The History
OF
Bannock County
Idaho
BY
ARTHUR C. SAUNDERS
[Illustration]
POCATELLO, IDAHO, U. S. A.
THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, LIMITED
1915
COPYRIGHT 1915, BY
THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, LTD.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 9
CHAPTER I
Preliminary History 11
CHAPTER II
Some Natural History 23
CHAPTER III
The Indians 35
CHAPTER IV
The Cowboy 46
CHAPTER V
Fort Hall 55
CHAPTER VI
The Nez Perce Indian War 66
CHAPTER VII
The Bannock Indian War and the Sheep-Eaters 76
CHAPTER VIII
The Stage Coach 88
CHAPTER IX
The Railroad 101
CHAPTER X
General Conditions and Development 111
CHAPTER XI
Pocatello 122
CHAPTER XII
Conclusion 136
INTRODUCTION
Although Bannock county is not yet twenty-five years old, it has seemed
desirable to collect her history, before the adventures and legends of
early days have been lost in the more prosaic and pressing interests of
today.
Probably no state in the union is less known than Idaho. Wyoming has
her “Buffalo Bill,” Colorado her Pike’s Peak, Nevada her far, but
ill-famed Reno; Utah her famous salt lake; all known throughout the
English speaking world. But Idaho, rich in natural resources, fertile
and prosperous, has furnished no wild-west tragedy like that of Custer
in Wyoming, to attract the attention of writers. She possesses no
natural wonder to rival the Niagara Falls or Grand Canyon; she has
produced no Kit Carson or Daniel Boone to fire the adventurous blood of
ten-year-olds.
Few people in the eastern states can accurately locate Idaho. They know
dimly that it is in the great northwest, but whether it is hill or
plain, mine or ranch, they have forgotten along with much of the other
lore of early school days.
The history of Idaho, however, has already been published by men
whose long residence in the state and experience in its public
affairs eminently fitted them for the task. It is our more humble
and less pretentious pleasure to record the annals of our own
county--Bannock--than which no other in Idaho is more beautiful in
scenery, more romantic in history or more promising for the future.
It is a pleasure to make grateful acknowledgment here of the valuable
and ready help so courteously given in the compilation of this history
by the heads of the various United States departments at Washington,
the officials of the Oregon Short Line, the city and county officers
and the many private persons whose personal knowledge or study of the
early days of Bannock county made their assistance indispensable. The
list is too long to reproduce, but in most instances the authority
has been cited in the text, although in several cases names have been
omitted at personal request.
Of course, what we call Bannock county today has existed since the
time of Adam. And so--not to begin in the middle of the story--the
first chapter is devoted to a rapid sketch of the territory comprising
Bannock county, before the county was created.
THE HISTORY OF BANNOCK COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY HISTORY
The territory now comprising Bannock county first entered the pages
of history when, in 1662, the French Sieur de la Salle planted his
country’s flag in what he called “Louisiana,” after his sovereign,
Louis XIV, of France. In order to prevent England from gaining it, and
hoping at the same time to win an ally, Louis XV ceded Louisiana to
Spain in 1762. Napoleon traded it back from Carlos IV of Spain, but
later sold it. This was the territory purchased for the United States
by Thomas Jefferson in 1803 and for which the country paid $15,000,000.
It included the greater part if not all, of the present state of Idaho,
and certainly all of Bannock county.
The northwestern section of this purchase became known as the Northwest
Territory and included all land west of the summit of the Rocky
Mountain range, between the forty-ninth and forty-second parallels of
latitude. This was later called the Oregon territory, and contained
not only the present state of Oregon, but also Washington, Idaho, and
parts of Montana and Wyoming.
In 1789, Captains Robert Gray and John Kendricks skirted the coast of
this territory and traded for furs with the Indians, and three years
later Captain Gray discovered the Columbia river, up which he sailed
several miles. The Lewis and Clark expedition, which left St. Louis in
May, 1804, headed by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, gave
such encouraging accounts of the resources of the Northwest Territory
that many of the more adventurous people in the states were induced to
undertake settling it.
For a time Spain, Russia and Great Britain, as well as the United
States, claimed the northwest, there being some dispute between the
latter two countries as to the boundary line between Canada and the
northern limits of the Louisiana purchase.
Great Britain and the states, by treaty of October 20, 1818, agreed
that the subjects of both countries should settle the territory jointly
for a period of ten years. Before the ten years had passed, both Spain
and Russia had ceded their claims to the United States--the former
in 1819, the latter in 1824. At the expiration of the ten years,
the treaty between Great Britain and the United States was renewed
indefinitely, to be annulled by either party after one year’s notice.
In his History of Idaho, Mr. Hiram T. French gives the following brief
sketch of Jim Bridger, after whom Bridger street in Pocatello was named:
“Among the men who trapped on the headwaters of the Missouri and its
tributaries for the fur companies, probably none was better known than
Jim Bridger. He made his headquarters at a place now in southwestern
Wyoming, which became known as Fort Bridger, and was later one of the
landmarks along the old ‘Oregon Trail.’
