September 2009 Issue

The IDAHO magazine

September 2009 issue is generously sponsored

SEPTEMBER 2009 VOL. 8, NO. 12

Highway 95, Part II A Road Less Traveled The Legend Lives A Childhood Transformed September Hope Spotlight City

Birth of a Barn $3.50 US Using Old Ways and Means

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CALL FOR ENTRIES

Categories & Prizes: (Previous 1st Place Adult Winners) > Winners’ Circle $100 First Place > Adult (over 18 years) $100 First Place > Youth (18 and under) $50 First Place Entry Fees: > Adult (over 18 years) $10 ﬁrst entry $5 each additional > Youth (18 and under) $5/entry

DETAILS: We are looking for more great Idaho ction. We want imaginative, well-developed stories with interesting characters, emotional punch, and a distinctly Idaho avor. All entries must be previously unpublished. Please remember this is FICTION and not SCIENCE FICTION. 2,500 WORD MAXIMUM! INSTRUCTIONS: Please send a cover letter containing your name, contact information, category, word count, and the title of your story. Youth, include your age. Do not place your name on your entry. Unlimited entries in the same category. You must include four (4) copies of your story. Full rules and guidelines for all contests can by found online at www.idahomagazine.com or call us at (208) 336.0653 or (800) 655.0653.

Deadline: Send contest entries & fees to: JANUARY IDAHO magazine Fiction Contest 31 P.O. Box 586 • Boise, ID 83701 CONTENTS 5 • letters 39 • profile Highway 95; Native Americans The Man Who Gazed at Stars By Loy Ann Bell 6 • made by hand Birth of a Barn 44 • model behavior By Angela I. Nielson She’s a Beauty By Dianna Troyer 9 • recipe contest Announcing the Winners! 9 • commemoration Fly Away By Tom Davenport

10 • The Legend Lives

Summer visits to her cowboy great-grandfather in Idaho changed the life of a Texas girl. By Elora Ramirez

19 • renovations 56 • festival report History on Show No Welsh Spoken Here By Vicki Smith By Pat McCoy Rohleder 23 • roadside attraction 60 • recipe contest Cave of Mystery Mustard Pizza By Rob Lundgren Vanilla Caramel Brownies 27 • out to pasture 62 • idaho extras Rent-a-Goat Calendar of Events By Lisa Shine 64 • contributors

32 • Hope cover photo SPOTLIGHT CITY Robert Crosland builds his barn in On a sleepy side of Lake Pend Mink Creek using Oreille, this heavily wooded, salvaged materials. tiered town has seen explorers, the railroad, the Ringling Photographer: Brothers, fire and flood in its day. Angela I. Nielson By Jennifer Lamont Leo 48 • Highway 95 Revisited: Part II

In which our wayfarer descends the three grades of Winchester, Lewiston, and White Bird the old way, the less traveled way. By Les Tanner

56 • festival report No Welsh Spoken Here By Pat McCoy Rohleder Hope 60 • recipe contest p. 32, 39 RATHDRUM Mustard Pizza p. 9 Vanilla Caramel Brownies

62 • idaho extras HIGHWAY 95 Calendar of Events p. 48 64 • contributors

INDIAN VALLEY p. 27

GLENNS FERRY SHOSHONE p. 23 POCATELLO p. 19 p. 44 HAGERMAN MINK p. 10 MALAD CITY CREEK p. 56 p. 6 SEPTEMBER 2010 | VOL. 8, NO. 12

Kitty Delorey Fleischman PUBLISHER & EDITOR [email protected] (RIGHT: Lola Fleischman, No e-mail available.)

Ann Hottinger ART DIRECTOR [email protected]

Steve Bunk TEL: 208.343.2437 MANAGING EDITOR FAX: 208.336.3371 [email protected] P.O. BOX 2696 Shana Freedman BOISE, ID 83701 SALES/CIRCULATION MANAGER [email protected] [email protected]

