USA > Idaho > Bannock County > The history of Bannock County, Idaho > Part 5
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In 1865, a far more serious affair was perpetrated near Robbers' Roost
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Creek, a few miles west of the pres- ent town of McCammon. A stage of the Concord type, carrying several passengers and $60,000 of private money, was betrayed by its driver, Frank Williams, to a gang led by Jim Locket. As he rounded a steep hill, Williams turned his horses suddenly, breaking the reach of the coach, and the road agents, concealed in the brush, which was so thick at this point that it scratched the sides of the stage, gave the word to halt. Among the passengers were two wealthy St. Louis merchants, David Dinan and a man named McCausland. These men were apprehensive of be- ing held up and carried their guns in their hands, ready for instant use. This precaution probably caused their death. At the cry, "Hands up," the passengers discharged their guns into the brush, shooting too high to wound their opponents, but thereby bringing upon themselves a volley that killed both Dinan and McCausland and two other men, one of them being Law- rence Merz, a passenger who was sit- ting by the driver. Charles Parks, a messenger, riding within the coach, was shot in the foot, while one man, whose name is variously given as Brown and Carpenter, escaped un- hurt. The murdered men were bur- ied in a gulch near the scene of their death and the coach, riddled with bul- lets, was taken to Malad.
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None of the members of this gang were apprehended, but Williams, the driver, was arrested and hung. He retained his position for some ten days after the hold-up, and then, ac- tuated perhaps by a guilty conscience and the fear of detection, resigned and went to Salt Lake. Here it was noticed that he spent money very freely, and he was seized later in Denver. Jim Locket was a man of such notorious character that no at- tempt was made to trail him, the few settlers in the neighborhood at that time preferring to give him as wide a berth as possible.
Three men, named McCay, Jones and Spangler, followed a stage out of Malad City in 1870, and held it up some six or seven miles from that city. Spangler and Jones were after .. ward captured, but Jones escaped from jail, and Spangler cleared him- self by giving information that led to the recovery of $6,000 of the $9,000 taken from the coach.
Two weeks later, in 1870, a very daring hold-up was made by two men near the top of the Malad divide. One of the men was variously known as Ed. Flag, Frank Long and Frank Carpenter. The other, whose name was Stone, was said to belong to a good family in Louisville, Ky.
These two men placed three dum- mies in a half-exposed position near
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the road and succeeded in making off with $36,000 in gold bullion without firing a shot. The stage carried no passengers.
The driver returned to Malad and said that he had been held up by a gang of five men. After some delib- eration, J. N. Ireland, now a resi- dent of Pocatello, Tom Oakley, Dan- iel Robbins and four others, set out to trail the bandits. This was not a difficult matter in the early days, pro -- vided the fugitives took to the brush, which they were obliged to do in most cases in order to find conceal- ment. Their horses, in pushing a way through the growth, left a well-de- fined track that a child could follow, and as travelers were few, there was little danger of hitting the wrong trail. But while it was sometimes an easy matter to follow up a gang of robbers, few men cared to under- take the task. A road agent knew that capture probably meant death and his very occupation was a suffi- cient guarantee that he would kill without scruple. He had the advan- tage, too of being able to ambush his pursuers, and shoot them before they could seek cover.
The posse of seven men took up the trail of the bandits at the spot where the hold-up occurred and traced them to Birch Creek. As evening came on and darkness closed in, and
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when they had ridden some twenty miles, the pursuers came within a half mile of the robbers, whom they found to be on the opposite side of the creek. In the early morning they crossed the creek, and were close upon Flag and Stone, before those men were aware of their proximity. Not expecting pursuit, the highwaymen were not on their guard. They con- cealed themselves in a steep hollow, where slender willows, about the thickness of a man's finger, and sev- en feet high, grew in such profusion that they formed an impenetrable hiding place.
Mr. Ireland and his party rode past this hollow to the robbers' horses, where a council of war was held. At last Mr. Ireland and Dan Robbins volunteered to trail Flag and Stone while three of the party remained with the horses, and Tom Oakley, armed with a very fine rifle belonging to Mr. Ireland, took a position on the hillside behind a rock, where he could pick off the road agents if they emerged from the brush.
