"Early History of Idaho,"Early Events

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"Early History of Idaho," Chapter XI, "Early Events" (abridged)

by William John McConnell. Published 1913, Caxton Printers, Caldwell. available at archive.org

Volunteers Engage Indians on Malheur
A company of volunteers under the leadership of Jeff Standifer, during the early months of 1863, crossed Snake river at Washoe Ferry, to levy reprisals on a band of Piute In- dians, who, having raided lower Boise and Payette Valleys, had returned with their plunder to the Malheur Valley. A battle ensued with the result that all the Indians were killed with the exception of one squaw and two boys, aged approximately six and twelve years. After the firing ceased, they were discovered and brought back with the returning party. The squaw was given employment by Ira Worden, a restaurant keeper in Centerville, and the older boy was given a home by the writer, and was named Dick.

The smaller boy was adopted by John Kelly, the violinist, who had a little gray suit, representing a Confederate uniform, made for him. When first captured the child was as wild as a young coyote. With a well knit frame and jet- black eyes which fairly sparkled, his looks proclaimed him what he was, a full-blooded aborigine.

Kelly at once became both father and mother to the little waif. He kept him in his presence continually, and began at once a course of physical training to fit the boy for the future which he had conceived for him. In a few months lie had developed into a contortionist of no mean ability, and nightly occupied a place with his adopted father, giving occasional exhibitions to vary the performance, thus adding interest to the attraction. The boy eventually, either from inherent talent, or from having no other asso- ciate than Kelly, developed wonderful skill as a violinist. When eighteen years old he equalled his instructor, while on a visit to Ireland with his inseparable companion, he was taken with a congestive chill and died. Kelly had no children of his own, and while he related to the writer the story of the boy's life and death, his furrowed face was deluged with tears.

Shot-gun Messengers on Coaches
Wagon roads, from Boise City to Bannock, were early constructed, and from Horseshoe Bend on the Payette river to Placerville, thence to other towns. This was the shortest and best route from Umatilla to Walla Walla. Consequently most of the supplies distributed in the Basin came over that road. After these wagon- roads were completed, stage-lines were quickly started, and big Concord coaches, with four or six horses attached, arrived and departed daily, carrying passengers from each of the towns. These stages also carried the mail and express and other things, including an important individual occupying an outside seat next to the driver, and at all times carrying across his knees a short, double-barreled shot-gun of large caliber, heavily loaded with buck-shot.

These men were employed by the express company, and one of them accompanied every coach which carried treasure. Owing to the expense of such precautions, and the losses which at time occurred, the charges made by the ex- press company for the transfer of treasure were so heavy that the miners, packers and teamsters usually devised means of their own to accomplish the transfer. A favorite ruse was to remove part of the filling of an aparejo and drop a sack of gold dust into each side of it; thus each mule would carry one hundred ounces of dust on a side with- out attracting attention. Two hundred ounces of gold dust, worth sixteen dollars an ounce, was the equivalent of $3,200.00. The larger trains of forty or fifty mules were selected, on account of the number of packers employed, all of whom being heavily armed, made an efficient guard. There is no record of highwaymen capturing treasure shipped in this manner. Sometimes large freight wagons were loaded with dry hides from the slaughter houses and bags of gold were stored underneath the skins. Shipments made in the foregoing manner were for safety, and necessarily were sub rosa, hence no record of their value was kept. Consequently all estimates of the gold output of the mines of the Boise Basin district, during the time of their greatest prosperity, are largely based upon conjecture.

Idaho's Mountain Streams Give Up Their Hoarded Wealth
In those days the nation was in the throes of civil war, and, though the infant territory sent no troops to battle for the flag, her mountain streams gave up their hoarded wealth when gold was needed most. Thus, all thoughtless of the good they did, her toiling miners, far removed from battle smoke and shrieking shell, did well their part. There is grim humor in the thought that during the darkest days of the rebellion, when to be a Union man in Boise Basin meant danger, sometimes death, yet the energies of Union men and Secessionists alike were directed to amassing gold, which was sent to the United States mints, and became the basis of credit which enabled the nation to maintain its integrity and carry on the war to a successful conclusion.

