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CHAPTER XXXII THE COUNTIES OF IDAHO
FIRST COUNTIES IN IDAHO-COUNTIES CREATED BY THE FIRST TERRITORIAL LEGIS- LATURE-THE FORTY-FOUR COUNTIES IN 1819 -- ADA-ADAMS-BANNOCK-BEAR
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CONTENTS
LAKE-BENEWAH-BINGHAM-BLAINE-BOISE-BONNER-BONNEVILLE-BOUN- DARY-BUTTE-CAMAS- CANYON-CARIBOU-CASSIA-CLARK - CLEARWATER- CUSTER-ELMORE- FRANKLIN-FREMONT-HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH- DATE OF ORGANIZATION- BOUNDARIES RESOURCES-TRANSPORTATION FACILI- TIES-POPULATION AND WEALTH, ETC. 601
CHAPTER XXXIII COUNTY HISTORY, CONTINUED
GEM COUNTY-GOODING-IDAHO-JEFFERSON-JEROME-KOOTENAI-LATAH-LEM- HI-LEWIS-LINCOLN-MADISON-MINIDOKA-NEZ PERCE-ONEIDA-OWYHEE -PAYETTE-POWER-SHOSHONE-TETON-TWIN . FALLS-VALLEY-WASHING- TON-WHEN EACH WAS ORGANIZED-BOUNDARIES-INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT -EARLY SETTLERS- RAILROADS-PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES-POPULATION AND WEALTH, ETC. 645
CHAPTER XXXIV THE CITY OF BOISE
LOCATION AND FIRST SETTLEMENT-ORIGIN OF THE NAME-IN THE BEGINNING THE FIRST HOME-A FEW PIONEERS-EARLY BUSINESS ENTERPRISES-POLITICAL -LIST OF MAYORS-FIRE DEPARTMENT-STREET CAR LINES-ADVANTAGES OF BOISE-SCHOOLS-COMMERCIAL CLUB-NATURAL HOT WATER-MISCELLANEOUS -BOISE THE BEAUTIFUL 687
CHAPTER XXXV CITIES AND TOWNS
THREE CLASSESOF MUNICIPALITIES-THIRTY-TWO CITIES-AMERICAN FALLS-BELLE- VUE-BLACKFOOT-BONNER'S FERRY-BURLEY-CALDWELL-COEUR D'ALENE- EMMETT-GENESEE-GRANGEVILLE-HAILEY-IDAHO FALLS-KELLOGG-LEWIS- TON - MONTPELIER - MOSCOW - NAMPA-PARIS-PAYETTE- PRESTON-POCA- TELLO-REXBURG - RIGBY - RUPERT - ST. ANTHONY-ST. MARIES-SALMON- SAND POINT-TWIN FALLS-WALLACE-WARDNER-WEISER 715
CHAPTER XXXVI INCORPORATED VILLAGES
INCORPORATED VILLAGES IN 1910-CHANGES SINCE THAT TIME-ALBION-AMMON -ARCO - ASHTON - ATHOL - BASALT - BLOOMINGTON-BUHL-CAMBRIDGE- CASCADE-CHALLIS-COTTONWOOD-COUNCIL-CULDESAC-DRIGGS-FAIRFIELD- FILER-FRANKLIN- GEORGETOWN-GIFFORD GLENNS FERRY-GOODING-HARRI- SON-HOPE-IDAHO CITY-ILO-IONA-JEROME-JULIAETTA-KAMIAH-KEN- DRICK-KIPPEN-KOOSKIA-LEWISVILLE-M'CAMMON-MACKAY-MALAD CITY -MARYSVILLE-MENAN-MERIDIAN-MINIDOKA-MOUNTAIN HOME-MULLAN -NEW MEADOWS-NEW PLYMOUTH-NEZ PERCE OAKLEY-ORO FINO-PARKER -PARMA-PECK - PLACERVILLE - POST FALLS - PRIESTRIVER - RATHDRUM -
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CONTENTS
RICHFIELD - ROBERTS - SHELLEY-SHOSHONE-SODA SPRINGS-SPIRIT LAKE- STITES-SUGAR-TROY-VOLLMER-WENDELL-WESTON 769
CHAPTER XXXVII
HEALTH AND PLEASURE RESORTS
A HEALTHFUL CLIMATE-DEATH RATE-NATURAL SCENERY-IDAHO'S MOUNTAINS -ITS LAKES -- WATERFALLS-NATURAL SPRINGS-"SEE AMERICA FIRST"-IDAHO A SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE. 801
