An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 24

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 24
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 24
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 24
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 24

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).

It has been stated also that an important factor in effecting this truce between the rival companies was their common transportation enemy, the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy. That road was seeking a Pacific coast connection through the Lewiston valley and was so well fortified in its demands as to be able to force from the Northern Pacific very valuable concessions in

the Northwest. The C. B. & Q. liad surveying parties in north Idaho during the summer and fall of 1900, giving color to the belief that it would build through to the coast, most likely by the Salmon river route. It is understood, however, that this road is now under the control of the Northern Pacific, so that that company is apparently absolute master of the situation in the Clearwater country at present. Further activity in railway construction in that section has been confidently looked for ever since the completion of the road to Stites and is still expected. There can be little doubt but that the Northern Pacific Company will push its lines farther into that section in the near future.

But the first railway construction to effect the sec- tion of which we are treating will be the Lewiston- Riparia road. A dispatch from Portland bearing date of August 2, 1902, announced that the contract for the building of this road had been that day awarded by the O. R. & N. to Wren & Greenough, contractors, the agreement being that work should begin at once and be completed by April 15, 1903, including a steel bridge across the Clearwater at Lewiston to cost $350,000. The truth of the dispatch was vouched for a few days later by President Mohler of the O. R. & N., also by President Mellen of the Northern Pacific Company, who also gave the information that the road would be operated jointly by the corporations they represent.

Construction work was, however, delayed by a con- troversy between the two interests over the right of way, also, it is said, by the fear that legislation might be enacted seriously affecting the capitalization of the venture, but it is now claimed that all these difficulties are out of the way and that work will be resumed in the near future.

PART II. HISTORY OF NEZ PERCES COUNTY

CHAPTER I.

CURRENT HISTORY.

In previous chapters have been detailed the causes which led to the settlement of Nez Perces county, the inception of that settlement, the founding of Lewiston and much of the earliest history of this important political entity. Its creation by legislative enactment has also been referred to and its earliest boundary lines described. It remains now to take up the thread of its history and as far as possible to trace the various events which have transpired among its people, the growth of its wealth and industries and the divers forces which have contributed to its social and in- dustrial evolution.

The original boundaries of the county as given it by act of the Washington legislature in December, 1861, were modified by the Idaho legislature in 1867, which enacted that they should be as follows: "Begin- ning at the middle channel of Snake river, opposite the month of Clearwater river ; and thence due north along the west line of Idaho Territory to the main di- vide between the waters of the Palouse river and Lahtoh or Hangeman's creek; thence easterly to the westerly line of Shoshone county; thence southerly along said line to the Clearwater river ; thence up the south fork of Clearwater river to Lolo creek; thence with Lolo creek in an easterly direction to the sum- mit of the Bitter Root mountains ; thence southerly along the summit of said mountains to the junction of Salmon river and Bitter Root mountains ; thence in a westerly direction along the summit of Salmon river and Clearwater mountains to a prominent landmark known as 'Buffalo Hump'; thence westerly along said divide between the waters of White Bird creek and Camas prairie, to a point where the road leading from Lewiston to Slate creek crosses said divide ; thence in a direct line to the foot of Ponto bar on Salmon river ;

thence in a direct line to a point on Snake river known as Pittsburg landing ; thence down the channel of Snake river to the place of beginning." This ex- tensive area in 1870 contained a white population of 1,588, which, however, increased during the next de- cade to 4,583.

During the late 'sixties and early 'seventies Nez Perces county was sharing in that transition from mining to agriculture and stockraising which we have before mentioned in connection with north Idaho in general and this portion of the inland empire. It shared also in the relative depression which visited the country when the golden days were over, yet consider- ing its youth it had a goodly number of wealthy and well-to-do men within its limits as shown by the Signal's list of persons paying taxes on property valued at one thousand dollars or over in 1872, which list, for the sake of preserving as far as possible the names of those who at the time occupied positions of promi- nence in industrial circles, and were thechief wealth holders of the county, we reproduce as follows :

