An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 30

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 30
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 30
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 30
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 30

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The circumstances which caused the founding of

Lewiston were favorable to its rapid early growth. The steamers which brought to the country hundreds of miners brought also large cargoes of goods to the merchants which were speedily retailed at enormous profits. Money was plentiful among all classes and prosperity abounded on every hand. But these con- ditions were of short duration. The discovery of the Boise mines in August, 1862, turned the current of trade in that direction, and it became apparent to the leading business men of Lewiston that if their town was to continue its rapid development, it must secure a share of the trade. They were also ambitious to establish commercial relations with Salt Lake City. In furtherance of these two objects, or rather to de- termine in a measure whether or not they were prac- ticable, A. P. Ankeny sent a party consisting of Charles Clifford, Washington Murray and Joseph Denver to the site of old Fort Boise to report upon the navi- gability of the Snake river between that point and Lewiston. The party waited for lowest water, then descended the river to Lewiston, making part of the trip, it is thought, in a raft. They gave it as their opinion that the Snake river could be navigated by steamboats and that same fall, the Spray, of which mention has been heretofore made, ascended the river to a point fifteen miles above Lewiston, where it had to turn back. This was unfortunate, for it went to prove the impracticability of a far reaching scheme. "Lewiston's business men," says Bancroft, "contem- plated placing a line of boats on Snake river to be run as far as navigable. The first important land- ing was to be at the mouth of Salmon river, forty

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

miles above Lewiston. The design was to make a road direct to the mines, whereas the travel had there- tofore been by the trails through the Nez Perces country. The distance from the mouth of Salmon river by water to Fort Boise was 95 miles, thence to Fishing Falls on Salmon river, 90 miles: thence to Salt Lake City, 250 miles, total 475 miles, nearly half of which, it was hoped, could be traveled by boats. Such a line would have been of great service to the military department, about to establish a post on Boise river, and to immigration, saving a long stretch of road. But the Salmon river mountains proved impassible, and the snake river unnavigable, al- though in the autumn of 1863 a second party of five men, with Molthrop at the lead, descended the stream in a boat built at Buena Vista bar, and a company was formed in Portland for constructing a portage through a canyon of that river, considered impractic- able for steamers. It was soon made apparent, how- ever, that Lewiston was hopelessly cut off from Salt Lake, and even from Boise basin, by craggy mountains, impassable river canyons and falls."

The failure of this Salt Lake project made it impossible for Lewiston to maintain the rate of de- velopment established during its earliest years, but its monopoly on the distributing business of the Salmon river mining country continued, giving it ample means for substantial growth.

It must be remembered that at this time the land upon which the town was built was still a part of the Nez Perces Indian reservation, and that no title to property could be secured, a fact which must have exerted a deterrent influence upon those who would otherwise be inclined to erect substantial and perma- nent buildings. But in due time negotiations were entered into between the United States government and the Indians looking toward the cession on the part of the latter of one mile square of their territory to be used for townsite purposes. Before these negotiations were fully concluded the town was in- corporated by an act of the territorial legislature ap- proved December 27, 1866. The first section of the incorporation bill read as follows: "Section I. The town of Lewiston, including the following territory, to-wit : Bounded north and west by the waters of the Clearwater and Snake rivers at their confluence, and extending sufficiently far southerly and easterly there- from to constitute in a square form, as near as prac- ticable, according to government survey, one square mile, intended to include the square mile of land stipulated for in favor of said town in the treaty between the United States and the Nez Perces tribe of Indians now pending, is hereby organized into a municipal corporation under the name of 'The City of Lewiston.' Providing that the jurisdiction of said city hereby conferred shall extend to the middle channel of said rivers at the points oposite the terri- tory included within said limits.

One provison of the bill was that the first election of city officers should be held on the second Monday in March of the year 1867 at the court house in Lewis- ton. The election was held at the appointed time and

resulted as follows: mayor, W. W. Wright ; treas- urer, H. W. Stainton; marshal, Daniel McElwee; councilmen, Godfrey Gamble, George Scranton and Julius Loewenberg. The charter had been secured despite some opposition in the town itself to the move- ment for incorporation, and the opposition did not cease when officers were chosen. Indeed the forces adverse to the city government, led by Richard Hur- ley, were so nearly equal in numbers and influence to those of a contrary mind that little could be ac- complished in the way of progress during the first few ycars, and nothing was attempted beyond such im- provements as were deemed absolutely necessary.

