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 7

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 7

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JOHN HAILEY.

The well-known pioneer and statesman of Idaho from whom the town of Hailey takes its name, is now a resident of Bellevue, this state. He has been twice elected a delegate to con- gress from this territory, and is one of the

HISTORY OF IDAHO.

best informed men in the state on national af- fairs.

Mr. Hailey is a native of Smith county, Ten- nessee, born August 29, 1835, of Scottish an- cestry and a descendant of a family long resident in the Old Dominion, his grandfather, Philip Hailey, and his father, John Hailey, having been both natives of Virginia. His father married Miss Nancy Baird, a native of Ten- nessee, the daughter of Captain Josiah Baird, who had been a captain in the war of 1812.

Mr. Hailey received his education in the pub- lic schools. His father, with his family, removed to Dade county, Missouri, in 1848, and in 1853 young John crossed the plains to Oregon, as a member of the Tatum company. When near the Platte a large company of Indians came upon them and made them give up the greater part of their provisions, leaving the emigrants short of everything excepting bread and tea. At Rock creek the Indians again swooped down upon them and stampeded their horses, after which they had to drive the one hundred head of cows they had on foot.

The company arrived at Salem, Oregon, in October, 1853, after a long and tedious journey of six months and a day from the time they had started. Mr. Hailey, directly after his arrival at Salem, went over to Coos bay, where he was employed at work, connected with which event he relates the following interesting incident. Be- ing nearly out of money, he applied for work and was told by the employers that they had all the help they needed. He offered then to work for his board only, until he could do better. They told him that all the axes they had were in use. The ambitious young immigrant then said he would buy an ax. With this arrangement he was allowed to work until Saturday, and the superin- tendent then offered him four dollars and fifty cents; but Mr. Hailey declined it, saying, "I offered to work for you for my board until I could do better, and mean to keep my bargain." The boss then told him, "I have put you on my pay-roll at sixty dollars per month." Mr. Hailey thereupon said he would accept that, as that was the first chance he had to do better. After an- other week's work the boss made him foreman and allowed him one hundred dollars a month,

and this position Mr. Hailey filled until the job was completed.

From there he went to the mines and was em- ployed at placer mining until late in the autumn of 1854. Not meeting with satisfactory success, he proceeded to Jackson county, in the south- ern part of the state, and worked on a farm for eight months, for J. B. Risley, and then he leased the farm for a year. At this time the Indian war of 1855-6 broke out, and Mr. Hailey joined the volunteers and participated in the first engage- ment on Rogue river. He, with the others, was discharged in 1856. He had gone into the ser- vice as a private, and was promoted as first lieu- tenant.

Returning to the ranch, he leased it again. August 7, this year (1856), he married Miss Louisa Griffin, a daughter of B. B. Griffin, an Oregon pioneer of 1847. The following year he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining the one he had rented, obtaining sixty head of cattle with the place, and remained there, engaged in ranching, until 1862, when the gold discoveries in what is now Idaho brought him hither. He came with a number of sheep and horses. He sold the sheep at Walla Walla, and went to Lewiston with the pack-horses and mules and engaged in packing from Lewiston to Flor- ence. After making two trips in this service he went to the Yakima, in company with William K. Ish, and located two hay ranches, and they made four hundred tons of hay each year. He built a flat-boat eighty feet long, and on it loaded the baled hay, which he floated to Wallula and Umatilla, and for which he received thirty to forty dollars per ton. To get the boat back home they made a tow-path and hauled it back with mules. When the wind was favorable they hoist- ed sails. In this enterprise the proprietors made money.

In 1863 Mr. Hailey started a saddle train froni Walla Walla and Umatilla to Boise, and that was the commencement of the great stage business which he inaugurated and in which his name be- came so noted. While in that business he took the first pack train to the Boise basin in winter, and the first over the Blue mountains in winter. He had thirty mules and as many pack-horses, using large, strong horses without packs to go ahead and break the trail. It was a great and

HISTORY OF IDAHO.

hazardous undertaking. but with his energy and courage he successfully accomplished it. He re- ceived twenty-six or twenty-seven cents a pound for freight, making in one trip two thousand and one hundred dollars. No other packer would undertake the job.

