USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 62
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ELMORE COUNTY
Elmore was the last county to be established while Idaho was still a terri- tory, the act of the Legislature creating it having been approved on February 7, 1889. It was taken from the southwestern part of Alturas County and was named "Elmore," after the famous Ida Elmore quartz mine at Rocky Bar, one of the greatest producers of gold in the later '6os. Rocky Bar, situated near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Boise River and formerly the county seat of Alturas County, was named in the act as the county seat of Elmore, but some of the citizens were in favor of having the judicial center of the county at some town on the railroad and after a spirited contest the county seat was removed from Rocky Bar to Mountain Home.
The permanent settlement of the county dates from the building of the Ore- gon Short Line Railroad, when people began to turn their attention to farm- ing and developing the resources of the country. Among those then resident or who located about this time in Elmore County were : Franklin P. Ake, George A. Butler, J. H. Brady, J. H. Casey, R. P. Chatten, O. B. Corder, W. C. Howie, Z. N. Hungerford, J. A. Purtill, A. W. Lockman, E. M. Wolfe, E. C. Helfrich, R. W. Smith, W. H. Shuman and J. H. Van Schaick. Franklin P. Ake built the tele- graph line from Mountain Home to Rocky Bar and was the promoter of the first irrigation project in the southern part of the county. E. C. Helfrich was one of the pioneer merchants of Mountain Home and was still in business there in 1918, and William C. Howie opened a law office in Mountain Home about the time it was made the county seat.
The first election was held in the county on October 1, 1890, at which Nel- son Davis, Samuel B. Blackwell and William H. Manion were chosen county commissioners; W. C. Wickersham, clerk; George F. Mahoney, assessor ; D. B. Hill, sheriff; Clarence T. Waller, treasurer; E. C. Towne, surveyor; W. F. Smith, coroner; Augustine M. Sinnott, probate judge and ex-officio superin- tendent of public schools. In 1916 the present courthouse was completed at a cost of $35,214.
Elmore County is bounded on the north and northwest by Boise County ; on the east by Camas and Gooding counties ; on the south by the Snake River, which separates it from Owyhee County; and on the west by Ada County. It has an area of 4,785 square miles and is one of the leading agricultural and stock raising counties of Southern Idaho. In 1917 it reported 14,222 cattle and
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122,980 sheep, being at that time the second county in the state in the number of sheep and thirteenth in the number of cattle. The assessed valuation of prop- erty for 1918 was $8,140,073.
The only railroad in the county is the Oregon Short Line, which follows the Snake River along the southern border to Doran, where it leaves the river and runs in a northwesterly direction. The stations on this line are Chalk, Cleft, Doran, Glenn's Ferry, Hammett, King Hill, Medbury, Mountain Home, Sebree, Slade and Sunnyside. In the interior the principal villages are Atlanta, Green- dale, Lenox, Mayfield, Pine, Prairie and Rocky Bar. In 1910 the population of the county was 4,785.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
On January 30, 1913, Governor Haines approved the act creating Franklin County out of the eastern part of Oneida and fixing the county seat at Preston until the general election of 1914, when the question of a permanent county seat should be decided by the voters. Franklin is one of the small counties of the state ; bounded by Bannock County on the north; by Bear Lake County on the east ; by the State of Utah on the south ; and by Oneida County on the west.
Although young as a county, Franklin can claim the distinction of being the site of the first permanent settlement in Idaho. In April, 1860, thirteen Mor- mon families from Utah formed a little settlement where the Town of Frank- lin now stands, near the southern boundary of the county, and before fall about fifty families had found homes in the new community. Among these pioneers were Samuel R. Parkinson, Thomas Smart, Lorenzo H. Hatch, Edward Buck- ley and William Woodward, many of whose descendants still reside in the county. When the Utah & Northern Railroad was under construction, the Mormon Church advised the settlers along the line to aid in grading the roadbed, which they did, thus contributing to the success of the enterprise that brought Frank- lin County in touch with the outside markets and added to the material pros- perity of its people.
