USA > Idaho > Bannock County > The history of Bannock County, Idaho > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
"Many outcroppings in the moun- tains near Pocatello give promise of most fabulous richness. Many assays from the rock have been made, and they run up into the thousands. The agent in charge of the reservation, however, has been strict in enforcing the treaty laws. In the summer of 1893 a company of Pocatello men dis- covered a copper ledge of marvelous promise, on Belle Marsh creek, on the reservation, and made a determined effort to work it. They put a force of men to work there and uncovered a ledge for a distance of a hundred feet, finding a well-defined ledge of wonderfully rich copper ore. They worked it until twice warned off by the Indian agent, and quit only when they were finally threatened with ar-
(29)
History of Bannock County
rest. During the same summer a strong company of capitalists of Pocatello, Butte and Salt Lake City organized and made an effort to se- cure a lease of the mineral lands on the reservation; but other men in Pocatello, who had been watching prospects and opportunity for years, entered a protest and the interior de- partment at Washington refused to grant the lease. The same year a Pocatello organization made an at- tempt to obtain permission to de- velop mines on this reservation, but failure likewise attended this only when they were finally threatened with arrest. In 1891 some very rich galena was discovered about two miles east of Pocatello, and this created a veritable stampede of miners who be- gan digging vigorously. The signs were most encouraging, but the In- dian agent again came to the front and drove the men from the reserva- tion. According to the testimony of all the old timers in this region there are many rich deposits of the respec- tive valuable minerals in nearly all the mountains of Bannock county. Apparently there is enough of coal and asbestos deposit here to make a whole community rich."
Pocatello's railroad and ranching interests alone insure the develop- ment of a prosperous and fair-sized city, and in the immediate attention
(30)
History of Bannock County
demanded by these activities, the mining possibilities of the neighbor- hood seem for the time to have fallen into the background. The day will come, however, when the Indian res- ervation will be thrown open, and when that day does come, a new source of wealth will be released which might easily place Pocatello well in the front rank of western cities.
In the southeastern counties of Idaho there lies an extensive shore- line of middle carboniferous lime- stones and shales, which has been outlined by the United States Geo- logical Survey, and a very large por- tion of which is contained in Bannock county. This in its entirety composes the largest phosphate field in the world, the rock phosphate of the de- posit being seventy per cent pure, in beds of from three to eight feet thick. In December, 1908, the secretary of the interior withdrew from all kinds of entry 4,541,300 acres of land, part of which extends over the Utah line, pending an examination of their phos- phate resources. During the summer of 1909, the United States Geological Survey conducted field work on this area, which resulted in the restora- tion of some of these lands and the withdrawal of others. The total area now withheld is 2,551,399 acres.
The rock phosphate deposits of
(31)
History of Bannock County
Bannock county are original sedi- mentary formations made when this part of the earth was still under water. Since then other rock-form- ing sediments have accumulated, so that thousands of feet of subsequent strata have overlain them. Deforma- tion of the earth's surface has broken these strata, which originally lay flat. Hence these rock-phosphate deposits resemble coal and limestone, rather than ore deposits, such as veins or lodes. No entirely satisfactory ex- planation of their source or manner of accumulation has yet been given.
The value of these deposits will be more readily understood when it is known that prior to their discovery the total known supply in the United States was barely sufficient to last forty years. In addition to this, most of the deposits were in the control of European investors, which threat- ened to put the American farmer at the mercy of foreign speculators.
In his book entitled, "The Conser- vation of Natural Resources of the United States," Professor Van Hise, of the University of Wisconsin, says : "The most fundamental of the re- sources of this nation is the soil, which produces our food and cloth- ing, and one of the most precious of the natural resources of America, having a value inestimably greater than might be supposed from the
(32)
History of Bannock County
present market value, is our phos- phate-rock resources.''
Phosphoric acid is essentially a soil fertilizer. It is really nothing else than a rich manure, as the odorifer- ous smell given off when two pieces are rubbed together amply testifies. The enormous deposits of this power- ful fertilizer practically insure the agricultural future of Idaho. The secretary of the interior, in a recent report, said: "The present crop yields of the virgin fields of the west under irrigation cannot be expected to be maintained by irrigation water alone, and the intensive methods of that region will within a few years have to figure on artificial fertilizers to maintain their great yield."