CHAPTER XXXVIII RELIGIOUS PROGRESS IN IDAHO
AN IROQUOIS TRADITION-EARLY MISSIONS-JASON AND DANIEL LEE-SAMUEL PARKER-DR. MARCUS WHITMAN-HENRY H. SPALDING-CATALDO MISSION- CHURCH HISTORY-THE CATHOLICS-CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN AT BOISE- LATTER-DAY SAINTS-PRESBYTERIANS-EPISCOPAL CHURCH-METHODIST EPIS- COPAL CHURCH-OTHER DENOMINATIONS 823
CHAPTER XXXIX FRATERNAL AND CIVIC SOCIETIES
FRATERNAL SPIRIT OF PIONEER DAYS-SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER-MASONIC FRA- TERNITY-THE ODD FELLOWS-KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS-GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC - THE ELKS - OTHER ORDERS - WOMEN'S CLUBS - COMMERCIAL
CLUBS 845
CHAPTER XL MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER-THE OTTER MASSACRE-EARLY DAY PRICES-PICTURE WRITING-THE MARION MORE TRAGEDY-THE BALDWIN AFFAIR-PAT BRICE'S STORY-MURDER OF AN EX-SHERIFF 855
CHAPTER XLI STATISTICAL REVIEW
FIRST ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GREAT WEST-IDAHO FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OLD- CENSUS REPORTS FROM 1870 TO 1910-ESTIMATED POPULATION IN 1918-POPU- LATION BY COUNTIES-PRINCIPAL CITIES-OFFICIAL ROSTER-LIST OF TERRI- TORIAL AND ELECTIVE STATE OFFICERS-IDAHO'S PRESIDENTIAL VOTE-COUNTY STATISTICS-LEGAL HOLIDAYS. 867
CHAPTER XLII CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY
CIVILIZED COUNTRIES THE PRODUCT OF EVOLUTION-IMPORTANCE OF DATES IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY-HOW ONE EVENT DEPENDS UPON ANOTHER-ILLUSTRATIONS -- THE SUMMARY 875 Vol. I-1
FRE F
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THE PRESENT CAPITOL, BOISE
History of Idaho
CHAPTER I A GENERAL VIEW
LOCATION AND AREA-LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE-TOPOGRAPHY-GEOLOGY-THE GLACIAL EPOCH-THE SOILS-CLIMATE-A PROPOSED CHANGE IN BOUNDARIES- THE NAME IDAHO-ITS ORIGIN AND MEANING.
Could the observer ascend in an aeroplane to a height where, with a power- ful glass, he could bring the whole state of Idaho into view, he would see a vast irregularly shaped area, extending from 42° to 49° north latitude, and on the south end from IIIº to 117º of longitude west from Greenwich. This great triangle is 484 miles long from north to south, 310 miles wide on the southern boundary, 48 miles wide on the northern, and contains an area of º3,888 square miles. It is larger than all of New England and nearly as large as the states of New York and Pennsylvania combined-two of the largest states of the East. On the extreme north it is bounded by the Dominion of Canada; on the east by the states of Montana and Wyoming; on the south by Utrh and Nevada; and on the west by Oregon and Washington.