Cautiously, with every sense alert, the two daring men worked their way into the hollow. They knew they were within a few feet of their quarry, but could see nothing of them. Pres- ently Mr. Ireland said : "Dan, here's where we're close upon them, because they have trampled these willows
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down and they have sprung up again."
At the same moment Oakley's voice called a warning from the hill, "Look out ! You're close on them!"
Simultaneously a shot rang out and Daniel Robbins fell, riddled with shot. Flag and Stone made a dash from cover, but Oakley brought them both down with two well-directed shots from his rifle. The two men lay side by side, Flag dead, and Stone with a wound in his leg that necessitated its amputation.
Mr. Ireland and his companions tried to get Stone to tell where the $36,000 taken from the coach was hidden. Stone at first insisted that the stage had been held up by five men, three of whom had in turn robbed himself and Flag, who were left empty-handed. These three men, Stone said, had the money. Tom Oakley, after whom the town of Oak- ley in Bannock county was named, was a man of forbidding appearance and a bad man to trifle with. He took a hand in the matter and Stone finally confessed that the money was hidden near Elkhorn, where it was after- ward found.
After the fight, which occurred in the early morning, Mr. Ireland rode back to Malad and returned the same day with a doctor, having traveled
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over forty miles after his harrowing experience.
Mr. Robbins recovered from his wounds and died a few years ago in Salt Lake. At the time they entered the willow thicket, Mr. Ireland was wearing a grey and Mr. Robbins a white shirt. Stone said afterward that he and Flag saw the gleam of the white shirt through the foliage, and were thus enabled to shoot Rob- bins, although they could see no other portion of the two men.
Stone was sent to the penitentiary at Boise, but after a short imprison- ment secured a pardon and became a preacher.
Not until after their return from this expedition did Mr. Ireland's party learn that a large reward had been offered for the capture of the two road agents. A quarter of the $36,000 stolen was divided among the seven men, who received $1280 each.
Another successful use of dummies was made by a lone bandit, who placed several at a turn in the road not far from Malad, and succeeded in relieving a coach, driven by James Boyle, of several bars of gold. There were no passengers in the stage.
One night during the summer of 1873, a stage manned by Charley Phelps and Joe Pinkham was ordered to stop by a road agent, while pass- ing through Portneuf canyon. In- stead of obeying the order, the stage-
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men fired in the direction of the voice. The fire was returned and Phelps, who was driving, fell back, mortally wounded. Pinkham caught up the reins and the stage dashed on without stopping. Phelps was buried in the cemetery at Malad, where the following inscription stands over his grave:
"In memory of Charles Phelps, of St. Lawrence County, New York. Driver on the Overland Stage Line, who was mortally wounded, July 16, 1873, in an at- tack on his coach by highway- men, in Portneuf Canyon, Idaho, and died on the following day. "Age 43 years.
"He fell, as all true heroes fall, While answering to his duty's call.
"This stone is erected by his friends and companions, who loved and respected him, and sin- cerely mourn his death."
The days of the stage coach have passed, and with them the incidents that we class under adventure and romance in the reading, but that meant hardship, danger and exposure in the making. The advent of the railroad was the beginning of a new era in Bannock county-an era of prosperity and growth, but also, let us not forget, an era for which the way was paved by the hardy pioneers
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who faced the wilderness unafraid, and tamed it for the uses of civiliza- tion. These men, following their humble lot in life and performing their toilsome duties from day to day, were in truth empire builders, to whom is due the respect and honor of all right-feeling men.
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CHAPTER IX.
THE RAILROAD.
It occurs to few men, as they glide smoothly across the Snake river in a vestibuled train, and watch the seething waters toss and tumble be- low the substantial iron bridge, to think of the problem the passage of this same stream afforded the trav- eler of fifty years ago. In his "Ven- tures and Adventures," Ezra Meeker tells of how he crossed the Snake in 1852. Mr. Meeker and his party had crossed the plains from Iowa, on their way to Oregon, and by the time they reached Idaho their funds were al- most exhausted. Ferries were scarce and where one was found, the price asked for a passage was prohibitive to most of the immigrants.