The act creating the county attached it to the Fifth Judicial District and designated Preston as the temporary county seat until the general election of 1914, when the voters of the county established the permanent seat of justice there. Other towns in the county are Clifton, Dayton, Garner and Weston, on the main line of the Utah & Northern (now the Oregon Short Line) Railroad ; Franklin and Whitney on the Cache Valley branch of the same system, which terminates at Preston; and Banida, Fairview, Mapleton, Minkcreek and River- dale, in the interior. Besides the railroads mentioned the Ogden, Logan & Idaho electric line connects Preston with Wellsville, Utah, so that the county is well provided with transportation and shipping facilities. Dairying is one of the leading industries and considerable quantities of cream are shipped out of the county. Much of the land is irrigated and large crops of timothy, alfalfa, grain and sugar beets are grown.
No point in the county lies at a lower altitude than 4,600 feet. In 1910 the population of Franklin County was included in the returns from Oneida County,
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but in 1917 the population was estimated at 6,000. The assessed valuation for 1918 was $5,912,368.
FREMONT COUNTY
Fremont was the first county created after Idaho was admitted into the Union as a state, Governor McConnell approving the act on March 4, 1893. Two days later he approved the act creating Bannock County. The act creating Fre- mont fixed the boundaries to embrace "all that portion of Bingham County which lies north of a line drawn from the provisional base line due east across said County of Bingham along the township line between townships 3 and 4 north, to the east boundary of the State of Idaho."
As first created, Fremont County included all the present county of that name, the counties of Jefferson, Madison and Teton, and the eastern portion of Butte. The Town of St. Anthony was named in the act as the temporary county seat and it was made the permanent county seat by the voters at the general election in 1894. The creative act attached the county to the Fifth Judicial Dis- trict and authorized the governor to appoint county officers within ten days, to serve until the next general election. On the same day Governor McConnell approved the act he appointed the following officers: F. A. Pyke, R. F. Jardine and John Donaldson, commissioners; F. S. Bramwell, clerk of the district court ; J. B. Cutshaw, sheriff ; T. J. Winter, treasurer ; Miles R. Cahoon, probate judge ; Milo Adams, surveyor ; Wyman Parker, Sr., coroner.
Fremont County was named in honor of John C. Fremont, who, as a lieutenant in the United States topographical engineers, made explorations in the Rocky Mountain country in the '40s and visited old Fort Hall in September, 1843. Its surface is mountainous or composed of elevated plateaus, no place in the county having an altitude of less than 4,600 feet. Four national forests-the Beaver- head, Lemhi, Palisade and Targhee-are found partly within its borders, the headquarters of the last two being located at St. Anthony. After Jefferson, Madison and Teton counties were cut off and the county reduced to its present dimensions, it is bounded on the north by the State of Montana ; on the east by the Yellowstone National Park and the State of Wyoming; on the south by the counties of Teton, Madison, Jefferson and Butte; and on the west by Butte and Lemhi. Along the Snake River there is a large area of irrigated land, but the greater portion of the county is given over to grazing and dry farming. In 1917 Fremont reported 21,295 cattle and 108,714 sheep, being then the third county of the state in the number of sheep and fifth in the number of cattle. The total assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $12,567,672.
The main line of the Salt Lake-Butte division of the Oregon Short Line railway system, crosses the central part of the county and the Yellowstone Park branch of the same system crosses the eastern portion. The Victor branch leaves the latter at Ashton. There are more than a score of railway stations in the county, the principal ones being Ashton, Drummond, Lamont, Marys- ville, Parker and St. Anthony. Kaufman in the Birch Creek Valley in the
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western part of the county, and Farnum in the southeastern part are trading points for farming communities. Island Park, on the Yellowstone branch of the railroad, is becoming famous as a summer resort. In 1910 the population of Fre- mont County was 24,606, being then the fourth in the state in this respect, but since then the population has been reduced by the formation of new counties.
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.
GEM COUNTY
On March 19, 1915, Governor Alexander approved an act of the Legislature providing for the erection of Gem County out of the western portion of Boise and the northeastern portion of Canyon counties, on condition that "60 per cent of the qualified electors voting in the territory composing the proposed new County of Gem, and hereinafter described, vote in favor of this act becoming operative at an election to be called and held for that purpose in said territory," etc.
