USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 65
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TETON COUNTY
Situated on the eastern border of the state, the northeast corner being only about ten miles from the Yellowstone National Park, is Teton County, one of the new counties of Idaho. It was taken from Madison County by the act of January 26, 1915, with the following boundaries: "Beginning at a point on the boundary line between Madison and Bonneville counties two miles east of the range line between ranges 42 and 43 east; thence easterly and southerly on the boundary line between Madison and Bonneville counties, as now established, to a point where said boundary line intersects the boundary line dividing the states of Idaho and Wyoming; thence north along the boundary line between the states of Idaho and Wyoming to a point where said dividing line intersects Birch Creek; thence westerly and down the center of said creek to where it inter- sects and runs into the main channel of the Teton River; thence down the said main channel of the said Teton River to where the same intersects the section line between sections 16 and 17, township 7 north, range 43 east; thence due south along said line to the place of beginning."
The county was named for the Three Tetons, prominent peaks forming part of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. It was attached to the Ninth Judi- cial District and the governor was authorized to appoint officers within thirty days after the taking effect of the act, which located the temporary county seat at Driggs, a permanent county seat to be selected by the voters at the general election of 1916. Pursuant to the provisions of the act the governor appointed the following officers : E. B. Edlefsen, M. E. Phillips and Benjamin Jones, com- missioners; W. F. Robertson, clerk of the District Court; S. R. Evans, sheriff ;
CHOP FEED. SEEDS & COAL
JAMES L. GRAW'S ELEVATOR, BUHL
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H. D. Fullmer, assessor ; Charles Cherrington, treasurer ; B. W. Driggs, prosecut- ing attorney ; Samuel Swanner, probate judge ; Ezra C. Dalby, superintendent of public instruction ; Samuel Kunz, coroner.
These officers assumed their duties at various times between March 4, 1915, and the first of July following and served until the general election of 1916, when Driggs was made the permanent county seat. Teton County is bounded on the north by Fremont County; on the east by the State of Wyoming; on the south by Bonneville County and on the west by the County of Madison. It is one of the smallest and highest counties in the state, its average elevation being 5,500 feet above sea level. It comprises the Teton Valley and the tributary country along the Wyoming line. A large part of the county lies in the Pali- sade National Forest, where grazing is the leading occupation. Timothy, alsike clover and field peas are the principal farm crops and dairying is becoming an important industry. The rainfall ranges from twenty to twenty-four inches an- nually and farming is carried on without the aid of irrigation. There is fine hunting in the mountains and fishing in the streams, and this fact, with the cool summers, brings many sportsmen and tourists every year.
Driggs is the most important town. Victor, in the southern part, is the ter- minus of the Teton Valley branch of the Oregon Short Line railway system. Judkins and Tetonia are small villages on the line of railroad, and Bates, Hunni- dale and Palisade are the largest in the interior. The population in 1910 was included in that of Fremont County, which was 24,606, and in 1918 the assessed valuation of property was $2,884,727.
TWIN FALLS COUNTY
One of the richest counties in the southern tier is Twin Falls, which was created by the act of February 21, 1907, from the western part of Cassia County. It is bounded on the north by Gooding, Lincoln and Minidoka, from which it is , separated by the Snake River; on the east by Cassia County; on the south by the State of Nevada; and on the west by Owyhee. Its area is 1,888 square miles and its name is derived from the picturesque falls in the Snake River near the northeast corner of the county. About half the land in the county is irri- gated and there is very little non-irrigated farming. The principal occupations are farming, fruit growing, dairying and stock raising. In 1917 the county reported 10,644 horses, the largest number of any county in the state; 18,152 cattle ; 104,688 sheep; and 5,128 hogs.
The act creating the county designated the City of Twin Falls as the county seat and authorized the governor to appoint county officers. Governor Gooding therefore appointed the following officials on February 21, 1907, the same day he approved the act creating the county: Harry T. West, clerk and ex-officio recorder ; George D. Aiken, sheriff ; Carl J. Hahn, treasurer; James McMillan, assessor; Frank E. Chamberlain, probate judge; F. A. Hutto, prosecuting at- torney; Miss Edna DeBow, superintendent of public instruction; John D. Rogers, coroner ; John F. Hansen, Charles H. Mull and L. E. Salliday, county commissioners.
