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 34
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129
thus attracted to the state hundreds and thou- sands of her best people.
But this is not all the work accomplished by the Statesman during the thirty-five years that have come and gone since there drove into the little mining town of Boise three men, who halted their two bull teams in the sand and gravel of Main street. These men all bore the name of Reynolds. The eldest, however, was from Maine, -James S. Reynolds. He was about forty years of age, angular, over six feet in height and hav- ing the hardihood that came through labor in the lumber camps of the Pine Tree state. He, however, possessed intelligence and great force of character, and for a number of years remained at the head of the Statesman, meeting with ex- cellent success in its conduct. His two com- panions were much younger, brothers of twenty and eighteen years. The elder was a merry-faced, brown-eyed young man with long, dark curly hair; the younger was of shorter stature, light complexion, blue eyes and in manner more quiet and reserved. They were from Missouri, and the date of their arrival was July 15, 1864. In talk- ing with some of the men of the town it was learned that the Messrs. Reynolds had a print- ing outfit in their two wagons, which they were transporting from The Dalles, Oregon, to Idaho City, then called Bannack, where they expected to establish a printing-office. Riggs & Agnew, at whose place of business the conversation oc- curred, and who were members of the town-site company, knew the value of a newspaper in build- ing up a town, and in connection with other lead- ing citizens of Boise induced the owners of the printing outfit to remain in the capital city,- then a mere hamlet.
The only building that could be procured by the Messrs. Reynolds as a place in which to begin business was a small structure of cottonwood logs, containing two rooms, the rear one with a back entrance like the open end of a sawmill.
187
188
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
On the 26th of July the first copy of the paper was issued. It was a small, four-column paper, christened the Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman. The senior member of the firm was a stanch aboli- tionist and Union man; the brothers were from Missouri, and their sympathies were strongly with the south; but though their views were so diametrically opposite they managed to avoid all disturbances in their business, and the little paper flourished. The subscription price was one dollar a week by carrier or twenty dollars a year by mail, and three dollars a square for each in- sertion for advertisements and twenty-five dollars a thousand for bill-heads, with other work in pro- portion.
The Statesman Company not only prospered but made money very rapidly. In its first issue the following paragraph appeared in the saluta- tory: "We shall in the first place try to make the Statesman a newspaper that everybody in the territory can afford to buy, and if possible one that few can afford to be without. We shall undertake to so conduct the Statesman as shall best advance the interests of this community and this territory, knowing that in so do- ing we shall best secure our own." Thus was outlined a policy that has been car- ried out to the letter through all these years. While of marked Republican sym- pathies, it has always endeavored to give all the news and to deal justly and fairly by all, and it has been in the best sense of the term a news- paper. In the interests of the Republican party, however, it has labored most earnestly. In its first issue the name of Abraham Lincoln stood at the head of its editorial columns, and every four years since, the name of the standard-bearer of the Republican party has occupied that place.
The paper was published as a tri-weekly for some years. Almost continually A. J. Boyakin has been connected with the paper, and on the . occasion of the thirty-fourth anniversary of its establishment he wrote an account of the States- man, in which appeared the following: "In get- ting out the paper on time we worked nearly all night, and frequently the Boise Basin stage would pull out ahead of us and we would have to send Dick Reynolds to overtake it on a horse with the mail packages for the different mining camps. The war news made a big demand for the States-
man, and we ran off an edition of a thousand copies each issue. When the details of a great battle came we would get out an extra, print sev- eral hundred, and send a man on a fleet horse with them to the Boise Basin, where they sold for from fifty cents to a dollar."
In the summer of 1866 T. B. and R. W. Rey- nolds sold their interest in the Statesman to the senior member of the firm and returned to Mis- souri. In 1867 James S. Reynolds sold out to H. C. Street, Claude Goodrich and A. J. Boyakin, but after a month they resold to Mr. Reynolds, who continued as owner and editor until 1872, when it was purchased by Judge Milton Kelly, one of the supreme justices of Idaho, who con- ducted it as a tri-weekly until 1888, when it was changed to a daily. The following year it passed into the hands of the present management, The Statesman Printing Company.