Section 2 of the act described in detail the boundaries of the proposed county by section, township and range lines, and designated the Town of Emmett as the county seat, "until otherwise removed or changed as provided by law."
The county commissioners of Boise and Canyon counties were directed by the act to call a special election for the second Tuesday in May, 1915, and to publish notice of the same. It was further provided that, if the required 60 per cent or more of the voters living in the territory voted in favor of the estab- lishment of the new county, the governor should appoint officers therefor, to hold their respective offices until the next general election.
The election was held on the appointed date (May 11, 1915), and the proposi- tion to organize the new county was carried by a large majority. Governor Alex- ander then appointed the following officers, who entered upon their duties on May 18, 1915: John McNish, James A. Kesgard and J. H. Connaughton, county commissioners ; R. B. Wilson, auditor and recorder; David Nichols, sheriff ; George F. Church, assessor; David Murray, treasurer; J. P. Reed, prosecuting attorney; A. C. Vadney, probate judge; E. E. Forshay, surveyor ; C. D. Buck- num, coroner ; Bessie Von Horten, superintendent of public instruction.
Gem is an irregularly shaped county, its greatest length from north to south
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being about forty-eight miles, twenty-two miles wide on the southern boundary and about ten miles in width in the northern part. The Payette River flows in a westerly direction through the southern portion. Its principal tributary in the county is Squaw Creek, which rises near the junction of Adams, Gem and Wash- ington counties and flows southwardly, its waters falling into the Payette near the Village of Sweet. There are also several smaller streams in the county.
The southern part is well provided with railroad accommodations, the Idaho Northern and Payette branches of the Oregon Short Line system, forming a junction at Emmett, with stations at Bramwell, Emmett, Jenness, Letha and Montour. People living in the northern portion find transportation facilities in the Idaho Northern, which traverses Boise County a short distance east of the Gem boundary. Sweet in the Squaw Creek Valley is the only village of im- portance away from the railroad. What is known as the lower valley, around Emmett, has an average elevation of less than four thousand feet and is especially adapted to fruit culture. In 1918 about one hundred carloads of apples, peaches and prunes were shipped from Emmett alone. The upper valley, in the northern portion, produces large crops of grain, hay and potatoes. Part of the county lies in the Payette National Forest, the supervisor of which has his office at. Emmett. In 1918 the assessed valuation of property was $4.273.867 and the estimated population at that time was 4,500.
GOODING COUNTY
Gooding County was created by the act of January 28, 1913, and was named for ex-Gov. Frank R. Gooding, a resident of the county. The territory com- prising Gooding was taken from the western part of Lincoln County: "Begin- ning at the northeast corner of section 6, township 3, range 16 east, in the north boundary line of Lincoln County as now constituted; thence south twenty-four miles, more or less, along the section line to the southeast corner of section 31, township 6, range 16 east ; thence east one mile to the northeast corner of sec- tion 4, township 7 south, range 16 east ; thence south along the section line to the thread of the Snake River, being the southern boundary of Lincoln County as now constituted ; thence northwesterly along the thread of the Snake River to the west line of township 6 south, range 12 east ; thence north along the west line of range 12 to the northwest corner of township 3 south, range 12 east ; thence east along the north line of township 3 to the place of beginning."
The new county was attached to the Fourth Judicial District and the Town of Gooding was named as temporary county seat. Governor Haines appointed county officers to serve until the next general election. At the election held on November 3. 1914 (the first after the county was organized) ; the Town of Gooding was made the permanent county seat by a vote of the electors and the following county officers were elected: C. N. Dilatush, A. Thomas and J. M. Staples, county commissioners ; C. L. Miller, clerk and auditor ; S. A. Sanders, sheriff ; Harry O. Frazier, treasurer ; E. E. Brandt, probate judge : W. P. Ken- nedy, assessor ; P. F. Sutphen, prosecuting attorney ; R. B. MacConnell, surveyor ; H. E. Lamb, coroner; Myrtle Journey, superintendent of public instruction. Soon after this election part of the Lincoln Inn at Gooding was acquired by the county and remodeled for a courthouse.
