USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume I > Part 77
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"Near where they came to the trail again, on a freshly blazed tree, the adven- turers read a history of their sensational meetings in a beautiful pictograph. It was about five feet long and eighteen inches wide, and on its surface the artist
860
HISTORY OF IDAHO
had done his work so well in red and black pigment that every one of the ten men read it at once. On the upper end of the blaze he had painted the figures of nine men and horses, representing the number the white men had, and their only dog. On the lower end of the pictograph six mounted Indians and one riderless horse appeared, not far from which the artist had painted a rifle and the accouterments of which the Indian had divested himself. In the middle of the picture the two ambassadors were represented with clasped hands. Between them and the figures representing the white company, the artist had painted a miner's pick, near which was an arrow pointing in the direction the white men had gone. There was no mistaking the object of the pictograph ; it was to advise their people passing that way that there may be or had been a party of gold hunters in the country."
THE MARION MORE TRAGEDY
In the spring of 1868 a tragedy occurred at Silver City that aroused far more interest than the ordinary "shooting scrape" on the frontier. During the early mining days disputes frequently arose over the question of boundaries between mining claims. Sometime in the winter of 1867-68 a dispute of this character came up between the Ida Elmore and Golden Chariot mining companies, though it was generally thought that the matter would be settled by compromise, or at least by a suit in the courts. Both sides resorted to force, however, by arming a number of men and on March 25, 1868, the Golden Chariot forces stormed the works of the Ida Elmore property and endeavored to drive the workmen from the premises. In the melee that ensued John C. Holgate, one of the owners of the Golden Chariot, was killed. The affray was continued at intervals throughout the night, and early on the morning of the 29th Meyer Frank, one of the Ida Elmore party, was mortally wounded, dying a few hours later.
When the trouble first broke out, Governor Ballard issued a proclamation ordering the two parties to disperse peaceably and submit to the legal authorities, but no attention was given to the proclamation. A squad of cavalry was then sent from Fort Boise to the scene of the disturbance and succeeded in quelling the rioters. On the 30th representatives of the two companies held a conference and agreed upon a compromise. The armed forces were withdrawn, but the ill feeling still continued.
On the evening of April 1, 1868, Samuel Lockhart was seated in front of the stage office at the Idaho Hotel in Silver City, when Marion More, Jack Fisher and two or three others came up and began to discuss the recent difficulty. More and Lockhart soon got into an altercation and shooting commenced on both sides. Lockhart received a bullet in his left arm, Fisher was shot in the thigh, and More was shot in the left breast, the bullet passing near the heart. He ran about fifty yards, falling to the ground in front of the Oriental Restaurant, into which he was carried and his wound dressed, but he died the following day. His remains were taken in charge by the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a member, con- veyed to Idaho City and there interred according to the ceremonies of that order. Several arrests were afterward made, but proceedings were quashed and quiet again reigned in Silver City. Mr. More was a member of the firm of More & Fogus, was well known in Idaho, and his death was universally regretted. Lock- hart's arm was amputated, but blood poisoning followed and he died in July.
861
HISTORY OF IDAHO
THE BALDWIN AFFAIR
During the decade following the organization of Idaho Territory a number of the rich veins of gold and silver-those that required expensive machinery to extract the metal-became the property of mining corporations, with the over- capitalization and inflation of stock so common to mining companies. One of the Idaho companies of this character was the Golden Chariot, which was located on the War Eagle Mountain, in Owyhee County and which played such an important part in the events that led up to the shooting of Marion More, just mentioned.
The failure of the Bank of California in August, 1875, forced several of the mining companies operating in the War Eagle district to suspend for lack of funds, which caused many men to be thrown out of employment, without the means to support their families. For some time prior to the bank failure, the Golden Chariot had been under the superintendency of M. A. Baldwin, who con- tinued to operate the mines, but allowed two months to pass without a pay day for the men. Promise after promise was made to pay the wages due, but the promises were not kept. The closing of the mine and the work of removing certain property aroused the suspicions of the miners whose wages were in arrears and they called a meeting to consider the matter. The meeting was held on June 30, 1876, and, after the subject had been thoroughly discussed, they decided to take action in their own way, rather than trust the uncertain and intricate windings of the law.