Levi Ankeny, $23,200; L. B. Boise, $1,500; John Brearley, $1,100 ; Bunker & Squier, $2,850 ; J. J. Bon- ner, $1,600 ; C. C. Bunnell, $5,000; A. Benson, $4,510; Crites & Curry, $1,650; C. P. Coburn, $5,585 ; Curry & Holbrook. $1.375 ; Cook & Shultz, $1,240 ; H. Crites, $1.200: C. Cooper, $2,635 ; Cummings & Company, $2,000; Grostein Binnard, $20,000; A. Gilman, $1.500: James Gage, $3,160; Hung Wan Chung, $2.500 ; Hexter & Brother, $9,000; Harris & Story, $1.550: McGregor, $1,677: George Mitchell, $1,140; M. A. Kelly, $8,310: J. Karney, $1,590; Leland & Rowley, $1.400; C. Le Francois, $9.565 ; Loewenberg Brothers. $17.400 . Wesley Mulkey, $6,555 ; R. J.Mon- roe. $4,800: McElwee, $1,000; John Proctor, $2,720;

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

J. Perrault, $3,640; Rowley & Leach, $1,550; H. W. Stainton, $1,450; P. Sholl, $4,300 ; S. S. Slater, $1,666; T. Schenck, $1,188; John Silcott, $1,490; A. W. Shum- way, $1,080; Tremble & Company, $1,600; C. A. Thatcher, $9,165; S. C. Thompson, $4,300; J. P. Vollmer, $2,542; S. W. Whitfield, $1,100; E. Weis- gerber, $2,150; C. Walker, $1,125 ; C. Wintsch, $3,000; T. H. Worden, $3,645; P. B. Whitman, $1,800.

In January, 1873, a bill was introduced into the Idaho legislature cutting off a portion of Nez Perces and adding it to Idaho county. Already Idaho county had seven thousand square miles of territory or ap- proximately that, and it was proposed to give it over four thousand more, leaving to Nez Perces county only fifteen hundred square miles, exclusive of the Indian reservation. As the territory proposed to be trans- ferred contained several old farming settlements, four prominent mining camps, 450 inhabitants and about $185,000 worth of taxable property, it was but natural that the citizens of the county from which the terri- tory was to be taken should offer vigorous opposition. But the friends of Idaho county colluded with the representatives from Lemhi, Boise and Ada counties, giving them each a small slice from the eastern and southern portion of its original domain. It was a shrewd move and so adroitly managed that Idaho county succeeded in securing the passage in both branches of the legislature of a bill by which it ex- changed twelve hundred square miles of territory of no special value to itself for about 4.500 square miles from Nez Perces county. Fortunately, however, for the taxpayers of the latter political division, the bill was vetoed by Governor Bennett.

Many causes of discouragement were operative among the people of Nez Perces county during the year 1873. Hard times and lack of a market for products were exerting their baneful influence upon the farming communities, where, however, abundant crops were being garnered. To add to the general discomfiture, the Indians, who afterward took the war path under Joseph, were showing signs of hostility, going so far, it was said, as to debate among themselves, when in- toxicated, the chances of success in committing depre- dations upon the whites. To their boldness not a little was contributed by the removal of the mounted troops from the garrison at Lapwai. The newspapers called attention to the danger and the men of Lewiston re- sponded by organizing on the evening of March 29th a military company of 107 members. with Hazen Squier as captain, John M. Dormer, first lieutenant, Isaac Kipp, second lieutenant, George Young, orderly sergeant, and a full quota of minor officers.

The ensuing two or three years brought little amelioration in conditions. The financial stringency continued and the uncertainty and apprehension incident to the Indian difficulties were still exerting their de- pressing influence, nevertheless throughout this seem- ingly unprogressive period, the foundations of future development were being laid, and the country was get- ting ready for the dawn of a brighter day, when the incubus of doubt and dread should be removed.

Notwithstanding the various discouragements and

the danger of an Indian outbreak, which, strange to say, did not lead to adequate preparation for defense on the part of either the citizens or the military, while it had its injurious effect upon industry, the country made rapid strides forward in 1876, especially that part north of the Snake river, or what is now embraced in Latah county. A correspondent of the Oregonian, writing in the spring of 1877, stated that after an ex- tensive tour of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington and north Idaho, he had found the prospects in Nez Perces county, and in Whitman county, Wyoming Territory, contiguous to it, especially bright.