Dick Lee MOUNTAIN LAKES SEAPLANE ILLUSTRATOR Coeur d' Alene, Idaho

Les Tanner COPY EDITOR

Discount pilot supplies. Seaplane training in a restored J3 Cub. Ruby Tanner 208.665.7959 or 208.661.1588 CALENDAR EDITOR flymls.com | e-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Sheila Robertson EDUCATION OUTREACH motorsports J. Ernest Monroe [email protected] LOGO DESIGN

northwest Change of Address: e-mail: [email protected] mail to: P.O. Box 586, Boise, ID 83701-0586 Marshall “Red” Jones phone: (208) 336.0653 or (800) 655.0653 PCA Member since 1970 IDAHO magazine considers unsolicited manuscripts, fiction, nonfiction, and letters for publication. Quality service with a personal touch Editorial Submissions: e-mail: [email protected] mail to: P.O. Box 586, Boise, ID 83701-0586 Specializing phone: (208) 336.0653 or (800) 655.0653 Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped in porsche envelope. Do not e-mail complete manuscripts. Parts • Service • Repairs IDAHO magazine (ISSN 1552-6240) is published monthly by IDAHO magazine, Inc., a corporation in the state of Idaho, owned by Idahoans. The contents of IDAHO magazine are copyrighted, and all 119 E. 46th St., Ste. 203 • Garden City • 208 345-9444 rights are reserved. Material cannot be photocopied, reprinted, or reused in any form without the written consent of the publisher. Produced and printed in Idaho. letters

On the Road Dear Editor,

I enjoyed your August issue, and was especially interested in Les Tanner’s “Highway 95” article, because I have been thinking for a couple years about driving the present 95 from the top of Lewiston Hill to Whitebird on the “new” road, and then coming back the “old” way, going up and down the three twisting grades and through the little towns. My plan is to time each way and mark my mileage. When I do it, I will let you know. Keep up the good work.

Dick Riggs, President Nez Perce County Historical Society Lewiston On Cultural Preservation Dear Editor,

Have you ever heard of Darius Kinsey or L.A. Huffman? Probably not. They were important photographers in their time but not known as well as other photographers of their era such as Edward Curtis. I am a huge fan of Curtis’ art and vision, but his work seems a bit tainted with the knowl- certified edge that he provided clothing and props for most, if not all, of his Native public b.j. smith cpa, p.a. American portraits. Huffman and Kinsey documented the era, as it was, accountant integrity/expertise/service with few if any preconceptions. certified 208-336-2444 financial 910 main st. suite 350 - boise I fear that Ben Marra and his wife Linda, will fall into the category planner of Huffman and Kinsey: not forgotten, but not even close to being fully bjsmithcpa.com appreciated either. Your review of his latest book (IDAHO magazine, August, 2009) is much appreciated. I fear that cultural melding, some say the strongest component of this country’s being, will exterminate much of the richest part of American history, as well as world history in general. Through the efforts of Marra, some of the Native American culture is preserved, and preserved extraordinarily well. I remember speaking with him about his troubles and trials with respect to his Native American work and wish I could take every suspicious person, every detractor of his effort and intent, and wring their collective necks. In my estimation, Marra’s work is some of the most important of modern day photography. Thank you for such a wonderful piece.

Tom Davenport Prairie Photography Hayden made by hand

LEFT: Robert and Phee Crosland do a variation of Grant Wood’s 1930 painting, “American Gothic.”

OPPOSITE LEFT: Rear view of the barn under construction.

OPPOSITE RIGHT: The footings were set in plastic barrels to repel moisture. Birth of a Barn Old-fashioned Methods and $329 Do the Trick

Story and Photos by Angela I. Nielson

ointing to different Plywood used for sub-flooring down, and tin from an old cow boards on his Mink came from an old building in shed on Frew Hill. Creek barn, Robert Salt Lake City. Most other Crosland built his sixty by sixty- P four-foot barn using salvaged materials Crosland can name the origin materials were found locally, of each piece. Scrapped poles such as two-by-fours salvaged and a ladder. Without the aid of a trac- tor, front loader, or cherry picker, he came from a power plant sub- from a neighbor named Lana and his sons framed, built, and installed station in Nephi, Utah. Baird whose home burned the trusses the old-fashioned way: by

