An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day, Part 120

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1014

USA > Idaho > An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day > Part 120

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Mr. Mckinlay was married in Iowa, in 1876, to Miss Ellen Holohan, who bore him six chil- dren, and died April 6, 1887, at Cottonwood, Idaho. Their children were named Glenn P., Mary and John (twins), Harry, Maud and Katic. John and Katie are dead. Harry is a member of Company A, Idaho Volunteers, and is now serving his country at the peril of his life in the Philippine war. Glenn P., after a three-years course at the Idaho State University, at Moscow, is laying plans for future successes. Maud is a member of the father's household. In 1894 Mr. McKinlay took for his second wife Mary Bohn, who has borne him two children, Hazel, who is dead, and Vivian Edward.

WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK.

Wherever his lot may be cast in the north, the intelligent, progressive southerner finds a wel- come and makes many friends. If he fought on "the other side" in our great civil war, he is everywhere regarded more highly than the southern union man or the southern non- combatant. He is made to feel at home by Grand Army men and is quickly on fraternal terms with those whom once he faced on the field of battle.

William Kirkpatrick is one of the prominent pioneer farmers of Blackfoot, Idaho, where he located in 1873, on one hundred and sixty acres, west of the town site, which property he still owns. The county was then unsurveyed and had few inhabitants except Indians, with whom the whites at times had misunderstandings but managed to evade actual warfare. Mr. Kirkpat- rick improved his property, cultivated it profita- bly and gave much attention to stock-raising. He has a fine water-right and is enabled to raise large quantities of alfalfa hay, upon which he feeds his stock in winter. He has become an influential citizen and is a Democrat of the deep- est dye, declaring his intention to vote the Demo- cratic ticket as long as he lives. His ideals of military genius and statesmanship are Robert E. Lee and Grover Cleveland. He is active in par- tisan work and in the conventions of his party. In 1878 he did faithful and efficient service to his fellow citizens as deputy sheriff, and in that ca- pacity won an enviable reputation as a reliable and fearless public officer.

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

Mr. Kirkpatrick is a southerner, having been born in Greenbrier county, Virginia (now West Virginia), December 3, 1842, and was descended from English ancestors who settled early in the Old Dominion, where several generations of his family were born. His father, George Kirkpat- rick, a native of Virginia, married Miss Malinda Dean. They were religious from childhood and active and useful members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Kirkpatrick was an elder. Mrs. Kirkpatrick died in the forty-third year of her life and her husband survives her, aged eighty-three. They had ten children, eight of whom are living.

William Kirkpatrick, third child of George and Malinda (Dean) Kirkpatrick, was educated in Virginia, and when the anti-slavery agitation culminated in the war between the states, he es- poused the cause of the south, enlisting in Com- pany E, twenty-sixth Virginia Battalion, which for a time was attached to the Western Army and did scout and guard duty in West Virginia. Later Mr. Kirkpatrick took part in some of the hard-fought battles of the great struggle. He was in the fighting at Winchester, Cedar Creek, Cold Harbor, Culpeper Court House, White Sul- phur Springs, Charleston, Hawk's Nest and at various other points. In one of these engage- ments he was shot in the right shoulder, but though his wound was painful, he bore up bravely and never left his company. At Cold Harbor, one of the most terrific engagements of the war, his hearing was impaired by the incessant con- cussions of heavy cannonading. At the time of the surrender of General Lee, the Twenty-sixth Battalion was in its home state, and it disbanded and its members went to their homes without either discharge or parole.

For a time after the war Mr. Kirkpatrick was overseer of a large stock farm in West Virginia, owned by a prominent citizen of that state. From there he came to Idaho, in 1873, as has been stated, to engage in stock-raising on his own ac- count. After spending two years here as a single man, he married Miss Ann Geret, a native of England. They have six children: John, Ed- ward, William, George Cleveland, James and Millie.

Mr. Kirkpatrick is a genial, whole-souled man who makes friends wherever he goes, and his

home is one of the most hospitable at Black- foot.

THOMAS G. LOWE.