The Statesman is the oldest paper in the state, and from the beginning has never missed a pub- lication. Prosperity has attended it from the start, and it has been the mirror sending the re- flection of Idaho's beauty, development, history and opportunities throughout the world. It has also been characterized by a broad national sym- pathy, and perhaps we cannot better indicate its patriotic spirit than by quoting from the editorial in the issue of July 26, 1898,-the thirty-fourth anniversary of its founding: "The Statesman was born while the country was in the throes of the civil war. The people of this country were divided, apparently hopelessly so; black clouds overshadowed the nation and the people were shaken by storms of dissension. Although far removed from the actual scenes of warfare, the infant paper uttered its first cry in the midst of a community the majority of whose people were moved to bitterness against their country's flag; but that cry was nevertheless for Old Glory. Sur- rounded on all sides by bitter enemies, the sturdy little journal raised its voice for the Union cause and prophesied ultimate victory for the forces of freedom. To-day it is a most gratifying reflec- tion that the Statesman celebrates its thirty- fourth birthday with a united people engaged in a warfare against the enemies of liberty in a for- eign land. It has witnessed the healing of the old wounds; it has seen the gradual reuniting of the people, and, on this anniversary of its natal
189
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
day, it beholds the north and the south hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, fighting a com- mon enemy that the tree of liberty may be planted in a foreign land, the shade of which will protect foreign brothers from the blighting sun of tyranny. It looks to the west and it sees the stars and stripes kissed by the breezes that wave the tropical foliage of Hawaii, and it rejoices with the people in the extension of American power and in the knowledge of the possession of na- tional forces that guarantee maintenance of American prestige gained and to be gained."
THE DAILY AND WEEKLY PATRIOT.
The Patriot is published at Lewiston by Frank M. Roberts, having made its first appearance be- fore the public on the Ist of September, 1897, as an independent paper, with strong Republican proclivities, but devoted to the upbuilding of Lewiston and Nez Perces county. From the be- ginning it has met with very flattering and satis- factory success, and is a bright and entertaining journal, ably edited by its owner, Frank M. Roberts.
This gentleman was born in Lancaster, Schuy- ler county, Missouri, on the 28th of August, 1846, was educated in the state of his nativity, and ac- quired a knowledge of the "art preservative of all arts" in the office of the old Jacksonville Jour- nal, of Jacksonville, Illinois. When only eigh- teen years and four months old he responded to his country's call for troops, and enlisted as a defender of the stars and stripes, in December, 1864, as a member of Company K, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Volunteer Infantry. Some of his relatives were in the Confederate army, but he valiantly served the Union cause until honor- ably discharged, at Nashville, in September, 1865, after the close of hostilities.
Since that time Mr. Roberts has devoted his energies entirely to journalistic work, in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon and Idaho. and for some time was in the government print- ing office in Washington. He has established many successful papers in the states mentioned, and is familiar with the printing business and with newspaper work in every department and detail. Perhaps had he been less conscientious he would have been more successful as the world judges success, but he has preferred to write as
he believes, to support the measures which tend to promote the public good, and to oppose all which are detrimental to the best interests of society, of the government and the welfare of mankind, regardless of the financial results that may follow his course.
In 1872 Mr. Roberts was united in marriage to Miss Lydia A. Boyce, who died in 1882, leav- ing one child, a son, Coral F. In August, 1897, he was again married, Mrs. Anna Myers, of Lewiston, becoming his wife. He is a well known citizen of northern Idaho and has been a resident of the northwest since 1893. In that year he lost much of the property he had acquired, through the failure of a bank in Kansas City, and for some time thereafter he devoted his attention to prospecting in the mountains of Washington and Idaho. He also was engaged in making explora - tions of the cliff dwellings of New Mexico and made many valuable discoveries of great benefit to the scientific and historic world. Since com- ing to Lewiston he has been accorded a place among her foremost citizens, and The Patriot ranks among the best journals of this section of the state.
THE OWYHEE AVALANCHE.
This very influential paper was established as early as August, 1865, bv the Wasson brothers and J. C. Hardin. The last named withdrew from the firm a year later and the Wassons continued the publication a year longer. On the 17th of August, 1867, they sold out to W. J. Hill and H. W. Millard, and these men subsequently sold the concern to John McCongle, November 7, 1868, and he managed it until October 19, 1870, when Messrs. Hill and Millard repurchased the property, and at the same time purchased the Tidal Wave, a paper which had been in existence a year or more, under the ownership and man- agement of the Butler brothers. The two papers were on this occasion consolidated. under the name of the Idaho Avalanche. A few weeks afterward Mr. Hill bought out his partner and became the sole proprietor.
