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 89
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Mr. Rounds has seven hundred and twenty acres of rich farming land near Idaho Falls, and a fine fruit farm at one side of the town. His residence in Idaho Falls is one of the finest in
the city and he owns other town property. His interest in everything which affects the welfare of the people of Idaho Falls and the growth and development of the city along all industrial, com- mercial and financial lines, is deep and abiding, and as a citizen and an official he has the respect of all who have knowledge of his straightforward methods and uprightness of character.
JOSEPH ALEXANDER.
There is ever an element of interest in the his- tory of a self-made man,-one who starts out in life empty-handed and wrests fortune from an adverse fate. Obstacles and difficulties are en- countered, but to the man of resolute purpose these but call for renewed effort and serve as stepping stones to something higher. The life record of Mr. Alexander stands in exemplifica- tion of what may be accomplished in this free land of ours, where the man of ambition and de- termination is unhampered by caste or class.
He was born in Adelsheim, in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany, on the 17th of March, 1837, his parents being Samuel and Caroline (Stein- hart) Alexander. The father was a dealer in cat- tle and horses. Both parents were Hebrews in religious faith, and the mother departed this life in her forty-fourth year, while the father reached the ripe old age of seventy-one. They had two sons and two daughters, all yet living. Joseph Alexander attended the public schools of his na- tive land until his sixteenth year, when he bade adieu to home and friends and crossed the Atlan- tic to America, hoping to make a fortune in the New World. He was a poor boy and the lan- guage of the people was unknown to him, but with a stout heart and ready hands he began work, being employed for a few years as clerk in a general store in New York city. During that time he became familiar with the methods of merchandising and thus was well fitted for carry- ing on business on his own account.
In 1857 Mr. Alexander sailed for California, going by way of the isthmus of Panama, and ar- riving at San Francisco in the same year. There he secured a clerkship which continued for three years, during which time he saved his earnings and was thus enabled to embark in business on his own account. At the Metropolitan market he began dealing in live and dressed poultry, and
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was thus engaged until, attracted by the gold discoveries in Idaho, he came to this state with Mr. Strouce, for whom he clerked for a few years. He then began business on his own ac- count in Lewiston, and the history of his ven- ture has been one of remarkable success from the beginning. He first opened a general mer- cantile store on the street next to the river, and in 1883 erected his present large store and ware- house. He carries a large stock of general mer- chandise and does an extensive and profitable business. So successful has he been in this ven- ture that he has been enabled to establish branch stores in Grangeville, Genesee and Oaksdale, all of which are now paying investments. He has also judiciously invested in lands, until he is now the owner of about four thousand acres, com- prising some of the finest farms of the state. He also owns several good buildings in Lewiston, including a fine residence property, and for some years has been prominently connected with the Lewiston National Bank, as vice-president, di- rector and stockholder.
Mr. Alexander has long taken a deep and active interest in the affairs of the town, has been instrumental in promoting many of its beneficial measures, and for fourteen years has served as a member of the city council, exercising his of- ficial prerogatives in support of all movements calculated for the public good. In politics he is a Republican, and socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His business career has been remarkably successful, but his wealth is the natural effect following cause. Energy, untiring labor, keen business discernment and unfailing honesty,-these have made him a prosperous man, and at all times his uprightness and reliability have won him the re- gard and confidence of those with whom he has been brought in contact.
LOUIS F. HORNING.
Louis F. Horning, who follows farming on Camas prairie, is a native of the Sunset state, his birth having there occurred August 20, 1851. His father, Frederick Horning, was born in Prussia, August 9, 1822, and was educated in Germany, after which he came with his father, George God- frey Horning, to America. The last named was likewise a Prussian by birth, and on crossing the
Atlantic he took up his residence in St. Louis, being one of the pioneers of that now populous city. For fifteen hundred dollars he sold ten acres of land which is now in the heart of the city and is now worth an almost fabulous price. He afterward went to Westport, Missouri, and located on the present site of Kansas City, where his heirs now have a vineyard which he formerly owned. He lived to be ninety-three years of age, and died in 1870.
