An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 110

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 110
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 110
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 110
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 110

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The foregoing account of the mines of Idaho county is not claimed to be exhaustive and its preparation was undertaken under circumstances rendering absolute

accuracy an impossibility, but care has been taken not to overstate and overestimate. Though mining in this part of the state is old, it is yet young. Few mines have been thoroughly de- veloped, but the wide distribution of precious and base metals, the fact that placer gold was found so abundant and so diffused in early days, and the showings which have been brought to light by the relatively meagre developments wrought under great difficulties are an abundant warrant for the faith of the people in the future of the mining industry in cen- tral Idaho.

No more than a general discussion of the stock raising, agricultural and lumbering industries of Idaho county is possible from the fact that official figures or reliable data of any kind are not to be had. The great Camas prairie, the largest body of agricultural land in the state, is capable of producing any cereal crop in great abundance as has been fully proven by experi- ment. A yield of sixty bushels per acre of wheat is not an uncommon thing, and oats and barley do propor- tionately well. It is claimed that as a wheat section the prairie is not inferior to the famous Palouse country of Washington, while it has a decided advantage over that noted belt in that it produces large crops of timothy hay. But wheat raising as an industry in itself has never obtained in Idaho county, owing to the absence of railroad facilities. The wheat and other cereal pro- ducts are consumed largely in the fattening of cattle and hogs. Flax, which requires a rich black soil, is becoming an important source of. revenue to Idaho county farmers, who frequently secure yields of twenty bushels to the acre.

Besides timothy, blue grass and clovers are found to flourish in all the farming areas, except the more elevated mountain valleys. The fact that these grasses can be so easily produced, as well as cereal crops for fattening, has encouraged and will continue to encour- age the rearing of live stock.

Fruit raising on an extensive scale does not obtain in the county for the reason that there is no market for the product other than the local one. It is claimed that all the hardier fruits are a success on Camas prairie but there are few large orchards there, most of the agri- culturists raising only enough fruit for family con- sumption. In the sheltered valleys of the Clearwater and Salmon rivers, which enjoy a warmer climate than the table lands above, owing to their comparatively slight elevation, the more tender varieties, such as peaches and apricots, are reared with great success. While the limited area of these favored sections renders large individual orchards an impossibility, yet the ag- gregate acreage devoted to fruit is very considerable. As the country becomes more fully settled and de- veloped and transportation facilities of a modern type become a realized fact, the tendency must be in the direction of increasing the orchard area in these favored river bottoms. The day is doubtless not so very far distant when the valleys of the Clearwater and Salmon rivers will be orchards and gardens from end to end. Stock raising is still the master industry of Idaho county. It is the natural business of an isolated re-

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gion, especially one of an essentially mountainous char- acter. Central Idaho is almost ideal for the stockman. The grass clad and wooded uplands furnish an abun- dance of summer range; the warm, sheltered river bot- toms supply a safe retreat for cattle and horses during the winter months, so that feeding at any scason of the year is only necessary to a limited extent. All the hardier cattle are usually compelled to subsist them- selves entirely upon nature's gratuities, and under ordinary conditions the loss is not greater than two or three per cent. While the conditions for cattle raising are excellent, they are not such as to permit the busi- ness to assume enormous proportions and individual holdings of more than five or six hundred head are not common. No statistics are at hand giving the aggre- gate number of cattle in the county. Perhaps, how- ever, some idea may be obtained from the assessment roll, which places the number of common stock at 14,447 head, and of milch cows at 1,503 head. That these figures are far below the actual, no one with a knowledge of the weakness of human nature will deny ; but how far, who can tell ?

The authority just quoted gives the number of sad- dle horses in the county as 1,385 head, of work horses, 3,664 ; of stock horses, 3,077 and of stallions, 8. That sheep raising is not neglected appears from the fact that 18,161 head were assessed in 1902. Hog raising is an important industry and the recent jump in the price of pork placed many a farmer of Idaho county on an excellent financial footing. The number of swine assessed in 1902 was 8,110 head.

Naturally in a partially developed and somewhat isolated country we expect manufacturing to be ne- glected. The possibilities of Idaho county in this di- rection are great, but they have scarcely begun to be developed. Only four grist mills are being operated, according to the assessment roll, in a country where several million bushels of wheat per annum might be raised. The establishment of the Bitter Root forest reserve. must of necessity exert a deterrent influence in the development of the lumbering industry, but its possibilities of production despite the handicap are certainly far from being realized. The assessed saw mills of the county number 29; the planing mills, 8; and the shingle mills, 3.