Gooding County is bounded on the north by Camas County ; on the east by
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Lincoln; on the south by the Snake River, which separates it from Twin Falls and Owyhee counties ; and on the west by Elmore County. It is one of the small counties of the state, having an area of less than eight hundred square miles, the greater part of which is irrigated. The Hagerman Valley, in the southwest- ern part of the county, is the center of a rich agricultural and horticultural sec- tion, and is also a stock raising district on account of the numerous springs which afford water throughout the year.
The Oregon Short Line Railroad traverses the county from east to west through the central portion; the branch of the same system known as the "Bliss Cut-off" runs through the southern portion; and the Idaho Southern connects Gooding with Jerome in Jerome County. The principal railway stations and shipping points are Ardmore, Bliss, Gooding and Wendell. Hagerman, near the Snake River and about five miles from the railroad, is a town of con- siderable size and an important trading center. In 1918 the assessed valuation of property was $7,468,832.
IDAHO COUNTY
This is the largest county in the State of Idaho, having an area of over eleven thousand square miles, and it is also one of the oldest, as it was created by the Legislature of Washington Territory by the act of December 20, 1861, and its boundaries were readjusted by the First Territorial Legislature of Idaho, Acting Governor Daniels approving the act on February 4, 1864. That act defined the boundaries of the county as follows: "Beginning at a point on the Snake River known as Pittsburg Landing; thence running up the channel of said river to lati- tude 44° 30'; thence due east to the meridian of longitude 112º; thence north along said meridian 112º to the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence along said range in a northerly direction until the eastern spurs of the Bitter Root Mountains are attained; thence with the Bitter Root Mountains to the southeast corner of Nez Perce County (now the southeast corner of Clearwater County) ; thence along the southern boundary line of Nez Perce County to the place of beginning."
As thus bounded Idaho County included all the present county of that name, nearly all of Lemhi, the greater portion of Valley, the northern half of Wash- ington and a little of the northern part of Custer. It is now bounded by Nez Perce, Lewis and Clearwater counties on the north; by the State of Montana and Lemhi County on the east; by Adams and Valley counties on the south ; and by the State of Oregon on the west. The Salmon River flows in a north- westerly direction through the central portion and the northern part is watered by the Clearwater River and its branches. A large part of the county lies in the United States forest reserves, but along the Salmon and Clearwater rivers and on the Camas Prairie are many acres of fine farming lands, which can be culti- vated without irrigation. Stock raising is an important industry, the county standing third in the state in 1917 in the number of cattle reported, and only one county (Twin Falls) reported a greater number of horses.
The first house in the county was built in 1861 by a French Canadian called "Captain" Francois. It stood on the ridge known as the White Bird divide and for several months was the only house in Central Idaho. In the spring of 1862 several stations on the trail leading from Lewiston to the mining camps were
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established. James Donnelly had a station at Sweetwater, in Nez Perce County ; Durkee & Crampton's station was where the Town of Cottonwood now stands ; and a man named Allen established a station at Mount Idaho. These stations were on the road known as the Mose Milner Trail, which was opened by Mr. Milner and his partner in the spring of 1862. That same year Israel Chapman, F. M. Hughes, Joshua S. Fockler and Ward Girton settled on the Camas Prairie.
By the act of February 4, 1864, the county seat was located at Florence, then the largest town in the county. In 1869 the county seat was removed to War- ren, south of the Salmon River, where the first sawmill was built by Shissler & Bloomer in 1868 and Godfrey Gamble put in a five-stamp quartz mill about the same time. By the act of January 8, 1875, the question of relocating the county seat was submitted to the voters at a special election to be held on the first Monday in July of that year. Warren, Slate Creek and Mount Idaho were the principal contestants and the last named received the necessary majority. The first house in Mount Idaho was built by L. P. Brown in 1862. Later he built an addition and opened the Mount Idaho Hotel, which was a popular stopping place for travelers on the way to the mining districts. A few years later Grange- ville became a rival of Mount Idaho and the county seat was removed there by a vote of the people in 1902.