Frederick Horning, the father of our subject, went to Milwaukee, Oregon, in 1849, at which time that little place had hopes of becoming the metropolis of the state. Later he settled near Corvallis and purchased a donation claim, which he improved, transforming it into a good farm. He spent his last days in retirement from labor, and died in 1892, at the age of seventy years. He married Miss Mary A. Johnson, a native of Ken- tucky. Her father crossed the plains with his family at a very early day and suffered greatly on the journey. The wife and one daughter died on the plains. The mother of our subject de- parted this life in her thirty-ninth year. Like her husband she was a faithful member of the Pres- byterian church, and they were regarded by all who knew them as people of the highest respecta- bility and worth. Mr. Horning was also a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity. They were laid to rest in the cemetery near Corvallis, but their memory remains as a good influence with all who knew them. They had a family of eleven chil- dren, all of whom are yet living.
Louis F. Horning, their second child and oldest son, completed his literary education in Corvallis College, and then learned the printer's trade in Corvallis, following that occupation for a time. He afterward removed to southeastern Oregon and for seven years was successfully engaged in the stock business there. In 1879 he came to Camas prairie, locating at his present place of residence, where he took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres. To this he has added until his landed possessions now aggre- gate three hundred and twenty acres. He was still single when he came to the farm. In 1880, however, he married Miss Dora Spooner, who was born in Missouri, but was reared in New York and Maine. He then erected a more com- modious residence and also built substantial
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barns and other outbuildings necessary for the shelter of grain and stock. He now has a highly improved farm and was one of the pioneer fruit men of this region, especially in the cultivation of peaches. He now has a most excellent or- chard, and everything about the place indicates the careful supervision of a practical and pro- gressive owner. The home has been blessed with the presence of five daughters and two sons, namely: Emma, Mary, Cora, Ella, Nellie, Charles and Arthur, all of whom were born on the farm and are still under the parental roof.
In his political views Mr. Horning is a Demo- crat, exercising his right of franchise in sup- port of the men and measures of the party, yet never seeking office for himself, preferring to de- vote his time and energies to his business inter- ests, in which he is meeting with good success. He has always resided in the northwest, and is thoroughly identified with this region, its inter- ests and its upbuilding, ever lending his aid to all measures for the public good.
CAPTAIN R. PICKERING.
The veteran soldier who risked his life in de- fense of the flag, all things else being equal, takes high rank as a citizen. This may be partly be- cause of the quality of the patriotism of the American public, but there is another reason for the pre-eminence of the veteran. The man who has the form of character to rise to distinction as a soldier possesses the resourceful perseverance so necessary to success in other fields. Captain R. Pickering, who has been a prominent resident of Genesee from its earliest history, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 3, 1842, and comes of a very old and honorable English family. The progenitor of the American branch was Joseph Pickering, who settled in New England in 1711, and he and his posterity were conspicuous in colonial history and in the struggle for American independence.
John Pickering, grandfather of R. Pickering, was born in Virginia, was a successful farmer in that state and removed to Ohio, where he was a pioneer. There his son, Elisha Pickering, father of R. Pickering, was born, and there he married Miss Mary Berry. He removed later in life to Iowa, and thence to Nebraska, where he died in 1891, aged eighty-six years. His wife died two
years previously. This worthy couple were of Quaker stock and were strict adherents to the faith of their forefathers. R. Pickering, their only son, had the advantages of excellent moral training and was educated in the common schools of Ohio. He had not yet celebrated his nineteenth birthday, when, in 1861, President Lincoln issued his first call for seventy-five thousand volunteers, for three months, to sup- press in the south an insurrectionary movement whose vitality and longevity had been terribly miscalculated. The next call was for a large number of men to serve for three years or during the war. In response to this call, now that war was upon the country and there was little pros- pects of soon dispelling it, young Pickering of- fered himself for his country's service, and Sep- tember 23, 1861, enlisted in Company K, Fif- teenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served in the Army of the Cumberland. His first engage- ment, at Stone River, turned out somewhat disas- trously for him. He was slightly wounded and pretty thoroughly stunned, and when he got his senses back he and others were prisoners in the hands of the "Johnny Rebs" and booked for Castle Thunder and Libby prison. He was pa- roled at the end of six weeks' memorable expe- rience. After he returned to the regiment he was in the fighting at Liberty Gap, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and in the Atlanta campaign,- a month of almost continuous battling, which ceased only when Atlanta fell. He was also in the engagement at Franklin and Nashville, Ten- nessee. In January, 1864, he re-enlisted and was commissioned captain of Company I, of the same regiment, which he commanded until the close of the war, when he was mustered out of the service, at San Antonio, Tex., November 26, 1865.
