecker & Pettibone and H. C. Oliver. The Stites Trading Company carries a large stock of heavy hard- ware, machinery, etc. One may take his choice of three hotels, the Butler. S. Daisley and Mrs. Ruckman, managers ; the Tanner, owned by Mrs. Martha Euell, or the Tremont, of which Joseph L. Willson is man- ager. The Idaho County Patriot, a weekly paper, of which Frank M. Roberts is editor and proprietor, is a staunch and able advocate of the resources and ad- vantages of the region surrounding its home. It succeeded the Register, the pioneer newspaper of the town, established February 22, 1901, by W. N. Rob- inson. Last August, Mr. Roberts purchased the Reg- ister plant and began utilizing it in the publication of the Patriot. The remaining business houses are as follows : Grocery, G. C. Percifull; drug store, Dr. E. E. Briley ; meat markets, Weck & Burney, Decker & Tobias ; fruits and notions. P. E. Ellis ; blacksmith shops. E. W. Williams, J. W. Clayton ; harness and saddle store, Phil Hartman ; barber shop. D. A. Smith ; real estate agency, Butler & Livick; livery stables, Underwood & Lamb and Perry Mallory. Three miles above town is the plant of the Stites Lumber Company, erected last April. The mill has a capacity of about 10,000 feet a day. The medical profession is repre- sented by Dr. E. E. Briley, the legal by Ernest Livick, and that of dentistry by Dr. E. Beaudette.

The business men of Stites have' recently mani- fested their progressive spirit by organizing the Citi- zens' Improvement Club, which boasts a large and growing membership. The object of the organization

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is expressed by its name. Its president is N. B. Petti- bone; its vice-president, James B. Schultz ; its secre- tary, Riley Clemans ; its treasurer, P. E. Ellis ; and its trustees, D. C. Howard, J. B. Burney and Duke Robins.

Stage lines extend from Stites to Newsome and Elk City and to Camas Prairie, Grangeville and nu- merous interior points, and the town has, of course, the advantage of passenger service, daily except Sun- day, over the railroad to Lewiston and the outside world.

The people of Stites pay more attention, perhaps, to the causes of education and religion than those of most new towns and outfitting points for miners. The Baptist and the Episcopal denomination of Christians are both represented, and the former is now engaged in erecting a church edifice. Rev. J. S. Simmons is the pastor in charge. Public interest in the cause of edu- cation was manifested last year by the issuance of dis- trict bonds and the erection of a commodious frame building forty by twenty-eight feet in dimensions. Fifty-eight pupils are now receiving instruction within its walls from Principal David Story and Miss Hattie Percifull.

The town of Stites was summoned into existence by the Short Line railroad and with truth it may be said that its future is in the hands of the railway company. Its situation is a favorable one, and as long as it remains the terminal it can hardly fail to continue to be a prosperous little city, but an extension of the road is looked for in the not distant future, the effect of which cannot be foreseen.

KOOSKIA.

Kooskia is a thriving little reservation trading point on the Clearwater Short Line of the Northern Pacific, three miles from its terminus and just above the junction of the middle and south forks of the Clearwater river. A portion of the town really lies on the middle fork and is known locally as East Koos- kia. A high hogback from the east runs down nearly to the junction of the two streams, and it is on the strip of land between the base of this hill and the rivers that the town has been built, though a few buildings lie across the south fork. The main town is on this latter stream, East Kooskia consisting of only a few residences. The south fork valley is sufficiently wide for several miles above its mouth to allow of cultivation, and a number of ranches and farms lie within it above Kooskia.

Besides the support which the town derives from these valley settlements, it receives all the trade from the communities up the middle fork, and much of that of the Kitterridge and Tahoe regions east of the south fork, also is the trading point of many residents of northern Camas Prairie, known as the Big Butte cattle country. Last season the Vollmer-Clearwater Company alone shipped 89.500 bushels of wheat from Kooskia.