On July 16, 1887, the Idaho County Pioneer Association was organized with L. P. Brown, president ; Matthew H. Truscott, secretary ; and Jay M. Dorman, treasurer. Among the members were John M. Crooks, Keith W. White, James Edwards and George Schmadeka, all of whom were entitled to be called pioneers. Jay M. Dorman was a carpenter and built the jail and courthouse at Mount Idaho after that town was made the county seat. Matthew H. Truscott came to the county in 1865 and was postmaster at Mount Idaho at the time he was elected secretary of the association. James Edwards was one of the early packers on the trail from Lewiston to Elk City, took part in the Sheepeater war in 1879, and was later in the hotel business at Grangeville. Keith W. White came to Elk City in 1862, removed to the Camas Prairie in 1873, and in 1886 was elected sheriff of the county. John M. Crooks and George Schmadeka settled where the Town of Grangeville now stands and the latter's son, William F. Schmadeka, was one of the first board of town trustees when Grangeville was incorporated.
Two lines of railroad penetrate the northwestern part of the county. Grange- ville is the terminus of the Camas Prairie Railroad and Stites is the terminus of a branch of the Northern Pacific. The principal railroad stations are Cotton- wood, Ferdinand, Grangeville, Stites and Winona. In the interior the villages of Caribel, Clearwater, Dixie, Elk City, Keuterville, Newsome. Riggins, War- ren, White Bird and Woodland are postal and trading centers for a large part of the rural population. In 1910 the population of the county was 12,384, and in 1918 the assessed valuation of property was $12,668.726.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
On February 18, 1913, Governor Haines approved an act erecting the County of Jefferson from the southwest part of the County of Fremont, provided a ma- jority of the voters living in the territory comprising the proposed county ex- pressed themselves in favor thereof, the question to be submitted to them at a special election, the people living within the boundaries of the new county to
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pay the expense of such election. It was also provided in the act that if a majority of the votes cast were in the affirmative the governor should appoint officers, who should assume their duties on the first Monday in January, 1914. The election was held on November 5, 1913, and the vote was 1,827 in favor of the new county to 603 in the negative. At the same time the people voted on the question of a permanent county seat. The contest was between the towns of Rigby and Menan and the former won by a vote of 1,368 to 961, although Menan is nearer to the geographical center of the county.
Jefferson County is situated in the eastern part of the state, in the Snake River Valley. It is bounded on the north by Fremont County; on the east by Fremont and Madison; on the south by Bonneville and Bingham; and on the west by Butte and Fremont. Part of Jefferson was taken to form Butte County in 1917. The average elevation of the county is 4,700 feet and no other county in the state is so nearly uniformly level. Big Lost River waters the western part of the county and in the central portion is Mud Lake, which receives' the waters of Beaver and Camas creeks from Fremont County. A large part of the land is under irrigation, the principal crops being alfalfa, grain, potatoes and sugar beets.
The Salt Lake City & Butte division of the Oregon Short Line railroad sys- tem runs north and south through the central portion and the Yellowstone Park branch crosses the southeast corner. There are also two "Beet Loops" of rail- road, one on the east and the other on the west of the Yellowstone Park line, that traverse the southeastern portion of the county. Along the different rail- way lines the principal stations and shipping points are Camas, Grant, Lewis- ville, Lorenzo, Menan, Rigby and Roberts, and there are a few minor villages. Owsley, on the south shore of Mud Lake, is the only village in the central part.
In 1918 the assessed valuation of property was $7,048,146. There are no national forests within the county and stock raising is limited, though dairying is a profitable industry.
JEROME COUNTY
Jerome County was created by the Fifteenth State Legislature, taking parts of Lincoln, Gooding and Minidoka counties, the creating act being approved February 8, 1919. The Town of Jerome, which gave its name to the county was designated as the county seat. The governor, soon after approving the act, appointed the following officers :
Auditor and Recorder-Oliver Hill.
Treasurer-I. D. Ward.
Assessor -- W. N. Hardwich.
Probate Judge-L. L. Badgly.
School Superintendent-Mrs. June Kearney.
Prosecuting Attorney-A. B. Barclay.
Sheriff-Ed White.
County Commissioners-Anders Anderson, C. O. Roice, A. W. Atwood. Surveyor-Lynn Crandall.
Coroner-Dr. J. F. Schmershall.
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The area of the county is nearly six hundred square miles. Its estimated popu- lation is 8,000, and its assessed valuation is estimated at $5,000,000.
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