In 1864 he and Mr. Ish placed a stage line between Umatilla, Placerville and Boise, and the next year Mr. Hailey bought his partner's inter- est in the concern. They had rough times in crossing streams, being obliged occasionally to convey the passengers over in boats. They had eleven to fourteen passenger coaches, using four to six horses with each. The fare in the summer time was forty dollars and in the winter sixty dollars, and for baggage over twenty-five pounds they charged extra.

In 1866 Mr. Hailey received from Ben Halli- day a sub-contract to carry the mail from Boise to The Dalles, Oregon, by way of Umatilla, for which he received eighty thousand dollars per year, and in connection with this job he also did a good passenger business. In 1868 C. M. Lock- wood secured the contract and stocked the road from Boise to Ogden. Soon afterward Mr. Hailey bought the stock and contract from Og- den to The Dalles and ran the business of the route until July, 1870, then sold out to the North- western Stage Company, for one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, at which time it was a fine line, well stocked, and made very close con- nections, seldom varying as much as five minutes from schedule time. After this Mr. Hailey en- gaged in the live-stock and butchering business in Boise.

In the year 1872 Mr. Hailey was elected a dele- gate to represent the territory of Idaho in the Forty-third congress, and after this he was again offered the position by both parties, but he de- clined it and confined himself to his private busi- ness affairs. Soon afterward he met with some heavy financial reverses,-having to pay forty thousand dollars as a bondsman for other parties, and losing about ten thousand head of his sheep by death, worth at the time four dollars a head. He had also invested somewhat heavily in Boise property, which declined in value.

In 1878 he again purchased an interest in the stage business, in company with Salisbury and Gilmore, the line being the same that he had pre-

viously owned, by this time, however, including some others, as those from Boise city to Winne- mucca, Nevada, Boise to Boise Basin, Blackfoot to Challis, Arco to Ketchum, Goose creek to Hailey, Mountain Home to Hailey, Mountain Home to Rocky Bar, Roseburg to Redding, Cal- ifornia, Redding to Yreka, same state, by way of Scott's valley, Redding to Weaverville, and sev- eral others of smaller distances, making in all over two thousand miles of stage line. They built stations and had a grand stock of horses and coaches, and all these were superintended by Mr. Hailey himself. The consequence was, he worked too hard and injured his health ; and soon after this, too, the railroads began to creep around over the country, rendering the stock of the company of little value, all having to be dis- posed of at less than a quarter of what they cost. This third and last great misfortune greatly re- duced the resources of Mr. Hailey.

In 1884 Mr. Hailey was again elected a dele- gate to congress, and served two years, being active in many improvements of the political con- dition of his territory, especially in respect to mail service and the law for settling the Indians upon specified lands in severalty, also in having passed the Idaho "depredation" bill.

It was in 1879 that he located the land on which the nice town of Hailey now stands. In company with others, he platted the land for a town and named it Marshall; but the settlers would not have it, and insisted on naming the place Hailey, in honor of the great pioneer and statesman who had done so much for Idaho.

Mr. Hailey now owns the Susie S. mine, on which he has done a considerable amount of work by way of development. It is a gold prop- erty, fifteen miles south of Bellevue, and has a large low-grade ledge forty feet wide, which as- says an average of eight dollars per ton. In this mine he has a thousand feet of tunnel and shafts, and there is in sight a million tons of ore. Mr. Hailey also has a ranch of two hundred and forty acres, on which he is raising cattle and horses.

Every good citizen of Idaho hopes that Mr. Hailey's last days will be his best days, and that his gold mine may bring him a fortune again. Mr. and Mrs. Hailey have had eight children, six of whom have grown up,-five sons and a daughter, as follows: Jesse C., John, Leona (now

HISTORY OF IDAHO.

Mrs. Ross Carter), Thomas G. (a graduate of the Washington Lee University, in Virginia, where he took the gold-medal prize in his class of 1888, and is now a practicing lawyer at Pendleton, Oregon), Burrel B. and George C. There are now thirteen grandchildren.

Politically, Mr. Hailey has been a life-long Democrat, and is at present the chairman of the Democratic state central committee. He is a man of clear intellect, thoroughly posted in gov- ernmental affairs, both state and national, and is sound on financial questions, an able expounder of bimetallism and a very convincing speaker on the rostrum, having done his party great service during the campaigns. "Uncle John Hailey," as he is familiarly called, is now serving as warden of the Idaho state penitentiary.

