USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 69
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In 1910 Nampa was the seventh city of Idaho, having then a population of 4,205. It has an excellent system of waterworks, the supply coming from deep wells, an electric light plant, a modern sewer system, two banks, two weekly newspapers, well paved streets, a city hall which cost $30,000, a good fire de- partment, fine public school buildings, a flour mill, grain elevators, two cream- eries, two nurseries, ten churches, a public library, and is one of the busy and progressive cities of Idaho. The railroad company's pay roll at this point is $25,000 monthly.
« The real history of Nampa commenced in the year 1904, when Col. W. H. Dewey became the owner of the unsold portion of the original townsite. Colo- nel Dewey was one of the original founders of Silver City in 1864 and from that time until he removed to Nampa was an important factor in the develop- ment of Owyhee County. He was the builder of the first road to the Town of Silver and was constantly engaged in the development of mines, expending a great deal of money in the South Mountain and other outlying districts of Silver. In 1890 he devoted his attention to the mining claims on Florida Moun-
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF NAMPA
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
tain, near Silver City, and was instrumental in organizing the Black Jack M. & M. Company and the Trade Dollar M. & M. Company in 1890 and 1891, each of said companies developing producing mines and making fortunes for the stockholders.
Colonel Dewey was engaged in many other enterprises in various parts of the state. In 1896 he incorporated the Boise, Nampa & Owyhee Railroad and built the -line from Nampa to Murphy, on the south side of the Snake River. Since then that town has been the supply point for the mining regions of Owyhee County. Afterward he organized the Idaho & Northern Railroad Company and built a line to Emmett. After his death these lines were sold to the Oregon Short Line Railway Company.
Colonel Dewey died May 8, 1903, leaving a large estate which has been successfully managed since by his eldest son, E. H. Dewey who, proving him- self "the worthy son of a worthy sire," has fully carried out the plans for the future formulated by his father. The confidence of his fellow citizens of Nampa in him is shown by his election to the office of mayor in 1908, and again in 1910. He was appointed by Governor Haines as state treasurer to succeed O. V. Allen after the latter's defalcation in 1914. He has been prominently mentioned as a candidate for governor, and since its organization has occupied the position of president of the Boise Valley Traction Company.
Much of the prosperity of Nampa during the past few years is occasioned by the activities of its excellent Commercial Club, under the presidency of N. Jenness. This active and alert organization has been responsible for the many new business enterprises started in Nampa since 1916.
PARIS
Although one of the smaller cities of the state Paris, the county seat of Bear Lake County, is one of the oldest. In September, 1863, General Charles C. Rich, one of the apostles of the Mormon Church, was sent out to look for a loca- tion in which to establish a new settlement and selected the spot where Paris now stands. Before cold weather some thirty families came from the Cache Valley, among whom were John Mann, George Humphreys, Hezekiah Duffie, John Humphreys, Joseph Rich, Thomas Sleight and Robert H. Williams. They built log cabins and after a long, tedious winter began the work of planting crops and improving their allotments of land. When the settlement was estab -. lished it was supposed to be in Utah and Apostle Rich was elected to represent the Bear Lake district in the Legislature of that territory. In June, 1864, Brig- ham Young, president of the Mormon Church visited the new settlements and gave names to the towns, calling this one "Paris."
Paris was incorporated as a village in 1897 and the first election was held in April, 1898, when John U. Stucki, J. R. Shepherd, Arthur Budge, Christian Fuller, Charles Inness, A. F. Seegmiller, Walter Hoge, Wilfred Rich, and Thomas Menson were elected trustees. In the organization of the village gov- ernment Mr. Stucki was chosen president of the board and became the first mayor-ex-officio. Some ten years later the village form of government was changed for that of a city.
When Bear Lake County was created in 1875, Paris became the county seat. It is connected with the main line of the Oregon Short Line Railroad at Mont-
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
pelier by a branch of the same system. The city has waterworks, electric light, a good public school system, and the Latter-day Saints have a $50,000 taber- nacle, said to be one of the finest church edifices in the state. Paris is sur- rounded by a rich farming country, and a large number of the farmers live in the city. The Bear Lake State Bank looks after the financial interests of the inhabitants and the Paris Post is one of the old newspapers of Idaho, hav- ing been established in 1881. In 1910 the population was 1,038.