Their population was rapidly increasing, and

they were being encouraged to engage in

wheat raising by the fact that the soil was especially suited to that industry, and that the Ore- gon Steam Navigation Company had made a liberal reduction in the charges for transporting the product. The same writer also refers to the rapid growth of the sheep industry and states that the amount of flax seed shipped from Nez Perces and Whitman counties indi- cates that that product will become one of the sources of wealth of that section. "It is observable also," he continues, "that among the people settling there the regard for schools, churches and all facilities for gen- eral intelligence and improvement is as high as that which characterizes the American people everywhere."

Of course the Indian war paralyzed industry in this and Idaho counties during its continuance, greatly retarding all industrial operations, also in contiguous counties of the territory and of Washington. Farmers were obliged to take their families to places of security in the towns, and those on the frontier, miners and stockmen alike, in many instances left their work en- tirely, remaining away during what would otherwise have been the busiest season. Even where there was no real danger, rumors and false reports kept the set- tlers continually on the qui vive, and an occasional panic would send them pell mell to the nearest port of safety, leaving their places to take care of themselves. Unfenced grain fields were destroyed and all growing products which required cultivation after seeding were neglected. The presence of the troops, however, set- tled the market problem for the time being.

The presence of the troops had another good effect also in that it gave the people a feeling of confidence during the Bannock and Pinte war of 1878, in eastern Oregon. The baptism of fire the citizens of north Idaho had just passed through resulted in their being quite well supplied with arms and ammunition; the companies of volunteers formed during the Nez Perces outbreak were another safeguard, and these, together with the martial spirit of the people, were suffi- cient to check any turbulent spirit among the reserva- tion Indians.

The effect of the war is plainly shown in the as- sessor's census for 1878, which shows that out of a population of 2,793, the number of voters was 859, making the ratio between total population and voters entirely too small. The women and children had moved to other communities and others who would have settled in the county were deterred from so doing,

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

making the number of adult males disproportionately large. Thorn creek precinct had 413 inhabitants and I4I voters ; Paradise, 691 and 203; Palouse' Bridge, 419 and 142; Pine creek, 117 and 37 ; Camas creek, 61 and 26 : Lake, 98 and 45 : Lewiston, 994 and 265. The number of horses was shown to be 3,672; of cattle, 3.925 ; of mules, 276 : of hogs, 2,785 ; of sheep, 14,960. The valuation of real estate was $180, 138; of personal property, $327,504 ; the total valuation $507,642, and the number of taxpayers, 577. The increase in the property valuation over that of the preceding year was nearly $200,000.

During the winter of 1879 a slight misfortune be- fell the county, which was described by The Teller in the following language :

"On Saturday last (February 23d) a regular chinook visited us at this place. One had visited the foothills south and west of us a day or two previously and caused much of the snow to melt and run off into the gulches and valleys. On Monday the Clear- water was full from bank to bank with floating ice, and this continued, except at intervals, until late on Tuesday, and even on Wednesday much ice went down the river. The Lapwai, Sweetwater, Hatwai and Potlach creeks were much swollen, also the Asotin and Alpowa creeks on the Washington side. Small gulches and ravines discharged vast quantities of water and some of them much debris and small rocks. Roads were in many places rendered entirely impassable by reason of the road beds being washed out in many places. Small bridges were washed away. The mails on the different routes leading to Lewiston failed of reaching here on time, save the Mount Idaho, and the northern mail did not depart until Wednesday noon owing to ice in the Clearwater.