And Nature, foreseeing our future need, has provided for it in advance.
The limestone deposits near Inkom are said to be valuable for the manu- facture of cement.
The agricultural soil of the county is composed largely of disintegrated lava and volcanic ash, which, when irrigated, is very fertile. The prin- cipal waterways are the Portneuf, the Snake, and the Belle Marsh, which are fed by many mountain tributaries.
The county contains 3,179 square miles.
Having now determined in our first chapter the geographical location and early history of Bannock county, and
(33)
History of Bannock County
in our second examined the nature of the country and what resources it contains, we will in the third chap- ter turn our attention to its first in- habitants, and consider the case of our brother, "the noble Indian."
(34)
.
CHAPTER III.
THE INDIANS.
Some years ago, when life was young and all the world one luring and beckoning field of adventure, the writer of this modest history spent five dollars to hear Dan Beard, Ernest Seton Thompson and others, lecture on "Woodcraft and Indians." They spoke of the "noble red man," and pictured a romantic and heroic being of high ideals and chivalrous life, whose adventures were clean and ad- mirable, whose domestic life was happy and blameless. At least one member of the audience went home from those lectures and shed bitter tears of remorse and shame because it was his sad lot to be a cowardly pale-face. We mention the incident because it serves to illustrate the non- sense that is published broadcast for mercenary reasons, by people who really know the truth.
This chapter does not pretend to be a scholarly dissertation on the American Indian, but is rather in- tended to preserve the first impres- sions made by the Indians on an in- terested and uninitiated observer. For the salient and noticeable traits of these people are more likely to
(35)
History of Bannock County
excite the comment of a newcomer than they are to live in the hard soil of familiarity.
The Arabs of the Sahara desert, like our own Bannock Indians, wrap themselves closely in camels-hair blankets during the hottest weather, which as everyone knows, is extreme in North Africa. They also wrap their heads in turbans, and explain the custom by saying that it protects them from the scorching rays of the sun. Otherwise their skin would blis- ter and dry up with the reflected heat of the desert. This is probably true, and it is no doubt for some similar reason that the Indians wear blankets all through the summer. It has been said that the Indians use a powder of vegetable or mineral character with which they rub the inside of their blankets, thereby rendering them im- pervious to heat rays. Certain it is that an Indian, clad in a blanket, is seldom seen to perspire, even in the hottest weather, while his civilized brother drips just as profusely as a white man.
In like manner all strange and seemingly fantastic and heathen cus- toms have their birth in reason, if we can only detect it. The Indian, for instance, paints his face as a protec- tion from the dry and arid western winds, which make some artificial ap- plication of grease necessary. Let
(36)
History of Bannock County
those who doubt this take a glance at the parched visage of some Ari- zona rancher.
Some people maintain that the In- dian is equal in intelligence to the white man. Common sense tells us that this is not true. No race men- tally equal to the Caucasian would remain for centuries in barbarism and turn from civilization even when it is thrust upon them. It is sometimes said that an Indian is a white man's equal because he can pass the intelli- gence test of a twelve year old white boy, this modicum of intelligence be- ing scientifically sufficient to rescue a white man from the ranks of the mentally deficient. A man might al- most as well be insane as to escape insanity by a hair's breadth. And so, also, of his intellect.
An Episcopalian missionary to the Indians on the Fort Hall reservation, said in this connection: "I noticed when I first began to work among these Indians that I could establish no footing of equality between myself and the bucks, although the latter seemed to be on the most familiar terms with my twelve-year-old boy. This puzzled me for some time, and I began to watch the intercourse be- tween my boy and the Indians. Then I discovered the secret. The mental- ity of my boy and of the Indians was on a par. The red men, although
(37)
History of Bannock County
adults in years, were twelve-year-olds in mind. From that time on I talked with them on such terms and my for- mer trouble was ended."