GEORGE L. SHOUP.

It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a state lies not in its machinery of govern- ment, nor even in its institutions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and unselfish effort and their devotion to the public good. Rising above the heads of the mass there has always been a series of individuals, distinguished beyond others, who by reason of their pronounced ability and forceful personality have always commanded the respect of their fellow men and who have re- vealed to the world those two resplendent virtues of a lordly race,-perseverance in purpose and a directing spirit which never fails. Of this class George L. Shoup stands as an excellent illustra · tion. The goal toward which he has hastened during the many years of his toil and endeavor is that which is attained only by such as have by patriotism and wise counsel given the world an impetus toward the good; such have gained the right and title to have their names enduringly inscribed on the bright pages of history.

George L. Shoup has been a resident of Idaho since 1866, has served as chief executive of the state, and is now representing the commonwealthı in the United States senate. He was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1836, and traces his descent to German ancestors, who lo- cated in the colony of Pennsylvania when it was a British dependency. Representatives of the

name fought for the independence of the nation, and also participated in the war of 1812. Henry Shoup, the father of our subject, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and married Miss Anna J. McCain, daughter of George E. McCain, of the Keystone state, a gentleman of Scotch- Irish descent. The Shoups were industrious farming people, and were faithful members of the Presbyterian church. The Senator's father lived to be sixty-five years of age, and his mother departed this life when about the same age. They had six sons and three daughters, of whom four now survive. One brother of our subject, T. S. Shoup, is now a professor in the Iowa State Nor- mal School, and the other, J. M., is United States marshal of Alaska.

Senator Shoup was reared in the county of his nativity and acquired his education in its public schools. In 1859 he crossed the plains to Pike's Peak, being one of the first to discover gold in western Colorado. He engaged in mining and merchandising, with good success, until the great civil war broke upon the country, when he en- listed in the Union service as a member of Can- tain Baxter's Company of Independent Scouts. During the fall of that year he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and in 1862, when his company was assigned to the Second Colo- rado Volunteer Regiment, was made first lieu- tenant. With his command he was engaged in scouting in the borders of Texas and the Indian Territory; in 1863 his company was attached to the First Colorado Cavalry; and in the following year he was commissioned colonel of the Third Colorado Regiment. In the spring of that year he was elected to the convention chosen to frame the state constitution of Colorado, and served in this capacity during the session of the conven- tion, and then rejoined his regiment, on the 28th of November. He was in command of his regi- ment at the battle of Sand creek, in which Colonel Chivington and a detachment of his men also participated. This was a hard-fought and sanguinary battle in which four hundred Indians were killed. Both coloneis were afterward cen- sured by the United States senate, which had been misinformed in regard to the hostility of the red men, the atrocious murders they were committing and the property they were destroy- ing. Colonel Shoup was called to appear before

HISTORY OF IDAHO.

an investigating committee in Washington the following February, and after giving his testi- mony to the committee he was congratulated and complimented by every one of its members for the valuable service he performed for his country in that battle. Thus was he completely exoner- ated, which was very gratifying to him and to the men who had jeopardized their lives in an en- gagement in which they had severely punished the Indians and freed that section of the country from the lawless acts of the red men.

In 1865 Colonel Shoup purchased a cattle train for the purpose of hauling merchandise of his own into the far west, but was induced to load his train with government supplies for Fort Lara- mie, at which place he bought a stock of goods from a merchant who was en route for Montana. Mr. Shoup took the goods to Virginia City, Montana, where he arrived in the spring of 1866, establishing a store there and one in the Salmon River Mining District, Idaho, the same year, and the following year surveyed and laid out the town of Salmon City. Since then he has made the latter place his headquarters, and by great in- dustry and honest endeavor he has become one of the most successful business men of the state. He still carries on his mercantile interests and has erected a large, substantial brick store building, where he is carrying on an extensive wholesale and retail business. His reliable and systematic methods have gained him the confidence of many patrons, and he derives from his mercantile ven- tures a good income. At various intervals he has introduced fine thoroughbred cattle from the east, in this way improving his own stock and that of the state. He is likewise interested in mining in Lemhi county, in the vicinity of the Salmon river, and along these various lines has done much to develop the resources of the state. He also has broad farming lands, on which he raises hay and grain for his stock and for the market. He possesses keen discrimination and great energy in business, and his resolution en- ables him to carry forward to successful comple- tion whatever he undertakes.