TOPOGRAPHY
Idaho is separated from Montana by the Coeur d'Alene, Bitter Root and Beaverhead mountains, which here form the Continental Divide, separating the waters of the Mississippi from those which flow to the Pacific Ocean. The average elevation of the state is a little less than five thousand feet, the lowest altitude (738 feet) being at Lewiston, where the Snake River crosses the west- ern boundary, while the highest peaks of the Sawtooth Range rise to a height of twelve thousand feet or more above the level of the sea. The surface is there- fore greatly diversified. George H. Eldridge, who made a reconnaissance of Idaho for the United States Geological Survey in the early '90s, says :
"The broad topographical features of Idaho are the drainage systems of the Snake and Columbia rivers, with a vast arid plain along the former stream; a labyrinthine mass of rugged mountains northward from the plain; and a succes- sion of desert ranges on the divide between the Snake River and the Great Basin, along the southern border of the state."
Strictly speaking, the two drainage systems mentioned by Mr. Eldridge are but one, as the Snake River is in reality a tributary of the Columbia. North
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
of the forty-fifth parallel, the Kootenai, Clarks Fork, the Spokane and some lesser rivers are classed as belonging to the direct drainage area of the Columbia, while south of that parallel the principal affluents of the Snake (in order de- scending the stream) are the North or Henrys Fork, the Port Neuf, Big Wood, Bruneau, Owyhee, Boise, Payette, Weiser, Salmon and Clearwater.
The Snake takes its name from the leading tribe of Indians found by the early travelers near its headwaters. From the point where it enters the state in Bonneville County to Lewiston it has a fall of, nearly five thousand feet. Consequently it is not navigable, but it furnishes a large opportunity for water power, as well as water for irrigation purposes. Through centuries of erosive action it has cut canyons from 400 to 1,000 feet deep along its course, and numerous water-falls have been developed. In descending the river the first large cataract noted is the American Falls, so-called because tradition says a party of Americans here lost their lives in early days while trying to cross the river in canoes. These falls are in Power County, about ten miles below the mouth of the Port Neuf, and the water drops sixty feet.
Near the northwest corner of Cassia County is the Twin Falls, from which the county and city of Twin Falls derive their name. These falls are so named because the channel of the river is divided by a huge rock into two streams, each of which plunges over a precipice 197 feet in height.
A few miles below Twin Falls, where the Snake forms the boundary line between Lincoln and Twin Falls counties, are the great Shoshone Falls, some- times called "The Niagara of the West." Here the water descends in full volume, with almost deafening roar, over a semi-circular cliff 950 feet wide and 212 feet high. Almost every mile of the Snake's course through Idaho is marked by picturesque and remarkable scenery, varying from quiet, peaceful valleys to weird, gloomy canyons and awe-inspiring rapids.
In the southeast corner of the state the Bear River enters from Wyoming and flows in a northwesterly direction through the pass between the Bear River and Aspen Mountains. It then turns south and crosses the southern boun- dary in Franklin County.
The general surface is much broken by mountain chains. Concerning the mountains of Idaho, Prof. F. V. Hayden, who made a somewhat superficial survey of the Northwest for the United States Government shortly after the close of the Civil war, says: "None of our published maps conveys any idea of the almost innumerable ranges. We might say that from longitude 110º to 118°, a distance of over five hundred miles, there is a range of mountains, on an average, every ten to twenty miles. Sometimes the distance across the range in a straight line, from the bed of the stream in one valley to the bed of the stream in the valley beyond the range, is not more than five to eight miles, while it is seldom more than twenty miles."
Besides the Coeur d'Alene, Bitter Root and Beaverhead mountains, which form the greater part of the eastern boundary of the state, the principal moun- tain ranges of Idaho are: The Bear River Mountains, situated in the big bend of the Bear River in the southeastern part and forming the boundary line between the counties of Bear Lake and Bannock; the Blackfoot Range, in the eastern part of Bingham County; the Cabinet Mountains, north of the Coeur d'Alene Range ; the Little Lost River Range, in Lemhi, Blaine and Jefferson
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
counties ; the Lost River and Pahsimeroi Mountains, in Blaine and Custer coun- ties; the Salmon River Range, in Lemhi and Custer counties; the Sawtooth Mountains, the highest in the state, which divide the counties of Custer and Idaho on the north from the counties of Blaine and Boise on the south; the range known as the Seven Devils, near the western border of the state; and the Thatuna Hills, in Latah County.
