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 47
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That date marked Mr. Isay's arrival in Silver City, where he conducted a meat market until the fall of 1890. In January, 1891, he purchased a small stock of general merchandise and opened a store in De Lamar, carrying on operations on a small scale. Gradually, however, his trade in- creased in volume and importance, and in 1895 the firm of Isay & Gombrig was formed, the lat- ter being a brother-in-law of the former. They bought out a large business at De Lamar, and since that time, owing to their liberal and hon- orable business methods, their success has been almost phenomenal, and they now command at their two large stores in De Lamar and Silver City the most extensive retail trade in the county of Owyhee.
Mr. Isay was married, in 1891, to Miss Sophia Gombrig, who was born in the same town in Germany in which her husband's birth occurred. They have one child, a daughter, Hattie. Theirs is a most pleasant home and their hospitality is enjoyed by many friends. Mr. Isay is a Royal Arch Mason and is now serving as senior warden
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of the lodge and high priest of the chapter. He also belongs to the order of the Knights of Py- thias. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, un- swerving in his allegiance to the principles of that party, and in 1898 he received its nomina- tion for the office of county commissioner. His dreams of securing a home and fortune in Ameri- ca have been realized, and his life demonstrates the opportunities that are here afforded young men of energy and perseverance.
WILLIAM H. WATT.
William H. Watt, the president of the Della Mountain Mining Company, has been largely in- strumental in developing the natural resources of Idaho thus far, and his labors have not alone contributed to his individual prosperity but have also largely promoted the material interests of the state. By nativity a Canadian, he was born near Ottawa City, in the Dominion, December 23, 1851, and is of English descent. His grand- father, James Watt, was a native of England, and as an officer in the British army fought through the Crimean war. When his term of military ser- vice expired he crossed the Atlantic to Canada, where he lived to the ripe old age of eighty-two years. His son, John Watt, father of our sub- ject, was born in Canada and married Miss Ann Malcomson, also a native of Ottawa. They were industrious and well-to-do farming people, and were Episcopalians in religious belief. Mr. Watt departed this life in the seventieth year of his age, but his wife is now living, at the age of three- score years and ten, on the old Canadian home- stead. They had eleven children, ten of whom are yet living, the greater part of the number being residents of the old home neighborhood in Canada, though one is now living in West Bay City, Michigan, and one in Butte, Montana.
William H. Watt, the fourth in order of birth, was reared under the parental roof and acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Canada, after which he pursued a course in a business college of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He entered upon his business career as a farmer and also engaged in lumbering. In 1876 he went to the Black Hills and since that time has de- voted his energies to mining in the northwest. On leaving the Black Hills he went on a North- ern Pacific surveying expedition from Fort Rice
on the Missouri river to Powder river, the coun- try being then a comparatively unexplored re- gion. In 1881 he came to Hailey on a prospect- ing and mining tour, at which time the place was just being opened up for mining interests. Its fame was great because of the richness of the dis- coveries made, and Mr. Watt, with characteristic energy, turned his attention to the development of the mineral resources of the region.
He has since continuously engaged in mining and in promoting mining interests, and in con- nection with Thomas Brenan he organized the Della Mountain Mining Company, of which they are the principal stockholders. This is one of the best paying properties in the district. It con- sists of a group of mines located six miles north- west of the town of Hailey, which are called Idaho Democrat, Idaho Republican, Marquis, Vermont and Belmont. They yield silver and lead ore (the latter called galena), and the output is very rich and valuable. Mr. Watt is president and manager of the company, which is incorpor- ated under the laws of the state of Idaho, and is a member of the board of directors in connec- tion with Thomas Brenan, E. Daft, Leo Cramer and Samuel Allen. The capital stock of the com- pany is one hundred thousand shares, the par value of which is ten dollars per share. These mines were discovered in 1880 by W. S. Van Dusen and worked by him, in connection with other parties until November 18, 1895, at which time the Della Mountain Mining Company was organized and purchased the property. The or- iginal owners took out one hundred thousand dollars and the present owners have taken out seventy-five thousand dollars. Their work thus far has been largely development work, and the property is being well opened by tunnels. There is considerable ore now in sight, which yields from seventy to seventy-six percent lead and fron one hundred and five to one hundred and sixty- six ounces of silver per ton. They have an ex- cellent plant, consisting of well constructed build- ings, comfortably furnished with iron bedsteads and spring mattresses, and the houses lined with compo-board, which render them very habitable. Sixteen men are now employed in working the mines. Mr. Watt is interested in various other mines, and is also engaged in the banking busi- ness. He is also interested in sampling all the
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ore taken out of the mines and buys and ships large quantities of ore to Denver, Pueblo and Salt Lake for reduction.