6 IDAHO magazine made by hand

using a ladder to reach a temporary deep respect for, and amazement at, the their twenty-acre property. They sub-floor, where he cut materials, and old farmers’ craftsmanship with limited thought it would be nice to have shel- climbed among the rafters. He collected tools. The barn is the fourth building ter for their menagerie of animals. materials for three years, and in the on his property that he built from scrap Eventually, Crosland wants to build an summer of 2005 began work on it by wood. If he gets in a pinch or has a insulated room for their two pouring cement footings in plastic bar- question, he returns to old barns to Australian emus, so their eggs won’t rels to protect the poles from moisture. observe their construction. freeze every winter. The barn took two years to complete. Born in Moroni, Utah, Crosland “It has been a really nice family It’s valued at $44,000, but Crosland’s attended Snow College and studied project,” Phee said. “The kids helped total outlay—for nails, screws, and bags construction. To finance college, he mix concrete, clean boards, build truss- of cement—was $329. helped build homes. When he and es, and pound out the nails from the Crosland held the design of it in Phee were first married, he managed a used lumber. The kids filled the holes his head, although he admits to pat- cabinet shop. High interest rates in the in the used tin with silicone.” terning the main frame after Opal 1970s and slow construction prompt- Crosland, known for his indepen- McKay’s barn on Bear Creek Road. “It ed him to find other work. His love of dent and self-sufficient style of living, is one of the better-built barns using animals motivated him to study sci- says Mink Creek is a great place to raise dado,” he said. “Wooden pegs with no ence. He’s now a junior high school life children. He and Phee have twelve. If sagging.” Crosland’s gambrel-style barn, science teacher. you’re around town sometime, drive built on a dirt hill, has leans-tos on He and wife Phee long shared a down Birch Creek Road and keep an each side and a tin roof. He harbors dream and a goal to build a barn on eye out for his barn. 

© SEPTEMBER 2009 7 MONTH SPOTLIGHT CITY  OCT 2001 TWIN FALLS  NOV 2001 KAMIAH/KOOSKIA  DEC 2001 POCATELLO  JAN 2002 GLENNS FERRY  FEB 2002 WALLACE  MAR 2002 MACKAY  APR 2002 MOSCOW  MAY 2002 REXBURG  JUN 2002 KETCHUM  JUL 2002 SANDPOINT  AUG 2002 BURLEY WE COVER  SEP 2002 IDAHO FALLS  OCT 2002 ST. MARIES  NOV 2002 SALMON  DEC 2002 SODA SPRINGS*  JAN 2003 GRANGEVILLE  FEB 2003 CHALLIS  MAR 2003 ST. ANTHONY  APR 2003 POST FALLS  MAY 2003 YELLOW PINE IDAHO  JUN 2003 ISLAND PARK  JUL 2003 OROFINO  AUG 2003 RIGGINS  SEP 2003 NAMPA  OCT 2003 JEROME  NOV 2003 LEWISTON  DEC 2003 MONTPELIER  JAN 2004 McCALL  FEB 2004 COEUR d’ALENE  MAR 2004 FRUITLAND  APR 2004 MOUNTAIN HOME  MAY 2004 KELLOGG  JUN 2004 BLACKFOOT*  JUL 2004 COTTONWOOD  AUG 2004 ARCO  SEP 2004 PAYETTE  OCT 2004 HAILEY  NOV 2004 BONNERS FERRY  DEC 2004 WEISER  JAN 2005 IDAHO CITY  FEB 2005 ASHTON  MAR 2005 EMMETT  APR 2005 SHELLEY  MAY 2005 RUPERT Check our online archives  JUN 2005 STANLEY*  JUL 2005 PRESTON for more stories  AUG 2005 CASCADE on your favorite town,  SEP 2005 CALDWELL  OCT 2005 RATHDRUM author, or topic.  NOV 2005 POTLATCH  DEC 2005 PARMA www.idahomagazine.com  JAN 2006 GOODING  FEB 2006 HAYDEN For $224.00 you’ll receive the first 7 years of IDAHO magazine and a subscription for our 8th year. That’s a total of 96 issues of timeless  MAR 2006 HOMEDALE  APR 2006 FORT HALL stories full of Idaho history, heritage, recreation and adventure, at $112 off the cover price. Single back issues are $3.50 each.  MAY 2006 HORSESHOE BEND  JUN 2006 AMERICAN FALLS I want the whole set!  $224.00 - Tax exempt organization  $237.44 - ($224.00 + 6% sales tax)  JUL 2006 BELLEVUE  AUG 2006 PRIEST RIVER Shipping: $12 ------TOTAL (add amount above to shipping): ______ SEP 2006 CLAYTON  OCT 2006 MELBA JUST THE CHECKED BACK ISSUES* ______x $3.50 (+6% ID sales tax) = ______ NOV 2006 WINCHESTER  DEC 2006 HAGERMAN BILL TO: SHIP TO:  JAN 2007 OLDTOWN Circle Payment Method: Check Visa Mastercard  FEB 2007 GRACE  MAR 2007 LAPWAI Card #: ______Exp: ______Name: ______ APR 2007 WENDELL Cardholder’s Name: ______Business Name: ______ MAY 2007 AMMON  JUN 2007 BLISS Business Name: ______Address: ______ JUL 2007 CATALDO Address: ______City, State, Zip: ______ AUG 2007 WEIPPE  SEP 2007 PICABO City, State, Zip: ______Phone: ( ______) ______ OCT 2007 SHOSHONE Phone: ( ______) ______ NOV 2007 DRIGGS  DEC 2007 RIGBY Mail to: P.O. Box 586, Boise, ID 83701 ~ Thank you for your order!  JAN 2008 CAREY  FEB 2008 MERIDIAN * Limited  MAR 2008 BRUNEAU  APR 2008 WHITE BIRD availability. Issue  MAY 2008 EAGLE will only be sold  JUN 2008 ATHOL as part of the  JUL 2008 BUHL whole set of  AUG 2008 MURPHY  SEP 2008 NEW MEADOWS IDAHO magazine  OCT 2008 NEZPERCE package. recipe contest