"Some immigrants," writes Mr. Meeker, "had caulked three wagon beds and lashed them together, and were crossing, but would not help others across for less than from three to five dollars a wagon, the party swimming their own stock. If others could cross in wagon-beds, why could not I do likewise ? Without much ado, all the old clothing that could possi- bly be spared was marshalled, tar buckets ransacked, old chisels and broken knives hunted up, and a veri-
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table boat repairing and caulking campaign inaugurated, and shortly the wagon-box rode placidly, even if not gracefully on the turbid waters of the formidable river.
"My first venture across the Snake river was with the wagon gear run over the wagon box, the whole being gradually worked out into deep wa- ter. The load was so heavy that a very small margin was left to pre- vent the water from breaking over the sides, and some actually did, as light ripples on the surface struck the "Mary Jane," as we had chris- tened (without wine) the 'craft,' as she was launched. However, I got over safely, but after that took light- er loads and really enjoyed the nov- elty of the work and the change from the intolerable dust, and the atmos- phere of the water."
The Utah & Northern was the first railroad to enter the territory of Idaho. It was promoted by John W. Young, a son of Brigham Young, whose name has been given to Young street in Pocatello, but although a large sum of local capital was invest- ed, the enterprise received its chief support from Joseph and Benjamin Richardson, two contractors of New York City, whom Young interested in the project.
In March, 1873, congress granted a right of way to Young's company (102)
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running along the Bear river valley, through Soda Springs, up the Snake river valley and across Montana to a junction point with the Northern Pacific. The act allowed ten years in which to complete the work of construction. A second act, passed in June, 1878, empowered "the Utah & Northern Railroad company and its assigns to build their road by way of Marsh valley, Portneuf and Snake river instead of by way of Soda Springs and Snake river valley."
By the spring of 1877 the road had been constructed as far as the Snake river. In the following year a bond issue of $4,991,000 was floated and during 1880 the rails were extended to Silver Bow, Montana, a distance of 328 miles from the Utah line.
In July, 1882, congress officially ratified an agreement made at Fort Hall between the Shoshone and Ban- nock Indians and Joseph K. McCam- mon, whose name has been given to the town of McCammon in this coun- ty, and several railroad officers, by which the promoters secured a right of way through the reservation.
The opening of the Utah & North- ern railway gave the first great im- petus to settlement and development in southeastern Idaho, making it pos- sible to market produce profitably and at the same time bringing the set- tler into touch with the outside world.
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The Portneuf canyon, through which this line was constructed, is one thou- sand feet lower than any other mountain pass within three hundred miles either north or south, and con- stitutes a natural gateway through which a very large portion of the produce of the great northwest must pass on its way to an eastern market.
The Utah & Northern Railway com- pany was consolidated with the Ore- gon Short Line Railway company in August, 1889, being known as the Oregon Short Line & Northern Rail- way company, and in 1897 the two were merged into the present Oregon Short Line Railroad company.
The Utah & Northern had con- structed a narrow gauge line. When the old Short Line Railway company built its line between Granger and Huntington it used the transportation facilities afforded by the Utah & Northern both to the east and west of Pocatello. During the early part of 1882 the Short Line laid a narrow gauge track between Pocatello and the Snake river crossing, now Ameri- can Falls, and from McCammon, at that time called Harkness, to a point near the present station of Pebble.
During the year 1882, the Utah & Northern track between McCammon and Pocatello was rebuilt to stand- ard gauge, the narrow gauge equip- ment of that company being provided (104)
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for by laying a third rail. By the summer of 1887 the entire line be- tween Pocatello and Silver Bow, Mon- tana, was operating on a standard gauge, while the lines to the east and south had been similarly reconstruct- ed before 1890.
At the time the first railroad bridge across the Snake river was built, American Falls was located on the western side of the river. The popu- lation was made up of the usual as- sortment of men, who make up the population of frontier towns. The good, the bad and the indifferent were there-graders, stockmen, Chinamen. gamblers and business men, with a few women-all rough and ready: hardy people of the plains and the mountains. Law and order were ad- ministered in a ready manner and summary justice was meted out to the evil-doer by self-constituted judges and juries.