In October, 1874, during the flush times of Owyhee, Mr. Hill established a daily paper, which he continued for about a year and a half. In April, 1876, he leased the concern to Major J. S. Hay, who a year later purchased it and con-
190
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
tinued to manage it until October 16, 1880, when he disposed of it to Guy Newcomb and Dave Adams, who formed a partnership, under the style of Newcomb & Adams. These gentlemen ran the paper until May 20, 1882, when Mr. Adams disposed of his interest to C. M. Hays, who also bought out Mr. Newcomb, on the 9th of December, 1882. Mr. Hays published the paper until November 8, 1890, when he leased the office to John Lamb and L. A. York, who con- trolled the publication until the spring of 1892. Mr. Lamb then retired and Mr. York again leased the plant, and on June 1, 1894, purchased it.
August 20, 1897, the beginning of the thirty- third volume, the name of the paper was changed from the Idaho Avalanche to the Owyhee Ava- lanche, the name, indeed, under which it first ap- peared, August 15, 1865. The Owyhee Avalanche was never better than to-day, and never had so bright a future. In politics Mr. York is a "silver" Republican, and in local af- fairs independent. The paper is issued every Fri- day, at Silver City, at the subscription price of three dollars a year, and is noted for its reliability in giving the news.
THE LEWISTON TRIBUNE.
A daily and weekly paper published at Lewis- ton, Idaho, the Tribune is the principal organ of the Democratic party in the state. It was es- tablished by A. H. and E. L. Alford, in August, 1892, and entered upon a prosperous existence. The Alford brothers were reared in Dallas, Texas. A. H. Alford acquired his newspaper knowledge in the office of the Dallas Morning News, with which paper he was connected for two years, after which he was employed on the Tacoma Morning Globe, of Tacoma, Washing- ton. On severing his connection therewith he came to Lewiston, and in partnership with his brother established the Tribune, the paper and its proprietors at once becoming prominent fac- tors and taking a leading position in the affairs of Idaho. The efforts of the brothers have met with very gratifying success. They have also been interested in various mining enterprises and in Lewiston real estate, which is rapidly rising in value.
In 1896 A. H. Alford was elected to the state
legislature and had the honor of being chosen speaker of the house, filling that important po- sition with marked ability and fairness. He is now one of the regents of the Idaho State Uni- versity and is president of the State Editorial Association. Both he and his brother are active members of the Masonic fraternity, E. L. Alford having attained the thirtieth degree in the Scot- tish rite, while A. H. Alford is a Knight Templar Mason. Through the columns of the Tribune they wield a power in political circles that is im- measurable, and the cause of Democracy owes much to their efforts in its behalf. A. H. Alford is a most progressive citizen, giving a loyal sup- port to all measures which he believes will prove of public benefit, especially to all that tend to advance the educational status of the state.
THE TIMES-DEMOCRAT.
An effective exponent of the general interests of Latah county, the Times-Democrat was es- tablished in the city of Moscow on the Ist of March, 1891, as the organ of the Democratic party in northern Idaho. William Taylor, who was its founder, continued its publication for a period of four months, when he sold the property to Samuel T. Owings, who presided over the destinies of the paper for three months, when it passed into the hands of J. L. Brown, who cf- fected its purchase on the Ist of October, 1891. On the Ist of April, 1892, Mr. Owings again he- came the editor and publisher, and so continued until the Ist of June, 1899, when another change was made in the management of the journal, the property being then leased to the present editor and publisher, Hon. Samuel C. Herren.