Thomas Galloway Lowe, who follows farming near the town of Franklin, is a son of Thomas and Eliza (Galloway) Lowe, who were natives of Scotland. Reared and married in that country, three children were there born to them, after which they sailed with their family for America, in 1853. They landed in New York and made a location in the east, but by various removals gradually made their way westward, and in the interim six more children were added to the fam- ily. In 1861 they started to cross the plains with an old yoke of oxen, bringing with them their nine children. They traveled from spring until fall, but eventually reached their destination in safety, and Mr. Lowe, who was a carpenter by trade, at once secured work on a grist mill. He remained at East Weaver, Utah, until the spring of 1863, when with his wife and children, now ten in number, he came to Oneida county, Idaho, and settled upon unsurveyed lands. There he

made his home until 1886, when he was called to his final rest, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife survives him and now resides on the old homestead, in the seventy-third year of her age, a much respected old lady, numbered among the brave pioneer women of the state. She was the faithful and loving mother of sixteen children, fourteen of whom are living.

Thomas G. Lowe, the eldest child, was born in Scotland, April 11, 1851, and was only two years old at the time of the emigration of the family to America. He obtained the greater part of his education in a private school in Franklin, Idaho, under the instruction of President Woodward. He learned the carpenter's trade with his father, and worked on the building of the Logan Temple for three and a half years. In 1875 he was sent by his church on a mission to Europe, where he labored very successfully in Scotland and Eng- land for two years, bringing with him on his re- turn trip one hundred and thirty-six converts to the Mormon faith, the voyage being made on the ship Wyoming.

After his return Mr. Lowe was called by Presi- dent Taylor to superintend the building of the Paris stake tabernacle, and carried it forward to successful completion, it being by far the best

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house of worship in the state. After spending two years in that work he returned to Franklin and engaged in merchandising, securing a very liberal patronage and prospering in his under- takings. However, he sold out to engage in the sheep industry, in which he has also met with ex- cellent success. He has on hand most of the time as high as forty-three hundred head of sheep, and his lambs in the season of 1898-9 brought him four thousand dollars. He has sheds in which he protects his sheep in the winter and thus has fine lambs for the early market, at which time they bring the highest price.

In 1872 Mr. Lowe was happily married to Miss Elizabeth A. M. Pernell, a native of St. Louis, and their children are as follows: Louisa, Thomas M., James S., Euphana, Nora, Refuge,

Marvelous, Era and Silver. The eldest daughter is now the wife of Thomas J. Poulter.

In politics Mr. Lowe is a Democrat. He takes a deep interest in educational matters and has ef- ficiently served as school trustee of his district. In the church he is an active worker, has been president of the elders' quorum and president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associa- tion. He is also president of the teachers' quo- rum, and in all such positions has shown himself to be the right man in the right place. In busi- ness affairs he is industrious, diligent and capable, has met with success in every undertaking, and is a credit to the town in which he was reared and educated, fully deserving the prosperity that has come to him and the high esteem in which he is held.

CHAPTER XLIV.

BEAR LAKE COUNTY.

B EAR LAKE county is the smallest in Ida- ho, yet one of the richest, and one of the very few counties comparatively free from public indebtedness. The natural wealth of the little domain is about as happily diversified as its residents could wish. It has mountains on either side rich in minerals, timber and building stone, which have recently been developed to a greater extent than during all the years of its settlement.

The county was settled by Mormons in the year 1863, and for a number of years afterward their residence continued under circumstances of the most forbidding and discouraging nature. The county is perhaps the highest altitude that is cultivated successfully in the world, the altitude being about six thousand feet, and the early set- tlers, being unaccustomed to the frosts and the storms of these high altitudes and the different methods of raising crops by irrigation, were for several years compelled to haul their flour and other necessaries over the rugged mountains from Cache valley, Utah, a distance of seventy- five miles, the roads being mere trails, rocky, sidling, and without bridges over the wild, swift mountain streams. To settle such a county, none but the strongest and most determined could ac- complish; so bleak and sterile was the country that the shade and fruit trees first planted re- fused to grow. All this is changed by the labor and perseverance of this people, and their learn- ing how to cultivate by irrigation, and to secure those seeds, trees and shrubs which are accli- mated to these high altitudes. By this means the county is now abundantly fruitful in grain, hay and vegetables of almost every kind. It appears to be the home of all kinds of small fruit, and apples, pears, plums, cherries, prunes, etc., are becoming plentiful, while watermelons, squash, corn, tomatoes and other of the tender fruits are raised by many.