The character of the people who have discovered the mineral wealth of the country and wrought its development thus far is about what we might look for in a pioneer community whose habitat is a wild, rugged mountain region. They are an active, independent class, resourceful in overcoming difficulties, congenial and approachable, yet able to dispense with society for months, when their business interests demand a tem- porary withdrawal into regions far beyond civilization's outposts. The average of intelligence and knowledge of general current events is not lower than that of many more favored communities. A stranger is likely to notice with admiration the skilful horsemanship of both men and women and the fearlessness with which

they ride over the winding trails of the steep hill sides and on the very edges of precipices.

No distaste for culture or disposition to disregard the amenities of life is observable among this people. In the large comunities, churches of all the leading de- nominations are to he found, and they are at least reasonably well attended and sustained. The fraternal societies are represented wherever there are sufficiently large communities to render their maintenance ·possi- ble and the fraternal spirit is as marked as in other western communities. The pioneers of the county brought with them from their former homes a love of the school house on the hill top, and the advantages it affords the rising generation. Unfortunately the earliest reports on the public schools are not obtainable, so that the gradual development of the system cannot be traced. Even the later reports, those for the year 1893 and succeeding years, are not complete, but they show in general a tendency in the direction of pro- gress. The average length of the school term has in- creased from four and three-tenths to five months, though unfortunately the number of third grade teachers is greater in proportion to the whole number than it was in 1893. The showing in this respect is not discouraging, however, for of the 28 teachers of the county in 1902, two were holders of first grade cer- tificates and 19 of second grade. The number of or- ganized districts in 1900 was 54, four of which main- tained graded schools. The number of school houses then owned by the districts was 42. Eight districts rented buildings. During the past four years, insti- tutes have convened annually. While there are no col. leges or institutions of higher learning within the boundaries of Idaho county, the youth of that section is not deprived of opportunity to obtain higher cul- ture in their own immediate neighborhood as the state university at Moscow and the state normal school at Lewiston are both within easy reach.

It will be seen from the foregoing sketch, imper- fect though it may be, that the largest county in super- ficial area in the state of Idaho is not the least in im- portance or in possibilities of development. The coun- ty is teeming with unappropriated treasure. It holds a wealth of mineral in its mountains, the extent of which is probably but dimly suspected by the general public, notwithstanding the interest which has cen- tered in Thunder Mountain, Buffalo Hump and other mining districts during the last few years. The agri- cultural possibilities of its great prairie and valleys are as little appreciated, while its wealth of water power, now unharnessed, who can estimate? Its enterprising inhabitants are ready to welcome to their assistance the laborer, the homeseeker, the capitalist-any who is able and willing to help in the upbuilding and de- velopment of the country,-and they do so with the greater earnestness since they are fully assured that nowhere in the great west-the home of opportunity-is the intelligent sower more certain to reap an abundant harvest.

HENRY J. ELFERS.

MRS. CATHERINE M. ELFERS CLEARY.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES IDAHO COUNTY

HENRY J. ELFERS, deceased. It is very fitting to grant space in the history of Idaho county for a memorial of Henry J. Elfers. He was one of the earli- est pioneers, a man of ability and courage, a loyal and patriotic citizen, a true friend and a devoted and lov- ing husband. His untimely end at the hands of mur- derous Indians is one of the dark spots in the history of our county. Especial mention has been given of the matter in another portion of this work but in con- nection with a brief epitome of Mr. Elfers's life we shall revert to it again.