Samuel T. Owings, who is the owner of the plant and for the longest period identified with the publication of the paper, and who will take charge again, January 1, 1900, is a native of Balti- more, Maryland, where he was born on the Ist of September, 1868. He has been active in vari- ous business enterprises and has ever maintained a public-spirited interest in all that has conserved the development and material progress of Mos- cow and Latah county, as well as the state at large. He received his educational discipline in his native state, and became a resident of Mos- cow in September, 1888. Here he is at the pres- ent time engaged in the grocery business, and
191
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
he has large mining interests in British Columbia. He has erected several residences in Moscow and has otherwise contributed in many ways to the progress and substantial upbuilding of the city, being recognized as one of its successful and representative business men. The plant of the Times-Democrat is valued at thirty-five hundred dollars, and this is but one of his property in- terests in the city. The paper is issued on Thurs- day 'of each week, being a five-column quarto, and in its letter-press and general mechanical ap- pearance is a model country paper.
THE NUGGET.
The Nugget is the appropriate name of a four- page, five-column weekly paper edited and pub- lished at DeLamar. Owyhee county, by John . Lamb. It was established in May, 1891, by the present proprietor and L. A. York, and since 1893 has been run solely by the present owner. It is independent in politics and devoted to local and mining interests.
The publisher is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1838, of north Irish stock, both of his parents having been born in the Keystone state, of Irislı parentage. The subject of this sketch received his education in the public schools and Waterford Academy, in his native state, and after leaving home resided for a few years in Alabama, whence he went to St. Louis and engaged in journalism, and was for four years connected with the state board of immigration of that state. After a dozen years spent in Missouri, he came to Idaho, in 1888.
In politics Mr. Lamb is a "silver" Republican. In respect to local responsibility he has been a justice of the peace in his county almost con- tinuously since his residence there, giving gen- eral satisfaction, he never having had a case ap- pealed from his court. He is an accomplished descriptive writer, and is recognized as a prom- inent factor in the upbuilding of the interests of the state through the use of his pen.
THE MOSCOW MIRROR.
This vital and ably conducted weekly has the distinction of being the pioneer paper of Latah county, its first issue having been run from the press in July, 1882. The Mirror is issued on Fri- day of each week and is devoted to the interests
of Moscow and contiguous districts and to pro- moting the development of the great state of Idaho. It is worthy of note that the paper has never missed an issue. Ex-Congressman Willis Sweet was its editor for a time, and in 1883 C. B. Reynolds purchased the plant and business and continued the publication of the paper until 1889, in which year it was purchased by the Jolly brothers, who have since been the proprietors and publishers. The three brothers have given the enterprise their personal attention and have made the venture a genuine success, Elmer E. Jolly being the editor and manager. The original publisher of the Mirror was C. B. Hopkins.
Elmer E. Jolly was born in the state of Minne- sota on the 23d of May, 1861, representing sturdy Pennsylvania ancestry. In the town of Dunlap, Iowa, he learned the printer's trade, becoming familiar with the varied details which go to make up the "art preservative of all arts," and acquiring a knowledge of the mechanical processes which are employed in the makeup and issuing of a modern country newspaper. For a number of years he "held cases" on the Logan Observer, at Logan, Iowa, after which he came to Moscow and became foreman of the Mirror office, in the employ of Mr. Reynolds. His brother, Thomas H. Jolly, learned the trade in the office of the Mirror, and another brother, James D., also worked in the office. The brothers eventually purchased the property, and by discrimination, careful business methods and by supplying to subscribers a paper which stands as an exponent of local interests, offering the news in acceptable form, they have made the enterprise a success. Thomas H. Jolly is now a practicing lawyer in Moscow. The Mirror is edited with ability, and its mechanical work is so carefully handled that it is attractive and neat in appearance, being creditable alike to the publishers and to the town with which it had practically a simultaneous birth, and to whose advancement it has contrib- uted in every possible way. The political policy of the Mirror is Republican.
THE KENDRICK GAZETTE.
The Gazette is a weekly newspaper devoted to the interests of the Potlatch country, and is the organ of the Democratic party of Latalı county. It was founded on the 14th of January, 1892, by
19%
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
Joseph S. Vincent, who has since been its editor and proprietor. The paper is issued on Friday of each week and the subscription price is one dollar and a half annually. In his efforts Mr. Vincent has met with very gratifying success, and the paper has never missed an issue. The office was burned out August 16, 1892, the fire occurring on Thursday night, but he saved the forms and issued his paper on time the next day. Again the Gazette went through a fiery baptism, March 16, 1894. That also occurred the night before the time of publication, but he got every- thing out of the building and the paper was is- sued as usual, a fact which indicates the indomit- able enterprise of the owner.
