Hawley - County Descriptions - M - W

"The territory included within these boundaries embraced the present counties of Madison and Teton, the latter of which was erected into a separate county two years later. An election was held on November 5, 1913, at which the separate county proposition received a majority of 1,100 votes and Madison was fully organized on January 1, 1914. At the same election Rexburg was made the permanent county seat without opposition. Since the segregation of Teton County, Madison is bounded on the north by Fremont County; on the east by Teton; on the south by Bonneville; and on the west by Jefferson.

"Madison is well provided with railroads. The Yellowstone branch of the Oregon Short Line system passes through Rexburg, and east and west of this line are the branches known as the 'Beet Loops.' The most important railroad stations are Austin, Edmonds, Kruger, Rexburg, Salem, Sugar, Thornton and Walker. There are but few interior villages, Archer, near the Snake River and about ten miles south of Rexburg, and Herbert, in the southeastern part being the largest.

"Among the early settlers were R. W. Adams, J. O. Johanneson, F. A. Nelson. W. N. Shilling, F. N. Victor and John C. Vincent. The county owes its existence chiefly to the United States irrigation project, the Government withdrawing the irrigable land, filing on the Snake River as a water source, and constructing the Minidoka dam and the irrigation canals, after which the land was homesteaded in tracts of forty to eighty acres each. Besides the area watered by gravity, the river develops about ten thousand horse–power at the dam and this is used during the crop season to pump water to a higher level. The dam and power plant will eventually belong to the settlers who pay for the project. A large number of those living upon the reclaimed land now have electricity at a low cost for power and lighting purposes. Potatoes and sugar beets are the leading crops, though dairying and hog raising are becoming important industries.

"In addition to the region inclosed within the above described boundaries, all that part of Idaho north of the Clearwater River and west of the 116th meridian of longitude, the summit of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains and a line there from due south to the middle of the South Fork of the Clearwater River was attached to Nez Perce County for civil and judicial purposes. This attached territory included all the present counties of Latah, Benewah, Kootenai, Bonner and Boundary. The county was named for the Indian tribe that once inhabited the country.

"Among the pioneers of Nez Perce County was Perrin B. Whitman, the nephew and adopted son of Dr. Marcus Whitman, who was killed at the Waiilatpu Mission by the Indians in November, 1847. When only thirteen years of age he crossed the plains to Oregon with his uncle and at the time of the massacre was at The Dalles, whereby his life was saved. He grew to manhood in Oregon, married Miss Priscilla M. Parker in 1854, and in 1863 came to Lapwai, Idaho, where he was employed as an interpreter and for a time had charge of the Indian agency. He died at Lewiston on January 26, 1899.

"Ezra Baird, a native of New York State, came to Lewiston in 1862 and was for some time engaged in mining at various places in the territory, after which he embarked in the stage and express business with headquarters at Lewiston. In 1874 he was elected sheriff of Nez Perce County, and in September, 1886, was appointed United States marshal by President Cleveland, for the Territory of Idaho, dying in Boise County in 1913.

"On February 19, 1900, the Nez Perce County Pioneer Association was organized with G. C. Kress, president; Chester P. Coburn, vice president; Wallace B. Stanton, secretary; John N. Lindsey, treasurer; Edmond Pearcy, Robert Grostein, Joel Martin and M. A. Kelly, trustees. Of these officers Mr. Coburn came to Idaho in 1862, assisted in the organization of the territory, established a livery and sales stable at Lewiston for saddle and pack horses, and was later engaged in the cattle business. Mr. Pearcy came to the Oro Fino mining district in 1861. Later he and a Mr. Allen put up a sawmill at Lapwai. Mr. Allen was drowned in 1866 and Mr. Pearcy was afterward engaged in the ferry business. Robert Grostein, a native of Poland, was one of the early merchants of Lewiston.

"Nez Perce County claims a greater diversity of agricultural products than any otherlcounty in the state. The altitude varies from less than seven hundred feet at Lewiston to more than five thousand feet on Craig Mountain, which gives the county a climate conducive to the production of a wide range of plants and fruits. In the northeastern part wheat, barley and oats are the chief crops; north of the Snake River is a rolling prairie, where grazing is the leading occupation; south of the Clearwater, between the Snake River and the Camas Prairie, is the great fruit growing section of what is known as the 'Lewiston country,' where apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, apricots, grapes and berries of all kinds grow in profusion, and even almonds and English walnuts are raised.