"At 3 o'clock P. M. on Monday the saw and grist mill at the Lapwai agency with a considerable quan- tity of wheat were undermined and swept away into and down the Clearwater. Two men, Nicholson and Toombs, being in the mill at the time it was swept away, were carried out into the river and down it about a mile and a half before they could be rescued, and their ultimate escape from death was almost miracu- lous. Much other damage was done along the Lapwai creek. The Soldier canyon road was badly washed for about two miles and it will require the labor of forty men several days to repair it and make it as good as before. The flume of the Lewiston ditch above Linds- ley's orchard was washed away and the ditch in many places filled with debris from the side gulches. The boom at the saw mill was broken and about 100,000 feet of logs were carried away; also the wood boom above the mill, and about 125 cords of wood were lost. The stage which left here for Walla Walla on Mon- day with mails, express and one passenger was upset at the third crossing of the Alpowa. The driver and passenger were swept down the stream about 150 yards before they could get out. The two lead horses became detached and got out of the stream while the wheel horses, stage, mails and express were carried six hundred yards and were rescued by the Indians. The express box with about $2,000 in it drifted to

within twenty feet of the Snake river, where it be- came lodged against some willows and. was found on Tuesday. The whole section was damaged consider- ably and the loss will amount to many thousands of dollars."

Yet it is certain that the year 1879 was on the whole one of progress and prosperity. Considerable government money was expended in improving the Clearwater and Snake rivers, congesting temporarily in some measure the local circulating medium. The Sheepeater disturbances in Idaho county had been quieted by the defeat and capture of the hostiles, per- mitting the vanguard of the homeseeking army to ad- vance farther inland. The Lewiston land office, re- cently established, reported in June that since March Ist preceding, there had been filed in the district em- bracing all Idaho north of the Salmon River range 854 pre-emptions, 437 homesteads and 306 timber claimi entries, an aggregate of 1,597 filings, each en- bracing a quarter section. Those already established in the business of agriculture and cattle raising were meeting with splendid success, and the numbers of those seeking to obtain homesteads and join their ranks continued undiminished-were increasing rather.

But the opening of the year 1880 was a somewhat unpropitious one. The spring was cold, rainy and disagreeable in the valleys, while in the hills and mountains the snow lay deep until far into the summer, being over four feet in depth on the Warren trail as late as the 15th of June. Neither did the middle life of the year bring any special encouragement to the agriculturist but rather the opposite, for the kindly warmth of the summer sun proved congenial not alone to man and his domestic friends but likewise to his loathsome and detested enemy, the grasshopper. Thousands of these voracious winged pests visited the country, harvesting the grain crops at an untimely season and desolating flower gardens, orchards, etc. Fortunately the omnivorous insects were not as thor- ough in their work of destruction as they sometimes are and only certain localities were visited by them. But the agricultural development of the country had begun in earnest and not the presence of a temporary plague nor the absence of speedy transportation nor the scarcity of money nor any other obstacle which la- bor and patience could surmount was potent to stay the onward movement.No observing person could ride out through the country at intervals without noticing the signs of progress on every hand. In 1879 the Waha prairie was almost unoccupied, the only indi- cation of its being the dwelling place of man being a cabin here and there contiguous to or surrounded by a small patch of enclosed land. Before 1880 had passed into history the old trails and roads were rendered no longer passable on account of the fences of the ranch- men and the traveler must perforce traverse the long lanes leading across the valley.

It must be remembered that all this development was wrought in spite of many trying conditions. While the mining wealth of the country was by no means exhausted, that which could be garnered by the poor man had long since found its way into the pocket

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

of the miner and thence into the world's marts of trade. Capital is never a pioneer. However heroic a man may be he needs the spur of necessity to force him into the loneliness and uncertainty and danger and privation to be met in the van of civilization's march. Without the capital to develop them, the deep lying wealth materials must remain unutilized; without cheap transportation the markets of the world are closed to the isolated community. Speaking of the conditions obtaining during the winter of 1881 the Teller says :

"Probably at no time for ten years past has the first of January found the great mass of the farmers so destitute of money as during the present month- at least such is the burden of their song, and there are reasons for this. They strained every nerve the past season to raise a good surplus of wheat and flax in the confident hope that they could get it shipped to a paying market and get good returns before January arrived. But with few exceptions, the people of this section have not been able to get their wheat and flax off to a market, and while a few have sold to the agents of buyers who were sent out into the country and received a small payment to bind the sales, yet the great bulk of the value of their products has not yet been realized. They have grain in abundance but no money. This scarcity is seriously felt by the mer- chants, mechanics and laborers whom they owe. Pa- tience and forbearance becomes necessary in such a crisis. These producers will work themselves out of the dilemma as soon as they have a fair show. The Walla Walla and Touchet valleys had a much better show, and money is reported to be plentiful among the farmers of those valleys. Our turn will come after a while, if we can hold fast and not be too exacting upon each other."