In those days partisan feeling ran high; political parties then, as now. Democrats and Republicans, maintained their organizations. But the issue on which they divided was not tariff nor free coinage of silver, but, simply Union versus Dis-union. While there were many Democrats in Idaho who were as loyal to the flag as any Republican, they were seldom in evidence, for they soon discovered that silence, on political questions, was conducive to longevity. There were also many civil, quiet south- ern gentlemen whose sympathies were with the Confederacy, but their conservatism and respect or law and order made them unpopular in party caucuses and conventions, which were largely controlled by the lawless element. It was noticable in those days that the most violent and bitter Secessionists were not the southern men whose homes were being overrun and property confiscated by the Union armies, but northern copperheads, or barroom politicians.

"Strange that Death Should mean Life (p. 186)
It was understood in early mining days that a camp was not fully equipped until a graveyard was started, and the number of sodless mounds that it contained within a given time was con- sidered an index of the life of the place. It is a strange analogy that life should mean death. Yet it was true. For the life or the liveliness of such places was guaged by the number of saloons, dance halls, etc., and their number determined the amount of liquor sold and that was, almost invariably, what regulated the growth of the cemeteries. In older countries the process is generally slow, but in mining camps, especially in war-times, strong drink such as was sold over the bars aroused the passions of men and led to violence, often death.

Idaho City easily led the other camps in the number of interments. Much has been said and written of the formulas used in the manufacture of a large part of the whiskey sold in mining towns and at the road-houses leading thereto, which, if true, may account for some of the violence it engendered. An anecdote is related of a man who was the keeper of a house of entertainment on the road leading from The Dalles, Oregon, to the Canyon City mines. It is stated that being dissatisfied with the prices charged by the Portland liquor dealers, he concluded to manufacture his own whiskey, and after trying numerous formulas, he made a brew containing several ingredients, among them alcohol, plug tobacco, strychnia and prune juice. As soon as the mixture had settled he tried it on the first man who came along the road — a Jew peddler, carrying his little stock of merchandise on his back — with the result that he stole his own pack and hid it in the willows up the creek. The next customer was a sheep-herder, who, after taking his first drink, went out in front of the house, and throwing his hat in the air, gave a yell of delight which was ample evidence of the quality of the "goods." So the liquor was at once named "Sheep-herder's Delight." It mattered not, however, what the quality happened to be, it all went, for, while there were a few who had epicurean tastes, the average tippler seemed to have the same opinion as the Irishman who, when told that a certain blend of whiskey was bad, indignantly exclaimmed, "Bad! There is no bad whiskey; some is a little better than others, but there is none bad."

Progress in the Valleys, p. 187
While history was being made in the Basin, and its hitherto silent glades were being transformed into busy hives of industry, each sending forth a glittering stream of gold, the march of progress was no less apparent in the valleys adjacent thereto — both Boise and Payette. The latter awakened into life earlier than the former, because the road leading from Walla Walla and Umatilla landing followed up the Payette river from near its confluence with the Snake to Horseshoe Bend, where it diverged up Shafer Creek, thence to Placerville. Prior to the construction of the Shafer Creek road, the travel continued on up the river to "Jack-ass Gulch" and Porter Creek, up both of which were trails leading to Placerville and the other camps.

It was over these two trails, before the wagon roads were completed, that most of the influx of travel found its way to the mines. And during that time the population almost, if not quite, reached its highest limits. Many thousands of people were added after the roads were built, but it must be conceded that nearly as many took their departure before this time, some of them being satisfied with what they had accumulated, while others, failing to obtain claims, sought different fields. A few left the country for the country's good — and their own safety.