"Two branches of the Northern Pacific railway system traverse the county, following the Clearwater and Potlatch rivers, and the Camas Prairie Railroad connects Lewiston with Grangeville. Along these several lines of railroad the principal stations in the county are Agatha, Culdesac, Gurney, Lapwai, Leland, Lewiston, Myrtle and Sweetwater. There are a number of interior villages, the largest of which are Cameron, Peck, Lookout, and Melrose so that the shipping and trading opportunities are above the average.

"If the reader will take a map and trace these boundary lines, he will notice that Oneida County included all the present county of that name, Bannock, Bear Lake, Franklin, Madison, Clark, Caribou and Teton counties, the eastern half of Fremont, a large part of Power, nearly all of Bon'neville and the eastern portion of Bingham. The county seat was located at Soda Springs by the act creating the county, but on January 5, 1866, Governor Lyon approved an act removing it to Malad City, which is still the seat of justice. It is the terminus of a branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, which connects it with Brigham, Utah. This is the only railroad in the county.

"After the numerous changes by the organization of new counties Oneida is now composed chiefly of the Malad Valley. The mountain ranges that intersected the country and divided the original county into isolated districts, have become boundary lines or attached to other counties and the Malad Valley is all that is left. In 1879 a newspaper called the 'Idaho Enterprise' was started at the old town of Oxford (now in Bannock County) and subsequently removed to Malad City. This newspaper issued a 'holiday number' in 1910, from which the following extracts are taken:

'It is agreed that the first permanent settlement of Malad Valley occurred in 1864. In the early spring of that year four men and three boys came to what is now Malad City and in May they began the work of reclaiming the valley and transforming it from a vast wilderness, the home of Indians and wild game, to a community of wealthy farmers, of substantial business concerns, of beautiful homes and fine public buildings.

The natural conditions were such as to make this a very easy place for the pioneer to get a start. A natural meadow provided ample forage for the live stock, and a number of fairly good sized mountain streams run through the valley, so that the matter of securing water for irrigation was quite easily solved. Great forests of pine trees grew in the mountains, so timber for building homes, for fencing, for fuel and for all purposes was easily accessible. There was an abundance of fish in the streams and game of all kinds was plentiful. No doubt that little party of trail blazers noted all these things before they decided to cast their lot at a point so remote from the centers of civilization.

'In the winter of 1864–65 five families made their homes here, but during the summer of 1865 there was a great acquisition to the valley's population, ten families having moved in during that year from Salt Lake and the settlements of Northern Utah. From that time on for a number of years the increase in wealth and population was rapid. Within a few years all of what was then considered the desirable land, that lying directly under some stream, was taken, and it was thought that the valley had reached its capacity in the matter of providing homes. Then followed a period when the people did not care for land. Grasshoppers and crickets infested the country in such numbers as to make the raising of any form of vegetation almost impossible. This lasted for about fifteen years. and during that time it was necessary for the men to seek employment in all parts of the country. Some went to the mines at Butte, some to the railroad then building across the continent, while many of them took to freighting.

'Providence seemed to take a hand in directing the affairs of this community, for when, in 1879, the Utah & Northern Railroad was built and practically put an end to the freighting industry, which had come to be the principal source of revenue to the people, the grasshoppers and crickets disappeared and the real work of developing the resources of the valley was commenced. The people were forced to depend more and more upon themselves. During the period of our prosperity flour and sawmills had been established here, so that when the time came that the people had to depend almost entirely upon themselves and what they produced for a livelihood, they were pretty well equipped to cope with the exigencies of the time.'

"As thus bounded, the county embraced all of the present counties of Owyhee, Twin Falls and Cassia. It is the second largest county in Idaho, occupying the southwest corner of the state, and is now bounded on the north by the counties of Canyon, Ada, Elmore and a little of Gooding, being separated from those counties by the Snake River; on the east by Twin Falls County; on the south by the State of Nevada; and on the west by the State of Oregon. The name 'Owyhee' is said to be of Hawaiian origin, and that it was given to the river by two Kanakas who were in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company.

"Ruby City was named in the creative act as the county seat, but it was removed to Silver City in 1866. The first county officers were: D. H. Fogus and George Carter commissioners (the name of the third commissioner cannot be learned); Gilmore Hays, clerk; Lyman Stanford, sheriff; T. D. Beckett, treasurer; Ezra Mills, assessor; Frank R. Browker, surveyor; O. H. Purdy, superintendent of public schools; L. F. Alpey, coroner. The present courthouse was built about 1870, at a cost of $15,000, though some repairs and alterations have since been made.