Henry J. Elfers was born in Hanover, Germany, on February 2, 1834, being the son of Burn and Ade- laide (Bishop) Elfers, natives also of the fatherland. Henry J. received good training in the old country and came to California in 1849, where he mined for a num- ber of years. In 1862 he was drawn by the gold excite- ment to the Salmon country and the next year in part- nership with Henry Mason and John Wessell he started a ranch on John Day creek. They kept a general sup- ply store, operated a good hotel, conducted a dairy of two hundred cows and ran a pack train into the mines. Susbequently Mr. Mason sold out, but Mr. Wessell continued a partner of Mr. Elfers until the former's death in 1872. In 1870 Mr. Elfers returned to Ger- many and there wooed and won Miss Catherine M. Beckroge, bringing her back to the United States on the same ship in which he had crossed the seas. At San Francisco they were united in the bonds of matri- mony, October 16, 1871. Her father's name was Her- man H. and that of her mother, Anna M. Lange. In Germany Mr. Beckroge was a farmer. Mrs. Elfers was born in Germany August 14, 1845, and has one brother John. They came direct to the John Day ranch and Mr. Elfers continued his business there. On the evening of June 13, 1877, three young Indians came to the Elfers ranch, with whom Mr. Elfers and Mr. Bland held a conversation. Later the savages went away and the next morning Mr. Beckroge and Mr. Bland went after the horses and were killed by the In- dians who lay in ambush. Two of the murderers came to the house looking for Mr. Elfers, and the other stood on guard. They went into the office and took a

gun but Mr. Elfers did not see them. Mrs. Elfers was in the milkhouse just under the bank. Coming from that she saw the Indians standing in the office door and turned and went into the house by the back door. Mr. Elfers, meantime, had started for the field and on his way was murdered by these Indians. A Mr. Whit- field, who had been hunting, discovered the bodies and notified Norman Gould. Victor, a Frenchman, on the Salmon a few hundred yards below, saw the smoke of the guns. His suspicions being aroused, he notified some others and they came to investigate, and Mrs. Elfers was notified of the death of her husband by Barney Mallory. Mr. Elfers had held a long council with the Indians once in reference to Mr. Ott, whom the savages wanted to kill for having killed an Indian. Mr. Rhett and Mr. Elfers would not listen to the killing of Ott and it is supposed that the savages were angry with Mr. Elfers on account of this. Mr. Philip Cleary, a partner of Mr. Elfers in the mines at Florence, came out and conducted the business for three years and then the establishment was rented to E. W. Sherman & Sons. In 1885 Mrs. Elfers and Mr. Philip Cleary were married and on November 19, 1895, Mr. Cleary was called hence by death. Since that time Henry Elfers has taken charge of the business. Mr. Cleary was an active and prominent man in politics and was twice a member of the state legislature. Mr. Elfers was one of the most prominent men of the county. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Elfers, Adelaide L. Lanningham, Henry J., Catherine Gordon, Marie F. Kieling.

Mrs. Cleary is a woman beloved by all who know her. She has ever manifested a charity and true sym- pathy to all who were in trouble and her kind acts and ways are well known by everybody. She is passing the golden years of her life amid many warm and devoted friends in the enjoyment of a competence that is justly hers.

FRANK M. HAWK is one of the earliest pio- neers of this section as also he is one of the pioneers of the coast country, his parents coming here in the

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days of weary trail journeys, and it is with pleasure that we are enabled to grant to this estimable gentle- man a representation in the history of Idaho county.

Frank M. Hawk was born in Richland county, Ohio, on November 24, 1844, being the son of John M. and Matilda (Frampton) Hawk. The father was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and died in Olympia, Washington, on January 4, 1883. The mother was born in Allegheny, Pennsyl- vania, being of Scotch extraction. Her great-great- uncle, James Wilson, was a signer of the Declara- tion of Independence. She died in Portland in 1852. The grandparents of our subject were also born in Pennsylvania. In 1846 our subject was brought by his parents to Dekalb county, Indiana, where he at- tended district school six months previous to leaving in 1852 for Olympia, Washington, which trip was made with ox teams and attended with great danger and hardships. Frank was educated in the public schools and in the Wesleyan Institute. When seventeen he came to Pierce and mined until 1865. Thence he went across Lolo pass to Montana, mining in the Blackfoot region for four years. In 1869 he returned to Olym- pia and opened up a business in shipping oysters and clams to Portland and other points. He was the first one who started in this business and for two years he did remarkably well, but then others started and he sold out. He took a twenty-mile contract of grading for theNorthern Pacific from Tenio to Tacoma and in 1873, owing to the failure of Cook & Company, op- erations were suspended and our subject lost his cap- ital, seven thousand dollars. Then he went to Alaska and Cassiar mines in British Columbia and did well for four years. Being crippled by rheumatism he was forced to retire and before he could get cured he had consumed most of his capital again. With what was left he bought a stock of goods and went to the Flat- head country and there opened a store with two part- ners. Two years of successful operations there and he sold to his partners and was again laid up with rhett- matism. Again his capital was nearly exhausted in seeking a recovery. Since that time Mr. Hawk has been prospecting and mining with headquarters at Kooskia and he is doing a good business there. He is considered one of the substantial men of the place, and is a member of the Washington Pioneer Society of Olympia. Politically he is a stanch Republican. Mr. Hawk has two brothers, Melvin F., a farmer at Roy, Washington : Albert R., deceased. This last brother took the prize for the best story of crossing the plains. He wrote of the trip of the Hawk family. This trip was attended with great trouble and suffering. They calked the wagon bed and floated two hundred miles down the river and enroute the mother was so shocked at the sight of floating bodies of other emigrants, who had been drowned, that she died in Portland soon after.