Some idea of the importance of Twin Falls County as an agricultural and fruit growing section may be gained from the following interview given to the Boise Capital News of December 16, 1913, by Judge Charles O. Stockslager,
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the judge of the Twin Falls District Court: "The citizens of Twin Falls County and that entire section are of the highest type and most progressive. A look at their farms would convince anyone of the truth of this statement. They have developed a wonderful country and they are not through yet. And it is a great country. I can remember the time, some years ago, when I advised some of the farmers there not to plant fruit trees, because that was not a fruit country, I thought. I am sorry I ever gave that kind of advice. Some of them took it and others disregarded it. Today the Twin Falls section promises to become one of the leading, if not the leading fruit section of the state. It seems to be ideally located. The trees are held back from the danger of late frosts and the pests that do so much damage in the lower altitudes are unknown in the Twin Falls section. Orchards that are now in full bearing produce the largest and very best quality of fruit. * * * The last statements issued by two of our banks show an increase of $1,000,000 in deposits during the month of October. The farmers, you see, had disposed of some of their crops and the returns had been banked. The railroad was taxed to its utmost capacity to move out crops this fall and the crops next year will be greater. Grains yielded abundantly, there was a big potato crop, fruit was abundant, alfalfa and hay were almost unlimited."
The Twin Falls branch of the Oregon Short Line railway system follows the Snake River through the northern part of the county, terminating at Buhl, and at the City of Twin Falls a branch leaves this line for Rogerson, near the cen- ter of the county. Buhl, Filer, Hansen, Hollister, Kimberly, Murtaugh, Roger- son and Twin Falls are all important shipping points, and there are a few minor stations. Castleford, in the Salmon Valley, is a postoffice and trading point for the farmers living in the western part. The population was 13,543 in 1910, but through the development of irrigation projects there has been a large in- crease in the number of inhabitants since that time. In 1918 the county returned a property valuation of $21,141,193, only three counties in the state-Ada, Sho- shone and Bannock-showing a larger valuation.
VALLEY COUNTY
Valley County was created by the act of February 26, 1917, from the north- ern part of Boise and the southern part of Idaho counties. It is bounded on the north by Idaho County ; on the east by Lemhi and Custer counties; on the south by Boise County ; and on the west by the counties of Gem and Adams. The county takes its name from the Payette Valley, sometimes called the "Long Val- ley," the upper portion of which lies in this county. The act creating the county fixed the county seat at Cascade until the general election of 1918, when the voters were to decide on a permanent county seat, and authorized the governor to appoint county officers. Governor Alexander appointed J. W. Hartsell, S. L. Cantrall and W. D. Patterson, commissioners; Arthur C. Tracey, clerk and audi- tor; F. C. Sherrill, sheriff; J. Ethel Moss, treasurer; R. M. Parks, assessor ; L. S. Kimball, probate judge ; F. M. Kerby, prosecuting attorney ; Tirza J. Way- land, superintendent of public schools; G. E. Noggle, coroner. At the election in 1918, Edward A. Smith was elected sheriff, A. C. Tracey, reelected clerk and R. M. Parks, assessor; L. S. Kimball, probate judge, Anna B. Harula, treasurer, R. B. Ayers, county attorney and S. L. Cantrall, E. A. Williams and A. N. Dowell, commissioners.
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Lumbering, mining and farming are the leading occupations. Around the shores of the Great Payette Lake are fine forests of timber and several saw- mills have recently been erected. In the eastern part the Deadwood, Profile, South Fork and Yellow Pine mining districts are being actively developed, two mills having been installed in the last named district. The chief farming sec- tion is in the "Long Valley," which is one of the best sections of the state for the production of timothy hay, and the Payette Forest Reserve, which extends into this county, affords splendid opportunities for grazing. Dairying is rapidly growing in favor with many of the farmers.