"Owyhee County got its first settlement and notoriety from mining. In May, 1863, a party of twenty–nine men left Placerville to look for the lost mine known as the apos;Blue Bucket Diggingsapos; and on the 18th found gold on Jordan Creek (so named after Michael Jordan, one of the party), about six miles below the present Town of Dewey. The names of these twenty–nine men, with a further account of their adventures and discoveries, are given in Chapter VIII. Other pioneers of the county were: David and Peter Adams, Joseph Babington, C. D. Bacheler, Robert Bruce, Frederick and J. M. Brunzell, T. J. Butler, Peter Connors, W. H. Dewey, Fred and John Grete, George W. Gilmore, Charles M. Hays, R. H. Leonard. Robert Noble, Arthur Pence and John Turner, most of whom were connected with mining operations. During the early days the War Eagle Mountain produced over fifty million dollars in silver and some mining is still carried on in the county.

"Geologically, the formation of Owyhee is mainly the lava deposits so common in the plains along the Snake River. Along the Snake River, in the northern part are the sedimentary deposits of what is believed to have been an old lake bed. In this section the lands are very fertile and several thousand acres have been brought under irrigation. The eastern half of the county is composed chiefly of lavan and sage brush plains, through which flows the Bruneau River, and in the western part there are considerable areas of granite. The elevation increases from 2,200 feet in the Snake River Valley to 8,500 feet in the southern part. Grazing is the principal occupation on the high plateaus and in the mountainous districts, the county standing first in 1917 in the number of cattle and sheep returned for taxation – 32,202 cattle and 221,964 sheep. The total assessed valuation of property for 1918 was $5,444,963.

"Payette County is bounded on the north by Washington County; on the east by Gem; on the south by Canyon, from which it was taken; and on the west by the Snake River, which separates it from the State of Oregon. It is one of the small counties of the state, having an area of about four hundred and fifty square miles, but is one of the richest counties from an agricultural standpoint, large quantities of wheat, hay, cream. potatoes and fruits being shipped from the county every year. The early history of Payette is interwoven with that of Ada and Canyon counties, of which it was successively a part before being erected into a separate subdivision of the state.v One of the early settlers was David S. Lamme, who came to Idaho in 1864 and tried his luck at mining for a time, when he bought 320 acres of land in the Payette Valley, and was one of the founders of the City of Payette. Peter Pence first came to the Boise Basin in 1862 and followed mining until 1867, when he settled on a ranch about ten miles up the river from where Payette now stands. He and his family frequently slept in the bushes near their cabin for fear of an Indian attack.

"Along the Snake River, which flows through the county, the lands are irrigated and are highly productive. In the northern part there are some arid lands and about the Village of ROckland, south of the center, dry farming is carried on successfully, the precipitation averaging about seventeen inches annually. American Falls enjoys the reputation of being the heaviest wheat shipping town on the Oregon Short Line Railroad, the main line of which crosses the county north of the center, crossing the Snake River at American Falls. The principal interior villages are Arbon, near the Oneida County line, and Rockland, on the Rock Creek about fifteen miles south of American Falls.

"In the old records of Walla Walla County, Washington, may be found the certificate of George Galbreath, county auditor, of the returns of an election held in Shoshone County on July 8, 1861, at which the following officials were elected: J. Tudor, W. Cardwell and J. C. Griffin, commissioners; D. M. Jessee, probate judge; R. L. Gillespie, sheriff; E. L. Bradley, auditor; L. H. Coon, treasurer; H. M. Bell, assessor; D. Bell, coroner. These were probably the first county officers ever elected within what is now the State of Idaho, and it was in Shoshone County, as then constituted, that the first discovery of gold was made on the Oro Fino Creek in 1860. The Moose Creek mines, northwest of the Oro Fino district, were discovered in 1862 and worked for a short time, when they were abandoned. About this time a man named Petjade established a station on Ford Creek, a small tributary of the Clearwater south of the Oro Fino mines, at which prospectors and others bound for the mining camps could find 'entertainment for man and beast.'

"A little later Thomas O'Brien, Ernest Hilton and William Shepard discovered some good placers on Moose Creek, near the ones that had been worked in 1862, and founded 'Moose City,' which within a short time boasted a saloon, an eating house, three general stores and a population of 300. Modern map makers know nothing of Moose City, as it has long since ceased to exist.

"In the Fraser country, along Lolo Creek, a man generally known as 'Texas' settled in 1862, opened a station and did some farming. He sold to Milo Thomas about 1866, and Thomas sold out to Hour??? stockmen. John Alsop settled in this part of the county in 1874 and was shortly afterward followed by Patrick Keane. The Fraser country is now in Clearwater County. Others who settled in this section during the latter '60's and early '70's were Patrick Gaffney, Harvey Setzer, William Gamble and Levi Goodwin.