ABRAM COON is a man of extended frontier experience and has made a good record in his career. He dwells at present on his homestead seven miles

northeast from Kooskia, where he has some valuable saw timber. Abram Coon was born in Wyoming, on November 14. 1867, the son of Adam and Diana (Lew- is) Coon. The father was born in Adams county, Illi- nois, in 1799 and was a wholesale merchant. He par- ticipated in the Black Hawk war. The mother died when this son was young. Our subject attended pub- lic schools in his native place and assisted his father until 1887, when he went to Utah and took an active part in the Ute Indian war. Mr. Coon volunteered to carry messages when no other one would, and his cour- age and intrepid daring are matter of record in the history that deals of that period. He was prominently identified in these wars and did much to assist materi- ally the whites in repelling the savages. Mr. Coon also spent one year and eight months in carrying the United States mails in Wyoming and during this per- iod also he had many dangerous and trying experi- ences, which were fully detailed in White's Indian Wars, and we have the pleasure to remark that in all these experiences Mr. Coon had always manifested the same courage and consummate coolness in danger and trying times that characterized him in the excellent service in the Ute war. He located in Cassia county, Idaho, in 1898 and rented land and in 1900 he came to his present place and took a squatter's right. This was abandoned soon and he took a couple of other places successively, selling them, but finally returned to his present place and here he has continued since. Mr. Coon constructed a hall in partnership with three othì- ers for the use of the neighborhood and recently he has purchased the entire property and it is one of the cen- tral points of the community. Mr. Coon devoted his winters to labor in the woods here and the summers are spent on the prairies handling steam engines. He has three brothers and two sisters, William H., Adam, Limial, Matilda, Mary May.

In Utah. on May 2, 1893, Mr. Coon married Miss. Rachel J., daughter of William and Nancy J. (Balice) Darling, natives of Michigan. Two children were born to this marriage, but they are both deceased. On Jan- uary 14, 1901, Mrs. Coon was called away by death. Mr. Coon is a member of the Congregational church and in political matters he is a Socialist.

HENRY J. McFADDEN has a beautiful and val- uable farm about two miles south from Whitebird on the banks of the Salmon. He is a leader in enterprise and development and is a man of excellent standing. Henry J. McFadden was born in Harrison county, Ohio. on July 25, 1839, the son of Benjamin and Mary E. (Wilson) McFadden. The father was born in Ohio and there remained all his days, passing the river in 1886, aged eighty-three. The mother was born at Harper's Ferry and was a sister of Colonel Wilson, who commanded at that point. She died in Harrison county, aged seventy-eight, it being in 1887. Our sub- ject is the eighth of a family of eleven and grew up on a farm, receiving his education in the common schools. At the first call for ninety-day men he stepped prompt-

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ly forward, the only one of his township, and took the musket to defend our free institutions and the homes of the Union. He was enrolled in Company I, Thir- teenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He went in as a pri- vate and soon rose to first lieutenant. Upon the sec- ond enlistment in Company D, Forty-third Ohio, un- der Colonel Wager Swain, Mr. McFadden was cap- tain of his company. He participated in the battles of Carnifax Ferry, Island No. 10, New Madrid, Jackson, Fort Pillow, Pittsburg Landing, was twenty-seven days in the siege of Corinth, and at the battle of Co- rinth ; he was wounded in both the siege and battle. He was also in the siege of Vicksburg, in the battles of Booneville, Iuka, Jackson, Mississippi, Memphis, Redbluff, Buzzard's Roost, Atlanta, Resaca, and saw much other service besides. In addition to the wounds mentioned. he was knocked down by a shell in the struggle of Island No. 10. At the close of the war Mr. McFadden received an honorable discharge, be- ing now a member of the G. A. R. and receives a pen- sion from the government. He went to Ohio, thence to Illinois, and Kansas, handling stock. Next we see him in San Juan, Colorado, doing placer and quartz mining. In 1881 he came to the Coeur d'Alene country and mined until 1888. Then, in company with three others, he entered the Thunder Mountain district and did well. This company was the first invaders of that section. In 1890 Mr. McFadden came to his present place and now, in company with A. Cooper, he has a half section. They have a first-class orchard of all varieties of fruit and nuts, as well as a large vineyard. He has twenty or more acres in orchard, which is one of the best to be found anywhere and the skill of our subject has made and is making a first-class success of it. He also handles stock.