PAYETTE
The City of Payette, the county seat of Payette County, owes its origin to the building of the Oregon Short Line Railroad. The first settler in the town was David S. Lamme, a native of Hancock County, Ill., who came to Idaho in 1864, when he was only twenty-two years of age and for a number of years was engaged in mining. On May 22, 1883, he went to the mouth of the Payette River, where he saw the engineers surveying the route of the railroad, and decided to locate at that point. Purchasing a small tract of land, he built a store room, obtained a small stock of goods from Chicago and opened a general store, giving the place the name of "Boomerang." In July of the same year A. B. and F. C. Moss, who had a contract to deliver 250,000 ties to the railroad company, established their camp near the mouth of the Payette and also established a general store near Lamme's.
In 1884 the railroad was completed to Huntington, Ore., and a number of settlers located in the little hamlet of Boomerang. Among them were John and Samuel Applegate, S. W. King, Henry Irvin, Peter Pence, W. C. Johnson, Jacob Stroup, August and Adolph Jacobsen, William Ireton, John Henshaw, Benjamin, John and William Bivens and John Ashbaugh. A sawmill was erected near the hamlet by W. A. Coughanour, a schoolhouse was built, and the name of the place was changed to "Payette," after a Frenchman who had been for years in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company. The growth of the village was slow until 1890, when David S. Lamme, the original pioneer, built a brick block and enlarged his stock of merchandise. A two-story hotel, the bank build- ing and the Odd Fellows' building were erected the same year. The first car- load of fruit was shipped from Payette in 1891 and in that year the village was incorporated.
The population of Payette in 1910 was 1,948 and it had been incorporated as a city a short time before that census was taken. In 1918 the population was estimated at 2,500. By an act of the Legislature, approved on February 28, 1917, the northern part of Canyon County was erected into the County of Payette and the City of Payette was designated as the county seat.
Payette has two strong banks, two weekly newspapers, a canning factory that ships about seventy-five carloads of canned peas and fruits every year, a sawmill, brick and vinegar factories, a plant for evaporating fruit, two flour mills, waterworks, electric light plant, thirteen churches, four public school buildings, a public library and claims the finest Young Men's Christian Associ- ation building and civic center of any city of similar size in the United States. According to statements of the railroad company, Payette ships more fruit and poultry than any other point on the Oregon Short Line in Idaho.
RAILROAD Y. M. C. A. BUILDING, POCATELLO. LARGEST IN UNITED STATES
YELLOWSTONE HOTEL, POCATELLO
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
POCATELLO
Pocatello, the "Gate City" of Idaho and the second city of the state, is the county seat of Bannock County. It is located on the Port Neuf River, about sixteen miles above its mouth, at the junction of the two main lines of the Ore- gon Short Line railway system. In 1881 the site of Pocatello was a sagebrush plain. The next year the Oregon Short Line Railroad was completed to this point and the Pacific Hotel was built for the accommodation of passengers. At that time it was the design of the railroad officials to establish the main divi- sion point at Shoshone, where the Ketchum branch left the main line for the Wood River mining districts, and shops were already under construction. Trou- ble over the townsite arose at Shoshone, and as the railroad company owned some two hundred acres of land where Pocatello now stands, the division point was established at that place, though the only buildings there at the time were the hotel and the store of the Fort Hall Indian trader, it being almost in the geographical center of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
In 1887 the shops of the Utah & Northern Railroad at Idaho Falls were re- moved to Pocatello. This brought four or five hundred men there and the two railroad companies united in building a number of houses (afterward known as "Company Row") for their employes, the first dwelling houses ever erected in the city. J. M. Bennett, superintendent of bridges and buildings, and his wife were the first couple to occupy one of the houses, and the depot was dedicated with a grand ball in October. A schoolhouse was also built in 1887 and the first term of school was taught by a Miss Brooks. Immigrants rushed in and in a short time Pocatello was a typical frontier town. Money was plentiful, the restraints of law were negligible, saloons and gambling houses flourished, etc. Within a few months after the establishment of the railroad shops over six hundred people had located in Pocatello and more were arriving almost daily.