"Edward Hammond, an old resident of the county, writing to the Lewiston Teller in 1881, gave the assessed valuation of property in Shoshone as $38,981, and estimated the population at seventy&ndashp;five, of whom about a dozen were farmers. In 1918 the assessed valuation was $31,140,6l0, only one county in the state (Ada) returning a larger valuation. Such has been the marvelous progress of Shoshone County during a period of less than forty years, due mainly to the discovery of the rich mines in the early '80's.

"Capt. John Mullan, who built the military road across Northern Idaho before the Civil war, noticed indications of gold in the mountains of Shoshone County, but said nothing about it at the time for fear his workmen would desert road building for mining. A. J. Pritchard, R. T. Horn and a man named Gillett, three experienced miners, made a prospecting tour up the north fork of the Coeur d'Alene River in the summer of 1880 and near the present Town of Murray, on a small stream since known as Pritchard Creek, struck 'pay dirt.' They remained in the mountains until the approach of winter, when they returned to the settlements. The following summer Pritchard returned and continued prospecting along the streams, finding values in several places along the streams. He then wrote to a few friends asking them to join him the following spring with the necessary tools and supplies for working the claims, at the same time enjoining secrecy, but his request in this respect was not heeded and when the time came to start for the diggings he found a crowd gathered, many of whom were inexperienced and without the usual equipment of the miner. He advised them not to undertake the trip to the rough, mountainous region until they were better prepared, but they threatened him with personal violence, even hanging, and he finally yielded to their importunities. When they reached the mines the waters in the creeks were so high that nothing could be done and many of those departed, cursing both Pritchard and the country. The few who had come prepared for the real work of development remained through the summer and were richly rewarded, and by 1884 the usual stampede was on to the new discovery.

"In the meantime Tom Irwin, another prospector, had found gold in the Coeur d'Alene country, and it has been claimed that he was really the first to discover gold in this part of the territory, but the evidence is decidedly in favor of Pritchard and his associates. Irwin's discovery, however, was the means of bringing a large number of gold seekers to the new field. Eagle City and Murray were laid out in 1884 and the latter was made the county seat. The lead silver section on the South Fork were discovered in 1886 and soon became the principal mining section of the county. As the placer mines were worked out, quartz mining was introduced, the Bunker Hill and Sullivan being one of the first of this class in the county. The buildings at this mine were blown up by dynamite on April 29, 1899, by striking miners, an account of which is given in another chapter. A narrow gauge railroad (now part of the Northern Pacific system) was built, after which the development of the mineral deposits was more rapid. Shoshone is the leading mining county of Idaho. In 1917 it produced more than nine–tenths of the mineral wealth of the state, according to the report of the state mine inspector.

"The county was named for the Three Tetons, prominent peaks forming part of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. It was attached to the Ninth Judicial District and the governor was authorized to appoint officers within thirty days after the taking effect of the act, which located the temporary county seat at Driggs, a permanent county seat to be selected by the voters at the general election of 1916. Pursuant to the provisions of the act the governor appointed the following officers: E. B. Edlefsen, M. E. Phillips and Benjamin Jones, commissioners; W. F. Robertson, clerk of the District Court; S. R. Evans, sheriff; H. D. Fullmer, assessor; Charles Cherrington, treasurer; B. W. Driggs, prosecuting attorney; Samuel Swanner, probate judge; Ezra C. Dalby, superintendent of public instruction; Samuel Kunz, coroner.

"These officers assumed their duties at various times between March 4, 1915, and the first of July following and served until the general election of 1916, when Driggs was made the permanent county seat. Teton County is bounded on the north by Fremont County; on the east by the State of Wyoming; on the south by Bonneville County and on the west by the County of Madison. It is one of the smallest and highest counties in the state, its average elevation being 5,500 feet above sea level. It comprises the Teton Valley and the tributary country along the Wyoming line. A large part of the county lies in the Palisade National Forest, where grazing is the leading occupation. Timothy, alsike clover and field peas are the principal farm crops and dairying is becoming an important industry. The rainfall ranges from twenty to twenty–four inches annually and farming is carried on without the aid of irrigation. There is fine hunting in the mountains and fishing in the streams, and this fact, with the cool summers, brings many sportsmen and tourists every year.

"The act creating the county designated the City of Twin Falls as the county seat and authorized the governor to appoint county officers. Governor Gooding therefore appointed the following officials on February 21, 1907, the same day be approved the act creating the county: Harry T. West, clerk and ex–ofiicio recorder; George D. Aiken, sheriff; Carl J. Hahn, treasurer; James McMillan, assessor; Frank E. Chamberlain, probate judge; F. A. Hutto, prosecuting attorney; Miss Edna DeBow, superintendent of public instruction; John D. Rogers, coroner; John F. Hansen, Charles H. Mull and L. E. Salliday, county commissioners.