After the war was over Captain Pickering re- turned to Ohio and for two years was engaged in merchandising. He then removed to Iowa and farmed there with success during the ensuing ten years. Selling out his interest in Iowa, Captain Pickering removed to Nebraska, where he re- ceived the appointment of clerk of the United States Indian agency and was later given charge of the agency. When the Indians were trans- ferred to the Indian Territory he accompanied them and remained in charge of them until lie was given charge of the Pawnee agency. In
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1889 he took up his residence in eastern Oregon, and a few months later removed to Genesee, where he engaged in the loan and insurance busi- ness, which he has continued successfully to the present time. He represents a list of strong fire and life insurance companies, and as underwriter has always been exceedingly popular and given the most complete satisfaction to his patrons. He has invested quite heavily in real estate and owns and occupies one of the best residences in the city. He has, for a number of years, served the public well and faithfully as justice of the peace and notary public.
Captain Pickering was married February 21, 1867, to Miss Sarah E. Mead, a daughter of Filo Mead, and a native of his own county in Ohio. Captain and Mrs. Pickering have had seven chil- dren: Fred L .; Mary, M., who is Mrs. George Ingraham; Maud A., who died in her eighteenth year; Anna, who married Charles Power; J. L .; Edna B., and A. F.
Captain Pickering was made a Mason in 1868, has filled every important office and is past mas- ter of Unity Lodge, No. 32, of Genesee. He identified himself with the Grand Army of the Republic at the organization, has always worked ardently to advance its interests, is commander of Lyon Post, No. 24, and has been a member of the staff of the commander of the Idaho state department. As a business man, citizen, public officer and veteran soldier, Captain Pickering takes high rank. He is a man of pleasing per- sonality, genial, sympathetic and helpful, and his friends are many and steadfast.
GEORGE N. IFFT.
George N. Ifft, of the firm of Ifft & Wallin, proprietors and managers of the Pocatello Trib- une, is a native of Butler county, Pennsylvania, born January 27, 1865. He began newspaper work, as a reporter, in Pittsburg, that state, and continued in that capacity and in various edi- torial relations in other cities, as Washington, D. C., Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City and San Francisco,-until January 1, 1893, when he came to Idaho, locating at Pocatello, and since that time he has been connected with the Pocatello Tribune, as more fully described in our sketch of that paper.
Mr. Ifft is a Republican, but is one of those
who have always been firm believers in silver as advocated by the people of the west generally, and as such has taken an active part in the poli- tics of the state.
William Wallin is a practical, all-around news- paper man, who came to Idaho in 1893, after a service extending over a number of years in vari- ous capacities on papers in Ogden and Salt Lake City.
BENJAMIN BENNETT.
There have been few more impressive lessons of the value of faithfulness in small things than that afforded by the struggles and triumphs of Benjamin Bennett of Idaho Falls, Idaho, who is prominent in the commercial circles of Idaho and adjoining states and whose high position as a merchant and as a citizen has been gained by honest devotion to every interest entrusted to him as boy and man.