He is a heavy stockholder and a member of the directorate of the Parker Mining Company, which owns eight claims, patented as follows: Parker, St. Louis, Montgomery, Western Re- serve, Calibre, Transit, Denver. and the Three K's. They also have nine claims not yet pat- ented. This group of mines is located three miles east of Ketchum in the Warm Springs creek mining district. The company under whose di- rection they are operated was organized in Octo- ber, 1887, with one hundred and fifty thousand shares, the par value of which is ten dollars per share. Ore to the value of three hundred and forty thousand dollars has been taken from these mines, and a. dividend of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars has been paid. The ores from these mines are the richest ever found in the Wood river country, carrying at times as high as forty-five per cent lead and six hundred and sixty ounces of silver to the ton. In 1890 Mr. Watt erected a fine brick building in Hailey, in which he has one of the finest and best equipped offices in the state.
Mr. Watt has been a life-long Democrat, was elected and served as treasurer of Alturas county, and was chosen to represent his district in the state senate in 1894. He was the only Democrat in either house of the legislature, and, knowing that it was useless to attempt to elect a man of his own party, he espoused the cause of Gov- ernor Shoup and was an active and prominent factor in securing his election to the United States senate. Mr. Watt was also largely instru- mental in abolishing the counties of Alturas and Logan, and creating the county of Blaine. He was one of the most active and prominent mem- bers of the senate, studying carefully the issues which concerned the public welfare and giving his support loyally to all measures which he be- lieved would promote the general good. Prom- inent in the ranks of the Masonic fraternity, he belongs to the blue lodge, chapter and command- ery, and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite. He is also a noble of the Mystic Shrine, is past master of the lodge and has taken a deep interest and justifiable pride in the working of this ancient and benevolent fra-
ternity. In business circles he sustains a high reputation. He is a mining expert, is a man of keen discrimination and sound judgment, of un- faltering perseverance and unflagging enterprise, and through the possession of these qualities has gained rank among the foremost business men of his state.
ISHAM L. TINER.
This well known citizen and successful fruit- grower of Boise was born in Williamson county, Illinois,. July 14, 1827, and is of Welsh descent, his forefathers being among the early settlers of Georgia and South Carolina. His ancestry, both paternal and maternal, was represented in the Revolutionary war. Richard Tiner, his great- grandfather, was a loyal soldier in the war for independence, and while he was absent in the army his family suffered an attack by Indians. His wife was shot through the right breast, their youngest child was ruthlessly beaten against a tree until its little life was ended, and a boy of five years and a girl of seven were carried away as captives. Another son, Isham Tiner, our sub- ject's grandfather, then a youth of sixteen, es- caped the massacre, joined his father in the army and remained in the ranks until the close of the war. The wife and mother eventually recovered from her wound and some time afterward the captive children were returned to their parents. Isham Tiner, the grandfather, removed from Georgia to Illinois, becoming a frontier settler of the latter state. At the time of his removal to the prairie state his son Isham, father of our sub- ject, was a small boy. When grown to manhood he married Miss Nancy Piett, who died at an early age and left three children, the youngest, Isham L., being an infant, and he alone survives. The eldest son, William, lost his life at the battle of Vicksburg, fighting in behalf of the Union. The father was a farmer by occupation and a man active in local affairs, for some years filling the office of county commissioner. He lived to attain the ripe age of seventy-five years.
