An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 99

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 99
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 99
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 99
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 99

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The petition was circulated according to require- ment. Five hundred and forty-six names were se-

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cured, more than the number necessary to make the ordering of the election a foregone conclusion. On the first day of the ensuing term of the district court the petition was considered, and as the papers were found to have been made out legally and signed by a majority of all the voters at the last general elec- tion, the judge signed an order providing for the vote.

A lively campaign ensued. October 31st, $6,000 was deposited in the Bank of Comas Prairie by friends of Grangeville, which sum had been subscribed for the purpose of erecting a courthouse and other county buildings, should Grangeville be chosen as the county seat. A bond for ten thousand dollars was also filed with the county commissioners conditioned upon the town of Grangeville's carrying out its promises to the voters.

But at the election ensuing, the people decided against Grangeville. the vote being 470 favoring the removal and 375 opposed. Under the law requiring a two-thirds majority, 564 votes were necessary in order that Grangeville should succeed in its ambitious designs. The question was therefore settled in Mount Idaho's favor for six years.

Another movement which enlisted the attention of Idaho county's citizens during the early days of the year 1892, was that for the establishment here of the state experiment station voted to north Idaho. As an inducement to its location here the people sub- scribed as a subsidy one thousand dollars cash and a quarter section of land. The land was what was known as the Hardy place, situated between Grange- ville and Mount Idaho. The committee appointed to attend to the matter was composed of James Witt, W. C. Pearson, Frank Shissler, J. D. Hendren, James Surridge and L. F. Horning. These gentlemen were successful in attaining the object set before them, for on February 26th, the board of regents of the Idaho State University selected Grangeville as the site of the north Idaho station. The two stations in southern Idaho were given to Nampa and Idaho Falls. The movement for the state agricultural col- lege during the fall of the same year was not success- ful, for as has been already stated, this institution was finally made a part of the state university.

The year now under review was a very prosper- ous one in Idaho county. Late and heavy rains in the spring were favorable both to the farmer and miner, but before results could be known in either of these industries, real estate had begun to change hands rapidly at good prices. Reviewing the twelvemonth in its issue of December 30th, the Free Press says :

"The year 1892 is a notable one in the history of Camas prairie, which has made more progress in the last twelve months than in five preceding years. The steady advertising of its resources led to the dis- covery of the country, as it were, and the newcomers were quick to realize the possibilities which lay be- fore it. As one result much land has changed hands at advanced prices, and a very large addition has been made to our population and to those interested in the development of our natural resources. New towns have been started and others projected, with the re-

sult that their occupants have succeeded in making two blades of grass grow where one grew before. A real start has been made toward opening the surplus reservation lands, and while the matter is still in doubt, its final accomplishment cannot be much longer delayed. Our mining camps have prospered more than ever before; new districts have been opened and much development work is in progress. Our vast mineral resources have been advertised as never before and fortune is smiling upon us."

Too bad that the forward movement of the prairie and county should have been brought to a sudden halt and a retreat so soon begun, but how different is the note sounded by this same paper about a year after- ward, when is presented the following gloomy picture of conditions :

"The year 1893 opened with prospects of progress and development for Camas prairie and Idaho county that would have sent us to the top notch of pros- perity if realized. Never did a season open more auspiciously ; the winter was of unusual length and many cattle died, but the long wet spring, with its assurances of bountiful harvests, brought ample com- pensating advantages. As the season progressed and the promise of a great harvest became practically as- sured, and the feverish activity in mining circles and real estate speculations in town lots and farming lands developed, it seemed as if the long looked for boom had come. But then came the panic with its depres- sion of values, and to cap the climax, the great har- vest that had been gathered was practically ruined by the longest and heaviest rainy season known here since the settlement of the country.