For this reason and because of the results so far attained, it seems very questionable whether it is wise to at- tempt to civilize these people, in the ordinary meaning of the term. Chris- tianize them by all means. But two men practicing the principles of Christianity can live as happily in a wig-wam as in a palace-perhaps more so, and there is no reason why we should want the squaws to wear split-skirts because our own women wear them. There is but little choice, and perhaps the squaw has the best of it at that. The South Sea islander does not want us to wear rings in our noses because he does, and it seems hardly fair that we should wish to throttle the poor Indian with the shackle that civilization calls a col- lar, just because we are foolish enough to wear collars. Christianity alone will bring these people as much civilization as they need for both their happiness and salvation, and that is more than many of our own boastful race possess. For the rest, the Indian, to his honor, be it said, is a child of nature, who loves his sagebrush and desert freedom, and it is no kindness to tear him from the life he loves so well. No wonder he
(38)
History of Bannock County
hates the white man. Most of us would hate people who insisted upon making canary-birds, guaranteed to sing in the parlor, out of us, when we wanted to be eagles. Perhaps it is some such reason as this that leads the Indians on the reservation to despise those who live among the whites. The average Indian who hangs around Pocatello is certainly inferior to his brother in the sage brush.
Although the Indian is a lazy man, who makes his squaw do most of the work, he is not without some strain of generosity. The squaw usually fol- lows along some ten paces behind her husband, and it is no uncommon thing to see the buck eating a bag of apples or other delicacies and throwing the cores to his faithful squaw, who de- vours them with relish.
The Bannocks, in common with all other Indians, have a decided sense of beauty,-a trait that is seldom noticed, although one of the best pos- sessed by the red-men. This artistic instinct finds play in the basket and bead work done by these people. Many of their designs combine great beauty with great simplicity, and dis- play a taste that is far from uncul- tured. In their names, too, the In- dians show a love of the beautiful. Where in the whole wide world can more beautiful names be found than
(39)'
History of Bannock County
Wyoming and Arizona, Idaho and Oregon, Nevada and Oklahoma? Resonant and poetical names they are, suggestive of a bigness quite commensurate with the vastness of the states they name. It has been said that the west, inspired by the beauty of her Indian names, will some day produce a new school of poetry, made possible only by the poetry of the wild, free red-men.
As in all frontier communities, many amusing incidents have trans- pired between the Indians and whites. Probably everyone in Pocatello knows "'Stonewall" Johnson and probably no one in Pocatello knows horse- flesh better than he. One day Mr. Johnson bought a horse from an Indian. The animal had seven dis- eases-all fatal-but Mr. Johnson, with infinite skill and patience, grad- ually cured him of them all. He nursed the dying beast back to health and made a valuable horse of him. From time to time the Indian dropped around to inspect the animal. One fine day, when the cure was fully effected, the Indian deliberately en- tered the field where the horse was grazing in care of Mr. Johnson's little boy, mounted and rode away, leaving the youngster to carry the news home. Mr. Johnson has never seen either horse or Indian since. It is said that the only way to bind a bargain with
(40)
History of Bannock County
the Indians is by a deed of sale. On the other hand, the missionary pre- viously mentioned, says that he would rather lend money to an Indian than to a white man, as the former never fails to repay the loan.
We have spoken of the Indian's sense of beauty. He is also cruel, and his cruelty is written on his face. Imagine, then, the dismay and terror of a missionary's wife, who, with her husband, alighted one dark night at a little way station just north of Pocatello. The depot was locked, and while the missionary went to look for a night's lodging, his wife disposed herself comfortably on a soft and well-filled gunnysack lying or the sta- tion platform. Presently the gunny- sack moved, stretched a pair of moc- casined legs, and said "Woof!" The lady eventually recovered, but whether the Indian did, the story does not tell.
While possessing much innate no- bility, the Indian sometimes appears in a ridiculous light. It is said that when a part of the reservation was thrown open a few years ago, and the red-men reimbursed in cash, many of them invested their money in vehicles. They bought every old wagon for miles around, and when the supply ran low, took what they could get. So it happened that one buck bought an old hearse. In the body of this
(41)
History of Bannock County
he was wont to carry his numerous papooses, who gazed at the passing throng with their squat faces pressed flat against the windows, while the proud parents occupied the driver's box.