Along the mountainous surface of the county is a heavy growth of pine timber, into which

numerous sawmills annually make inroads with- out seriously diminishing the supply.

The stock business is one of the principal in- dustries, and one of the main resources of the county. The grazing facilities are excellent, and the hay-producing area is very large; much of it is overflowed by the waters of Bear river each spring, and this not only serves the purpose of irrigation, but also very materially increases the productiveness of the soil. Without this heavy hay crop, stock-raising could not be very well! carried on, as the winters are very severe from early in January to the middle of March.

Cheese-making has come to be quite an in- dustry in Bear Lake, and during the summer sea- son of 1897 it was estimated that the cheese fac- tories of Bear Lake county-of which there are seventeen-turned out ten tons of cheese each week, almost every pound of which found its way into Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Montana and Colorado markets.

A short distance from Montpelier, near what is known as the old Lander emigrant road, are lo- cated the Oneida salt works. There are several springs, and no pumping is required, the water being run through wooden pipes into large gal- vanized-iron pans, in which the salt is made by boiling the water. The water is as cold as ordi- nary spring water, and is perfectly clear, showing how completely the saline matter is held in solu- tion. The salt is shoveled out once in thirty minutes, and after draining twenty-five hours, is thence thrown into the drying-house, there to remain until sacked and ready for shipment. The supply of water gives four thousand five hundred pounds of salt per day, and the owners market it at five cents per pound. An analysis made by Dr. Piggott, of Baltimore, shows a higher per- centage of pure salt than the celebrated Ononda- ga brand of Syracuse, while neither Liverpool, Turk's Island nor Saginaw salt approaches it in purity, or is as white, clear or soluble in liquids.

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The product for 1897 was about seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

It has only been but recently that the fame of the hot springs has been published abroad. All through the beautiful Bear Lake valley mineral springs are plentiful. The most important, how- ever, are the Bear Lake Hot Springs, situated on the shores of Bear Lake. Here a stream of min- eral water comes pouring from the side of the mountain, nearly boiling hot, furnishing water sufficient for two splendid plunge baths. The curative qualities of the waters of these springs are marvelous. For rheumatic complaints, skin diseases, catarrh and kindred ailments, they arc unexcelled. The waters have never been fully analyzed, but sulphur, mercury and niter exist in quantities sufficient to make the waters the best natural medical bath known. Montpelier, on the Oregon Short Line, is the most convenient rail- road point. Hunting, fishing and bathing are all combined with this resort, and there is a good family hotel.

Within a radius of two or three miles there are. a group of mineral springs, near Soda Springs, which are considered most remarkable, because of their waters ranging from almost ice-cold to warm, containing magnesia, soda, iron, sulphur and various other constituents in such propor- tions as to have a great power on disease, and some of them being so highly charged with car- bonic acid and other gases as to prove a most pleasing beverage. Over one million bottles of the famous "Idanha" mineral water are put up every year. This water is bottled out of the spring called Idanha (the Indian name for Ida- ho). The water from this spring is most palat- able and has a delightfully refreshing and invig- orating effect. During one single month the Oregon Short Line shipped over one hundred tons of this bottled elixir from Soda Springs station.

In the neighborhood of these springs there are extinct volcanoes, geyser cones, sulphur moun- tains, a boiling lake of the same material, some wonderful caves, superb fishing and hunting, the Blackfoot and Portneuf furnishing the trout and the mountains bear and elk. Four miles south- west is Swan Lake, one of the loveliest natural gems set in the Wasatch range. It reclines in an oval basin, whose rim is ten feet above the

surrounding country. The shores are densely covered with trees, shrubs and luxuriant under- growth. The outlet is a series of small, moss- covered basins, symmetrically arranged, the clear water overflowing the bank, trickling into the nearest emerald tub, then successively into others, until it forms a sparkling stream, emptying into the Bear river in the valley below. The lake is said to be bottomless, no sounding having as yet determined its depth. Near this lake of beautiful fresh water is the singular sulphur lake, out of whose center liquid sulphur incessantly boils and coats the shores with thick deposits.