"The one redeeming feature which has kept this community in a self-sustaining position during the panic was the fortunate sale of our live stock and hogs, at ruinously low prices, to be sure, but the ag- gregate sum was sufficiently large to relieve the financial stringency. The estimated value of cattle shipped from Idaho county this year is $160,000, and the value of hogs is $80,000. But for this one re- source we should have been a hopelessly bankrupt community. These are strong words but they are nevertheless true. Our surrounding mining camps which usually put much money in circulation, were this year practically deserted and the output was never less. The claims which in other days were owned and worked by hundreds of Chinese and made to yield thousands of dollars which found its way into the channels of trade are now owned by white men who hold them for speculative rather than for practical purposes, and therefore to-day are idle and unpro- ductive, to the great detriment of every citizen in the county. In the spring of the year there were great hopes that outside capitalists would take hold of some of the better developed quartz properties in Elk City, erect machinery thereon and make them productive ; great schemes for the development of the hitherto 1111- worked flat placer fields of that same mineral basin were projected and until the bottom fell out, matters in that camp assumed a very feverish stage of antici- pation and excitement. But the year has gone by

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without any particular change. In Florence and War- ren the season has been dull beyond precedent. On Salmon river alone is there an increase of population engaged in mining.

"On Camas prairie matters are in a state of stag- nation which will endure until spring. We are just beginning to feel the pinch of hard times and the scarcity of money. The proceeds of our cattle sales are about exhausted, and having paid many debts here, the money has, in the ordinary course of busi- ness, been sent below to pay outside obligations. We are now. figuratively spcaking, on the flat of our backs, and will remain so until something happens to start up the usual business activity. A boom in the wheat market will put the lower country on its feet right away, but isolated community is too far from railroads to be affected thereby."

But notwithstanding the gloom of this picture it may be doubted whether Camas prairie or any other part of Idaho county suffered one half as much from the depression of 1893-6 as did other sections of the American union ; certainly the hard times did not last as long, though there was a condition of things border- ing upon the industrial stagnation throughout the whole of the year 1894. There was little activity in the mines, and though crops in the agricultural dis- tricts were fairly good, prices were low. The stock market was so depressed as to render that industry only moderately profitable. The year saw one im- portant move forward, however, and that was the building of two much needed wagon roads. The legislature which met in the winter of 1892-3 had appropriated $8,000 for a road from Camas prairie to Elk City and $27,000 for one down Little Salmon river and Salmon river to the southern terminus of the wagon road ending at John Doumecq's place.

Those who were residents of the county at the time will remember that in the summer of 1894 some remarkable meteorological phenomena were observed. The first and second days of June were remarkably sultry and on the evening of the second a southwest wind sprang up, ceasing about midnight. The next day at noon another wind started blowing from the same quarter, a hot wind the like of which had never before been known in the experience of the oldest residents of the county or the Indians. The ani- mometer at the experimental station registered its velocity as having reached at one time seventy-six miles an hour, and having averaged fifty-six for four consecutive hours. At sundown it subsided and was followed by a comparatively low temperature. The wind, it is said, whipped trees to pieces, blew over flues, tore off shingles from houses, overturned light buildings and fences, stripped trees of their foliage and caused garden vegetables to wilt as if blighted with frost. Several structures were moved on their foundations, among them the new school house at Mount Idaho. The Salmon river rose thirty inches in twenty-four hours. Its waters floated away several riparian buildings, among them a sawmill on the south fork. Timber in the mountains was blown down in great quantities. The one advantage of the storm

was that prospecting in the mining districts was facilitated by the fact that great holes were dug in the earth by upturned trees.

It may be safely asserted that hard times in Idaho county terminated during 1895. The opening of the reservation in the fall brought hundreds of home- seekers into the different towns, giving them an air of bustle and activity, but better far than any temporary inflation of population was the prospect, nay the cer- tainty, that the development of the surplus Indian lands in the county and the end of Indian dominion would have an effect beneficial to the agriculturist in bring- ing the railroad and to the miner in opening the Clear- water river. the key to the Bitter Root mountain coun- try.

The year 1895 was one of great activity in the min- ing districts. In speaking of the progress made, the Free Press says :

"First of all and foremost, the hydraulic elevator plant of the Idaho Mining & Development Company on American hill, in Elk City district, is the largest hy- draulic enterprise ever inaugurated in Idaho county and certainly the most pregnant in its possibilities. Next comes the operations of the Relief Milling Com- pany, in the same district-the pioneer enterprise in quartz milling and concentrating. On Deadwood gulch James Witt is opening up the Deadwood basin, by means of a bedrock flume, at great expense. ()n Crooked creek, in Dixie district, Blaine & Cummings are also putting in a large bedrock flume. The value of the newly exploited Moose creek diggings has been demonstrated this year by Heppner & Richardson, while various other smaller enterprises throughout the camps in the Bitter Roots are in process of develop- mient.