Two of the worst characters in the neighborhood at that time were cow- boys, gamblers and probably mur- derers; "Tex" and "Johnson," "' as they were known to the people of American Falls.
One night some Chinamen were murdered and the more law-abiding citizens decided that if the culprits were found they should suffer for the crime. The two cowboys. "Tex" and Johnson, were suspected of the (105)
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murder, but as no certain proof was obtainable, they were not punished, but ordered to leave town. This they did, going to the east side of the river and spending the night in a house occupied by Buck Houston. The next day they returned to the west side. The law and order element immedi- ately organized a necktie party, with "Tex" and Johnson as the chief guests. With a grim brevity the two were taken to the river, ropes thrown over an iron span, and with a short wait for the usual last words they were hurried into eternity. Their bodies swung back and forth, sus- pended from the bridge, the falls roaring and splashing beneath them, and the spray shooting up into the air, wetting their high boots and leather chaps.
Afterwards the two bodies were cut down and taken to the top of the bluff, overlooking the river, and there they were buried. Two rough slabs, with "Tex" carved on one, and "Johnson" on the other, were placed at their heads. The mounds where these men were buried are still dis- cernable.
In most newly-settled communities, justice is administered quickly and without the formality of legal pro- ceedings. This was especially true of the early days in the west. Time was when the regular method of col- (106)
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lecting overdue bills in Bannock coun- ty was at the mouth of a gun, and this within the memory of living men. Horse theft was punishable with death throughout the far west, the penalty being no more than propor- tionate to the crime. For the west in those days was a desert country, and the loss of a man's horse often meant a horrible death by thirst be- cause the next watering place was further away than a man could walk. So it happened that while a cowboy sometimes paid a hundred dollars for his saddle and only twenty-five dol- lars for his pony, he would forgive the man who stole the former, but without scruple hang the man who stole the horse.
The terminal facilities of the Ore- gon Short Line at Pocatello have been steadily increased and the road- bed improved because of the immense traffic caused by the development of the tributary territory. In 1904 the "Michaud Cut-off"' was made in or- der to straighten the track a few miles west of Pocatello. Since 1910 the road has been double-tracked be- tween Lava Hot Springs and Mich- aud, and in that year the system of mechanical block signals was com- pleted from the eastern to the west- ern boundary of the county. A branch line, connecting Alexander and Grace, a distance of about six miles, was (107)
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opened in 1913. Among other note- worthy recent improvements are the Batise Springs water plant, the Cen- ter street viaduct and Halliday street subway in Pocatello, the new shop buildings and depot, now being built in the same city, and the new depot and water plant at McCammon.
The Oregon Short Line is the ar- tery through which pulses the very life blood of Bannock county. In the Pocatello shops over eleven hundred men are employed, and those who find work on the Montana and Idaho divi- sions bring the number to about 4000. It is, therefore, a very fortunate thing for the community at large that the Oregon Short Line Railroad com- pany is one of the apparently few large corporations in this country today that realizes a moral responsi- bility toward the general public. A comparison of the Safety First move- ment as conducted by this company with the conditions that are not only tolerated but apparently encouraged by the owners of the Colorado mines shows what a great blessing or curse the attitude of big corporations to- ward the public welfare may be.
Some years ago, Mr. Harriman, while talking with the claims attor- ney of one of the roads in which he was interested, about the policy to he adonted in dealing with injured employes in the matter of settlements, (108)
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and particularly of providing them with some kind of work when they had been so seriously injured that they could not fill their former posi- tions, said that he wanted "all in- jured men to be dealt with along the lines of practical Christianity." That this idea is still followed by the com- pany is shown by the fact that in June, 1914, only one injured employe had a suit pending against the com- pany for injuries received in its ser- vice; the rest being satisfied with the terms of settlement accorded them by the company.
The Safety First movement, by which the Oregon Short Line seeks to guard the safety of its employes and of the public alike, is an educa- tional measure inaugurated about two years ago and intended to interest all people.