But the most famous of all the lakes is the Bear Lake, from which the county is named. This body of fresh water is twenty miles long by eight miles wide, reaching from St. Charles (a prosperous, cleanly city eight miles south of Paris, to Lake Town, in Rich county, Utah) its elevation is five thousand nine hundred feet, and it abounds in fish of various kinds, such as sev- eral kinds of trout (salmon, silver and speckled), and mullet, white fish and chub. Utah's state game and fish warden has deposited a large amount of black bass in this lake, and Idaho's executive has arranged for their protection and care.

The lake is fed by several mountain streans, and these also abound in fish, mostly mountain brook trout. It has an outlet, emptying into Bear river, in the north. The shores of the lake are sandy and gravelly, affording a clean and easy approach. The water is shallow for a distance of about one hundred yards, when it gradually deep- ens to an extent not as yet determined. A little north of Garden City, Utah, a sounding line ran out nine hundred feet, but no bottom was touched. The water is very clear, affording a view of the bottom at a depth of ten to fifteen feet. It is a splendid bathing resort, and the inhabitants, living on its shores, delight in its exercise, as well as the many hundreds who visit the lake in the summer from Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and other distant localities. The Oregon Short Line skirts the northern shore.

Movements made in mining circles in Bear Lake county during the last two years compel one to believe that this county will yet rank as one of the foremost mineral producers of the state. This is made especially the more forcible

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on account of the wonderful developments made in the Humming Bird property, recently bonded by Colonel Shaughnessey of Salt Lake City and others. The mine is located about five miles from Paris, up Paris canyon.

The Blackstone mine, near St. Charles, eight miles south of Paris, is another excellent piece of mining property, well supplied with a quartz- crushing mill and all other necessary machinery. This property, with fourteen others, is owned by the Dodge Company, of Salt Lake. It produces a low-grade galena ore, running about seventy- five per cent lead and a few dollars in silver and gold.

The Norman copper mines are being worked, and are showing up brighter all the time.

The public schools of Bear Lake county take high rank. New school furniture and apparatus is to be found in every school district, and over half of the school districts have now new and commodious school-houses. Examinations have been frequent, so as to prevent any individual teaching school who could not come up to the required standard.

PARIS.

Paris, the county-seat of Bear Lake county, is situated ten miles southwest of Montpelier, which is its nearest railroad station. The altitude is about six thousand feet above the sea, and the climate and natural advantages are all that could be desired. Paris is an incorporated city, con- taining about fifteen hundred inhabitants, and was founded in the fall of 1863 by Apostle C. C. Rich, who brought with him a company of Latter Day Saints to possess the land and make a set- tlement. Among the first residents were Robert H. Williams, Hezekiah Duffie, John Mann, Thomas Sleght, John and George Humphreys and Joseph Rich, the last named now judge of the district court. They were a brave and faith- ful band of pioneers, who endured many hard- ships and privations in order to make homes in this new district, and Paris now stands as a mon- ument to their fortitude and enterprise. It con- tains many nice homes, beautiful shade trees, fine gardens, and is surrounded by richly cultivated farms and well-kept stock ranches. Farming and stock-raising constitute the chief occupations of the settlers of this locality, and many of the agriculturists reside in Paris, and own and culti-

vate lands near by. In 1897 the place was incor- porated as a village, with a board of trustees, and in April, 1898, the first city board was elected, consisting of John U. Stucki, mayor; J. R. Shep- herd, Arthur Budge, Walter Hoge, Thomas Menson, Wilfred Rich, A. F. Seegmiller, Chris- tian Fuller and Charles Inness, all representative men. The city is out of debt. It has a large brick district school building, and the stake academy, which is a large brick structure, is now being completed and occupies a splendid site, which was donated for the purpose by Mayor Stucki. The grounds include four acres, and the building overlooks Paris and the entire valley. The Latter Day Saints have also erected a large stake tabernacle, of red and white stone, with a seating capacity of twenty-five hundred. It was built at a cost of fifty thousand dollars and is by far the finest church edifice in the state. There are also two ward frame meet- ing-houses, owned by the same church, for use on more common occasions. The Presbyterian people also have a nice little church edifice and a resident minister. The business of the town is done in two large general mercantile stores, a drug store, two meat markets, two blacksmith shops, a harness shop and a creamery. The last is a new industry, owned by a stock company of the citizens, and the factory has a capacity for utilizing six hundred cans of milk per day. In the county there are also a number of cheese factories. The residents of Paris are nearly all Latter Day Saints, and are an honest, temperate, thrifty people, who have founded and maintain an attractive little city.