Of the "desert ranges" alluded to by Mr. Eldridge, the best known are the Bannock, southwest of the Port Neuf River and near the line between Bannock and Power counties ; the Hansel, in the southern part of Oneida County; the Black Pine, in the southeastern part of Cassia County ; and the Goose Creek, in the southwestern part of the same county, near the stream from which they derive their name. In addition to these chains of mountains there are numerous de- tached or isolated peaks scattered over the state, particularly in the central portion.
GEOLOGY
No complete geological survey of Idaho has ever been made, but from the reports of Hayden, Eldridge and others geologists are inclined to the theory that far back in the geologic past, the Pacific Ocean extended as far eastward as the Rocky Mountains; that throughout the Paleozoic and the greater part of the Mesozoic eras, numerous rivers carried debris from the mountain sides and deposited it in great quantities at their mouths, where it was caught up by the tides and borne farther out to sea. After this process had gone forward for ages, the bottom of this primeval ocean was uplifted by volcanic action, the Cascade and Coast ranges of mountains appearing above the surface of the waters. This left a great inland lake, the waters of which were finally carried off by rivers that cut their way from the interior to the ocean.
Subsequent eruptions, about the close of the Miocene era, lifted the Coast and Cascade summits still higher above the sea and formed the immense lava beds, extending from Northern California far into British Columbia and cov- ering a large part of the present states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. These great upheavals, and others which followed, lifted up the mountain ranges of Idaho and added to the vast deposits of lava, which in some places along the Snake and Columbia rivers are known to be 4,000 feet in thickness. They were followed by a period of crater eruptions lasting for centuries, and in which many of the highest peaks of Idaho now extinct volcanoes, played an impor- tant part.
In most instances, the valleys of Idaho represent the original surface, be- fore the inclosing mountain ranges were pushed upward by volcanic action. In these valleys the surface generally rests upon a foundation of aqueous rocks, varying in thickness and character in different localities. Eldridge found the sedimentary beds underlying the Snake Valley to belong to the Cenozoic sys- tem of the Pliocene age, while in the intermontane valleys the formation repre- sents the Eocene or Miocene period, over which, in numerous places, he found deposits of the Tertiary period.
Of the rocks noticed, he mentions granites, gneiss, schists, quartzites, syenite, limestone, shales, sandstones, and various rocks of volcanic origin. The granites and schists he classified as belonging to the Archean age, and the limestone to
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
the Silurian or Carboniferous era. In the De Lamar and Silver City districts he found several varieties of eruptive rocks, such as rhyolite, diabase, basalt, etc.
The passenger on a railway train, looking from the car window as he crosses the state, cannot fail to be impressed with the great variety and majesty of Idaho's scenery. Now he is passing along cliffs of columnar basalt that remind him of the picture of the Giant's Causeway shown in his geography of boyhood days; now among great granite bowlders or past some huge granite cliff whose summit towers far above him; next along the bank of a river and by a water- fall, the roar of which can be heard above that of the train; and then across some fertile valley, dotted here and there with verdant groves, interspersed with homes and cultivated fields of prosperous husbandmen.
THE GLACIAL EPOCH
After the period of volcanic action-just how long after can only be con- jectured-another great geologic change came to the region now comprising the State of Idaho. During the latter part of the Tertiary period there was a general lowering of the temperature in the north temperate zone until the climate along the forty-fifth parallel of latitude was not unlike that in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle at the present and in consequence of the extreme cold and heavy snowfall immense glaciers were formed in the valleys throughout all the cen- tral portion of North America.
Then followed the period known to geologists as the Pleistocene or "Ice Age," the last great important geologic change, extending far into the Quar- ternary era. As the temperature again rose, the glaciers began slowly moving toward a lower altitude. In their progress they carried along with them soils, great bowlders, etc., and deposited these far from the place where they had been first placed by the hand of Nature. The ridges formed in many places by this debris are called moraines. The ridge left along the edge of the glacier is called a "lateral moraine;" that formed where two glaciers came together, a "medial moraine;" and that where the last of the ice was dissolved by the ris- ing temperature, a "terminal moraine." Geologists are able to determine easily by the character of the moraine the class to which it belongs, and thus form a definite idea of the magnitude of the glacier and the direction in which it moved.