It was during the year 1867, according to the statement of Charles G. Kress, one of the pioneer business men of Lewiston, that the first experiments were made in tree planting in the streets of the town and inception was given to a movement which later gained for it the soubriquet of "the City of Poplars."

"One hot May afternoon," says Mr. Kress, "dur- ing a lull in business, Seth Slater, John Clark, Dick Monroe and myself were sitting in front of Monroe's drug store on Main street at the head of what is now known as First street. The conversation turned to the extreme heat which was prevailing and Monroe suggested that shade trees should be planted. At that time our streets were entirely barren of trees and there was no vegetation at all in the business section. The suggestion appealed strongly to us and we held an informal meeting to discuss ways and means of secur- ing and caring for the trees. We were not at all sure whether trees would grow here and the water problem was a serious one.

"Finally we decided to try the experiment any- how. Our plan contemplated the digging of a well in front of Monroe's store, a favorite lounging place then, and the planting there of one poplar and two locust trees. The hat was passed around among the citizens and in a short time $210 were subscribed. The well was sunk at a point very nearly in the mid- dle of the street, and cost $210, the amount of the subscription. Over the well a neat frame covering was placed and around it seats were constructed to accommodate those who cared to while away an hour or so near its cooling waters and beneath the luxuriant shade of the trees that were to be. The walls of the well were boarded up. The chain and bucket system delivered the water. Wesley Mulkey, whose place was near the city, donated to the enterprise the de- sired trees, which were planted as soon as the well was finished.

"The trees seemed inspired with a due sense of the importance of their mission, for they throve wonder- fully from the first. The enterprise was a popular one and elicited the interest of everybody. The follow- ing year C. C. Bunnell, Dr. Stainton and others set out trees, and in 1870 a still larger number were planted, until in a comparatively short time the town was fairly embowered in luxuriant foliage. Main street was lined on both sides with poplars, but few of which now remain."

An issue of the Lewiston Signal bearing date

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

September 12, 1867, has fallen into our hands and from it we learn that the following market prices prevailed at that time : apples, peaches, pears, 25 cents a pound ; flour, $5.50 a barrel ; butter, fresh, 75 cents, Isthmus, 50 cents ; eggs, 75 cents : cheese, 50 cents ; bacon, 22 cents ; sugar, brown, 25 cents, crushed, 28 cents ; coffee, 38 cents; tea, $1.25. From its advertising patronage we have compiled the following business directory : Luna Feed and Livery stable, Jack Curry ; Pioneer stables, J. B. Rowley ; general stores, Grostein & Binnard, Baldwin Brothers, James Flanagan & Company, J. Loewenberg, Ankeny & Sons, Bacon & Thompson ; general commission merchants, J. Vilott & Company ; drug stores, H. W. Stainton, M. A. Kelly ; the Luna hotel, L. H. Thompson; Hotel De France, Madame Le Francois; Globe hotel, August Bittner ; wood, timber and shingles, Charles Carleton & Company ; hardware, Bunnell Brothers; California bakery, C. Baker, proprietor ; flour and liquor store, Vilott & Company : Challenge saloon, Norton & Bun- ker; J. Denny's saloon ; James Hays's saloon, also the saloons of Vincent & Dyer and A. Gilman ; the Asotin Mill Company ; harness store, Gill & Warden ; jeweler, Charles G. Kress: brewery, Gamble & Weisgerber ; assay office, Richard Hurley; gunsmith, M. H. Sprague : the Oro Fino & Pierce City express, M. Fettis; the Warren's Diggings express, just estab- lished, W. P. Hunt and F. G. Hart; H. W. Stainton, physician ; W. W. Thayer and Alonzo Leland, at- torneys ; H. O. Adams, justice of the peace.