Accordingly, about midnight that night the employes of the Golden Chariot numbering about 100, with a few from other mines, went quietly to the office of the company, located near the mill and demanded to see Mr. Baldwin. When that gentleman appeared he was taken in hand by the assembled company and conducted to a house near Fairview, where he was kept under guard, being at the same time informed that he would be held as a prisoner until assurance was given that everyone would receive the wages due. No violence was used and the superintendent was not in any way maltreated. He was provided with plenty of food, his wants were fully attended to, and the only thing of which he was de- prived was his liberty. His sudden and somewhat mysterious disappearance caused some consternation among the officials of the company, but when they learned that he was merely being held as a hostage to insure the payment of the wages claimed by the men, the officials of the company, who lived in San Fran- cisco, promised that all arrears would be paid. Mr. Baldwin was therefore released on July 21, 1876, after having been kept a prisoner for three weeks, and permitted to go to San Francisco. He returned the following month, when the miners were paid off according to promise, and the mine was reopened, but only for a short time. For several years after that the Golden Chariot, once one of the richest producers in the War Eagle district, was worked at short intervals, and was finally closed altogether.
There was some talk on the part of a few of Mr. Baldwin's friends of having the leaders of the party that kidnapped him arrested and punished, but as he suffered no indignities and no serious inconveniences during his brief imprison- ment, the matter was dropped, though the "Baldwin Affair" was a topic of conversation for many years after it occurred.
862
HISTORY OF IDAHO
PAT BRICE'S STORY
In the chapter on Early Military History mention is made of the rescue of the little Manuel girl by Pat Brice, who took her to Mount Idaho and placed her in friendly hands. Brice left Idaho County soon afterward and it was the general belief in that community that he was dead until 1905, when his own story of the affair was published in the Butte (Montana) Inter-Mountain. Brice was a warm hearted Irishman and in giving his story to the Inter-Mountain reporter made no attempt to pose as a hero. He died at Anaconda. Mont., in September, 1907, when his story was again published in the Inter-Mountain, in connection with his obituary, and was reproduced in the Lewiston Tribune. It reads like an extract from a "border romance" and is given below as an illustration of the dangers and hardships the frontier pioneers were forced to undergo through Indian atrocities while building up their empire in the wilds of the Northwest.
"It was in June," says Brice in beginning his story, "that I started from Oregon to go to Warren's mining camp in Idaho following my pursuit of prospecting. I had a saddle horse, gun and the usual outfit. I had not heard of any trouble with Indians and therefore was taken completely by surprise when near the crossing of the Whitebird River a band of about twenty-five Nez Perces came upon me suddenly and made me prisoner.
"They took my horse and blankets and most of them wanted to kill me on the spot, but an Indian I had met before interceded in my behalf, telling them that I was a friend of his and had never done them any harm. While they were dis- cussing the division of my outfit, the Indian, whose name I shall never forget, queer as it sounds, 'Moxmoose' it was, told me of the decision of the Nez Perces to go to their old home, and that they were on the war path; unless I could hide in the brush, the main body of the tribe now only a mile away would surely kill me if I was found in that section. Seizing an opportune moment I slipped away into the brush as he directed and lay quiet until darkness came on.
"I kept along the bed of the creek then in an effort to escape, but I had gone but a few rods when I heard a child's voice sobbing and crying. I knew it was a white child as she kept calling for her mama in English so I made a search until I found her. A little girl I should judge about six years of age, whose name I learned was Maggie Manuel. From what she told me I thought all her people had been killed by the Indians. Her mother and an infant at breast had been killed outright at the cabin and the father was left for dead in the field by the hostiles, though he was found and rescued by soldiers eleven days later, having subsisted on raw turnips from the fields in spite of many wounds. He died, however, some two years later of exposure and the injuries received at the time.