With hundreds of men passing over the Payette Valley road, road-houses were quickly provided. Of these, Shafer's, Horseshoe Bend, Burner's Ranch, now called Marsh, the Black House, Payette Ranch, Thompson's Ranch, and the "Bug Hay Press," were noted places during the summer of 1863. They all served meals consisting usually of bread and meat, generally bacon, with brown bread and black coffee, all for the nominal sum of one dollar each. These houses were invariably kept by unmarried men, and most of them were orderly and well conducted. When we consider the difficulty experienced in obtaining even the ordinary necessities of life, it is marvelous how they succeeded as well as they did. Some stretches of the bottom land which the Payette road traversed was covered with alkali, which, when disturbed by passing horsemen or footmen rose in clouds of dust, filling the eyes, nostrils and ears of the traveler, causing an excessive thirst, which, in many instances, nothing but some kind of alcoholic beverage seemed to assuage, and even that relief was a temporary one, hardly lasting from one house to another. But the proprietors, with few exceptions, were familiar with the malady, and were prepared to promptly relieve the sufferings of all comers. These prescriptions were administered for "two bits," or twenty-five cents each.

During the summer of 1863 large wagon trains of emigrants from Missouri and Arkansas arrived in Idaho. They consisted of entire families of men, women and children, and would have been a desirable acquisition to the population of any country. They had abandoned their former homes to escape the terrors of guerrilla warfare, which was epidemic in those states at that time. As a rule they brought with them good teams and wagons and such household goods as were portable. Their advent marked the arrival of the first feather-beds into the territory. They also brought a new element into the country — an element which made the mountains look more attractive. It was immediately noted by the young men that the rivers and the brooks which had heretofore gone silently on their way, made sweet music as they traveled over their pebbly beds; the birds sang more sweetly; even the clouds which swept the summer skies bore laughter on their wings. The magic which wrought such marvelous changes was a bevy of girls. When the train of wagons on which they traveled reached Boise City and stopped on the main street to permit some of the families to purchase articles from the stores, the card games, billiard halls and saloons were quickly deserted, even the "bar-keep" and the "lookout" for the "faro" games, with their hair parted in the middle, were soon in the front row along the sidewalks, craning their necks to get a peep. "Goo-goo" eyes were seen on the Boise streets for the first time that day. Whether they were an importation from Missouri or Arkansas matters not — they did ef- fective work. Other trains quickly followed the first, and a camp was established on the river- bank near the outskirts of the town, where acquaintances were formed, and during the evenings which followed, sitting around their smouldering camp fires, plans for the future were made by the older people, while the girls and their visitors from town formed groups of two beneath the blinking stars. Each mountain swain had wondrous tales to tell — of dreary days and nights alone. Of course they had never loved before, and never could again. 'Twas thus the stories ran, while mothers, argus-eyed, looked on.

These fathers grim had guns; some had been tried at Wilson Creek, and others on the plains. So every vow made on that river bank was kept. There was dearth of wedding-gowns, dearth of wedding-bells; but "eyes spoke love to eyes that spoke again" and ere the slim young moon that first had listened to their sighs had grown to full, many a young bachelor had been bound in hymeneal ties, and was enjoying for the first time, since leaving home and mother, the comforts of a feather-bed. Of the marriages resulting from these speedy courtships, I have yet to learn of a divorce. Many of the immigrants of that year located in Boise valley, while a few crossed the divide to Payette. Among the latter may be named the Flourneys, the Burges family, and others.

All of these early settlers enacted a prominent and honorable part in the development of the then new territory. Many of their children are still residents of Idaho, and have reason to be proud of the record they inherited from their ancestors who, having crossed the continent during those turbulent days, devoted their lives to honest industry, and finally went to their rest respected and loved by all.

For three years the market price for all kinds of farm produce, except hay, was never less than twenty-five cents a pound, and during that time, ten cents a pound for hay was the lowest price it reached in the mining towns. Hence the farmer shared with the miner and others the general prosperity. There was one embarrassment, however, which seriously ham- pered their operations. This was the loss of horses stolen by horse thieves, this loss falling most heavily on the settlers in the upper sections of the valleys, those nearest the mines, and iincreased, rather than diminished, for two years.