Mr. Vincent is a native of Idaho and one of the first white children born in the state, his birth occurring in Lewiston, April 24, 1866. He is the son of Judge Vincent, now of Mount Idaho, who was one of the pioneers of California and Oregon, as well as of Idaho, the "Gem of the Mountains." Our subject acquired his education in his native city and learned the printer's trade in the office of the Lewiston Teller. under the di- rection of his grandfather and his uncle, Alonzo and C. F. Leland, who were the founders of that paper. He remained with them for five years and then came to the infant town of Kendrick, in January, 1891, where he leased the Advocate, the pioneer journal of the place. He continued its publication until the fall of 1892, when it ceased to be issued, but in the meantime he had founded the Gazette and conducted both papers for six weeks.
On the 23d of January, 1893, Mr. Vincent was united in marriage to Mrs. Alice York, a native of Corvallis, Oregon. She was the widow of A. F. York and the daughter of J. B. Springer, a respected Oregon pioneer. They have a bright little daughter, whom they have named Kather- ine M. Mr. Vincent is an Episcopalian, and his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Vincent's name is on the membership roll of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and he was the first chancellor commander of the lodge in Kendrick. In 1897 he was representative to the grand lodge of the state, and was re-elected repre- sentative to the session of 1899, a fact which indi- cates his popularity among the Knights and his fidelity to the principles of Pythianism. He was
chairman of the Democratic convention of Latail county in 1896 and was also made chair- man of the fusion convention. He has served three times as city clerk of Ken- drick, is now the trustworthy and capa- ble city treasurer and was appointed by Governor Steunenberg one of the commissioners to the Trans-Mississippi and International Expo- sition. As a journalist he ranks high and has not only been successful in the publication of the Ga- zette, but through its columns has also ma- terially promoted the interests of Kendrick.
THE POCATELLO TRIBUNE.
This news organ, the leading paper in south- eastern Idaho, is owned and conducted by Ifft & Wallin, who own and operate the most complete printing and publishing house in the state outside . of Boise City.
The paper was founded, as a weekly, on the 14th of August, 1889, by a stock company, and began its career as a distinctly Republican organ. For the first several years it passed through the hands of half a dozen different managements, un- til January 1, 1893, when it was purchased by George N. Ifft and William Wallin, who have conducted the enterprise ever since. Messrs. Ifft and Wallin are both experienced newspaper men. On taking possession of this property they at once set to work to make the Tribune a first- class newspaper in every respect. While remain- ing always a Republican organ, the journal stands as an exponent for that class of Republi- cans who believe firmly in silver, and it has be- come recognized as the leading exponent of the issues of the "silver" Republicans of the state.
In keeping with the competition characteristic of the times, the Tribune, in March, 1897, joined the Associated Press and began the publication of a daily edition; but, after an experience of about two months in this enterprise, the undertaking was ascertained to be unprofitable and was ac- cordingly discontinued. The proprietors then be- gan the publication of a semi-weekly edition, which is still continued.
In May, 1897, the company purchased the plant and good will of the Idaho Herald, a week- ly newspaper which had been published in Poca- tello since 1885, and incorporated it with its own journal, and thus the Herald was merged into
193
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
the Tribune. On January 1, 1899, the Tribune, in connection with its semi-weekly edition, began the publication of a weekly.
THE GENESEE NEWS.
The value of the local newspaper in the up- building of the best interests of any community is universally conceded. The rule is that good papers are found in good towns, inferior journals in towns of stunted growth and uncertain future. It is not so much a matter of size as of excellence and of adaptability to the needs of its locality. These conditions given, in an appreciative and progressive community, the size of the paper will take care of itself in a way mutually satisfactory to publishers and patrons. This has been proven in Genesee. The Genesee News was first issued in 1889. In 1892, when it came into the hands of Messrs. Hopp & Power, its present enterprising owners, publishers and editors, it was a five-col- umn folio. They improved it in every way to- ward perfection as a local newspaper and have enlarged it to a six-column quarto, and their pro- gressiveness has been appreciated and rewarded by an increase of patronage, in both the subscrip- tion and advertising departments, which more than recompenses them for their increased outlay in its publication.
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.