"The child tried to escape from me at first, but when I talked to her and assured her that I would take care of her she nestled down in our hiding place and went to sleep. I thought that the morning would never come as I tried to look out for danger known and unknown. The sun rose at last and then. I dis- covered that Maggie's arm was broken and that she had been struck on the head. Her clothing was in tatters and I bound her wounds with my outer shirt and made a dress of the undershirt, as that was the warmer. My coat and vest had gone to one of the Indian captors of the previous day.
"During the morning of that first day there was a commotion among the
863
HISTORY OF IDAHO
Indians that were all about us and soon I learned the cause. They were attacked by a small company of soldiers under Colonel Perry, who was trying to drive them back. He was outnumbered and finally had to retire. The Indian force was between us and the soldiers and I looked in vain for a way to join the blue coats, that I could occasionally hear, until they were forced to abandon the unequal contest.
"We had nothing to eat that day, but we had plenty of water from the creek. It was thus we passed three days, though each night I would make cautious efforts to get away. Every time I was driven back by the barking of the dogs in the Indian camp that warned me that it was unsafe. The third day I was getting desperate. Something must be done or the child would perish of hunger; and besides her broken arm was swelling and torturing her with pain that was almost as severe to me who had to see her suffering without being able to give her any relief. I crawled through the brush to reconnoiter, and coming to a rise of ground I saw three chieftains of the Nez Perce tribe a few hundred yards away, walking up and down in front of a cabin. I then decided to make a bold front, and rising to my feet I threw up my hands and approached the house. Whitebird was one of the Indians and I did not know the others, though I have often wondered if one was not Chief Joseph himself. I told them my story, who I was and about the baby in the brush and asked them to let me go to Mount Idaho.
"They held a council and by their gestures it seemed that two of them were for my instant death. I demanded then that they shoot me, and declared that I was ready to die but wanted to die like a man. This stand seemed to surprise them and the taller of the three stepped forward and grasped my hand, saying : 'You brave! You good man! Go get papoose, take her to tillikums,' meaning that I should take the girl to her friends.
"I lost no time in setting out and covered five miles, carrying the girl in my arms. Toward nightfall we came to a cabin on the Camas Prairie. It was deserted by the owners and the Indians had ransacked it of everything and the only thing that was like food at all was a crust of bread that was so hard the Indians had left it, so you may imagine what condition it was in. I broke off a small portion and soaked it in water in the spring near the house for Maggie, and well do I remember how she cried because I would not let her eat it all. My supper? Oh, I took a big drink of water.
"Do you know," said he, "a man may go a long time without eating, but he must have water. For the first day or two I was terribly hungry, but after that there was such a fever that water seemed to satisfy my cravings and I must have drunk a quart at a time.
"Well, I saw that I could not make progress with the child in my arms, so I made a chair out of an old ax box that I found in the barn and slung it over my shoulders with a piece of halter rope, and the next day carried her like a peddler carries his pack. Every mile or two I saw traces of the Indians and their bloody work along the road. Sometimes it was smoking ruins and again it was a dead body, mutilated and scalped. At one place I saw bodies of three men in a group, stripped of all clothing and ghastly wounds showing how they had died.
"I staggered on till at last I climbed a hill and saw a short distance away the little cluster of buildings that constituted Mount Idaho. The town was fortified and guarded, for the inhabitants were in constant fear of attack. The citizens
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
saw me coming and a delegation came out to meet me. They took the burden of the child from me and of them, who must have been a preacher, gave me a Prince Albert coat that was too small for me, so that I might go into town. Nothing was too good for us there. We were fed and clothed and a Mrs. Lyons set the broken arm of Maggie. There was no doctor in the camp, but the job was well done, that I know.
"Maggie's grandfather was among the refugees and he took care of her for a time, until her father partially recovered. Since then I lost track of her until a few years ago, when I heard from her by letter. The little girl is now a woman grown and married to a man named Bowman, who runs a sawmill at Grangeville, Idaho, not far from the scene where her mother was slaughtered and we had that terrible adventure. She has five little children and I have no doubt has often told them the story of our escape from Chief Joseph's band."