Isham L. Tiner was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Illinois, working hard in sum- mer and in winter attending the common school. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company B, Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for the Mexican war, and went at once to the front. He participated in the battle of Buena Vista and
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other engagements, through which he passed un- wounded. He remained in the army until the war was over. In 1851 he went to California. stopping at the mines on Pitt river. Later he engaged in the management of a ranch and in teaming from Red Bluff to Shasta and Yreka. In 1862 he sold his interests and with a capital of fifteen hundred dollars came to Idaho. At Placerville, where he was one of the first to lo- cate, he secured a mining claim, from which. in company with five others, he took out about two hundred dollars of gold a day. He paid his men eight dollars a day and after he had taken out most of the gold. as he supposed, he sold his claim for five hundred dollars; but for some time thereafter it continued to yield the precious metal. Following his mining experience, Mr. Tiner was for a time successfully engaged in the bakery business at Placerville.
In 1880 he purchased six acres of land at Boise, now within the corporate limits of the city, and here he raises many varieties of peaches, pears, apples and plums, and in large quantities.
In 1865 Mr. Tiner married Miss Jane Baker, who was spared to him only eight brief years. Their only child died in infancy and thus he has been left alone, for he has never married again.
He is a member of the Masonic order, and politically he has always given his support to the Democratic party. He has been honored with official positions, in each instance acquitting him- self most creditably. In 1865 he was elected a member of the territorial legislature of Idaho, and thus becoming connected with Boise he has since resided in the capital city. He has also filled the offices of county sheriff and warden of the penitentiary. In all the varied relations of life he has striven to do his whole duty toward his own community, state and country, and to put into daily practice the noble, helpful teachings of Masonry and brotherhood.
GEORGE W. BRUCE.
George W. Bruce is one of the successful business men of De Lamar, where he is conduct- ing an extensive and well appointed meat mar- ket. He is also the owner of a well cultivated fruit and stock farm on Castle creek, Owyhee county, and is one of the citizens of foreign birth of whom the community has every reason to be
proud, for he has taken an active part in develop- ing the resources and augmenting the wealth and prosperity of this section of the state.
A native of the Emerald Isle, Mr. Bruce was born in county Wicklow, Ireland, in the town of Bray. September 28, 1851. and is of Scotch ancestry. His parents, John and Margaret (Thompson) Bruce, were farming people and worthy members of the Methodist church. Mr. Bruce was educated in his native country and emigrated to the United States when twenty years of age. The following year he took up his residence in Silver City. Idaho, and has spent twenty-six years in this part of the state, so that he is numbered among the pioneer settlers. He first engaged in quartz-mining, but after three months devoted to that pursuit he became pro- prietor of a dairy farm at Flint, and, in addition to supplying the citizens of Silver City and vicin- ity with milk and butter, he engaged quite ex- tensively in raising stock, continuing in that en- terprise until 1890 and having as many as twenty- five hundred head of cattle on his ranch at one time. His efforts in that direction were crowned with success, prosperity attending his labors as the years passed. In 1890, in partnership with J. C. Connors, now treasurer of the county, he opened a meat market in Silver City, and after establishing that enterprise on a paying basis they opened a branch house in De Lamar. This partnership continued until 1898, at which time the Owyhee Meat Company was organized, the members of the firm being W. P. Beers, M. Col- born and George W. Bruce. They have built a large cold-storage warehouse and a good shop, and are doing an extensive and lucrative business. They supply meat to the De Lamar Mining & Milling Company and to almost all the citizens of the town and surrounding country. They put up a great deal of their own beef, pride them- selves on carrying the best grades of mutton and pork, and as the result of the excellence of their products, combined with their trustworthy busi- ness methods, they have secured a large and desirable patronage.