Mr. Eldridge found abundant evidences of glacial activity in the region about the Lost River and Sawtooth mountains. In the upper portions of the valleys he noted glacial bowlders and lateral as well as terminal moraines. East of the Sawtooth Range he found an enormous deposit of glacial drift, extend- ing along the foot of the mountains for fifty or sixty miles in a belt from five to eight miles in width, cut by many streams. Glacial action is equally well marked in numerous localities in the central and northern portions of the state.
Some geologists think that the glacial invasion of Central North America lasted for 500,000 years, and that the last of the glacial ice in the United States disappeared at least 25,000 years ago. At the close of the Pleistocene period the affected part of the earth's surface was barren of vegetation and animal life. The water from the melting ice settled in the depressions and formed glacial lakes. In the State of Idaho there are nearly six hundred square miles of lakes, many of which are of glacial origin. Prairie Basin, between the Salmon River
BALANCE ROCK, 12 MILES WEST OF BUHL Rock is 35 feet high; 25 feet upper width and base 1x11/2x3 feet
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
Mountains and the middle fork of the Salmon River, is the site of an ancient glacial lake.
THE SOILS
Upon the character of the glacial drift depends in a large measure the nature of the soil. Following the disappearance of the glaciers, the sun, wind and rain began a process of disintegration, leveling down the inequalities in the sur- face to render the earth habitable. In time plants made their appearance and the decaying vegetation added to the soil's fertility. On the Palouse River and the Nez Perce and Camas prairies the soil was produced by the disintegration of the lava formations and is unusually productive, being especially adapted to the growing of macaroni wheat. In the northern portion-the "Panhandle"- where the glacial drift was deposited in great depth, the soil, especially in the valleys, is a rich, black, vegetable mold of extraordinary fertility. In the neigh- borhood of Priest Lake the soil is composed of the sediments of granite and schistose rocks, and though not so fertile as that in the valleys it is still capable of producing excellent crops. This sedimentary area extends southward to about the northern boundary of Latah and Clearwater counties, where it merges into the granite area on the east and the basalt on the west. The latter extends up the Snake River almost to the eastern boundary of the state and southward into Nevada.
In the spring of 1869 Prof. F. V. Hayden and his geological party passed over the Snake River Valley. In the report of his reconnaissance he speaks of the soil in that section as being "composed of a rich, sandy loam, that needs but the addition of water to render it most excellent farming land."
Professor Hayden's statement is equally true if applied to each of the val- leys in Southern Idaho. Since his reconnaissance, irrigation projects, both great and small, have brought under cultivation most of the arable lands in these valleys and distinctly proved that "Water is king."
CLIMATE
In Idaho the leading agencies that influence climate in inland countries- latitude and altitude-have a wide range, and probably none of the inland states of the Union shows a greater diversity of temperature and precipitation. In latitude the state extends from the forty-second to the forty-ninth parallel, and the altitude varies from about seven hundred feet at Lewiston to twelve thou- sand feet or more in the Sawtooth and Salmon River mountains.
The coldest parts of Idaho are found in the country about the headwaters of the Salmon River and among the higher peaks of the Bitter Root Mountains, where the snow accumulates in great drifts and in the ravines, where it is shel- tered from heat, often remains throughout the summer. Here the mean annual temperature is about 36°, the winters are cold and the summers short and cool. During the months of July and August a high temperature is occasionally reached at midday, but the evenings are nearly always cool enough to make a little fire necessary for bodily comfort.
In the central part of the state, on the great plateaus and in the high valleys, the normal mean annual temperature ranges from 40° to 45°. The winters are
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
cold, but with less snowfall than in the mountainous districts, and the summers are long enough to allow crops to mature.