Announcing the Winners of the IDAHO magazine 2009 Recipe Contest!

BEST OVERALL: German Potato Salad, Linda Helms

Best Entrée: Best Dessert: Best General Recipe: Grilled Kobe Ribeye Vanilla Bean & Honey Cheesecake (breads, soups, dips, etc.) w/Mtn. Huckleberry BBQ Sauce and w/Cherry Brandy Sauce and Shrimp Party Dip Rustic Japanese Sweet Potatoes Brandy Marscapone Whipped Cream Carrie Cornils Cindy Haroian Angela Tandy

Thank you for entering our recipe contest! Look for these winning recipes and other 2009 Recipe Contest entries to be published in future issues of IDAHO magazine. Thanks also to Rod Jessick, executive chef of the Coeur d’Alene Resort, and our other judges, who said the recipes were outstanding and it wasn’t easy to choose among them to select the winners. And last, thanks for the cooking prizes and goodies provided by Emily Sullivan, an independent consultant for the Pampered Chef. If you didn’t win this year, keep entering! Next year may be your turn.

commemoration

FLY AWAY At the height of bluegrass season, Karleen Meyer of Rathdrum released more than two dozen white doves in memory of her late husband, Idaho legislator and Rathdrum Prairie grass farmer Wayne Meyer, who died February 10, 2009, of colon cancer. In the Idaho State Legislature from 1995 through 2004, Meyer chaired the House Ways and Means Committee and served on the Business, Education, and Joint Finance-Appropriations Committees. He was a widely known and active member of the local community, serving on the Chamber of Commerce and refereeing high school basketball games for twenty-two years. —Text and photo by Tom Davenport

10 IDAHO magazine The Legend Lives A Childhood of Visits to Idaho Changed a Texas Girl Forever By Elora Ramirez

y great-grandmother, Blanche Bray, was an Idaho cowgirl. She fell in love young and married the man of her dreams: Joe Parrott, who carried the tenacity of the bull and the grizzly’s knowledge of the land. My great- grandfather Joe was a handsome man, with skin the color of his saddle. On rare occa- sions, you caught a glimpse of skin that usually was hidden beneath his buttoned-down oxfords or jeans, and the difference was night and day. During their short time together, these two people were on a perpetual honeymoon, riding horses, herd- ingM cattle, living the dream. But Blanche died at age twenty- one, from sclerosis of the liver that had begun after a horse bucked her off when she was fifteen. My great-grandpa Joe had three marriages in his lifetime. He outlived two of his wives. He never got over the death of Blanche. Her daughter Elora, my grandmother, carried on the tradition of running cattle and keeping up with the boys in Idaho. She still hangs a picture on her wall of her as rodeo queen. She fought fires on horseback, helped cows give birth, and taught me the trait of quiet strength. I learned to ride from my grandmother. Because of her, I know that riding English-style is for sissies and only the real cowgirls know how to ride bareback. Her husband, Tearl Wayne Harmon, had been a notorious ladies’ man in South Carolina, widely known as “the boy who broke my heart.” After they were married, my grandfather always said that meeting my grandma was a wake-up call: he didn’t want to be on the list of her dad, Joe Parrott, a cowboy with a great ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF ELORA RAMIREZ many guns and ranch hands.