In his political affiliations Mr. Bruce is a Re- publican, and socially is connected with the Odd Fellows fraternity. He is a man of strict in- tegrity, well and favorably known in Owyhee county, and his life illustrates what can be ac-
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complished through determined efforts, perse- verance and capable management. Such men form the bulwark of our nation.
ALEXANDER K. STODDARD.
The subject of this review is a self-made man who, without any extraordinary family or pecu- niary advantages at the commencement of life, has battled earnestly and energetically, and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and fortune. By sheer force of will and untiring effort he has worked his way upward and is numbered among the leading busi- ness men of Nampa, Idaho.
A native of Utah, he was born in Wellsville, November 3, 1860, and is of Scotch ancestry. His father, John Stoddard, was born in Scotland and during his boyhood emigrated to the United States, in company with his father and the other members of the family, a location being made in Utah. During his business career he followed farming and engaged in the sawmill business. He married Miss Emily Kershaw, a native of England, who departed this life in the twenty- eightlı year of her age, leaving four children, all yet living. The father passed away when fifty- five years of age.
Alexander Stoddard, their second son, was educated in Utah, and when eleven years of age began to learn the trade of manufacturing lum- ber in his father's sawmill, since which time he has continued in that line of business. He is now a part owner of a sawmill at Baker City, Oregon, and in 1886 he located at Nampa, where he opened a yard for the sale of his lumber. Not long afterward he purchased a hardware store, and in 1898 erected a large brick store in the
center of the business district, in which he con- ducts his hardware trade. He has won a good patronage, enjoying the public confidence, be- cause of his honorable business methods and his courteous treatment of his patrons. Other en- terprises have also claimed his time and atten- cion. He was instrumental in organizing the Nampa Fruit Evaporating Company, which has a large and well arranged building and uses the Monteith patent, with a capacity of fifteen thou- sand pounds of green fruit per day. The country surrounding Nampa is a fine fruit district and the evaporator will therefore furnish an excellent market for the products of the orchard. In con- nection with a partner Mr. Stoddard owns six thousand eight hundred and eighty acres of land, in Uinta county, Wyoming, on which they are extensively engaged in stock-raising.
On the 19th of January, 1892, was celebrated the marriage of our subject and Miss Mary Ann Parkinson, a native of Grantsville, Utah. They have six children: Laura, Edna, Cora, Charles, Hortense and Veda. Socially Mr. Stoddard is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics is a "silver" Republican, but has neither time nor inclination to seek pub- lic office, preferring to devote his energies to his business interests, which are varied and exten- sive. He is a man of resourceful business ability and along many lines has successfully conducted his operations, steadily advancing to a place among the substantial citizens of the state of Idaho. He has met obstacles and difficulties, but has overcome them by determined purpose, and by energy and careful management has won prosperity.
CHAPTER XXIII.
WASHINGTON COUNTY-ITS TOWNS, RESOURCES, ETC.
W ASHINGTON COUNTY lies on the western border of the state of Idaho, and about five hundred miles from the Pacific coast. It contains a large area of land suited to various purposes. It has a population of over five thousand people. Its inhabitants are, gener- ally speaking, enterprising and thrifty people, many of them having settled here in the early 60's and have remained ever since. The early settler devoted himself to stock-raising and placer-mining, and he thought that was all the county was fit for. But as the county began settling up it was soon found that anything which grew in a temperate climate would grow here.
Washington county is now considered to be a kingdom within itself, as it produces everything necessary for comfort and happiness. Its re- sources are so varied that it would be impossible to mention all of them in this connection.
Agriculture and kindred industries are pursued more at present than anything else. This in the past has been confined largely to the raising of wheat and hay. But of late years our farmers have been planting large orchards and diversify- ing their products generally.
Anywhere in the valleys all kind of grain, fruits and cereals can be successfully grown. Wherever Washington county fruit is exhibited it always carries away a premium. At a recent state fair held in Boise, Washington county carried off more premiums than any other county in the state.