South of these plateaus and valleys lies the great Snake River Plain, in the eastern part of which the normal annual temperature varies from 43° to 48°. The western part of the plain, being farther from the great Continental Divide and nearer the Pacific Ocean, has a mean annual temperature somewhat higher, with more warm days in summer, though the nights are usually cool and pleas- ant. In certain favored localities, the upper Boise Valley being a notable instance, in only about one winter in three is there any snowfall that remains upon the ground. The thermometer has not registered below the zero mark more than three or four winters since the country was first settled and many from other portions of the state make that section their winter residence.
Above the forty-seventh parallel there is a climate to suit almost every taste. Along the Coeur d'Alene and Cabinet mountains the mean annual tem- perature is about the same as that of the central plateaus. On the rolling lands outside of the mountain areas it varies from 45° to 50°, which is higher than that of any eastern state in the same latitude. It may seem paradoxical to speak of the northern part of the state as having a higher mean temperature, yet such is the case, except for a small area in the southwestern part and in the low alti- tudes about Lewiston.
The annual rainfall of Idaho varies as much as the mean temperature, rang- ing from eight inches in the driest portions to over forty inches in the districts of greatest precipitation. The driest area is the Snake River Plain, in the south- western part of the state, and the region about the Lost River Mountains. Most of the Snake River Plain and the intersecting valleys have an average annual precipitation of less than fifteen inches. In this section the rolling lands of the foothills have more rain than the level portions of the valley and dry farm- ing is extensively carried on there. The lack of rain, however, does not mean a lack of water. All the principal tributaries of the Snake rise in high moun- tains, where the winter snows are heavy. The snow in the mountains forms natural reservoirs, retaining the moisture until needed during the warm sum- mer weather, when it melts and descends the streams, giving the Snake Valley a better water supply than any other arid section of the United States. In fact, Mr. Newell, late head of the Reclamation Service, made the open statement in Boise a few years ago that Idaho was the only arid state wherein the water supply, when fully utilized, would be sufficient to irrigate properly all of the arable lands of the state.
Northern Idaho, with the exception of a few localities, has sufficient rain- fall to make farming a successful occupation without resort to irrigation. Only in a few of the lowest valleys is the annual precipitation less than twenty inches, and the fall is better distributed throughout the year, though July and August are the dry months here as elsewhere in the state.
A PROPOSED CHANGE
At the time the states of the great Northwest were organized as territories, the members of Congress were not sufficiently well acquainted with the general nature of the country to establish logical or natural boundaries. Southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon are very much alike in climate and physical characteristics,
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
while in these respects Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington are almost identical. In climate, industrial activity and legislative needs there is very little in common between the northern and southern portions of Idaho. There is no direct railroad connection between the two sections, and when the resident of one of the northern counties finds it necessary to visit the capital, he must travel through three states and consume the greater part of two days in making the trip.
In Oregon the coast country differs greatly from the central and eastern por- tions of the state. Lumbering, fishing and farming without the aid of irriga- tion are there carried on successfully, while the eastern part is an arid country, where irrigation is essential to agriculture, and where stock raising and mining are the principal occupations. Western Oregon, being more densely populated, controls the legislation of the state and naturally complaints are often heard in the eastern counties that they are given slight consideration in the enactment of laws in their interests. The contrast in Washington between the sections east and west of the Cascade Range is almost as great as in Idaho and Oregon.
A readjustment of the boundary lines of the three northwestern states, or, better still, the creation of a fourth state out of the eastern portion of Washing- ton and the northern counties of Idaho, would undoubtedly serve the best in- terests of every section, and secure a community of interest and homogeneous population in each of the states so formed. Advantageous as this would be. however, thoughtful men who once advocated efforts to secure its accomplish- ment, have practically abandoned the idea and refused further waste of energy in vainly trying to accomplish a longed-for result that unfortunately must for- ever remain but a dream. To secure the consent of the legislatures of the three states directly affected and the favorable action of Congress as well, would be an absolute necessity before such a change could be made. The consent of Congress, if for no other reason, never could be obtained to the creation of a new state and increased representation for the Northwest in the upper house of Congress, and a thousand conflicting interests would be invoked to continued turmoil and never-ending strife, should a possible chance for success become apparent.
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