“Jim Bridger is authoritatively credited with being the first white man
to see Salt Lake. In 1824 he was trapping along Bear river in what is
now Idaho territory. He followed the stream to the canyon leading out
of Cache valley. Climbing the high hills, he saw off to the south a
large body of water. His interest aroused, he went on until he reached
the shore, tasted the water and found it salty. Later an exploring
party went around the lake and determined that it had no outlet.
“After having spent many years among the Indians, Bridger lost his life
at their hands.”
The fate of Jim Bridger was not an uncommon one in the early days.
A number of white men deserted their own kind to become the adopted
members of Indian tribes. They took to themselves Indian wives, and
dressed, spoke and lived as Indians. But their fate was nearly always
the same. Sooner or later they were usually killed by the people of
their adoption.
Two American expeditions visited this country in 1832, one headed by
Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., and the other by Captain Wyeth.
Already some of the names in this narrative must have struck the
reader’s ears as locally familiar--Clark, Lewis, Bonneville and Wyeth.
All the cross streets in Pocatello, except Center, which divides the
city into north and south, are named after early explorers, Indian
fighters, hunters or men who otherwise distinguished themselves in
daring during the early days. Hence, Wyeth street, Bonneville street,
etc. The streets parallel with the railway on the east side of the
city are numbered, while those on the west are named for the various
presidents, as Arthur, Garfield and Hayes.
In this way Pocatello has linked to herself the names and therefore the
history and adventures of the daring and hardy pioneers of the great
northwest. The history of her street names would be one of romance and
adventure, of daring and hardship, suffering and triumph, such as it
would be hard to equal. For this heritage of nomenclature, the city is
indebted to Daniel Church, former mayor of Pocatello, to the Tribune,
and others who selected this system of names.
Captain Bonneville’s expedition was one of exploration only. Captain
Wyeth came to trade with the Indians, but in this he met with small
success. The Hudson Bay Company, a wealthy English corporation,
had entered the territory and was most ably represented by
Doctor--sometimes called Captain--McLoughlin. He was an honorable, kind
and brave man, but far-seeing and shrewd. He covered the country with
a network of English, Canadians, French and Indians, and met American
competition everywhere by offering higher prices for furs than his
rivals could afford. Consequently Captain Wyeth’s expedition was not
a business success, but he deserves more than passing notice, not
only because his name is now a household word in Pocatello, but more
especially because he established Fort Hall, which he named after a
member of the firm for whom he had come west.
Captain Nathaniel Wyeth, having heard of the profits to be made in
fur-trading, led an expedition overland from Boston, arriving at Fort
Vancouver in the fall of 1832. Here he was to meet a vessel laden with
supplies and sent by a Boston company with which he was associated. But
the ship never came. After waiting all winter Wyeth decided that she
had been lost, and returned to Boston.
In 1834, Captain Wyeth returned to the northwest and this time a ship
containing supplies did come to meet him. In his party were three
Methodist ministers--Rev. Jason Lee, Rev. Cyrus Shepherd and Rev. T. L.
Edwards, who were the first missionaries to land in Oregon. It was on
this second trip that Captain Wyeth built Fort Hall, on the banks of
the Snake river, as a trading post, and here, on July 27, 1834, Rev.
Jason Lee conducted the first Christian service held in Idaho.
Competition with the Hudson Bay Company and the loss of many men by
desertion and death, finally forced the captain to sell out and return
to the east.
Two women deserve notice here as being the first white women to pass
through what is now Bannock county. They are Mrs. Whitman, wife of the
Rev. Dr. Marcus Whitman, afterward killed by the Indians, and after
whom Whitman College in Oregon, and Whitman street in Pocatello, are
named, and Mrs. Spalding, wife of the Rev. Spalding. They came to the
Northwest in 1836, and settled in Oregon.
Another expedition, under Captain John C. Fremont, after whom Fremont
street, Pocatello, is named, was sent to survey parts of this territory
in 1843.
At this time the condition of Americans in the Northwest Territory
was far from satisfactory. They had undergone great hardships and
risks in order to establish themselves in the new land, but their
home government had done nothing to either protect or organize them.
Petition after petition was sent to congress, but without effect.
So, on May 20, 1843, the Americans met at a place called Shampoig,
near where Salem, Oregon, now stands, and organized a provisional
government, designating Oregon City the capital. The first legislature
met in a carpenter shop, and adopted the laws of the state of Iowa,
because an Iowa man, with a copy of the Iowa laws in his pocket,
happened to be present.
This provisional government was entirely successful and continued until
1846, when a new government was formed and Hon. George Abernathy was
elected governor.
In this same year, 1846, Great Britain ceded to the United States her
claim to the Northwest Territory, with the exception of the Hudson Bay
Company’s holdings and those of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company.