But agriculture is not the only industry of the county, by any means. The northern portion of the county, which is mostly mountainous, is thick- ly studded with pine timber, the supply of which is practically inexhaustible. In the past it has been used largely for fuel and in mining, but it is a shame to burn up such fine saw timber when there is an abundance of other fuel right at the doors. With the advent of better transportation facilities lumber will form an important factor in our commerce.
There are good coal indications all over the county, only awaiting the advent of capital to develop them. In Crane creek canyon, a large bed of good coal has been unearthed and some development work done. The coal is of a good quality, making excellent furnace coal, and can be used in the forge with fairly good results. This coal will coke. It has been estimated by some that there is coal enough here to supply all of the state of Idaho. Up on Middle fork is an- other coal deposit which has been used for black- smithing for several years. One blacksmith has used this coal ever since its discovery, and says he has used coal all the way from Pittsburg to the coast and has never seen any superior to this. On the hill just above the vein where he gets his coal was found a chunk weighing over a ton, which gives evidence that there is an immense deposit further back that has not yet been un- covered.
Down in Middle valley, which adjoins the Salubria valley on the south, are strong indica- tions of petroleum. In fact it is almost impossi- ble to get good water in some locations on ac- count of the strong coal-oil taste.
The raising of range stock is still carried on to a large extent. The abundance of fine range on the hills which surround the numerous valleys make this the stock-raisers' paradise and make it possible to conduct the business on a large scale at a very small cost. Animals keep fat on the range nine or ten months in a year. As a general thing they are gathered into the feed yard in December and turned out again in March. Sheep are summered back in the mountains and driven down to the lower land in the fall, where they are kept until after lambing and shearing are over. The tendency of late years has been to get rid of the scrub stock and breed up to a higher standard, and as a result Washington county cattle, hogs and mutton sheep are sought for by buyers from all over the country.
At present Washington county only has a few
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miles of railroad. The Oregon Short Line taps the county at the extreme southern end, running through Weiser and crossing the Snake river into Oregon a short distance from that place. There will, however, soon be a railroad running the entire length of the county from north to south. Starting from some point on the Oregon Short Line (the exact location of which has not been decided upon), a survey has been run up the Weiser river through Middle valley, Salubria, Alpine, Council, and following up Hornet creek terminates at the famous Seven Devils. It is also proposed to run a branch road from Salubria in a northwesterly direction to Ruthburg.
SALUBRIA VALLEY.
This is in the geographical center of Washing- ton county, Idaho. It is about sixty-five miles southeast of the famous Seven Devils mining dis- trict and seventy-five miles east of north of Boise, the state capital. It has a population (including families on the small streams which run into the valley, and which are practically a part of this valley) of about twelve hundred people, and con- tains about forty-five square miles of rich agri- cultural land, very level, with a gradual slope to- ward the rivers which course through it. The Big Weiser river flows the entire length of the valley, while the Little Weiser flows only a short distance and forms a partnership with its bigger brother just below the town of Salubria. The two streams furnish an ample supply of water for all the needs of the valley. Mills, factories, smelters, etc., have no use for steam engines, as there is sufficient water power in the Big Weiser to run all the machinery that will ever be needed here.
Salubria valley contains about twelve thousand six hundred acres of land under cultivation. This land produces almost anything that is put in the ground. Many farmers here own from one hun- dred and sixty to one thousand acres of land, and having more than they can handle profitably are willing to dispose of it to settlers. The average price of lands is thirty dollars to thirty-five dol- lars per acre. If these farms were cut up into forty or eighty acre tracts, the present amount of cultivated land is capable of sustaining at least three times the population it now has. There are seven thousand five hundred and sixty acres of
uncultivated deeded land, most of which could be converted into good farms, and about half that amount of government land. This includes the valley lands only. All of the best land in the valley has been taken up, but there remains ten thousand acres of hill land which can be taken up as homesteads and which produces better fall grain than the low land of the valley. It being rolling, the ground does not flood when the snow melts in the spring, and fall-sown grain gets a sufficiently good start by the spring rains so that it is past the danger point before the dry season sets in. Much of the hill land can be irrigated from springs.
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