Benjamin Bennett was born in the north of Wales, January 1, 1846. His parents, John and Jane (Roberts) Bennett, came to the United States in 1863, bringing with them their ten children, and settled at Fillmore, Millard county, Utah. In his native land the elder Bennett had been a sea captain and a river pilot. He became a farmer in Utah, where he died, aged forty-six, leaving the management of the farm and the care of the family to his son Benjamin, then a lad of sixteen, but one already used to work, and brave and resolute beyond most boys of his age; for he was the eldest son and his help had been re- quired several years earlier. After he was twelve years old he had no opportunity to attend school, and he may be truly said to be a man self-edu- cated and self-made, for he is a man of thorough and comprehensive mental training and of un- doubted standing. His mother and eight of her ten children are living and she has attained to the advanced age of seventy-six years.
Young Bennett tried to do his duty, and in so doing made for himself a good reputation, which helped him to a higher business plane. He was called to a mercantile position and acquitted himself so creditably in it that his promotion was only a matter of time. In 1873 he was made manager of a co-operative store at Halden, Mil- lard county, Utah. He left that position to go to Frisco, Beaver county, Utah, where he be- came a partner in a mercantile house. Mean-
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time he had developed religiously until he was an able speaker and an efficient worker in the church of Latter Day Saints. He was chosen one of the elders of that church and for a time relinquished his business career to go on a mis- sionary tour through England. Two years were consumed in theworkand his labors were crowned with gratifying success. On his return to Utah he was made manager of a store of the Beaver Co-operative Mercantile Institution, at Beaver, Beaver county, Utah. Later he had charge of a similar establishment at Provo City, Utah, and from there came to Idaho Falls, in 1894, to man- age the large mercantile house of the Zion Co- operative Mercantile Institution at that place. It may be edifying to note in this connection that this extensive business house is one of the branches of a large corporation, capitalized at one million two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars, which has its principal offices at Salt Lake City, Utah, and, through favorably located branch stores, handles every kind of merchan- dise required by its trade. The concern owns and operates factories in which some classes of goods are made, and is enabled to buy other
merchandise in large quantities, to be shipped by the carload to some of its important branch stores, including that at Idaho Falls. Under the management of Mr. Bennett, the business of the store has increased satisfactorily and extends into the country at least fifty miles in every di- rection. Goods are sold for cash or on credit to approved purchasers, and a discount is made in some classes of goods for spot cash, which is quite an inducement to thrifty buyers.
Mr. Bennett is a Democrat, and while he has never been particularly active politically, he has been chosen to several important offices, among them that of mayor of Beaver, Utah, and county commissioner of Beaver county, Utah. Wher- ever he has lived, his influence has been for the public good. He was married in 1869 to Emma Jane Holman, daughter of James S. Holman, of Salt Lake City, Utah, who was a pioneer there in 1847. They have had twelve children, eleven of whom are living, all members of the church of Latter Day Saints. Three of the sons are mis- sionaries for the church,-one in England, one in California and one in Oregon.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
BINGHAM COUNTY.
W HILE not one of the most populous nor one of the most wealthy counties in the state, Bingham county does not by any means stand at the foot of the list.
In 1891 the Idaho Register, published at Idaho Falls, in giving a description of Bingham county, stated that it was the largest county in the state. Its length was one hundred and sev- + cially horses) allowed to roam during the entire enty-six miles, its width ninety miles, and it con- tained about fourteen thousand square miles, or about eight million acres of land; it extended from the Montana line on the north to within about twenty-one miles of the Utah line on the south. By an act approved March 6, 1893, a strip of about fifty-six miles was taken from the south end of the county and a new county The climate is mild, not exceedingly hot in the summer, the nights always being cool. The winters are not severe, although the mercury often indicates from fifteen to thirty degrees be- low zero. The atmosphere being dry, the cold is not felt to the extent the same degree of cold would be in a damper climate. formed, called Bannock county, and by an act approved March 4, at the same session of the legislature, a strip of about seventy-five miles was taken from the north end, forming a new county, called Fremont. This left Bingham county about ninety miles east and west and about forty-five miles north and south.