Kooskia was first named Stuart in honor of James Stuart, a Nez Perces Indian, who was for many years a surveyor of lands, and is now a leading merchant in the town. Upon the opening of the reservation in

November. 1895, George Rowton, who is still a resi- dent, in behalf of himself and one hundred others, among whom were Hardin Chenoweth, A. J. Williams, William E. Graham and George Brown, made appli- cation to the government to set aside the 104 acres of vacant land lying along the east side of the south fork and the south side of the middle fork near the junction of those streains for townsite purposes. The application was granted, and in due time patents were issued to those interested. Of this grant about seventy acres are hill land.

Immediately upon the filing of this application and its acceptance at the land office, James Cox erected a small store ; George Brown and Hurley Stevens opened another store, Luther Goebel built a hotel and res- taurant, Frank Zenzinger a furniture store, and Ed- ward Ames a blacksmith shop. Then Frank Ping installed a saw mill, William Graham opened a second furniture store, and Jacob L. Gross another general merchandise establishment. The town continued to grow slowly until the Northern Pacific announced that it would build a line up the Clearwater river when Stuart enjoyed a genuine boom, its inhabitants at one time numbering between four and five hundred. March 13, 1899, was a day of jubilee in Stuart, for upon it the people celebrated the arrival of the iron horse. which it was thought would go no further for several years. The people were doomed to disappointment, however. as the rails were laid another three miles and Stites became the terminal.

The railroad company named its station Kooskia, instead of adopting the name of the town. for the reason that there was already one Stuart upon its lines in this state. Consequently it became necessary in the interests of harmony for the town to adopt the name Kooskia, and this was done last summer.

The town was incorporated in the fall of 1001, and James Stuart, A. J. Williams. R. R. Woods, Dr. A. F. Wohlenberg and C. B. Patterson were appointed the first trustees. The present officers are: Mayor, M. J. Browning: councilmen, James Stuart and Bert Davis ; treasurer, Hardin Chenoweth ; clerk and attor- ney, P. W. Mitchell.

A year ago the citizens issued bonds in the sum of $1.500, with the proceeds from which they erected a fine school house. The inhabitants take much pride in their school, claiming that it is excelled in the county only by that of Grangeville. Miss Anna Mc- Laughlin is the principal, and Miss Dora Baxster her assistant.

There are four general stores in Kooskia at pres- ent, those of Jacob L. Gross, R. R. Woods, the Kooskia Mercantile Company, and J. H. Hughes. The Idaho Outfitting Company, composed of J. S. Adair and J. T. Wills, handles hardware and implements of all kinds : the Clearwater Meat & Produce Company and Decker & Tobias supply the town with meat: J. H. Hovey conducts the Hotel Stuart and the Red Front feed stables . James Stuart has a furniture store; J. M. Robinett is proprietor of the Pioneer feed stables ; A. F. Wohlenberg and R. J. Alcorn are the town's physicians, the former also conducting a drug store ;

A PORTION OF LAKE PEND OREILLE.

WHITEBIRD BATTLE GROUND Where Thirty-six United States Soldiers were Killed on June 17, 1877.

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

I. B. Hershey owns a blacksmith shop, the only one in the town: William E. Cage conducts the Home restaurant ; Hon. P. W. Mitchell, at present repre- senting Idaho county in the legislature, is Kooskia's only lawyer ; Dr. E. Beaudette is its dentist and jew- eler : M. J. Browning is proprietor of the only barber shop, and A. J. Williams, Jr., owns and operates the Kooskia Transfer Line. Kooskia also has a weekly newspaper, the Idaho Mountaineer, of which H. E. O'Donnell is editor and proprietor. The Mountaineer, which is four years old, is an excellent country paper. In East Kooskia Edward and William Young operate a small shingle mill, and George Rowton a ferry across the middle fork. Major F. A. Fenn, superintendent of forest reserves in Idaho and Montana, has head- quarters in Kooskia, as does also Cassins M. Day, supervisor of the Bitter Root reserve.

HARPSTER.

Harpster is the name of an important little town and trading center situated on the south fork of the Clearwater river at the old Jackson crossing, about eight miles northeast of Grangeville, on the road to Elk City, and the same distance up the river from Stites. Like all of the towns along this river, Harp- ster lies in the bed of the deep canyon, fully sixteen hundred feet below Grangeville and half that many feet below the prairies on the east side of the Clear- water. The altitude at this point on the river is given as 1600 feet. Owing to its sheltered location, it re- ceives the benefit of the warm currents of air which follow the Clearwater canyons, and on this account the climate is very mild the year around. The town receives its support from the mining interests along the river, especially from the rapidly developing Ever - green district six miles up the stream, and from the farming settlements on the prairies lying to the east and west. The narrow width of the canyon through here precludes any extensive farming in the lower altitude, although some fruit and vegetables are raised with great success.