These people have a strange aver- sion to the camera, probably as to something uncanny and not under- stood. They believe that to be pho- tographed saps the strength. At the last sun dance held in the Bottoms near Pocatello, it was necessary to pay one old centenarian five dollars to induce him to pose for one snap- shot.
Among the common-places of for- mer days that are fast passing away are the wild horses. These animals still roam the plains of Bannock county, but they are becoming more scarce every year. They travel in bands of fifteen or twenty and are very bold. They will approach with- in close range of a human being and feed unconcernedly under his gaze, but at the sound of the human voice they become terror-stricken and stam- pede away in great confusion. Some daring men rope these animals dur- ing the summer months and break them in for saddle use, but their wild blood is never really tamed. It is necessary to break their spirit with cruelty before they are of any use, and then they are apt to relapse at
(42)
History of Bannock County
any time. When one escapes from captivity it is said that he will travel hundreds of miles with en- erring instinct back to the plains whence he was taken.
The fact that a large portion of the land included in Bannock county was set apart for and inhabited by In- dians retarded its settlement for many years. The Indians were hos- tile to the white men, few of whom settled in the vicinity, except em- ployes of the stage lines runing from Salt Lake to Butte, government agents, etc.
The Shoshone-in the Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1913, this name is spelt Shoshoni- and Bannock Indians now living on the Fort Hall reservation are types of the great Lemhi family. The Sho- shone, or Snake Indians, are fairly honest, intelligent and peaceable, al- though all the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains are inferior to those living to the east. The Ban- nocks are more cunning, sly, and rest- less than the Shoshones. The Sho- shone family, of which the Bannock is a branch, are thought to have come originally from California. While the name Shoshone is commonly supposed to mean "snake," some authorities hold that it means "inland." These Indians are more pretentious in dress and ornamentation than those living
(43)
History of Bannock County
farther south, and possess no mean skill in the art of pottery. Ross, an authority on Indian affairs, says : "The Snakes have been considered as a rather dull and degraded people, weak in intellect and wanting in cour- age. And this opinion is very prob- able to casual observer, at first sight or when they are seen in small numbers, for their apparent timidity, grave and reserved habits, give them an air of stupidity. An intimate knowledge of the Snake character will, however, place them on an equal footing with that of other kindred nations, both in respect to their men- tal faculties and moral attributes."
The different tribes or families of these Indians speak different dialects, but have a sign language that is un- derstood by all. Although stolid and silent in their intercourse with white men, they are vivacious and even gar- rulous among themselves. The play of their hands when they talk with signs resembles the conversation of deaf mutes.
Another writer says: "The Ban- nocks of Idaho are highly intelligent and lively, the most virtuous and un- sophisticated of all the Indians in the United States."
These Indians were at least intelli- gent enough to devise a system of hieroglyphics, examples of which are still to be seen on the lava rocks to
(44)
History of Bannock County
the west and south of Pocatello, al- though the Indians of today seem to have lost the art of reading them, and their contents remain a mystery. They are recent enough in execution to have survived the wear of wind and weath- er, but how interesting it would be if we could read the crude romance they tell-some memorable page of bar- barous history or some forgotten trag- edy of desert life !
There are in the neighborhood of Pocatello also some old Indian forts- crude constructions of dug-outs and mountain boulders, interesting only on account of their origin. The cur- ious may find one about two miles out of Pocatello, to the left of the road that winds back from West Sub- lette street. It probably differs in no way from those built by the In- dians of this vicinity two thousand years ago, and were they to construct another today it would be impossible except by age, to tell the new from the old. Civilization rolls on apace, and today's triumph of mechanism is the scrap heap of tomorrow, but the stolid Indian, imperturbable and un- interested, remains much the same, yesterday, today and apparently for- ever.
(45)
CHAPTER IV.
THE COWBOY.