On April 24, 1897, Mr. McFadden married Mrs. Priscilla M. (Wilson) Silcott, a sister of Ex-Senator Wilson, of California. By her former husband Mrs. McFadden had five children, Joseph A., deceased, at Dayton, Washington, in 1886; Louis L. died at Spo- kane in 1897: Edward died in California, when seven years old; Annie Hastings; and Mariah, who was drowned in the sinking of the steamer Brother Jonathan in 1865. Her former husband was a well known physician, with whom she traveled to various sections of the United States. Mr. and Mrs. McFad- den are highly esteemed people and have the good will and confidence of all.

JOSEPH HIMMELSPAK, better known as Joe Baker, was born in Baden, Germany, on January 17, 1847, the son of Nebemuk and Katherine Himmelspak, also natives of the Fatherland. He was reared and educated in his native place and when fourteen went to Switzerland. Soon thereafter we find the youth in Italy, then he journeyed to France, and after that to Africa. He returned home from the Dark Continent after five years and three months later came to the United States. He spent some time in Newark, New Jersey, and in Philadelphia and then came to Lewis-

ton. This was in 1869 and the following year found him in Elk City and on Newsome creek, mining. Three years were spent in the alluring search for na- ture's hidden wealth, when he returned to Camas prairie, where he worked until the Indian war of 1877. He was a volunteer from Mt. Idaho and for six weeks had charge of a Salmon detachment. When the In- dians departed over the Lolo trail Mr. Himmelspak and James Cearly took dispatches, via Elk City, to Missoula, that the Indians were coming. He went back over the Lolo trail after the Indians had passed and met General Howard, for whom he scouted under Colonel Miller, and bore dispatches from Gibbons bat- tlefield to Deer Lodge, a distance of one hundred and thirty miles and carried return messages to Howard. At Henry Lake he received his honorable discharge and returned to Camas prairie. Since that time Mr. Him- melspak has devoted himself to agriculture and mining and is prospered in the same lines today. He owns a fine ranch fitted for vegetables and fruit and supplies much of the same to Grangeville. He also is owner of the Maude Randall and the Lone Dutchman claims, upon which he is doing some development work. Mr. Himmelspak is also connected with other properties in the same district. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and is a Republican. He has been much interested in politics until recent years. On account of a defect in his hearing Mr. Himmelspak has retired more from politics lately. He is a man of excellent standing in his community, being well known and esteemed.

JOHN W. KEITH. One and one-half miles northwest from Canfield lies the estate of our sub- ject. It was taken before the land was surveyed, the year being 1892. and since that time Mr. Keith has been a steady laborer for the improvement not only of his land but also for the upbuilding of the country and for the general advancement and welfare.

John W. Keith was born in Boone county, Missouri, on May 23, 1857. being the son of George G. and Maria A. (Willis) Keith. The father was a farmer and stockman and was born in Boone county in 1828 and died July 31, 1901. The paternal grandfather of our subiect, John H. Keith, received a patent for land in Missouri, which was signed by John Quincy Adams as president, and our subject's father has a patent signed by Andrew Jackson as president. The mother of our subject was born in New Jersey in 1829 and now lives in Nez Perces county. Her parents were pioneers in Missouri. John W. grew to manhood in Missouri and there he received his education from the district schools. He remained with his father until of age and then clerked in a store in Lexington, Missouri, for eighteen months and after that took up farming, which he followed until 1880, the time he sold out and moved from Missouri overland with teams to Walla Walla. Soon he came to where Colfax now stands and could have taken a preemption there but preferred other land. He farmed there until 1892 and then took his present place, as mentioned. He has one

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 110

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