Then trouble arose with the Indians over the possession of the land. The railroad company had permitted settlers to locate upon the railroad lands, but many became "squatters" on the Indian lands and were ordered off the reserva- tion, their "shacks" being torn down. Fred T. Dubois, then delegate in Con- gress from Idaho, was asked to use his efforts to secure the passage of a meas- ure by Congress that would relieve the situation. Conferences were held with the Shoshone and Bannock Indians at Fort Hall, accompanied by barbecues and "big talks," until the chiefs were persuaded to sell 2,000 acres of the land at the railroad station to the United States for a townsite, and Mr. Dubois suc- ceeded in having Congress ratify the contract.
Up to this time there had been no regular plat of the town made, but in June, 1889, the townsite was surveyed and the following year the lots were sold at auction. Before the auction sale the population of the town had reached about three thousand, many of whom had erected buildings upon lots to which they held no title. A committee of citizens was therefore organized to protect these improvements and when such lots were offered for sale this committee announced that Mr. so and so had improvements thereon and requested out- siders not to bid against the owner of the buildings. The request was observed except in one case, and even in that instance the bidder was "persuaded" to with-
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draw his bid. Immediately after the sale of lots, shanties were pulled down, and better buildings were erected, business blocks and handsome residences spring- ing up almost like Aladdin's palace.
Pocatello .was incorporated as a village in the spring of 1889, too late for the regular spring election, and the county commissioners of Bingham County, in which the village was then located, appointed the first board of trustees, viz .: H. L. Becraft (chairman), A. F. Caldwell, Doctor Davis, L. A. West and D. K. Williams. At the same time Samuel Gundaker was appointed marshal, but he resigned after a few weeks and W. S. Hopson was appointed to the vacancy. The first village election was held in the spring of 1890 and resulted in the choice of C. S. Smith, J. H. Shuffleberger, John G. Brown, A. F. Caldwell and D. K. Williams, trustees; James Scanlon, marshal ; J. F. Myers, treasurer.
Under an act of the Second State Legislature in 1893, Pocatello was con- stituted a city of the second class, divided into four wards, and at the first city election Edward Stein was elected mayor ; Edward Sadler, clerk; J. J. Curl, treas- urer; J. F. Connor, police magistrate; A. M. Bagley, E. P. Blickensderfer, M. Condon, W. J. Harvey, Al. Miller, F. H. Murphy, George Griffith and J. H. Shuffleberger, councilmen.
Pocatello was named in memory of the old Bannock chief, whose followers roamed over the Snake River Valley in early days and kept the pioneers on the alert to prevent depredations. When Bannock County was created in 1893, Pocatello was made the county seat. The city has expended over half a mil- lion dollars on its system of waterworks, which is one of the best in the state. The supply comes from the Gibson-Jack and Mink creeks, which have their sources near the summits of Bannock and Kinport mountains a short distance southwest of the city. Around the headwaters of these streams 50,000 acres of the Pocatello National Forest have been set off and sheep excluded there- from in order to protect the purity of the water. The melting snows of the mountains are conducted by the creeks to three large reservoirs and thence dis- tributed to all parts of the city under an average pressure of 115 pounds, supply- ing all the water necessary for domestic purposes and fire protection.
The first electric lights in Pocatello were furnished by a small company called the Pocatello Electric Light and Telephone Company, which obtained its power from the railroad shops. In 1892 Daniel Swinehart built a dam across the Port Neuf River and erected a power house, which was put in operation in June, 1893. The city now obtains its electric current from the hydro-electric power plant at American Falls, about twenty-five miles to the west.
Pocatello has five banks, large brick and tile works, six lumber companies, three planing mills, a cement block factory, wholesale houses, one wholesale grocery having a trade of about one million dollars annually, an opera house, a packing plant, two ice factories, a $15,000 public library, hotels and restau- rants, fine retail stores handling all lines of merchandise, a general hospital, churches of eight denominations, modern public school buildings and many cozy homes. The Idaho Technical Institute is located here, the Masons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, Elks and Eagles all have their own buildings, the railroad men have a clubhouse and the Young Men's Christian Association has a membership of over fifteen hundred and property worth $100,000-the largest Railroad Y. M. C. A. in the United States. Four sessions of the Federal
JEFFERSON SCHOOL, PRESTON
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NELSON GYMNASIUM, PRESTON
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
Court are held here every year. The railroad company's payroll at this point amounts to $125,000 every month. The population in 1910 was 9,110 and in 1918 it was estimated at over thirteen thousand.