MONTPELIER.

Montpelier is a city of sixteen hundred inhabi- tants, situated in Bear Lake valley, Bear Lake county, Idaho, on the Oregon Short Line Rail- road, ninety-nine miles east of Pocatello, and it is nearly six thousand feet above sea level. It was first settled in April, 1864, by fifteen men and their families, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who in answer to the call of the church volunteered to go out and settle the valley. Of those first fifteen brave and faithful pioneers the following are still living in the town, honored for what they have done: John Bunney, Christian Hoganson, William Severns,

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John Cozzens and William Ervin. Jacob Jones and Edward Burgoyne are credited with having arrived about the same time. Charles H. Bridges is also one of the very early settlers of the town. Most of these gentlemen have raised large and respected families, most of whom have settled in the town and surrounding country. The wives of most of these pioneers who braved with them all the early trials and dangers are still spared to them.

The first settlers called the place Clover Creek and Belmont, but later President Brigham Young visited them and gave the town its pres- ent name, Montpelier, that being the name of the town in Vermont in which he was born. The first settlers lived in dug-outs covered with brush, some by day in the willows, sleeping in their wagons. As soon as they could, they built log houses, and, not having lumber, spread hay on the earth floor and hung up a cloth for a door and covered the window in the same way. Later they whip-sawed lumber for floors, etc., and made themselves more comfortable. Part of the time a large coffee-mill was used to grind the grain, and they had to go with oxen seventy-five miles for their supplies, and the mail during the long months of winter was brought in by men on snow-shoes. Each settler was allotted an acre and a quarter in the town, and out of the town twenty acres of grain land and twenty acres for hay. These small allotments were made so that they could live close together for mutual protec- tion.

During several of the first years of the settle- ment there were destructive early frosts, and the crickets and grasshoppers came down on the pio- neers in great numbers and completely destroyed all that they tried to raise, and at times it looked very dark for the brave little colony. Not a few of the men had pulled hand-carts across the plains and suffered many hardships for their church, but they had courage and a great faith that never faltered, and they endured and perse- vered, and one outcome of their stability is the growing business town of Montpelier. The lit- tle huts and log houses have been replaced by fine commodious houses, and the founders of the town are now living in peace, comfort and con-

tentment, still true to the faith that inspired them in those days of peril and privation.

The railroad was completed in 1884. Repair shops were established at Montpelier and the town was made a division terminus and grew to- ward the depot and naturally became a distribut- ing point for all the country north within a dis- tance of one hundred miles and south for sixty miles or more. At this time its post-office dis- tributes mail for twenty-seven post-offices, sev- enty million pounds of freight are annually re- ceived at the station, and large numbers of sheep and cattle and a considerable quantity of wool are shipped from it, and it is believed that fully twelve thousand people procure their supplies at this point. The town has six general merchan- dise stores. It has three large hardware and im- plement houses and the only banking house in the county. This bank, known as the Bank of Montpelier, under the able and courteous man- agement of Mr. G. C. Gray, its cashier, is doing a large general banking business. On the 13th of August, 1893, its officers were "held up" and the bank was robbed of more than seven thousand dollars, by cow-boys. None of the money was ever recovered, but one of the robbers is now serving a thirty-five-year sentence in the state penitentiary. The plate-glass surrounding the counting-room of the bank is now fortified with plates of steel. Montpelier is the only telegraph town in the county with the exception of Paris. It has two large school houses and four church edifices,-those of the Latter Day Saints, the Presbyterians, the Catholics and the Episcopal- ians. It has one live newspaper, the Examiner. The town is located in a rich farming valley forty miles long and eight miles wide, occupying more than one-fourth of the territory of Bear Lake county, which contains one thousand one hun- dred and fifty square miles. The town was in- corporated a village in 1891, and as a city in 1894. A very-large proportion of the inhabitants of the town and county are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They and the "Gentile" portion of the inhabitants live on the best of terms, and the great majority of both classes are industrious, trustworthy and pro- gressive citizens.

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An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day, Part 120

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1014

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1014