Brice had a cross tattooed upon his breast and when he approached the three Indian chiefs at the cabin, bare from his waist up, the sight of this sacred emblem no doubt aided him in his plea for permission to go to Mount Idaho with his charge, as many of the Nez Perce Indians had attended religious services at the Catholic mission and were familiar with the symbol of the crucifixion, which they had been taught to regard with reverence.
MURDER OF AN EX-SHERIFF
One of the remarkable men of the early days of the Boise Basin was Sumner Pinkham, appointed sheriff of Boise County by the governor soon after the organization of the territory in 1863. Pinkham was six feet two inches in height, a perfect model physically, brave as a lion and mentally alert. In the very prime of life, still Pinkham's hair and whiskers were snow white while his appearance otherwise was that of most vigorous manhood. Pinkham served as sheriff for about six months, making an enviable reputation as a brave and capable officer, but was a republican in politics. The democrats being in a large majority he was defeated at the election held in the fall of 1863 to fill the county offices. His fearless discharge of his official duties had made him many enemies among the numerous "gunmen" who had made their residence in the new mining section.
Among the desperadoes who infested the several camps of the Basin in the early days there was no worse man than Ferd Patterson, because it was impossible for a human being to be more utterly careless of the rights or lives of others than was he or for one to be more reckless of impending danger directed against him- self. Patterson was a man six feet in height and weighing over 200 pounds, about forty years of age, always well groomed and well dressed, his sandy hair and beard finely setting off a handsome countenance and with a manner, when he chose to conceal his naturally brutal instincts, well calculated to win the liking of men and the affections of women.
What his career had been before he started from San Francisco in the winter of 1861-62 was unknown in Idaho. The day before reaching Portland, Captain Staples, commander of the steamer, threatened Patterson, who was drinking heavily, and had become insulting, that he would put him in irons if he did not behave. This rankled in Patterson's mind and the morning after reaching Port- land he saw the captain start down the stairs leading to the first floor of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and when he came about half way down, drew his ready gun
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
and shot him dead. The murderer immediately surrendered to a policeman who appeared and through a perversion of justice that often characterized trials for murder in those days, was acquitted by a trial jury. Immediately upon his release, suspecting a woman by whom he had been accompanied on the trip to Portland of having been disloyal to him, he seized her by the coil which she always made of her hair, drew his bowie knife, and attempting to cut off her hair close to her head, aimed too low and took off not only her hair, but the woman's scalp as well. Again he was in the hands of the Portland authorities, but was as fortunate in escaping the penalty as he was in his first Oregon crime and swearing vengeance against the policemen who arrested him, he quit Portland, proceeding directly to the Basin, where he soon became engaged in the pursuits that usually attracted men of his class.
A little over a mile below Idaho City is the Warm Springs, in the early days a great bathing resort, a bar, of course, being run in connection with the baths. This was the favorite resort of the residents of Idaho City.
Patterson had conceived a violent hatred toward Pinkham, a feeling that most men of his class shared with him, and only waited an opportunity to satisfy his revengeful feelings. On a fall day in 1865 Pinkham, with a friend, rode down to the springs to enjoy a bath. Patterson was there with a party of friends and, as usual, full of whiskey. He at once addressed an insulting remark to Pinkham, who being familiar with Patterson's methods, and knowing he had no chance of winning a contest where his enemy was surrounded by friends ready to assist him, simply said, "That's all right, Patterson," and passed on into a bathroom. Some time elapsed, Patterson having in the meantime gone into the swimming pool, but upon coming out he went upon the porch of the establishment and seeing Pinkham there, again made an insulting remark, at the same time raising his pistol and shooting Pinkham dead. He then proceeded to the jail and surrendered himself.
This caused intense excitement throughout the Basin and a vigilance committee was formed with the avowed purpose of taking Patterson from the custody of the sheriff and hanging him. Wiser counsel prevailed, however, and that matter was dropped. A term of court was soon after held and Patterson was tried and acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.