On the 15th of June, 1868, Senator Shoup was happily married to Miss Lena Darnutser, of Iowa, a lady of Swiss descent. Their union has been blessed with three sons and three daughters, namely: William Henry, who is bookkeeper for

the firm at Salmon City, where he resides with his wife and two children: George E., who has charge of the farm and ranch; Walter C., who is a graduate of the law department of Yale Col- lege, and is now practicing his profession in Salt Lake City, Utah, also serving as first lieutenant of Company D, Colonel Terry's regiment, and acting as judge advocate of the court martial, at Jacksonville, Florida; and Lena J., Laura M. and Margaret E., all at home. The two eldest sons are graduates of the Dubuque (Iowa) Acad- emy. The family is one of marked prominence in Boise, and its members occupy enviable positions in social circles, where intelligence, culture and refinement are the passports into good society. They have a nice home in Boise, and its hospi- tality is enjoyed by their very extensive circle of friends.

Probably, however, Mr. Shoup is better known in connection with his political service. He has always been an ardent worker in the ranks of the Republican party to which he has ever given his unwavering fealty, influence and support. His fellow citizens, appreciating his fidelity and worth, elected him their representative in the lower house of the territorial legislature in 1874; in 1878 they elected him to the upper house, and in 1884 he was appointed commissioner to the World's Cotton Centennial at New Orleans. Sen- ator Shoup at first declined the Cotton Centen- nial appointment, but later, finding there was no one in the territory who would take the posi- tion, he finally accepted the appointment and gave thirty-five thousand dollars to make and maintain the territory's exhibit at the Exposi- tion. The exhibit was the means of giving the world some idea of what Idaho was at that time, and did more good than all other efforts to place the name of Idaho where it properly belonged. Although Senator Shoup gave freely of his means and one year's time to the project, he feels that the time and money were not spent in a lost cause.

In March, 1889, he was appointed governor of the territory, and upon the admission of the state in 1890, he was elected governor. In De- cember of the same year he was chosen to repre- sent Idaho in the United States senate, where he is now ably and creditably serving, taking an active part in the business that is transacted in

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

the council chambers of the nation. His course has ever been above suspicion. The good of the nation he places before partisanship, and the wel- fare of his constituents before personal aggran- dizement. He commands the respect of the mem- bers of congress and the senate, but at home, --- in the state of his adoption,-where he is best known, he inspires personal friendships of un- usual strength, and all who know him have the highest admiration for his good qualities of heart and mind.

RELF BLEDSOE.

Into the wild mountain fastnesses of the unex- . it is not strange that Captain Bledsoe took so

The days of chivalry and knighthood in Eu- rope cannot furnish more interesting or ro- mantic tales than our own western history. plored west went brave men, whose courage was often called forth in encounters with hostile savages. The land was rich in all naturalresources, in gold and silver, in agricultural and commer- cial possibilities, and awaited the demands of man to yield up its treasures, but its mountain heights were hard to climb, its forests difficult to penetrate, and the magnificent trees, the dense bushes or the jagged rocks often sheltered the skulking foe, who resented the encroachment of the pale faces upon these "hunting grounds." The establishment of homes in this beautiful region therefore meant sacrifices, hardships and ofttimes death, but there were some men, however, brave enough to meet the red man in his own familiar haunts and undertake the task of reclaiming the district for purposes of civilization. The rich mineral stores of this vast region were thus added to the wealth of the nation; its magnificent for- ests contributed to the lumber industries and its fertile valleys added to the opportunities of the farmer and stock-raiser, and to-day the northwest is one of the most productive sections of the en- tire country. That this is so is due to such men as Captain Relf Bledsoe, whose name is insep- arably interwoven with the history of the region. No story of fiction contains more exciting chapters than may be found in his life re- cord, but space forbids an extended account of these.