The Idaho Northern branch of the Oregon Short Line railway system runs through the valley and provides good transportation facilities. The principal towns of the county are located along this line of railroad, viz: Arling, Cas- cade, which was made the permanent county seat by popular vote at the elec- tion in November, 1918, Donnelly, McCall, Norwood, Roseberry and Van Wyck. Near the center of the valley, but off from the railroad, is the Village of Alpha, and Brewer, Comfort, Logan, Profile, Roosevelt and Yellow Pine are trading centers for the mining districts. In 1918 the assessed valuation of property was $4,387,417.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Thirty-one of the forty-eight states in the American Union each has a county named Washington and all were either directly or indirectly so called in honor of Gen. George Washington, the first President of the United States. Wash- ington County, Idaho, was created by the act of February 20, 1879, with boun- daries that included all the present counties of Washington and Adams, and that portion of Gem County lying north of the Second Standard Parallel. It was reduced to its present dimensions when Gem County was created in 1915, and is now bounded on the north by Adams County; on the east by Adams and Gem; on the south by Gem and Payette; and on the west by the State of Oregon, from which it is separated by the Snake River.
Section 6 of the creative act provided for a special election for county offi- cers and to decide the location of the county seat. The election was held on April 14, 1879, and the following officers were elected: F. M. Mickey, I. E. Mckinney and John Cuddy, commissioners; I. M. Hart, clerk; James P. Gray, sheriff ; J. D. Wade, treasurer ; S. R. Denney, assessor; T. C. Underwood, pro- bate judge; H. A. Parker, surveyor ; T. M. Jeffreys, superintendent of schools; J. W. Kelley, coroner .. At this election the highest number of votes cast for any candidate was 226. The only exciting feature of the campaign was the contest over the location of the county seat, two places being voted for-Weiser Bridge (now Weiser) and Upper Valley (now Salubria)-Weiser Bridge winning by a vote of 117 to 106. The county had no courthouse until 1882, when a cheap frame structure was erected. Prior to that time the various county officials kept their offices at their homes in different parts of the county, so that the transaction of public business was attended by many difficulties. The present courthouse and jail were erected in 1890.
John Cuddy, one of the first board of county commissioners, was a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, came to America in 1840, when he was but six years of age and in 1865 became a resident of Idaho. For about four years he was
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engaged in the mercantile business in Boise and in 1869, with a partner named Tyne, erected the first flour mill in what is now Washington County. Cuddy Mountain bears his name.
Edward S. Jewell, who settled in the Salubria Valley in 1869, entered 160 acres of land, upon which the Washington County fair grounds were after- ward located. He was twice elected county commissioner and was a delegate to the constitutional convention in 1889.
Andrew and Henry H. Abernathy, brothers and natives of Indiana, came to the Weiser Valley in 1864 and engaged in freighting and keeping a hotel at Farwell Bend on the Snake River. Henry afterward removed to the Salubria Valley and became one of the prosperous farmers of the county.
Other pioneers were James Colson, J. N. Harris, William B. Allison, T. C. Galloway, Woodson Jeffreys and John Moore. James Colson and William B. Allison settled in the Salubria Valley in 1868, and Woodson Jeffreys was one of the first settlers where the City of Weiser now stands. His son Thomas M. Jeffreys, was Washington County's first superintendent of public schools.
Two lines of railroad furnish transportation to the people of the county. The Oregon Short Line passes through the southwestern part along the Snake River, and the Pacific & Idaho Northern follows the course of the Weiser River. The principal towns along these railroads are Cambridge, Eatons, Midvale, Vul- can and Weiser. Salubria, a few miles east of the Weiser River, is a town of considerable importance to the farmers of the Little Weiser Valley.
Both irrigated and dry farming are carried on successfully and fruit grow- ing is becoming every year of more importance. From the earliest settlement stock raising has been an important industry. The Weiser Forest Reserve, the headquarters of which are at Weiser, covers 162,900 acres within the county limits and affords excellent opportunities for grazing. In 1917 Washington County reported 14,462 cattle, 7,981 horses and 5,457 sheep. The total assessed valuation of property in 1918 was $8,726,600. Mining for copper has been car- ried on in a limited way at various points in the "Seven Devil" Mountains. In 1910 the population was II, IOI, but the erection of Adams County the next year after the census was taken, and of Gem County in 1915 reduced the number of inhabitants in Washington. In 1918 the population was estimated at 8,000.
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BOISE IN 1866
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.