The work is carried on by means of committees. At each division point is what is known as a "sub-commit- tee," composed of men from all branches of the service, who suggest changes in the road's equipment or in existing conditions, that will make the work of railroading safer. If the suggestions made cannot be act- ed upon locally, they are referred to the "division committee," which in turn accepts or rejects them, and if unable to enforce them by its own vote, recommends them to the "cen- tral committee." This body is com-
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posed of officials of the road and their decision is final. In this way the entire Short Line force, from the newest and lowest paid employe to the highest officer, is interested in the common safety, and is in a posi- tion to suggest measures for the gen- eral good. That the system is suc- cessful is shown by the fact that dur- ing the year ending June, 1913, there were 2829 people injured on the Ore- gon Short Line. During that ending June, 1914, the total was reduced to 1711, or 39.5 per cent. During the first six months of this year there were only 606 accidents, as against 955 for the same months of 1913- a reduction of over 61 per cent.
The company is also conducting a campaign to eliminate the accidents caused by trespassing. In 1913, 5434 trespassers were killed on the rail- roads in the United States. Of these, 10 per cent were tramps, 70 per cent young men or heads of families, and 20 per cent were children under 14 years of age. By trying to educate school children, their teachers and the general public in precautionary meas- ures, and by attempting to secure proper legislation on the subject, the Oregon Short Line Railroad company is trying to still further enhance its value to the people at large and to reduce to a minimum the accidents connected with all great railroad cor- porations.
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CHAPTER X. GENERAL CONDITIONS AND DEVELOPMENT.
In his book "Astoria," written about 1840, in which he gives the history of an attempt made by the first John Jacob Astor to establish a fur trade to the west of the Rocky Mountains, Washington Irving re- peatedly regrets the fact that the great stretch of the western plains must forever form a desert stretch between the civilization of the west and that of the east. In one place he says: "Some portions of it (the prairie) along the rivers may par- tially be subdued by agriculture, others may form vast pastoral tracts, like those of the east; but it is to be feared that a great part of it will form a lawless interval between the abodes of civilized man, like the wastes of the ocean or the deserts of Arabia; and, like them, be subject to the depredations of the ma- rauder."
In this the great writer proved to be a false prophet. Irrigation and the principles of dry farming are fast converting the desert into productive farm land, and land that a few years ago could be had for a song is today (111)
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held at high prices. The United States Census report for 1910 gave the average value of land in Bannock county as $7.76 per acre. In 1910, the same bureau gave the average value as being $21.57.
This increase in value, however, is not due to development alone, but also to the increased rainfall during recent years, which has made it pos- sible to profitably till soil that was before considered arid. The total precipitation in Pocatello in 1901 was 7.56 inches. In 1906, it was 18.17 inches, and in 1907, 17.43 inches, while in 1914 it was over 18.60 inches. Some scientists explain this by saying that the increased areas of irrigation give off a sufficient evapor- ation to form clouds, which precipi- tate the evaporated water in the form of rain and snow, while others main- tain that the surface of irrigation waters is not large enough to effect the annual precipitation. But what- ever the explanation, the fact remains that many hitherto unproductive tracts have now sufficient natural moisture to make them productive.
The only weather bureau in Ban- nock county is situated at Pocatello, at an altitude of 4,483 feet. and the following statistics were registered at that place: The average number of days per year with more than .01 inch o'f precipitation is 92. The mean (112)
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temperature is about 47.5; nearly the same as that of eastern Massachu- setts, but more equably distributed. The earliest killing frost of the win- ter usually comes about the middle of October, and the last in the spring toward the end of April.
The population of the county in 1910 was 19,242; in 1900 it was 11,702. Some idea of the cosmopoli- tan character of the population may be gathered from the fact that there were in this county in 1910, 52 Chi- nese, 360 Japanese, 129 negroes, 641 Greeks, 483 English, 288 Danes, 280 Italians, and 232 Swedes, beside smaller numbers from fifteen other nationalities. Only 51 per cent of the population were native born children of native parents. The county con- tained 11,405 males, and 7,837 fe- males. These were divided into 3,668 families, housed in 3,560 dwellings.
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