There are really two townsites here, neither of which bears the name of the postoffice, Harpster. The oldest and most important of these sites, is that of Bridgeport, whose history dates back to the time when William Jackson established a small station at this point on the trail between Camas prairie and Elk City. This was early in the 'sixties. Jackson built a toll bridge across the river and continued as the proprietor of this isolated station until succeeded by Clindinning previous to the Indian war. Clindinning's place was burned by the Nez Perces in 1877 and was never rebuilt. Eventually Loyal P. Brown came into pos- session of nearly five hundred acres of land at this point. and in 1893, at the time of the mineral dis- coveries here, the Clearwater Mining Company pur- chased eighty acres of the Brown tract and laid off a town which they called Brownsville. C. A. Hastings opened a small store on the old Clindinning site during the summer of this year. About the same time that Brownsville was founded. John E. Beede filed a home-

stead claim on the land adjoining the Brown tract on the north, but made no effort then to plat the land for townsite purposes. In the fall of 1893 P. L. Obannon and H. C. Oliver erected a store near the Hastings building and subsequently purchased his stock and consolidated the two concerns. Then Wellington Clark bought Oliver's interest, and since that time the firm nanie has been Obannon & Clark.

The quartz mines opened by the Clearwater Mining Company did not prove as rich as expected, and after sinking a deep shaft and running a drift, the company abandoned them. Of course this injured the business of the little hamlet that had arisen, but the loss was more than overcome by the stimulus given the place by the settlement of the surrounding country after the hard times. The Brown property, including the old site of Brownsville, was purchased by the Surridge brothers, James and Thomas, in 1898, and October Ist the town of Bridgeport was laid out on this land. The town of Riverside was also laid out by Mr. Beede, north of Bridgeport, and these two sites exist inde- pendently today. Obannon & Clark removed their store to Bridgeport in March, 1899, and at the same time George Renner opened a saloon there. Since then O. C. Lapp has erected a building in which he keeps a general store. C. M. Fagan has established a blacksmith shop. L. Z. Millott a harness and repair shop, Surridge Bros. a livery barn. Obannon & Clark a hotel, and Dr. Charles Busey has opened a drug store. A year ago the postoffice was removed from Riverside to Bridgeport. It still retains the name bestowed upon it nearly ten years ago in remembrance of Abraham Harpster, who was one of the oldest set- tlers in the county, having come to Oro Fino at the time of the first mining excitement. O. C. Lapp is postmaster. H. C. Oliver keeps a general store, and Joseph Wimpy a hotel in Riverside. The Harpster postoffice has a daily mail service to and from Stites. In 1900 a school house was built in Bridgeport by sub- scription, and a school opened. This school is now maintained by the district and is taught by Miss Frances Wilson. The town will soon have an excellent water system, now under construction by one of the townsite proprietors, Thomas Surridge. The inhab- itants are confident that it will not be long before the Northern Pacific extends the Clearwater Short Line farther up the south fork, a survey having already been made to Elk City, and with a healthful location, pure water, a rich tributary country and a railroad, feel that Harpster will become a place of considerable importance and size.

WHITE BIRD.

Situated in the picturesque canyon of White Bird creek at a point about a mile from the confluence of that stream with the famous Salmon river is the com- pact and snug little town of White Bird. Many cir- cumstances combine to make it noteworthy. On either side rise precipitons hills, green in spring time with nutritious grasses, except where the huge columns of basalt stand out tier above tier, bidding defiance to rain

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and frost and all the forces of disintegration, which for ages have been struggling to reduce them to vegetation- bearing mould. The environs are picturesque beyond description : gigantic in proportions ; rugged in aspect. The town also is a place of historic interest, for just to the northward is the spot where the Indians adminis- tered to Perry a most disastrous defeat in the dark days of Indian warfare.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 104

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1524

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524