Horse Ranches Contiguous to Mining Camps, p. 192

To accommodate those who rode their own animals to the mines, and who had no place to keep them after their arrival, what were termed horse ranches were established in the valleys. The owners of these so-called ranches had an office and a corral in Placerville, or one of the other towns, where horses were received to be sent out to the ranch, where a pasturage charge of three dollars a month was made, and an agreement entered into that the animal, or animals, would be brought in and delivered to the owner when desired. The horse ranch consisted of a corral and a tent or cabin, to shelter the owner, or herder, to whom no financial responsibility could attach, since the land upon which they were located, and that upon which they ranged the horses and mules, belonged to the public domain, but, in spite of this fact, thousands of animals were delivered into the care of these people. It is needless to say that only a small number of them were ever returned to the lawful owners. It is doubtful if such a harvest was ever reaped by horse thieves since America was discovered, because no such favorable conditions had heretofore existed in any country.

Thousands of of saddle and pack animals, many of them very valuable, were turned loose to range over the hills lying east, north and south of Horseshoe Bend. Thus the stock was entirely removed from their owners, and, for that matter, from anyone else who knew them, as it was impossible for the owners of the horse- ranches to familiarize themselves with such a diversity of brands, and, in fact, many were not branded at all. Horses or mules, reduced in flesh by a long trip made perhaps before feed had started in the spring, will, when turned loose on such bunch-grass as then grew on Payette hills and valleys, change so much in appearance in a short time that the owners frequently failed to recognize their animals. Hence the risk of driving off and appropriating this class of stock was not considered great, owing to the lax methods by which the laws were administered, methods which had a tendency to make the business of stock stealing a favorite vocation among those who had received training along this line in other regions.

Graduated as Stage Robbers and Horse Thieves.
Three former citizens of New Mexico who had graduated in that territory as stage robbers, horse thieves and cattle rustlers, arrived on the river early in the spring of 1863, and after sizing up the situation, established headquarters in the Payette valley, near the entrance of the canyon, above where is now located the prosperous town of Emmett.

They built a strong log house and corral, which was planned for defense, should necessity arise, and named the place "Picket Corral," by which sobriquet it soon gained repute, the residents thereof being known as the 'Picket Corral gang." After getting established, they proceded to organize the business, one of their number locating a ranch and building a cabin and corral across the river from Boise City, on the site of what is now South Boise.

Nomination Equivalent to Election, p. 194
They were all fine specimens of physical manhood, good horsemen and companionable fellows, ready to relieve an unfortunate by sharing a blanket, or dividing with him, what might be their last dollar. Hence they soon acquired well merited popularity among men of of their class, which enabled them to manipulate the first Democratic nominating convention in Ada County, and secure the election of their choice for sheriff, a nomination on the Democratic ticket being equivalent to an election in those days. At that time few men came to Idaho to engage in politics, hence the number who participated in the primaries and the nominating convention was usually small. Aside from the few who had personal ends to gain, those who voted at the primaries did so in a desultory manner — accepting and depositing the ballots prepared for them by the agents of the night-riders.

These voters wanted to do what they believed was right. They believed they did right, hence they were right, and their hearts were in the right place. Unfortunately, the first sheriff they elected in Ada county — the first Monday in March, 1865 — was Dave Opdyke, who subsequently resigned his position for cause, and was afterward hanged, as was another sheriff in Bannock, in what is now Montana. The laws of men may be repealed or suspended, but the laws of God are eternally operative. It has been truly written "Those who live by the sword, die by it."