"On the Salmon river waters we find in Florence a discovery and development of hitherto undreamed of mineral wealth in quartz, which has so far prog- ressed that a stamp mill for reducing the same is now in process of erection. In Warren the operations of the big Philadelphia Dredge Company will be watched with keen interest by its stockholders, and if it realizes the expectations formed of it, will bring to our virgin placer fields a steady stream of eastern money for in- vestment in like enterprises."

The year 1896 was also one of great activity in min- ing circles, Florence being, perhaps, the chief center of interest. On April 5th the miners of that district, in mass meeting assembled, decided upon the location of a new town to be called New Florence. Its site was to be Summit Flat, situated a half mile southeast of the old town of Florence. Ten lots were reserved for the first ten business houses to open in the place : sixty or sixty-five others were divided among the residents. by lot. The new town was thought to have been rendered necessary by quartz development in the district. Elk City and Warren also made substantial progress. Ac- tivity in the mines had its beneficial influence upon the farming communities of course though these were not to recover fully from the effect of the financial strin- gency until a little later.

May 17. 1897, a cloud burst visited the Salmon

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

liver country, doing great damage to roads, ditches. Anmes, ranches and almost everything in its way for a distance of twelve miles. The Free Press tells us that from Freedom to Captain Wilson's, the wagon road was a total wreck where walls were built ; that every little gully on the south slope ran a torrent, carrying tocks, dirt and trees on the bottoms below, covering gardens. orchards and ranches from a few inches to fifteen feet deep. At White Bird horses and cattle were swept down into the river. So great was the damage to roads that wagon transportation of mails had to be discontinued, pending repairs. Another cloud burst visited the same region June 21st following, totally destroying the crops on the Sherwin ranch and doing some damage to the White Bird townsite.

It was during the early part of this year that the initial steps were taken toward establishing the Bitter Root and Priest River forest reserves, the executive order for the purpose bearing date February 22, 1897. This order provided that all prospecting should cease after March 1, 1898, but fortunately congress modified this feature. and provided that prospecting might al- ways be carried on within the reserves under the same conditions as elsewhere, also that the land might be taken for agricultural purposes. Patrols are main- tained, however. to see that the forests are properly preserved. The Bitter Root reserve, which most intimately affects our county, is situated in both Idaho and Montana and covers the entire Bitter Root range. The mining camps of Elk City, Dixie and Buffalo Hump are included within its limits.

A sensation was created December 29th of this year by the news that the incoming stage from Lewis- ton had been held up on the flat between the Pearson ranch and the town during the preceding night. After the two passengers, a miner named Arnold Gerber and a San Francisco drummer named Ben Rosenfelt, had been relieved of such money as the rob- bers could find, the former of twenty-eight dollars, the the latter of thirty cents, the highwaymen ordered the driver. Allie Vincent, to throw out the mail sacks. Vincent threw them the way sack, which had nothing in it of great value, retaining the through mail. He was then ordered back to Denver, but after proceeding in that direction for about one hundred yards he again headed for Grangeville. Search the next day resulted in the discovery near the scene of the hold up of a notice to leave town which had been served on a half- breed named Charles A. Frush. The result was the arrest of Frush. One Daniel Hurley was also arrested and both men were held for trial at the May term of the federal court. Frush entered a plea of guilty and gave such evidence against Hurley that he was con- victed. Both received life sentences.

Six years having elapsed since the county seat contest. the citizens of Grangeville assembled in mass meeting on January 17. 1898, for the purpose of considering the advisability of inaugurating a new contest. After considerable discussion it was con- cluded that it were best not to do so just then, as the citizens would be expected to furnish a court- house and they had other matters of more immediate

importance demanding their attention. Florence, too, had been enjoying a boom in its tributary mining terri- tory and had become ambitious to get back the county seat. It was therefore thought that that town might cause a division in the forces favoring a removal such as would prevent the securing of the required two- thirds majority, thus leaving Mount Idaho in posses- sion of the prize for another six years.