He who was to become such an important fac- tor in the development of the northwest was born

in Henderson county, Kentucky, on the 16th of August, 1832. His ancestors, natives of Wales, came to America at an early period in the colonial epoch and took an active part in the leading events that affected the colonies. Five of the Bledsoe brothers fought throughout the struggle for independence. A younger brother, not old enough to enter the army, was Jesse Bledsoe, father of our subject. He was born in Canewood, four miles from Frankiort, Kentucky, and mar- ried Miss Jane Baylor, daughter of George Wythe Baylor, Jr., and a granddaughter of Colonel Bay- lor, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. He won his title in the war which brought to America her liberty, and was wound- ed in that great struggle. With the blood of Revolutionary heroes thus flowing in his veins,

prominent a part in the Indian wars of the north- west. His father was a lawyer by profession, and in politics was first a Whig and later a Democrat. He held membership in the Christian church. In his family were twelve children, eight of whom are living.

The Captain, the second in order of birth, spent the first seven years of his life in Kentucky, and in 1839 went with his parents to Missouri and thence to Texas, in 1845. In 1850, when eighteen years of age, he traveled through Mex- ico to California, reaching Los Angeles when it contained only a few adobe houses inhabited by Mexicans, or, as they called themselves, Spanish. In 1852 he went to San Francisco, and in 1854 he was elected superintendent of a mining com- pany in southern Oregon. On the failure of the well-known firm of Adams & Company, the com- pany with which he was connected was also bank- rupt, but soon afterward the Indian troubles of the Rogue river valley, in Oregon, broke out and Mr. Bledsoe joined a volunteer company to aid in quelling the insurrection and defending the settlers. He became a private of Company K, Second Oregon Infantry, but soon his ability as a soldier was manifest and he was promoted sergeant, second lieutenant and first lieutenant, successively. On the death of the captain, he succeeded to that rank. He then assembled the citizens together and built a fort. On the morn- ing of February 24, 1855, he called for twenty- two men to go with him to hold the Indians in

HISTORY OF IDAHO.

check while the fort was being constructed. After marching some distance they were stationed be- hind a sharp point and awaited the arrival of the Indians, who soon came into view, five hundred strong. Captain Bledsoe had his men remain quiet until the Indians were within about fifty feet of them, when they poured a deadly fire into their ranks. After their guns were emptied, the white men used their revolvers with dreadful ef- fect and the Indians were largely checked, many of the number having been killed. The Captain then ordered a retreat toward the fort and thus they made their way, contesting every foot of the ground until they reached the fort, at four o'clock in the afternoon. In the meantime the building was completed and the women and children were saved.

On another occasion Captain Bledsoe, with . down, and their bullets passed over him. He thirty-two men, was reconnoitering, when they were almost instantly surrounded by four hun- dred Indians, who rose up around them out of the bushes, which were breast-high, and charged upon the white men from every direction. The Captain instantly formed his men into a hollow square, and in this way awaited the charge. They first fired their guns, then used their revolvers. The chief in command of the Indians jumped on On the 20th of June, 1866, he participated in the last battle of the war. He and his men were to take their places on the south side of the river and await the Indians, who were to be driven across to them. His men were behind a large log when the Indians came up to them. The Captain with his forty-five men had a desperate encounter with the savages, a hand-to-hand fight, in which one hundred and seventy-five Indians were killed. The next day the remainder of the band surrendered. After the battle, General C. C. Augur embraced the Captain with the remark: "You are the best man to fight Indians at close quarters I ever saw. I could constantly hear your voice above the din of battle clear across the river." a rock to better give the commands, when Cap- tain Bledsoe ordered John Walker, who stood near him, to fire, and the chief was killed, which caused great disorder among his followers, thus left without a leader. The white men then formed in skirmish line and retreated. Eight of their number had been killed and five wounded. Cap- tain Bledsoe, at another time, with twenty picked men, went up to the mouth of the river in search of the Indians. They discovered a party of about seventy-five and crawled up to the top of a bluff from where they opened fire. Only three of the Indians crossed the river alive! After this, three companies of United States regulars arrived un- der command of General Buchanan, and thus Captain Bledsoe was relieved of the responsibility Captain Bledsoe aided in moving the Indians to their reservation, and was for some time the special Indian agent at the mouth of Yaquina bay. He was also sutler for two years, and then engaged in buying cattle, which he drove to mar- ket in Olympia. In 1861 the Oro Fino excite- ment brought him to Lewiston, where he arrived in July, 1861. He was the first merchant at Elk of having entire command. Later two other com- panies of regulars came, and the subject of this review was allowed some respite from his ar- duous duties. One other incident in which he was concerned, however. is worthy of mention. Near the fort was a dry reservoir into which the Indians frequently crawled at night, firing from

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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 7

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