The author (right) and Most summers of my youth, I visit- have peeked over the horizon, but when cousin Matt feeding a mule with Joe Parrott at ed the mountains and deserts of Idaho you have seven miles to ride and cows Hole-in-the-Wall, north of with my mom and sisters from our to herd, you want to get started early. Fairfield, 1985. home in Texas, traveling in a hot van My grandmother would get us dressed with nothing but the New Mexico winds while we were still rubbing the sleep to serve as air conditioning. My great- out of our eyes, half-comatose. I would grandfather had a home in Hagerman, soon wake up, though, because nothing and he lived and worked throughout the made me feel more downright impor- southern part of the state. We always tant than spending a day with my knew when we were getting close to our grandma and her father, listening to the destination, because the snow-tipped world around me. mountains of Utah caused the wind to I’d go home to Texas with a tan, drop to a subtle coolness. That’s when I missing the addictive scent of crisp would get excited. mountain air in the morning, and won- My time in Idaho was always sweet. dering why my state was so flat. When Every morning, I would be startled I’d wake up, I would half-expect to see awake by my great-grandfather holler- my grandmother in the kitchen mixing ing out the window, “Daylight in the up sourdough hotcakes that would stick swamp!” This was our cue to get up and to my ribs for the day. This expectation get moving. “Daylight” was typically an began to be a problem. By the age of exaggeration; the sun would not yet ten, I had forced my own family into a

12 IDAHO magazine routine. Wednesday nights were sour- In Idaho, my great-grandpa seemed dough hotcake night. As soon as I bit to me a living legend. People said he had into the fluffy goodness, my mind roped and branded a grizzly that pes- would be transported back to frigid tered him and a couple other ranch mornings and the scent of my great- hands when he was young. The last time grandpa Joe’s coffee. To this day, I crave I visited him, my sisters and I were the tartness of sourdough mixed with accosted in our tent by a bear, who I sweet syrup for breakfast, and have a swear to this day was that same branded hard time settling for cereal. grizzly, out for revenge. The fact that I I always had tales to spin about never saw the bear is irrelevant. The Idaho that made my dad wonder exact- snorts and pawing of our tent in the wee ly what I did during my time there; he hours of the morning were quite enough missed the most dramatic trips because for my sisters and me. Joe looked at us his employers never considered time in with a twinkle in his eye and said, “It Idaho a reason for leave. My mom was just a squirrel.” My grandma was the always smiled. She knew well what I only one who believed us. did, because she had grown up in the When I was younger, living in San same way, spending her summers riding Antonio, one of my favorite things to do bareback alongside Grandpa Joe. was feign a headache in class so I could s p l i t t i n g t h e n a m e s t h r e e wa y s s h e m a d e o n e : e l o r a PHOTOELORACOURTESYOF RAMIREZ

The author (rear) in 2003 go visit my grandma in the library. It was stubbled. I loved him. He treated me as at Walker Camp, between Hill City and Bliss, with small; a class of twelve struggled to if I were an integral part of the conversa- siblings (front to back) squeeze inside the room. Whenever I tion. It didn’t matter what he would be Ehren, Blanche, and walked in there, I could smell the pages talking about with my grandma; Herb Christina Jacobson. of hundreds of books just waiting for me would always look at me when they were to read them. I loved sitting in my grand- finished and say, “Ain’t that right, girl?” mother’s cushioned chair and snooping Then he’d smile, pat me on the shoulder, through all of the recent purchases that and walk out for his daily smoke. were stacked in piles on her wooden As far as I can remember, no teach- desk: kids’ books, nonfiction, the newest er ever questioned my need for acet- Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew titles, and aminophen every day. Perhaps they sundry other books that made my fin- knew I had ulterior motives for my reg- gers sticky with curiosity. ular “headaches,” and that my grand- My favorite janitor, Herb, would mother would eventually send me back come in during his break and talk to to class. Regardless, I spent many hours grandma. Herb, a lanky man of about in that library. But I share more than a fifty who carried with him the perpetual love for reading with my grandmother. I smell of stale smoke, always had some- share a name. When my grandmother thing insightful to say. I knew this even was born, her mother, Blanche, decided at a young age. His hair was pulled back that instead of using a family name for into a ponytail, and his face was always the infant, she would create one.