The central portion of the county is traversed by the Snake river, and what is known as the great Snake river valley composes a large part of the central portion of the county. It is a very fertile section of country. The most extensive yield of wheat, oats, hay and potatoes is here shown. Many fields of wheat average fifty bush- els to the acre, machine measure, which would usually hold out to nearly fifty-five bushels by weight, as nearly all the wheat runs sixty-two to sixty-three pounds to the bushel. Oats at ninety bushels to the acre, at forty pounds to the bushel, is not an unusual yield, in fact it is seldom that oats run less than forty pounds to the bushel and sometimes as high as forty-four.
For quantity and quality of production there is no country that can excel and few can compare with this valley. All kinds of vegetables are raised, such as squash, pumpkins, turnips, beets
and tomatoes, and while it cannot be called a corn country this product is often raised and matured.
About two-thirds of the area of the county is mountainous. The foot-hills, valleys and can- yons furnish most excellent feed for cattle and horses, and during many seasons they are (espe- winter to hunt their own feed, and they usually come out in the spring in good condition. The snow in the mountains does not commence to melt until June, when it furnishes an abundance of water for irrigating, the highest stages of the river being usually between the 15th of June and Ioth of July.
The mountains abound in game such as elk, deer, antelope, moose, bear and mountain sheep, while small game, such as sage hens, prairie chickens, partridges, grouse, geese, ducks and rabbits, are found in the valleys, and the Snake river and its tributaries abound in trout.
The altitude of the valley is from forty-four to forty-eight hundred feet above the sea, or about three hundred feet above Great Salt Lake, and in most instances the great storms that traverse the continent, especially those from the west, pass either to the north or south of this section. A blizzard or a cyclone is unknown in this valley. Whenever the weather is severely cold there is hardly a breath of air stirring. « It is a beautiful sight on a frosty morning when the sun is just beginning to cast its first rays over the moun- tain tops to see the smoke from the scores of chimneys rising straight toward the sky for hun- dreds of feet.
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View in Blackfoot, Bingham County.
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HISTORY OF IDAHO.
All crops are raised by irrigation and a failure on account of drouth or excess of rainfall is not known. Being at the head of the water supply of the Snake river, there is no danger whatever of the supply being exhausted. A large amount of money has been expended in this vicinity in building irrigating canals. There are probably more miles of completed irrigating canals in this valley, and the greater part of them in this county, than in all other portions of the state combined. None of these are prospective canals, but each and every one of them is completed and supplying water to those having land under them, and, as before stated, these are all in Bing- ham county or its immediate vicinity.
The immense canal system of the American Falls Power & Canal Company, consists of a main supply canal eighty feet wide at the top and sixty feet wide at the bottom. This canal is sixty-five miles long and one hundred miles of laterals convey the water to the lands to be irri- gated. The company has constructed an emer- gency reservoir covering three hundred acres of land, which will be used as a feeder on the lower end of the system. The canal leaves the Snake river about nine miles north of Blackfoot, on the west side, and takes a general southwesterly course, crossing the Oregon Short Line at American Falls. The system will water about seventy-five thousand acres of the finest and most fertile lands in the west, and as the canal has a carrying capacity sufficient to water ninety- six thousand acres, there will at all times be an abundance of water and the farmer who secures water under this system will be fortunate. The system is one of the most complete and exten- sive in the west, and one of the chief features to recommend it to a man looking for a home is the wise provision made by the company to the ef- fect that whenever sixty per cent. of the stock is sold the control and management of the com- pany passes to the farmers, thereby giving each man entitled to water from the canal a voice in the management of the company.
The Snake river rises in the Yellowstone Na- tional Park, among the snow-capped peaks of the Teton mountains, and is one of the most beautiful rivers on the American continent. It affords an abundance of water at all times to irri- gate the immense tracts of land lying along its
course, and at the same time would furnish power enough to turn the wheels of every manu- facturing plant in the Union. The land under this canal can be obtained at a nominal cost, and crops of all kinds can be raised at once. This makes it most desirable for the poor man or man with moderate means, as he can make a good living and at the same time meet his payments on the land. He has the best of markets and all the comforts and conveniences of society, schools and churches, as towns are being estab- lished every few miles along the canal.
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