The progressive forces, as those who had favored incorporation were styled, continued to be hampered in their efforts by a practically equally opposing force until November 6, 1871, when Levi Ankeny, a pioneer merchant, was elected mayor on a ticket pledged to progress. The first matter to elicit the attention of the new government was the securing of a title to the townsite. Under the act of congress approved in the spring of 1867, the government had granted the city a tract of land one square mile in extent at the junction of the Clearwater and Snake rivers, but the land office had as yet failed to act in granting a patent and the matter was held in abeyance. Mayor Ankeny was authorized to cause entry to be made in his name as trustee in behalf of the city and to take such further action as was necessary to secure title to the land. As a result a United States patent was in due course of time secured, though not without litigation. It appears that one Alonzo Gilman had filed a few months before Mr. Ankeny on several lots of land included in the townsite of Lewiston. Under permission of the agent to occupy a part of these tracts for trade purposes, Gilman had, in 1862, settled upon a small portion of the land claimed by him, but the department held that no acts of his either previous or subsequent to the ratification of the treaty could secure for him a valid claim to the land or any part of it and his claim was therefore rejected.

In 1871 was begun a project favoring the further extension of the tree planting and beautifying of Lewiston, referred to above. Wesley Mulkey was the moving spirit in the enterprise. He organized a joint

stock company with a capital stock of $10,000 for the purpose of digging an irrigating ditch through the town. The plan was scouted by many, who offered to · wager that all the water which would pass through the ditch could be caught in a hat, but the more enterpris- ing citizens subscribed the stock at $25 per share and the project was carried to a successful issue. An ordinance granting the Lewiston Water Ditch and Mill Company, as the corporation styled itself, the right of way through the city was passed February 2, 1874, and the ditch was completed some time that year. It was intended at first for irrigation purposes only, but later S. C. Hale and John Brearley planned and built a flouring mill at its terminus, which re- suited not alone in the inauguration of a valuable new enterprise but the deepening and widening of the ditch. After passing through the hands of several different owners, the part of this property running through the city was amicably transferred in 1900 to the city of Lewiston, which abandoned it as an aqueduct, thus removing one of the ancient landmarks of the town and an improvement which had done its part in build- ing the picturesque Lewiston of the past and establish- ing the "olden, golden glory of the days gone by."

The half decade following the financial crash of 1873 was a period of quiet times in Lewiston, though commercial stagnation was never experienced and the town never ceased to grow slowly. The first thing to thoroughly arouse the people was the outbreak of the Nez Perces war, which occasioned a meeting of the citizens and the organization of the Home Guards, of which company, Ed. McConville, who later won so much fame in the Nez Perces and Spanish-American wars, was elected captain. Hazen Squier was first lieu- tenant, George Young, second lieutenant, and Charles G. Kress, orderly sergeant. The muster roll of the privates was a follows: Alexander Anderson

William, Billings- , Brearley John, Baird Ezra, Baird William, Binnard A., Boise L. B., Boise William, Benson A., Berry J. G., Boise F., Bunnell C. C., Cox William, Clark John, Coburn C. P., Collins, M., Con- nely James, Denny William, Damas A., Dunwell L., Davis P. M., Denny J. W., Frost G., Faunce C. E., Forster William, Forster Alexander, Fix John, Gros- tein R., Gale H., Gilman A., Glass George, Griffith -, Hale N., Hale L. C., Holbrook N. B., Hud- son Thomas, Hunt W. P .. Igo William, Jain Joe, Jolinson Dave, Krep C. G., Knaggs -, Kelly M. A., Kearny J., Knifong J., Loewenberg B., Leland A., Leland Charles, Minnomy J. B., McGrave James, Mc- Conville E., Monroe R. J., Mulkey W., Manning G. A., Manning Fred, McCormick J., Monroe Dave, Moxley J. Q., Noah George, Nollan M., Penny George, Rowley L., Rowley E. A., Rand J., Roberts John, Stainton H., Squier H., Schleicher R., Shank Theodore, Saux Raymond, Underwood George, Voll- mer J. P., Wiggin L., Weisgerber J., Weisgerber C., Williams M. M., Warner J. D., Wardwell Dan., Wildenthaler S., Worden Thomas, Young George, Yane Joe, bugler.