14 IDAHO magazine Perhaps this is because Blanche’s name were living in Belton, Texas. Two years was chosen through the name of a local ago, we went home to New Braunfels, post office. She chose three names in an Texas, for Christmas and my grand- effort to increase creativity: Elizabeth, mother pulled me aside to give me a Florence, and Ada, two names coming book she had created honoring Joe’s leg- from her mother and one from her acy. Every child, niece, nephew, grandmother-in-law. Splitting these names child, and great-grandchild wrote a story three ways she made one: Elora. I love about my sweet cowboy. “Don’t ever for- sharing a name with my grandmother. get where you come from, E.N.,” my Around family, I am called “Elora grandma said, with tears in her eyes. Nicole” or, as my great-grandfather I went home that night, pulled used to say after a day’s work driving out the book, and gazed at the pic- cattle, “Thatta girl, E.N., you take after ture of my great-grandpa Joe mount- your grandma.” I take pride in my ing his horse, Snowflake. I turned the name, for it bears a history that increas- page and smiled at the black-and- es my desire to live up to the women white portrait of great-grandma whose heritage I share. Blanche, and the numerous pictures My great-grandpa Joe passed away of Joe riding with his grandchildren. I about four years ago. My husband and I cried as I read the poem, “Goodbye,

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Want more info? Contact Sheila Robertson at [email protected]

(208) 336.0653 | www.idahomagazine.com e v e n i n d e a t h , h e w a n t e d t o l o o k a f t e r u s the dogs began barking and within sec- onds, the car horn sounded again. Don’s wife said, “That is Joe wanting to talk to you. Go out to the car and talk.” Don didn’t have the guts to go outside alone and hear what spectral Joe wanted to say. He thought perhaps my great-grandpa was bugging him for the hell of it—which wouldn’t be too far from his ordinary behavior—telling Don his sourdough hotcakes weren’t as good as his or that he was getting old and lazy, staying in bed until six or seven in the morning. Don decided to just let it be. The horn sounded again, for a full two minutes. After that, Don’s wife finally gave my great-grandfather some atten- tion. “Joe,” she yelled out the door, “go back to where you are supposed to be. We will look after the living.” As I read this story, I couldn’t help but smile at the tenacity of my great- grandfather. Even in death, he wanted

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELORA RAMIREZ OF COURTESY ELORA PHOTO to look after us. Even in death, he wanted to make sure his crew was all right. The tears began to fall as I real- Joe Parrott at Hunter Old Man,” by Baxter Black, which was ized the heritage of strength Joe had Mountain northwest of recited at his funeral. I laughed at the instilled in his family. Fairfield, 1970. numerous stories of my family; many This heritage has allowed me to of them testaments to Joe’s tenacity truly experience nature. I grew up rid- even in death. ing the Sawtooth Mountains, riding His brother-in-law, Donald Bray, bareback, getting dirty, and hanging wrote a story about the night of July 4, out with the cowboys. I’ve checked the 2005, the day Joe died. That evening, salt. I’ve mended fences. I’ve bathed in both Don and his wife heard a car hot springs and spent nights under the horn blare through the quiet at their stars. Riding with my grandma and her mountain ranch. They checked their father, my flesh was scarred by tree neighbors, their own car, and even branch after sage brush after tree drove a few miles up and down the branch. Riding, I got stuck between a surrounding hills, but they found no mama cow and her calf and almost got perpetrator of the blaring horn. As bucked off when the cow spooked my dusk gave way to the pitch of night, horse. Riding, I found my love of the