As in all other parts of the great northwest and the greater American union, so in Idaho county much enthusiasm was elicited by the outbreak of the Spanish- American war and a wave of intense patriotism passed over the people. The county was quick to furnish its quota of volunteers, indeed the opportunity to en- list was deemed a privilege and many more would have willingly gone to the war had the government required them. Members of the militia, Company C. were of course given the preference and on the even- ing of April 28th that company was ordered to the state rendezvous at Boise. When the fact became known, a fund was speedily subscribed and hasty preparations were made to give the boys a hearty Godspeed. They were tendered a reception in the opera house the next evening at which patriotic music was rendered and speeches were made suited to the occasion by Hon. Wallace N. Scales, Captain D. M. Hartman, J. F. Ailshie and A. F. Parker.

April 30th they set out in wagons to Lewiston. They were greeted with hastily improvised demon- strations at Denver and Cottonwood, at the latter of which towns they spent the night. They arrived in Lewiston in due season, where they were given an- other ovation, proceeding thence to Boise on May 5th. The following is the roster of the boys who started from Grangeville. Captain J. W. Murphy, First Lieutenant L. Castle, Second Lieutenant R. H. Hartman, Privates Frank Ames, H. M. McDermid, B. F. Knorr, F. McLean, Fred Mckenzie, J. A. Wood, W. E. Cook, Bert Collar, Henry Holz, Will- iam Bloom, James Graves, Joseph Jones, William

Maxey, - -WVcKee, Charles Smith, Frank Wor- den, Fred Beck, James Byrom, John Byrom, W. H. Jones, Joe Jones. W. H. Pearson, Robert Crea, Richard Crea. F. R. Pearson, H. H. Pogue, Ludwig Egeler, M. L. Murray, W. C. Rothwell. William J. Tracy, John Worden, Henry Giles, H. Strochan, Ed. Beck, Fred Ames, Bert Pearson. Henry Crea: also Ned Green of Cottonwood. Of these the following were rejected at Boise probably because they could not pass the physical examination, namely: Frank Ames, Henry Holz, William Bloom, Charles Smith, John Byrom, H. H. Pogue, John Worden, H. Strochan, Ed. Beck, Fred Ames, Bert Pearson and Henry Crea.

The Company C, as it was constituted during the war, was made up of the Company C whose per- sonnel is above given and small companies from Washington, Cassia and other counties. From the memorial prepared from the official records subse- quent to the war we obtain the following information : That the captain at the time of mustering out was James Graham : the first lieutenant, Richard H. Hart-

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man, was in command from August 6, 1898, to March 25, 1899, and the second lieutenant, Edwin M. Hol- den ; sergeants : Fred N. Mckenzie, John A. Wood, Benjamin D. Knorr, Lce G. B. McDowell, (sharp- shooter ), William S. Maxey ; quartermaster, Warren E. Cook; corporals: William C. Rothwell, John O. Lowe, Thomas W. Parry, Charles H. Abbott, Zabud S. Starks, Frank A. Warden, Bunker C. Eller, chief cook; Forrest E. Collins, lance corporal ; musicians, William W. Adamson, Fred Farr ; artificer, Hubert H. Anderson; wagoner, Henry H. Giles; privates, Cyrus Albertson, Tim W. Barton, John Bendy, Da- vid Bjorn, Val. Brackenbury, Malcolm Carruthers, Thos. E. Chidsey, wounded February 5, 1899, James B. Crea, sharpshooter, Robert Crea, William L. Cun- ningham, George Cook, Jr., Horatio A. Collar, Lud- wig Egeler, James C. Graves, Sidney Gray, John E. Greene, Edward F. Harper, Ellet Hitt, Joseph J. Hor- ton, Norman W. Jones, Joseph Jones, James W. Jef- freys, Paul A. Kinzel, Horatio Lowe, Arthur J. La- brash,. George B. Manning, wounded April 10, 1899; Guy Merritt, Harry Minick, Michael L. Murray, ( sharpshooter), Solon Orr, Frank R. Pearson, Joseph L. Pope, Edward Patch, Alois L. Price, George C. Robins . (sharpshooter), Herman G. Rapp, (sharp- shooter ) ; Frank Riblett, William Resh, James C. Rich, Thomas Richardson, Jabez Saunders, George P. Simpson, Frank E. Smith, Orson C. Wixom, Henry A. Wolfe. Transferred: Quartermaster sergeant, Hugh M. McDermid to hospital corps ; Private Ed- ward Mason to hospital corps; discharged, before mustering out : Captain John W. Murphy, December 21, 1898; Musician Fred W. Beck, wounded February 5, 1899, Privates Harry J. Conners, James W. Ryan, John C. Cliff, Wesley Walton, wounded February 5th, 1899 ; Fred Goodwin, Thomas P. Burke, wounded Feb- ruary 5, 1899: John J. Donnelly, John A. Christensen, William P. Cutting, Leander E. Lamon, Robert Mills, Irwin Pierson, Fred H. Streeter, wounded Feb- ruary 5. 1899: Joseph J. Valentine. Roll of Honor : Corporal William H. Jones, died October 21. 1898; Private Bird L. Anderson, died June 11, 1898; Private James D. Jones, died November 1, 1898; Private How- ard G. Haller, killed February 5, 1899; Private Will- iam J. Tracy, drowned March 17, 1899.