Residents of Frontier Dislike Horse Thieves
One of the peculiar characteristics of the people in all frontier countries is their hatred of horse thieves, and their belief that nothing less than capital punishment is adequate to suppress them. This sentiment was no doubt prompted in Idaho by the well known fact that those who were entrusted with the enforcement of the law — the sheriff and his deputies — were nominated and elected to their positions through the influence of the admirers of horse-flesh. I was once told by a former resident of Arkansas that "when a man was killed in his state, the authori- ties empaneled a jury, not for the purpose of determining whether the accused was guilty of killing the man, but to ascertain whether it had been a fair fight." If the latter was shown by the evidence, the verdict of the jury was "Bully for the boy with the glass eye." Yet these same men would hang a horse thief without compunction.

It is well known that Arkansas contributed generously to the population of Idaho during those years, and no doubt many of those who sat on the juries named, were among the number. It was a notorious fact that while many murders were committed in Boise County during the five years when its population was the greatest, not one of the men who committed them suffered the extreme penalty of the law.

After the first stampede to the Basin was ended the business of the horse ranchers was practically at an end. Hence the professional horse- thieves were compelled to cover a wider field to make their operations profitable. They often extended their enterprises into Nevada and eastern Oregon and Washington, returning with their spoils to one of their home ranches — usually on or near the Payette river. If the fruits of their depredations consisted of horses or mules, they were held until sold. But if pursuit was feared, they were moved during the night to some other cache. The favorite place of concealment during such emergencies was the ranch across the river from Boise — now South Boise.

On the occasion of such transfer the stock was driven across the hills to Dry Creek, thence to Crane's Gulch, and, following it down to the valley, a detour was made through some of the back streets of the city, so as to strike the river above the Davis ranch. Here the animals were driven in and made to swim across, where they were cared for by the man, or men, in charge of the ranch.

Boise river in those days had but one channel for a long distance above and below town, and the water was so deep as to preclude fording, a ferry being maintained below town to transfer traffic, and as the trees and bushes along the bank obscured the view from one side to the other, horses, when over, were safe from discovery.

Relentless Persons Sometimes Pursued p. 196
Sometimes relentless persons would continue the chase into the city, and visiting the sheriff's office, would appeal to that officer for assistance, which was invariably promised.

Whereupon, the weary riders would ask him and his deputies to take a drink, an invitation which would be considerately accepted, and the party would at once adjourn to the sheriff's own saloon, and in this social and friendly manner the incident would close.

There is no record of more than one stolen horse being recovered by the owner during the three first years of the mining furore, and the incidents to that event, though attracting little attention at the time, were to be of widespread influence in the near future.

The following synopsis will convey an idea of the peculiar conditions which existed in our frontier at that time, which was during the month of August, 1864:
A man who was engaged in truck-gardening on one of the tributaries of the Payette river, after delivering a cargo of vegetables to the hotels and restaurants in Centerville, proceeded with his pack train down Grimes' Creek and camped for the night. Although the Basin was then nearly all covered with a growth of fine timber, at the place chosen for his camp there was a large spot of open ground covered with good grass. He had but one packer, or assistant, with him, and after supper, before retiring, they caught and picketed their favorite saddle- horse within a short distance of where they spread their blankets. Fatigued as they were, and anticipating no danger to themselves or animals, they retired early, and were soon in a sound slumber, from which they awakened in the morning to find that in the night some one had slipped into the camp and stolen the picketed horse. Search v/as made during the following day which disclosed that two men, who were in Centerville during the previous day, and were noticed admiring the missing animal while it was standing hitched in the street, had disappeared, and a party coming into Boise over the Shaffer Creek road had passed them during the forenoon and upon inquiry, were told that they were headed for Boise Valley.