PRESTON
Preston, the county seat of Franklin County, is included in the incorporated villages in the United States census reports for 1910, but has since become a city of the second class. It was platted in 1885 by Augustine Canfield, John Larsen and William Parkinson and was named in honor of William B. Pres- ton, then president of the Oneida Stake of the Latter-day Saints. A postoffice was established soon after the town was laid out. Preston is located near the center of the county, in Bear River Valley, and is the terminus of the Cache Valley branch of the Oregon Short Line Railway system. It was incorporated as a village in July, 1900, with Hugh S. Geddes, John Larsen, Daniel J. Ham- mond, Joseph Johnson and Benjamin Curtis as the first board of trustees. In 1910 the population was 2,110 and the citizens began to talk of changing the village government for that of a city, but the change was not made until 1913, when Jacob N. Larsen was elected the first mayor. In January of that year Franklin County was created and Preston was designated as the county seat. Preston has two banks, municipally owned waterworks, electric lights, a weekly newspaper, grain elevators, a flour mill, a creamery, a knitting factory, a Car- negie public library, a milk condensery, a commercial club, a large trade with the surrounding country, and ships considerable quantities of sugar beets, cream and live stock. The estimated population in 1918 was 2,600. The city is also connected with towns of Northern Utah by an electric railway.
REXBURG
The rapidly growing City of Rexburg, the county seat of Madison County, is situated on the Yellowstone Park division of the Oregon Short Line Rail- road and the Teton Fork of the Snake River. It was founded in 1883 by a party headed by Thomas Ricks and the early setters were Latter-day Saints, who went to work industriously to develop the natural resources of the country and bring the soil under cultivation. The growth of the town has been steady almost from the start, but since the organization of Madison County in 1913, it has been more rapid than ever before in its history. Rexburg is now one of the prominent trade and educational centers of the Upper Snake Valley, about two million dollars' worth of live stock and farm products being shipped from here every year.
The United States census of 1910 gives the city a population of 1,893 and classes it as one of Idaho's twenty-five cities, as it was incorporated as a city before that census was taken. In 1918 the population was estimated at 3,000. Rexburg has three banks, two flour mills, two weekly newspapers, a $40,000 tabernacle built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, five other church organizations, well-paved streets, municipal waterworks, elec- tric light, an efficient fire department, a commercial club, a hospital, substan- tial business houses and many attractive residences. The public schools are maintained at a high standard and the Ricks Academy is located here.
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
RIGBY
Rigby, the county seat of Jefferson County, is situated east of the Snake River on the Yellowstone Park branch of the Oregon Short Line Railway System, and was incorporated in 1903. When Jefferson County was created in 1913, and the selection of a permanent county seat was left to a vote of the people, the citizens of Rigby offered to present the county with a square in the center of the town and erect a building thereon suitable for the transaction of the county's business. This generous offer had its effect and Rigby was made the county seat by a vote of 1,368 to 961 for Menan. Rigby has two banks, a weekly newspaper, a creamery,a flour mill with a daily capacity of 150 barrels, grain elevators, municipal waterworks and electric light plant, churches of the leading denominations, and ships about two million dollars' worth of farm products every year. The public schools of Rigby are in a con- solidated school district and wagons transport the pupils to and from school. A high school building of twenty-seven rooms was erected a few years ago at a cost of over thirty thousand dollars. In 1910 the population was 555 and in 1918 it was estimated at 2,200. Rigby is the headquarters of the Rigby Stake of the Mormon Church' and the members of that sect have erected in the town a stake tabernacle with a seating capacity of 1,500 people and at an estimated cost of $60,000. This magnificent building is a credit both to the city and to the church that built it. The upper floor and galleries are used entirely for religious and other large gatherings of a county-wide nature. It has a large amusement hall below used for dances, theatricals, banquets and other similar entertainments. The Mormon people believe in providing amusement for the young and so hold them in line and direct their moral growth.
In the spring of 1918 the Beet Growers Sugar Company commenced the erection of a sugar factory of 800 tons capacity about a mile from the city which will be completed in time to take care of the beet crop of 1919, and about six thousand acres of land in the vicinity of the town has been devoted to beet culture. The factory is situated about a mile from the town and its mainte- nance will do much to insure the future prosperity of Rigby. The land in the neighborhood of Rigby is unusually fertile and the farmers are universally prosperous.