Boise, the capital of Idaho and county seat of Ada County, is beautifully situated in the Boise Valley, about one hundred and fifty miles from the south- ern boundary of the state and a little over forty miles from the Oregon state line. The city dates its settlement from the establishment of Fort Boise, in 1863, and the following account of the way it came to be so named was pub- lished in the Boise Sentinel (a newspaper no longer in existence) in June, 1897: "Perhaps the first question that arises in the mind of a stranger in regard to this locality is why was it so named. After more than a third of a century has passed since the first human habitation was erected on the present site of the town, and after the story has been so often repeated in print, the inquiry con- tinues to be daily made, why Boise? Briefly, this is what the ancient chroniclers tell of the origin of the name: In the summer of 1834 a party of French Cana- dian voyageurs, belonging to the expedition of Captain Bonneville (whose ex- plorations and adventures were afterward immortalized by the pen of Washing- ton Irving), in traveling across the treeless and arid Snake River plains, reached the edge of a plateau overlooking a beautiful valley, which, extending westward beyond the limits of their vision, seemed to present a continuous forest belt of trees in full foliage. Of trees, these travelers had seen but very little for sev- eral days while journeying among the vast fields of sagebrush, the essential ele- ments of whose growth is the entire absence of water and shade ; when their eyes at length fell upon the valley, and they caught glimpses of the crystal stream that wended its serpentine way westward among the groves of cottonwood trees that kept it company, they exclaimed, "Les bois! les bois ! voyez les bois !" (The woods! the woods! see the woods!) Here for them were woods, real forests. With the facility with which a Frenchman brings his language into practical use, these Canadian explorers soon affixed a name to their latest discovery and called the river, whose presence was so welcome to them, "La Riviere Boise" (pro-
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nounced Bwoizay), that is "the wooded." To reach this spot they had followed an old Indian trail, which was subsequently used by explorers down to the ad- vent of the first immigrants with their wagons, the immigrants having adopted the marks which their predecessors had made as guides across the otherwise trackless desert.
"During the month of August, 1843, nearly ten years after the valley had been named, Fremont reached it at the same point, opposite the present site of the City of Boise, and the cool, crystal waters of the stream and the grateful shade of the groves that adorned its banks drew from him a description of the scene, which has often been quoted and admired by many who have not yet even seen Idaho. Such are the circumstances that attended the naming of the river, the valley and of the spot now occupied by the fair City of Boise."
IN THE BEGINNING
Early in July, 1863, almost twenty years after Fremont's expedition visited the valley, Maj. Pinckney Lugenbeel selected the plateau at the foot of the mountains and about a mile from the river as a site for a military post, which was named Fort Boise and later Boise Barracks. The post adjoined the trail connecting Idaho City and the Owyhee mining section and so the establishment of the post was the immediate cause of the location of the town, which followed on July 7, 1863. The townsite was covered with an unusually scrubby growth of sagebrush and presented an altogether unlikely location for building a future city, but the town was surveyed, a plat made, and in accordance with the west- ern habit of adding "City" to a hamlet of two or three houses, the name of "Boise City" was conferred upon the future capital and metropolis of Idaho. Most of those who participated in the laying out of the town were transient visitors, on their way to or from the Boise Basin gold fields, and few had faith in the town project, but Messrs. Riggs, Agnew, DuRell and a few others were satisfied of its future and built business houses. Some years later, when it be- came apparent that Boise was destined to become a city, a number of these per- sons, almost as a matter of course, laid claim to the honor of having been the "original first settler."
THE FIRST HOME
The distinction of being the first actual settler upon the site of Boise has been accorded to John A. O'Farrell, who came to the place in June, 1863, nearly a month before the first survey and plat were made. Mr. O'Farrell was a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, where he was born on February 13, 1823. At the age of fifteen years he went to sea and in January, 1843, landed for the first time at the port of New York. He decided to become a resident of the United States and was employed in the navy yards at Philadelphia until the beginning of the Mexican war, when he sailed on the Lexington around Cape Horn with a supply of military stores for the Pacific Coast. The fifteen years following the Mexican war were full of adventure for Mr. O'Farrell, who was part of the time on the ocean as a sailor and part of the time in the gold fields of the West. In June, 1863, he "settled down for good" where the City of Boise now stands. The little cabin he built then is still standing on Fort Street, in the northeastern part of the city, and a few years ago the Boise Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri-
O'FARRELL HOME, FIRST DWELLING IN BOISE, STILL STANDING First Catholic services in Boise held in this cabin, January 15, 1867
OLD HOME OF JOHN MCCLELLAN, BOISE, BUILT IN 1863
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can Revolution, placed upon its walls a tablet with an inscription informing the visitor that it is "the first house in Boise." Some of Mr. O'Farrell's descendants still live in the city.