The pack-train was at once started for the home ranch, arriving there in the night after the farm hands had gone to bed. Arousing them, fresh horses were saddled, and accompanied by one man, the owner started for Boise City, where they arrived at eight o'clock the following morn- ing, having rested themselves and their horses two hours on the trail between Dry Creek and Crane's Gulch. A search of the feed corrals and livery stables was immediately made, with the result that, while no trace of the stolen horse was discovered, another one was found in the livery and feed stable which was owned by Opdyke, who was later elected sheriff. The ani- mal, a mare, had been stolen about two months before. She was claimed by a restaurant keeper named Gilkie, who said she had been given to him by John Kelly, the violinist. Everyone knowing Kelly knew he never stole a horse, as he was too lazy, too big and fat to go out on the range and catch one. They refused to surrender the property, so the owner was obliged to secure the services of a lawyer to recover his horse. Fortunately, A. G. Cook, an attorney whom he had known in Lafayette, Oregon, had located in Boise a short time before, and he kindly volunteered to take the case and make no charge. He and John Deisenroth, a blacksmith owning a shop in town, qualified as bondsmen for the required amount; but notwithstanding the validity of the surety, which was unquestioned, the justice of the peace before whom the case was brought, required the complainant to weigh out gold dust enough to pay the estimated costs before he would issue the writ, the result being that it cost the owner seventy dollars, including a back stable bill which he was obliged to pay to recover the animal which everyone, including the justice and the sheriff, knew was his before any evidence was offered.

This was the culmination of what might have been forseen — the breaking down of the barrier of loyalty to law and order which is an instance of all pastoral people. The evidence was no longer lacking that the farmers and traveling public could expect no protection from the ordinary sources through which justice is administered.

The owner of the horse entered the courtroom of that Boise City justice, little more than a boy in years and experience, but he came out when the case was decided and he had paid the costs, amounting to nearly the full value of the animal, a grim-visaged man. With no word to anyone, except to thank the two men who had gone on his bond, he and his helper led their horses down the street and stopped in front of the stable where a group of tin-horn gamblers and horse-thieves had preceded them from the court-room, announcing that he would like to make a speech to them before leaving. One of their number told him to "fire ahead" — meaning for him to begin — which he did, stating that he was an American citizen, that he recognized "no chiefs," and that he could catch any man who ever marked those prairies and that the next one who stole a horse from him would be "his Indian" — there would be no law-suit. Waiting a few moments for a reply and none coming, he mounted his saddle-horse and rode away, leadingthe recovered animal.

Had the members of the gang who were present when the foregoing remarks were made been less confident of their power, and given more attention to the glint of the eyes and the set of the jaws of the man who uttered them, they might have taken warning, but in a spirit of bravado, they resolved to teach the "rutabaga peddler" to take a joke.

Jerusalem Raided by Horse Thieves, 202;
A few nights later that part of the Payette Valley which lies above Jackass Creek, and is now called Jerusalem, was raided, and nine animals stolen — five horses and four large mules. There were at that time four gardens, or miniature farms, being cultivated in that neighborhood and the stolen stock belonged to the owners of these gardens. These people had been "long- suffering and slow to wrath," but the recent ex- perience of one of their number in trying to obtain justice in a Boise court, had thoroughly aroused their fighting instincts.

Pursuit and Recovery of Stolen Animals, 202
A posse of four men was organized, and after ascertaining that the thieves had started to the lower country with their booty, pursuit was begun. Well mounted and well armed, each riding a horse and leading another, these men, fewer in number than the pursued, took the Brown Lew trail — determined to recover what they had lost or lose their lives in the attempt.

They were gone about three weeks when all returned, bringing with them the lost animals, jaded and worn almost to skin and bones. The story of that pursuit and the recovery of the stolen stock would add many thrilling pages to the history of those stirring days; but it has never been written, and it probably never will be, for the men who make the history of a new country are seldom historical writers.

Meetings Preliminary to Organization of Settlers, p. 203
It is known, however, that the recovery was made in Oregon, on the Grand Ronde river below the valley of that name; and also that the transfer was not a friendly one — but if any casulties occurred they were all on one side.

On their return trip a stop was made at the road-house along their route, and open war was declared against horse-thieves and stage-robbers.