That he would receive his just punishment at the hands of some of Pinkham's friends was evident to Patterson, and shortly after the travesty on justice resulting in his acquittal, he left Idaho City and went to Walla Walla. Fortunately the policeman against whom he had sworn vengeance for his Portland arrest was in that town, and hearing of Patterson's arrival and knowing he always kept a promise to revenge himself upon an enemy procured a double barreled shotgun, loaded it in a proper manner, and proceeding to a barber shop where Patterson was getting shaved, gave him the same treatment so often by him accorded to others, and fired both barrels of the gun into him at close range, causing his instant death.
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.
At the time the Province of Louisiana was purchased by the United States in 1803, the ratification of the treaty was opposed by some members of Congress on the grounds that the country between the Missouri River and the Rocky Moun- tains was nothing but a desert, while the Rocky Mountain region was "a wild, inaccessible expanse of territory, wholly unfit for human habitation." The expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-06 served to enlighten the people as to the character of the "New Purchase" and the Northwest, but their report was not widely read and it was not until more than forty years later that the discovery of gold in California proved to be the greatest factor in opening the eyes of the residents of the states east of the Mississippi River to the resources and possi- bilities of the "Great West."
True, quite a number of emigrants had found their way across the great plains and settled in the Oregon country, but few of them returned to give any information of the country. On the other hand, returning "forty-niners" gave glowing accounts of their journey across the plains and vivid descriptions of the fertile valleys that lay between the ranges of the Rocky Mountains. Frequently these narratives were embellished with something more than the "naked truth," but they agreed in all essential particulars and contradicted theories that had long been prevalent. From these returned argonauts many people received their first accurate information and came to the conclusion that the West was habitable, to say the least.
Following the roving fur traders and the adventurous gold seekers came the actual settlers. On March 3, 1918, fifty-five years had passed since Abraham Lincoln, as President of the United States, affixed his official signature to the act of Congress creating the Territory of Idaho. The first United States census after the organization of the territory was that of 1870, when the number of inhabitants was 14,999. Since then the increase in population, as shown by official decennial enumerations, has been as follows:
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
1870
14,999
1880
32,610
1890
88,548
1900
161,772
1910
325,594
1918 (estimated)
.440,000
From this table it will be observed that there has been a constant and steady growth from the time the territory was organized to the present. The greatest proportionate increase during any decade was between 1880 and 1890, when it was a little over 171 per cent. The next decennial period shows an increase of nearly 83 per cent, and that from 1900 to 1910 shows an increase of over 101 per cent. At the time Idaho was admitted into the Union there were sixteen organized counties in the state, while in 1919 the number of organized counties was forty- four. For the purpose of comparison, the returns of each census since the admis- sion of the state are given by counties in the following table:
County
1890
1900
1910
Ada
8,368
11,559
29,088
Adams
Bannock
11,702
19,242
Bear Lake
6,057
7,051
7,729
Benewah
Bingham
13,575
10,447
23,306
Blaine
4,900
8,387
Boise
3,342
4,174
5,250
Bonner
13,588
Bonneville
Boundary
Butte
...
...
.....
Camas
.....
7,497
25,323
Caribou
....
Cassia
3,143
3,951
7,197
Clark
.....
.
..
....
Clearwater
Custer
2,176
2,049
3,001
Elmore
1,870
2,286
4,785
Franklin
. .
..
12,82I
24,606
Gem
....
Gooding
Idaho
2,955
9,121
12,384
Jefferson
Jerome
....
....
Kootenai
4,108
10,216
22,747
Latah
9,173
13,45I
18,818
Lemhi
1,915
3,446
4,786
Lewis
. .
. .
...
...
..
Canyon
. .
.
Fremont
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HISTORY OF IDAHO
County
1890
1900
1910
Lincoln
...
1,784
12,676
Minidoka
...
.
......
Nez Perce
2,847
13,748
24,860
Oneida
6,819
8,933
15,170
Owyhee
2,02I
3,804
4.044
Payette
....
Power
5,382
11,950
13,963
Teton
Twin Falls
.....
......
13,543
Valley
.. .
. .
. .
Washington
3,836
6,882
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