"Some idea of the importance of Twin Falls County as an agricultural and fruit growing section may be gained from the following interview given to the Boise Capital News of December 16, 1913, by Judge Charles O. Stockslager, the judge of the Twin Falls District Court:

'The citizens of Twin Falls County and that entire section are of the highest type and most progressive. A look at their farms would convince anyone of the truth of this statement. They have developed a wonderful country and they are not through yet. And it is a great country. I can remember the time, some years ago, when I advised some of the farmers there not to plant fruit trees, because that was not a fruit country, I thought. I am sorry I ever gave that kind of advice. Some of them took it and others disregarded it. Today the Twin Falls section promises to become one of the leading, if not the leading fruit section of the state. It seems to be ideally located. The trees are held back from the danger of late frosts and the pests that do so much damage in the lower altitudes are unknown in the Twin Falls section. Orchards that are now in full bearing produce the largest and very best quality of fruit. * * * The last statements issued by two of our banks show an increase of $1,000,000 in deposits during the month of October. The farmers, you see, had disposed of some of their crops and the returns had been banked. The railroad was taxed to its utmost capacity to move out crops this fall and the crops next year will be greater. Grains yielded abundantly, there was a big potato crop, fruit was abundant, alfalfa and hay were almost unlimited. '

"Lumbering, mining and farming are the leading occupations. Around the shores of the Great Payette Lake are fine forests of timber and several sawmills have recently been erected. In the eastern part the Deadwood, Profile, South Fork and Yellow Pine mining districts are being actively developed, two mills having been installed in the last named district. The chief farming section is in the 'Long Valley,' which is one of the best sections of the state for the production of timothy hay, and the Payette Forest Reserve, which extends into this county, affords splendid opportunities for grazing. Dairying is rapidly growing in favor with many of the farmers.

"Section 6 of the creative act provided for a special election for county officers and to decide the location of the county seat. The election was held on April 14, 1879, and the following officers were elected: F. M. Mickey, I. E. McKinney and John Cuddy, commissioners; I. M. Hart, clerk; James P. Gray, sheriff; J. D. Wade, treasurer; S. R. Denney, assessor; T. C. Underwood, probate judge; H. A. Parker, surveyor; T. M. Jetfreys, superintendent of schools; J. W. Kelley, coroner. At this election the highest number of votes cast for any candidate was 226. The only exciting feature of the campaign was the contest over the location of the county seat, two places being voted for—Weiser Bridge (now Weiser) and Upper Valley (now Salubria)—Weiser Bridge winning by a vote of 117 to 106. The county had no courthouse until 1882, when a cheap frame structure was erected. Prior to that time the various county officials kept their offices at their homes in different parts of the county, so that the transaction of public business was attended by many difficulties. The present courthouse and jail were erected in 1890.

"John Cuddy, one of the first board of county commissioners, was a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, came to America in 1840. when he was but six years of age and in 1865 became a resident of Idaho. For about four years he was engaged in the mercantile business in Boise and in 1869, with a partner named Tyne, erected the first fiour mill in what is now Washington County. Cuddy Mountain bears his name.

"Edward S. Jewell, who settled in the Salubria Valley in 1869, entered 160 acres of land, upon which the Washington County fair grounds were afterward located. He was twice elected county commissioner and was a delegate to the constitutional convention in 1889.

"Andrew and Henry H. Abernathy, brothers and natives of Indiana, came to the Weiser Valley in 1864 and engaged in freighting and keeping a hotel at Farwell Bend on the Snake River. Henry afterward removed to the Salubria Valley and became one of the prosperous farmers of the county.

"Other pioneers were James Colson, J. N. Harris, William B. Allison, T. C. Galloway, Woodson Jeffreys and John Moore. James Colson and William B. Allison settled in the Salubria Valley in 1868, and Woodson Jeffreys was one of the first settlers where the City of Weiser now stands. His son Thomas M. Jeffreys, was Washington County 's first superintendent of public schools.

"Two lines of railroad furnish transportation to the people of the county. The Oregon Short Line passes through the southwestern part along the Snake River, and the Pacific & Idaho Northern follows the course of the Weiser River. The principal towns along these railroads are Cambridge, Eatons, Midvale, Vulcan and Weiser. Salubria, a few miles east of the Weiser River, is a town of considerable importance to the farmers of the Little Weiser Valley.