A FEW PIONEERS
Among the founders of the town were Cyrus Jacobs, H. C. Riggs, James D. Agnew, B. M. DuRell, George D. Ellis, Barrett Williams, John Lemp, Mat- thew H. Williams, Francis M. Davis and his brother, Thomas Davis, who had previously located a farm not far from the townsite.
George D. Ellis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, April 10,1837. He left home when he was about nineteen years old and went to Kansas, remaining there until 1860, when he went to Colorado. In 1863 he drove a mule team to Idaho, arriving at Boise about the time the town was platted. For awhile he was engaged in mining in the Boise Basin, and afterward freighted between Kelton, Utah, and Boise for several years. He was one of the organizers of the Boise Street Railway Company, of which he was treasurer and general man- ager for some time; was identified with the banking interests of the city ; a direc- tor in the Hot and Cold Water Company; owned a ranch near Boise, and was interested in the contracting and building business.
Barrett Williams was born in Wales on March 7, 1803, and was therefore sixty years old when he was present at the laying out of Boise. He and his two sons, Thomas and Richard, crossed the plains in 1861 and spent the follow- ing winter in Oregon. They first came to the site of Boise in May, 1862, but went on to the Boise Basin, discovered placer mines on Willow Creek and later on Dry Creek. After the City of Boise was started he built ten houses on Jef- ferson Street and for several years operated two sawmills in the mountains and died when nearly one hundred.
John McClellan drove an ox team from Dayton, Ore., to Idaho in the spring of 1863, arriving on the site of Boise early in May, two months before the town was surveyed. There was at that time a large party of Bannock In- dians encamped near the river, so Mr. McClellan went to what is now Owyhee County and engaged in mining. Not meeting with success, he went to Florence, where he took out about forty dollars a day for several weeks. Soon after Boise was laid out he took a claim of eighty acres adjoining the town and in the spring of 1864, with a partner named Thompson, he established a ferry across the Boise River about where Ninth Street now crosses that stream. They afterward built a toll bridge in the place of the ferry.
Christopher W. Moore came to Boise in the summer of 1863, when the city consisted of only a few log cabins, adobe houses and some tents. He was then about twenty-seven years old, having been born in Toronto, Canada, November 30, 1835. He had come to Northern Idaho the year before and from there went to Owyhee County, where he engaged in merchandising, being the first mer- chant in that county. In 1867 he assisted in organizing the First National Bank of Idaho at Boise, of which he was the first cashier and later president. His residence at Boise was the first house in the United States to be heated with natural hot water. He died in 1916.
Auren G. Redway came to Boise on July 10, 1863, when the city was only three days old, holding a commission as sutler at Fort Boise. He continued
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in that business for about five years, after which he was bookkeeper and cash- ier of the First National Bank until he retired in 1896.
Frank R. Coffin, has been as thoroughly identified with building up Boise City as any man that ever made it his home, and deserves more than a passing reference. Born in Park City, Ind., in 1846, he learned while young the tin- ner's trade, in a manufacturing establishment owned by his father and thereby laid the foundation of his future business success. Mr. Coffin went to Cali- fornia in 1861 and early in 1862 came to what is now Idaho where he engaged in placer mining at Florence. In 1866 he came to Boise City and engaged in the hardware and tinware business, from which he retired in 1904, having acquired a comfortable competence and been associated with all the leading enterprises which had built up the city. Mr. Coffin has always kept in close touch with political matters and been an important factor in state and city affairs, although not an office seeker and was the first state treasurer. In 1905 he became presi- dent of the Boise City National Bank and has retained the position to the pres- ent time.
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