Shortly after the organization of the Home Guards, Governor Brayman authorized the formation of the

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

First Regiment , Idaho National Guards, commission- ing Captain Ed. McConville colonel of the same. Company A was immediately organized in Lewiston, with officers and membership as follows :

Colonel Ed McConville, Randolph Kean, Henry Archer, John Bruce, Elmer Colwell, W. S. Stafford, William Ritchey, John Woosherd, Charles Warnstoff, George Pitt, Henry Pohlson, Albert Wisner, Thomas Norman, George Gaunt, Charles Adams, James Salie, J. S. Pintter.

June 17, 1877, the city council held a special meet- ing to consider the Indian situation. The mayor was authorized to send a telegram to Portland asking for arms and ammunition from the citizens of that city and to the O. S. N. Company, which brought a quick response in the form of forty York rifles and a sup- ply of ammunition. The council also authorized the construction of rifle pits and other means of defense, and accordingly, eight or ten outposts were established on the high plateau south of the city. One was near the top of the present grade from Snake river avenue, another stood between that and what is now Fifth street, another to the east of the present Fifth street grade, one in front of the site of H. K. Barnett's residence and the remainder between that and the old road leading from Lewiston to Mount Idaho. At each of these outposts a semi-circular trench two or three feet deep and thirty-five or forty feet long was dug. Behind the embankment thus formed four or five men were stationed each night. Camp fires were forbidden and strict military discipline was enforced. This nightly guard was maintained until Joseph's band had been driven into Montana, though the danger of an attack was considered slight on account of the fact that it is not in accordance with Indian methods of warfare to attack large towns or cities. But it was thought that many of the reservation Indians were really in sympathy with their red brethren among the hostiles, and as a revolt among them would be indeed serious, it was best to be vigilant.

Grostein & Binnard's stone store was the strongest structure in the city and the best adapted for use as a fortress should the necessity for such arise. It was therefore arranged that in case of attack the women and children should gather in this building while the men manned the entrenchments above town. Fortunately no attack was ever made, though there were the usual number of panics among the people caused by the unfounded stories of highly imaginative persons or the fabrications of Madam Rumor.

While the war damaged Lewiston in a number of ways, as it damaged the whole of the north Idaho country, it brought a measure of compensation for the harm it did by turning the attention of the world in this direction. Then, too, Lewiston naturally be- came the headquarters for a number of army officers and one of the principal bases of supplies. At one time, it is said, every vacant business house in the city, at all suited to the purpose, was rented and used as a department office. The various corps of cierks and helpers. the camp followers and the strangers attracted to the place gave Lewiston a lively

appearance. Some of the army men suggested that the town was a capital place for the establishment of a permanent military post, and the citizens, ever ready to push any movement for the good of their town, sent numerously signed petitions to Washington ask- ing that a post be stationed here, but the department did not see its way clear to grant the request.

The year after the war, Lewiston began planning for a more substantial growth, and not a few of its leading business men commenced making arrange- ments for the erection of fire proof, brick and stone buildings. The merchants, who had theretofore catered almost entirely to the miners' trade, were asking them- selves if it would not be better to seek to build up a trade with the farming districts to the north, and the press was calling attention to the fact that if more effort had been made to satisfy the farmers' necessi- ties, the occasion for several rival towns in Washing- ton territory would not have arisen. In short, Lewis- ton was casting about for something to take the place, in furnishing support, of the declining placer mines, and its people clearly saw that their hope for the future lay in the development of quartz mining and the agricultural resources of the tributary country. As the transition from one industry to another is necessarily slow in any community, so must be the growth of towns depending upon regions in which one source of revenue becomes exhausted before others can be built up to take its place.

During the summer of 1879, the first long distance telegraph line, that precursor of the railroad, was constructed into Nez Perces county and north Idaho. It was a branch of the main military line, built to con- nect Dayton with Fort Lapwai, and the citizens of Lewiston subsidized the enterprise with a free office in the town and several hundred poles, with the under- standing that they might use the line when not in the service of the military. The following is the first telegram sent from Lewiston over the wire :

Lewiston, I. T., June 17, 1879, 5 P. M. To the Mayor and Citizens of Dayton, W. T., Greet- ings

The people of Lewiston are happy to announce to you by way of first telegram over the first U. S. Government line yet established north of San Diego, California, that they hold sacred in this manner this the anniversary of the struggle of our forefathers on Bunker Hill.