A few days after their arrival home a meeting which included all the residents in their locality was held on Porter Creek, and while no permanent organization was effected, resolutions were unanimously adopted pledging themselves as follows:

1st, to stand as a unit on all matters affecting the personal safety or the property rights of any individual;

2nd, to pursue and capture, regardless of expense, all horse-thieves who thereafter appropriated any horses, cattle or mules belonging to any individual resident or traveler passing through that section. Provided, that after the capture was made, the posse effecting it should administer such condign punishment as in their judgment the circumstances merited — always bearing in mind that farmers were not prepared to hold prisoners.

A pronunciamento in accordance with these resolutions was promulgated, and in a few days news of the action which had been taken was widely disseminated, causing a meeting to be called in the "Block House" in the lower Payette Valley. The "Block House," so called because it was built of hewed logs, was two stories high, the upper story being in one room, or hall, made a suitable place to hold public gatherings; in fact, it was then the only suitable place in the valley.

When the meeting assembled, it was called to order. The chairman, Henry Paddock, of the "Hay-press Ranch," stated that the object of the meeting was to devise and consider plans for the better protection of life and property — not alone that of the settlers, but those who traveled through the valley on the public highway. He enumerated the robberies that had occurred w/ithin the year and told of the futile efforts made to suppress lawlessness. He related the histories of other countries where the lawless and vicious classes had succeeded in gaining control of the sheriff's office, who, after his election, permitted similar conditions to exist until the people, driven by desperation, organized vigilance committees and proceeded to punish offenders according to their deserts. Citing San Francisco as an example, and referring to the action recently taken by the settlers living above Horseshoe Bend.

After a long discussion in which the concensus of opinion favored the plan of organizing some kind of a committee of safety, it was finally deemed best to adjourn the meeting for a week, in order that a conference might be had with those who, as before stated, had already taken matters into their own hands.

Accordingly a committee was appointed uiid instructed to visit all the residents in that region with a view to forming an organization that would include all the law-abiding settlers in the Payette Valley — from Brainard Creek to the Snake.

The committee carried out the instructions given to them so faithfully that on the second day after receiving them the people came together and were invited to co-operate in a movement having for its object the suppression of crime in the form of horse-stealing, murders, robberies, etc. As a result of the meeting, a committee consisting of two men was sent to meet the men who had already taken action, as explained above. One of the two men chosen to act as a representative in this matter was he who recovered the horse in Boise, and who had also taken an active part in the Grand Ronde affair.

Organization of Payette Vigilance Committee" p. 206
When the adjourned meeting at the Block House was again called to order, the gathering consisted of nearly every man in the valley living below the Berner ranch. There were probably a score of absentees, a few of whom had families that they could not leave, and the others were so notoriously connected with the lawless organization that they did not have the audacity to attend — although they were aware that such a meeting was to be held.

The man who had presided at the former meeting was named chairman, and after a secretary had been chosen the chairman announced that the meeting had been called for the purpose of organizing a committee of safety, or vigilance committee, and asked all present who had sug- gestions to make, to arise. Accordingly, several short speeches were made by men who had suf- fered losses, which were explained by the speak- ers. These discussions disclosed that the losses suffered by farmers and others were undoubtedly caused by residents of the valley, it having been conclusively shown that within a distance of fifty miles the occupants of no less than four ranches had no visible means of support other than that afforded by their dealings in horses and mules, and it was shown that their trans- actions in this line were conducted by preference in the night. These ranches each supported from two to five men, or about a dozen men all told, yet their organization was so perfect and their energy so untiring that up to the time this meeting was called they had kept the entire southern part of Idaho, outside the towns, terrorized.

A motion having been made and adopted to this effect, a committee of three was appointed by the chair to draft a constitution and by-laws, and a recess was taken to enable the committeemen to prepare their report.

The name finally chosen for the organization was the "Payette Vigilance Committee." Its existence was to be continued until the industries of horse-stealing, highway robbery and the passing of "bogus" gold dust were suppressed.

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