In July, 1863, the United States purchased the interests of these
companies for $450,000 and $200,000 respectively, the final payments
being made in 1865.
On March 3, 1853, congress passed an act creating and organizing
Washington territory, which included all the Northwest territory except
the present state of Oregon. Ten years later to a day, the territory
of Idaho was created and organized, containing all of Washington
territory, except the present state of Washington. The following year,
1864, Montana was cut off from the territory of Idaho, and that of
Wyoming in 1868, when Idaho took her present geographical limits, being
three hundred miles long across her southern portion and only sixty
across the northern panhandle.
In February, 1864, the territory of Idaho was divided into Shoshone,
Nez Perce, Idaho, Boise, Owyhee, Alturas and Oneida counties, the last
of which included the present county of Bannock. Soda Springs was the
first county seat, which was afterward moved to Malad City.
Bingham county was created January 13, 1885, out of the northern and
eastern parts of Oneida county, the southern part of which was made
into Bannock county, March 6, 1893. This county was named after the
Bannock Indians, who were its original inhabitants, and who still own
many acres within the county limits.
In speaking of conditions at the time when the first seven counties
were created, Mr. John Hailey, in his “History of Idaho,” says: “Quite
a percentage of the whole population was engaged in some kind of trade,
merchandising, hotel and restaurant-keeping, butcher, feed and livery
business, blacksmithing, sawmilling and carpentering. A large number
were engaged in the transportation of merchandise and passengers.
Some few had settled on ranches and were cultivating and improving
them. A few were engaged in the stock business and many more than was
necessary were engaged in the saloon and gambling business, with a
few road agents, ready and willing to relieve any person of his ready
money without compensation, whenever a favorable opportunity presented
itself. The primary object of all seemed to be to gather gold. But
I think I may truthfully say that ninety-five per cent of these
people were good, industrious, honorable and enterprising, and to all
appearances desired to make money in a legitimate way.”
In this same connection Mr. Hailey also says: “Most of the first
settlers of Idaho were poor in purse, but were rich in muscle and
energy, and most all possessed a good moral character. The rule that
was in common practice was for each person to attend to his own private
business, and to have an affectionate regard for his neighbors and his
neighbors’ rights, and to extend a helping hand to the unfortunate that
needed help. I speak from experience, having an extensive business
and social acquaintance with many of the early settlers of Idaho,
when I say (with a few exceptions), the early settlers were as noble,
patriotic, industrious, unselfish, intelligent, good, generous, kind
and moral people as ever were assembled together in like number for the
reclamation and development of an unsettled country, inhabited only
by untutored, savage Indians, wild animals and varmints.” Surely, we
people of Idaho have a proud heritage to live up to!
* * * * *
The following list of prices, quoted by Mr. Hailey from the Boise News
of December 26, 1863, published at Bannock City (afterward Idaho City)
may give pause to some people who complain of the present high cost of
living:
“Prices current. Corrected weekly by Higbee & Company, dealers in
general merchandise, groceries and provisions, corner Main and Wall
street, Bannock City.
“Groceries and produce:
Butter, per pound $ 1.25
Chickens, per dozen 36.00
Eggs, per dozen 2.00
Ham, per pound .75
Lard, per pound .40 to .50
Salt, per pound .35 to .40
Side bacon, per pound .60 to .70
Tea, per pound $ 1.50 to 2.00
Flour, per 100 lbs $33.00 to 36.00
Onions, per pound .25 to .30
Rice, per pound .50
Sugar, per pound .70 to .75
Candles, per pound 1.00
Nails, cut, per pound .40 to .50
Clothing.
Women’s hip boots $30.00
Women’s calf boots 6.00
Men’s calf boots 12.00
Woolen drawers, per pair $1.50 to 2.00
Red drawers, per pair $2.50 to 3.50
Men’s quilted brogan 3.50
Gum boots, long legs 12.00
Gum boots, short legs 11.00
Men’s cavalry boots $12.00 to 15.00
Men’s boots, long gr. 10.00
Cal. best blankets 16.00
Salem blankets $13.00 to 15.00
Oregon socks, per doz. 9.00
Best Cal. wool shirts $3.00 to 4.00
Buck gloves, per doz. $18.00 to 30.00
Red undershirts, per doz. $30.00 to 36.00
Wines and Liquors.
Best Champagnes, per doz. $48.00
Cal. Wine, per case 24.00
Claret Wine, per case 24.00
Sherry, per gal., in wood 7.00
Port, per gal., in wood 7.00
Baker’s Bitters, per case $24.00 to 30.00
Goddard Brandy, per gal. 10.00
Hermitage Whiskey, per gal. 7.00
Kerosene Oil, per gal. $8.00 to 9.00
(The above prices were usually paid in gold dust at the rate of $16.00
to the ounce, when the real value of gold dust was only $14.50 to
$15.00 per ounce.)
The above list has been considerably shortened in reproducing it.