A. Leland, H. Squier, J. P. Vollmer, D. J. Warner, C. C. Bunnell, N. W. Brearley, W. F. Kettenbach, C. G. Kress, A. Gilman, E. A. McAllister, Ed. Pearcy, Loewenberg Bros., C. B. Reynolds, G. A. Manning, C. F. Leland, J. Alexander, E. J. Bonhore, Eph. Bunker, Grostein & Binnard, I. C. Baldwin, M. M. Williams, J. M. Silcott, and others.

Lewiston claims the honor of having had the first local telephone system in the northwest. It was put in by John P. Vollmer in 1878 and consisted of an exchange of three phones.

The decade between 1880 and 1890 does not seem to have brought any great good fortune or any serious disaster to Lewiston, and while the period was an

III

HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

important one and witnessed a slow, substantial growth, it is not crowded with events such as would be read about with interest if presented in full detail. The former year brought a great reduction in ferry rates across the Snake and Clearwater rivers,-an important concesion from a commercial point of view as it encouraged trade to come this way. During the fall of 1881, the city paid its tribute of respect to the memory of the martyred President Garfield. An event of unusual importance in 1883 was the 4th of July celebration, attended by large crowds from Union- town, Genessee, Asotin, Pomeroy, Pataha, Alpowai, Waha, Lapwai and many other points in Idaho and Washington ; two hundred Indians from the reser- vation, and last but not least Governor J. B. Neil, said to be the first chief executive of the territory to visit north Idaho since 1864. In 1883 the town ex- perienced a fire of considerable magnitude, though fortunately very little damage was inflicted upon the white population. About half past four o'clock on the morning of November 19tl1, the flames burst forth in the Chinese section, and before their progress could be stayed, the entire block was in ashes. Thirteen buildings were destroyed, all of them occupied by Chinamen except a wagon shop in which Lot Wiggin's tools and equipment were, and the dwelling of J. E. Sheppard. Both the white men succeeded in saving most of their valuables, and the fire was not greatly deplored as it removed a block which had been an eye- sore in the city for a long time.

On May 31, 1887, the water in the rivers rose to a height unprecedented in the experience of white men. Pioneers of 1862, who had marked the highest water of that flood year, stated that their marks were fully eighteen inches below the surface of the highest water of 1887. The greater portion of the town north of B street became seriously inundated. Fences were washed away, cellars and houses were flooded, build- ings were moved from their foundations and carried down Main street in spite of the exertions of their owners and such others as could lend a hand. Dykes built for the protection of property proved inadequate and many of those who relied upon them were flooded so suddenly that they could not even save their furni- ture and household goods. The steamboat wharf and warehouse were washed away and much other dam- age done. the principal sufferers being poor people who could ill afford what they lost. No high water disaster previously experienced by the town could compare with this one in magnitude.

Lewiston's first fire of any consequence occurred in the fall of 1890, when a conflagration thought to have been of incendiary origin, took place in the shingle yard of W. S. Wyncoop. Eighteen thousand dollars' worth of bolting timber, cedar posts, shingles and other property was destroyed. also S. L. Thompson's resi- dence. The mill and all other surrounding buildings were, however, fortunately saved, not through the efforts of the fire department, which was in a state of disintegration at the time, but by the populace with buckets of all descriptions. "Many held the opinion." says the Teller, "that the fire in the upper town was

only a decoy to lure the citizens there while another fire would be started in the business portion. An additional force was, therefore, added to the night patrol, but nothing transpired to justify the suspicions held. The property loss was covered by $12,000 in- surance on the mill yard ; the residence was uninsured. The fire demonstrated very forcibly the need of a thoroughly organized fire department."

But the year 1890 was not one of disaster through- out,-the contrary rather, for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company had promised to build a railway extension into the city and the hope of an immediate solution of the transportation problem was stimulat- ing activity in many lines. It is stated that during the first week in May $50,000 worth of Lewiston real estate changed hands. During this year, also, the first determined effort was made to supply the town with water and electric lights. The Lewiston Water & Light Company, in which several Portland capitalists were interested, was organized with a capital stock of $100,000 and by July enough of this had been sub- scribed and paid up to justify the commencement of the construction work. Engineer Bloomfield, who had charge of the enterprise, is quoted as having referred to it in the following language :

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 30

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