From the foregoing it will be seen that the fields of Clearwater country did their best for the farmer during the year 1881, even if the opportunity to turn their products into cash was tardy in coming and the ready liquidation of debts was for that reason rendered impossible. The only climatic drawback to agricul- ture this year of which we have found record was a very heavy hail storm, tlie severest ever experienced in this part of the country up to that time. It oc- curred on the 3d of June and though its duration was not greater than ten minutes, it lasted long enough to cut down fields of grain in places, to destroy gar- dens and to kill scores of domestic animals. Paradise valley, the Potlach creek country and other farming communities suffered damage aggregating hundreds of dollars, while at Elk City a Chinaman lost his life, being struck by a limb blown from a tree under which he was seeking shelter.

Comparatively insignificant though the industrial activities of the Nez Perces Indians were yet in our summary of the year 1881 we must give them credit for having added at least slightly to the wealth pro- duction of the county. The number of the tribe at this time seems to have been 2,036, of whom 257 were farmers. The Indian dwelling places consisted of forty-eight frame houses, one hundred and twenty-

eight log houses, seventy-two cloth, eighteen skin and twelve bark lodges. Four thousand, seven hundred and thirteen acres of their reserve were in cultivation. The red men were the possessors of 12,696 horses, 870 cows, ten oxen, 1,500 other cattle, 675 swine and 1,200 domestic fowls. The sole product of their man- ufacturing skill consisted of about three hundred yards of matting.

Up to this time the legislative and judicial business of Nez Perces county had been transacted in a one- story frame building, back of the site which Alexan- der's general store now occupies, but the building had long been felt to be inadequate for the purpose and in January, 1882, the county commissioners purchased the old Luna property from Conrad Wintsch, design- ing to repair the building and fit it up to conserve the purpose of a county court house.

The annals of 1882 were darkened by the com- mission on Camas creek of a crime which for atrocity deserves rank with the murder of Magruder in 1863. The victims of this dastardly act were three Chinese miners who were delving for the precious metal on the creek at a point about seventeen miles above Palouse bridge. The perpetrator or perpetrators of the terrible crime burned the Chinese cabin and with it two of the bodies. The remains of the third vic- tim, who is said to have been a highly educated, intel- ligent representative of his race, were found buried in the snow. They were in a state of perfect preser- vation, owing to the cold, which was sufficient to freeze them. A bullet hole in the back, another in the left side of the head and a gash across the throat showed at once the manner of the Mongolian's taking off and the extreme atrocity of his murderer. The only incentive to the enactment of this terrible tragedy seems to have been robbery, for the Chinamen were supposed to have several hundred dollars in gold dust at the time of their demise, no trace of which was dis- coverable around their burned and despoiled place of abode. Abe Galloway, who discovered the charred re- mains of the burned cabin, was given an examination which resulted in his being completely exonerated from any complicity in the crime. Although Governor Neil on behalf of the territory offered a reward of $500 each for the arrest and conviction of the guilty parties and although a determined effort was made to solve the mystery, the murderer or murderers have never been brought to justice.

During the fall of 1882 and the winter following a determined effort was made by the people north of the Clearwater to effect segregation from Nez Perces county and the formation of a new political division. As is usual in such movements the leading agitators were men who hoped to gain some financial benefit by the establishment of a new county seat. The ambi- tious town in this instance was Moscow, in the rich and prosperous Paradise valley. Petitions were cir- culated and numerously signed, praying for the erec- tion of the proposed new county and these called forth counter petitions among the south side residents, who admitted that county division at some time was in- evitable, but considered this movement . premature.

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

Then, too, it was urged that as soon as northern Idaho should be attached to Washington a readjustment of county lines would become necessary, therefore the people desiring to be clothed with the authority to organize a separate local government ought to await incorporation into the territory of Washington before pressing forward their schemes. So numerous were the remonstrators and so strong their opposition that the bill for the new county could not be carried in the legislature.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 24

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