Closely associated with the Indians in the minds of many people, es- pecially in the east, are the cowboys. The prevalent idea in the eastern states about the far west is much the same today as it was fifty years ago -an illusion that the moving pictures help to keep alive. And yet, prosaic as it may be compared with the stir- ring times of yore, there is still a charm and freedom in western life unequalled in any other part of the United States. That western people are fully alive to the romance and adventure connected with the settle- ment of the west, is shown by the fact that moving picture representa- tions of western life are popular to an equal extent in no other portion of the Union.
The mouth of the Portneuf canyon was a favorite wintering place for cattle men and freighters because of the feeding ground to be found on the bottoms, the shelter afforded by the surrounding hills, and the water supplied by the Portneuf river. For similar reasons the Indians used the present site of Pocatello for their winter quarters. Just west of Po-
(46)
History of Bannock County
catello, along the banks of the Snake river, lay a rich and fertile grazing ground, where was situated the head- quarters of the old War Bonnet Cat- tle company, a big outfit that operat- ed in this country for several years.
Until the old ranges were broken up into ranches, which practically ended the old cowboy life, the Port- neuf canyon remained a winter ha- ven for cattle men, and many wild and thrilling exploits were enacted here. The cutting up and fencing of the ranges has been inevitable in the course of progress and development, but from the cowboy standpoint it has not been altogether desirable Cattle driven by a storm will run be- fore the wind, and when they meet an obstacle will halt rather than turn in the face of the gale. As a result, many cattle, stopped in their course, have perished from cold and expos- ure in recent years.
Cowboys and sheepherders are still seen daily on the streets of Pocatello. Many of the latter are Mexicans and they are looked down upon by the cowboys as being less hardy and daring.
The two classes have never lived peaceably together because the sheep clip the grass so close to the ground that cattle can find no nourishment, after the sheep have gone. For this reason fights were so common be-
(47)
History of Bannock County
tween the sheep and cattle men that the government finally alloted to each grazing grounds of their own.
The sheep men go out with their charges in the early spring and are on the range for several months at a stretch. So many of them went in- sane from monotony and loneliness that a law has been passed, requiring owners to send two men with every outfit.
Like most men living an open and free life, these men are for the most part generous and careless of money, taking little thought for the future and oftimes going to excess for the present.
Some years ago, says a resident of Pocatello, an Italian, with infinite patince and trouble, succeeded in catching a mountain lion in the hills and brought him safely to town in a large cage. A band of cowboys, bent on merry-making, surrounded the cage and danced about it, letting out their blood-curdling yells and shoot- ing their guns. The lion, unaccus- tomed to such antics, at first snarled savagely. Later he became quiet. The cowboys began to thrust at him through the cage, and then to dare one another to enter it. At length one of the men took up the dare. Armed with a knife and a gun, he cau- tiously entered the cage. The lion crouching in a corner, watched the
(48)
History of Bannock County
intruder but made no movement. The cowboy grew bolder and began to probe and kick the beast. His com- panions encouraged him with more hoots and yells, but still the lion lay quiet. Finally the adventurer with- drew in despair of stirring up a fight. The savage animal had been so com- pletely cowed and terrified by the noise that it was literally paralyzed and unable to move.
Mr. Herman Goldsmith, now in the employ of the Oregon Short Line, but formerly a cattle man, tells of a town that boasted but one bathtub, owned by the barber. To this shop repaired the soiled and weary of the commu- nity for ablution and refreshment. One fine night a band of cowboys shot up the town and the next day the bath-tub was gone. Search was made high and low, but no tub could be found. The loss was serious, as there was no railway in those days and another tub could not be pur- chased in a radius of many miles. The town had little godliness, and now even its cleanliness was gone! One fine day the disconsolate barber was given a tip that his bath-tub was secreted in a cowboy's shack some miles distant. A warrant was sworn out, the tub recovered, and the cul- prit hied into court. Came also the barber.
(49)
History of Bannock County
"How many baths do you sell a week?" asked the judge.
"About seventy," said the barber.
"At how much per bath?" con- tinued the judge.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.