RUPERT
Rupert was one of the townsites set aside by the Government when the Minidoka Reclamation Project was commenced, and is situated on the branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad leading from Minidoka to Twin Falls and is the most important place on the north side Minidoka project.
Rupert was organized as a village in 1906 and incorporated as a city of the second class in February, 1917. Upon creation of Minidoka County in 1913 it was made the temporary county seat, and at the succeeding , election' was , permanently made the seat of the county government. It has two banks, two weekly newspapers, a public library, six churches, a modern public school sys- tem, a city park, a nursery, waterworks and electric light, a cooperative potato warehouse, a commercial club, a money order postoffice with several rural delivery routes, and a number of mercantile concerns. The main office of the Minidoka reclamatioin project is located here and Rupert claims to use more
RIGBY IN 1901
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RIGBY IN 1919
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
electricity per capita than any town of equal size in the world. The new high school building is heated by electricity as are many of the residences of the city. In 1910 the population was 297 and in 1918 it was estimated at 1,500.
ST. ANTHONY
Situated on the North or Henry's Fork of the Snake River and the Yellow- stone Park branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, only thirty-two miles from the southwest corner of that great wonderland, is the City of St. Anthony, the county seat of Fremont County. Near the city are fine deposits of building stone, good brick clay and large lumbering interests, so that all the materials for building up a city are "right at the door." These natural advantages were seen by the citizens of Fremont County, who selected the place for a county seat when the county was created in 1893, though there were then but two build- ings on the townsite and the adjacent country was thinly settled.
In 1910 the population of St. Anthony was 1,238 and it is now April I, 1919, estimated between two and three thousand. It is the last town of impor- tance on the railroad before reaching the Yellowstone National Park and is a supply point for a large agricultural district. The State Industrial School is located near the city. St. Anthony has an excellent system of waterworks, an electric light plant, three banks, two weekly newspapers, a flour mill, three public school buildings, several churches, mercantile houses, an opera house with a seating capacity of 800, and a number of handsome residences. About one mil- lion dollars' worth of seed peas are shipped from here every year and there is a large beet sugar factory a few miles south of the city. Many sportsmen bound for the big game country buy their tickets to St. Anthony.
ST. MARIES
The first settler of St. Maries was Joseph Fisher, who located there in 1888. The next year a sawmill was built by William, John and Jesse Fisher and the postoffice was established with Joseph Fisher as the first postmaster. Fred Grant bought the sawmill in 1891 and enlarged it, and about that time Joseph Fisher built the Mountain View Hotel. Other early settlers were James Nevins, R. B. Dickinson, F. G. Scott and C. F. Montandon. About 1899 the village began to grow and in 1902 it was incorporated. When Benewah County was created in 1915 St. Maries was made the county seat. The village is beautifully situated at the junction of the St. Joe and St .Mary's rivers and is well provided with transportation facilities by two divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and by a line of steamers on the St. Joe River. It has two banks, two newspapers, waterworks and electric light, large lumbering interests, a public library, well-stocked stores, modern public schools, churches, etc., but its greatest charm is in its well-shaded streets and cozy homes. The population in 1910 was 869 and in 1918 it was estimated at 1,500.
SALMON
Salmon, the county seat of Lemhi County, was laid out in the spring of 1867 by George L. Shoup and others and was at first called "Salmon City." Mr. Shoup was afterward governor of Idaho and was elected one of the first United States senators when the state was admitted into the Union. The first white men
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
to visit the site of the city were Lewis and Clark on their way to the Pacific Coast in 1805. The founding of the city was due to the discovery of the gold mines in the Leesburg mining district in the fall of 1866. Before the town was a year old a newspaper called the Mining News was started, the population then being about eight hundred, and when Lemhi County was created in 1869 Salmon was designated as the county seat. About that time two brothers- Alexander and Joseph Barrack-came from Scotland and engaged in farming and stock raising near the city, and in 1872 they built at Salmon the first flour mill in the Lemhi Valley. It was a small mill, having a daily capacity of about twenty barrels, but subsequently flour was freighted from Salmon to practically all the towns in Southern Idaho.
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