Record of events :-- Left Boise, Idaho, May 19, 1898. Arrived at San Francisco, California, May 22, and went into camp at Camp Merritt. Embarked on steamship "Morgan City," June 26th. Left San Francisco bay enroute to Manila, June 27th. Arrived at Honolulu July 6th, leaving July 9th. Arrived at Manila Bay July 31st. Landed August 6th at Para- naque, and went into camp at Camp Dewey. On guard and outpost duty until fall of Manila, in which the Idaho boys took part. Went into barracks at Malate, August 18th. On guard and outpost duty until February 4th, 1899. In trenches and on firing line from February 4th to July 12th. Embarked on U. S. A. transport "Grant" en route to San Francisco, via Nagasaki, Inland Sea and Yokohama, July 31st. Arrived at San Francisco August 29. Went into camp at Presidio, August 31st.

Battles and engagements : With Spanish forces- assault and capture of Manila, August 13, 1898 : with Philipino insurgents, 1899: battle of Santa Ana, February 4th and 5th; battle of Caloocan, February Ioth and IIth : engagements at Guadaloupe, Febru- ary 16th, 17th, and 18th; Santa Cruz expedition, April 8th to 17th; skirmish in the advance on Santa Cruz, April 9th : battle of Santa Cruz, April 10th ; skirmish in the advance on Pagsanjan and De Lomban, April IIth; skirmish in the advance on Paete, April 13th. It should be added that First Lieutenant L. Castle, of Grangeville, was, on his arrival at Boise, transferred to the first lieutenancy of Company E, of which he was in command much of the time. Later he became captain of Company H, of Boise, with which he returned to San Francisco.

Everywhere throughout the entire war the Idahos conducted themselves in such a manner as to reflect credit upon the state that sent them forth, but per- haps one exploit in which the Grangeville volunteers were prominent is deserving of special mention here. On the Ioth of April the command went out on La- guna de Bay to capture towns, in company with the Fourteenth regulars, the Fourth cavalry and the North Dakota Regiment of Lawton's brigade. Lieu- tenant Hartman, of Company C, was in command of sharpshooters at Santa Cruz and was on the firing line all the time with forty expert shots scattered out in line about 400 yards beyond the outposts, where it was easier to pick off venturesome Filipinos. On April 9, he created the famous "jackpot of Filipinos." It appears that he discovered some eighty or a hun- dred of the enemy lying in ambush for him on his right. He swung his men around so as to form an arc of a circle with the Filipinos in the center. Lieutenant Sims, of Company A, who was on the right, swung around so as to complete the corral. Then a terrible fire was commenced and in a few moments the "jack- pot" was filled with the bodies of slain Filipinos.

October 1, 1899, the Idaho county volunteers re- turned home. They were greeted with ovations all along the route and when they reached Grangeville, the most enthusiastic and cordial reception was ac- corded them that has ever been given in the history of the county. Flags were unfurled, strains of martial music greeted their ears, flattering addresses were made, in short everything was done that could in any way emphasize the welcome of the people for those who had so well represented them in battles with a foreign foe. The overflowing heartiness of the re- ception will live long in the memories of those to whom it was given and of all who participated in this most enthusiastic of gala occasions.

While the Idaho county volunteers were making a record to be proud of in a foreign land, events of great moment in the country's development were transpiring at home. It was during the prosperous year 1898 that the famous Buffalo Hump mines were discovered and that an excitement was created des- tined to carry the county forward in population, wealth production and general development at a rate never before known since the palmy days of placer

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 99

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