16 IDAHO magazine mountains. I would give anything to go back in time, wearing my grandma’s boots that were two sizes too big, walking in step with her and my great-grandpa to get the job done. I haven’t returned to Idaho in several years, mostly because it just isn’t the same without Joe hobbling out of his shop, pungent with the smells of leather and hay, to greet us. But my grandmother, still full of amazing strength and dignity from years of living close to the land, reminds me of who I am and where I came from. I called her recently to share with her this essay you are now reading, and to ask some questions about great- grandma Blanche. With tears in her voice, she told me to keep writing, that God had given me a gift. Coming from my grandma, that was nothing new. Throughout my life, she has been there, reading every story, listening to every imaginative tale, encouraging me to pursue my love of words. I never knew where this love came from. Neither of my parents is much interested in writing. I know my grandmother dabbled in writing, but I remember reading only one poem of hers, about her mother, which she had written as a little girl. She said my obsession with writing goes back to Blanche – a cowgirl who had a deep love of words. I’m not sure why it surprised me so much that the pull of the pen stems from the woman to whom I owe much of my pride. My great-grandmother created the name I cherish. She encouraged my great-grandpa Joe to live his dream of riding horses and living intimately with the land. She inspired my grandmother to carry the tradition of strong femininity and fierce loyalty to her own family. Although Blanche’s life was terribly short, her impact on my family will continue to reso- nate through future generations. My husband and I have already decided to carry the family name to our future daughter—and with that tradition will go the stories of my childhood. I will never be able to relive the beauty of my great-grandpa Joe’s laugh, but I can write about it. I can share this gift that great-grandma Blanche has given me. In the process, our stories and our family’s heritage will never be forgotten. 

renovations PHOTO BY VICKI SMITH BY PHOTO

Lloyd and Julie Jeffrey of King Hill participate with their team and wagon in the final Snake River crossing reenactment. History on Show Glenns Ferry Rings in Its Centennial with Will and Funds to Redo Downtown

By Vicki Smith

twenty-four-year tra- The organizers decided to make no risk their animals, and not many people dition at Glenns Ferry more crossings largely because not have the knowledge and expertise any- enough people could be found to brave more to accomplish the feat. In response finally came to an end A the dangers of the river. Although the to this problem, the organizers have on August 9. Why it ended, and Snake’s flow was lowered each year for decided to create an educational celebra- what will happen now, reveal the crossing day with the cooperation of tion in the future, which will draw on much about the town. The Idaho Power, the river remains as treach- numerous local resources to highlight erous as it was 150 years ago. What’s the area’s pioneer history. event, at Three Island State more, a heavy influx of moss now wraps That solution is typical of Glenns Park, reenacted the fording of around the legs of animals and the Ferry, which has become unusually the Snake River by pioneers on wheels and axles of wagons. Few horse adept at weaving its past into the fabric team owners are willing any longer to of its present, with an eye to creating a the Oregon Trail.

LEFT: Built for vaudeville, the Gorby Opera House later showed films, and then was closed for three decades. It reopened in 1994. PHOTOMERRITT LES BY ABOVE: Volunteers prepare one of twenty teak benches downtown. future. Much credit in this effort goes For example, Gorby Opera House, built purchased and turned into not only a to a small group of dedicated citizens in 1914, has been under continuous unique local business but a showplace: known as the Revitalization renovation for years by its current own- an international academy of equine Committee. Operating under the ers. Many residents remember going to dentistry that attracts students world- umbrella of the chamber of commerce, see “picture shows” there during the for- wide (see IDAHO magazine, January the group has obtained grants and pro- ties, fifties, and sixties. In 1994, its 2005, or at www.idahomagazine.com). vided other leadership to position doors reopened for live stage produc- An addition being made to Glenns Glenns Ferry—which celebrates its cen- tions, as the Historic Opera Theatre. Ferry City Hall, with a new stucco exte- tennial September 25 and 26—for its The town’s Union Pacific Railroad rior, will house a recently established next hundred years. The committee’s Clinic building is now the city library. ambulance service for Elmore County. strategy is to showcase the area’s history The old school, built in 1909, has been The old Commercial Hotel, used as a in combination with preserving many turned into a museum. The Lady of boarding house the past few years, is of the area’s old structures. Joined in Limerick Catholic Church, built in now being renovated by its new owners, this effort by local businesses, home- 1892, and the First Methodist Church, who have offset its original, beautiful owners, and the city government, built in 1895, have been in continuous white brick with new windows and Glenns Ferry is busily transforming the use and have received loving care all trim. A former lumberyard, which then face of its downtown. those years. The old LDS Church has became a shoe shop, is now a factory Many of the old buildings in the become the modern Glenns Ferry for fudge and other Idaho delicacies. downtown core have been in continu- Health Clinic. Two real estate offices Those who live in Glenns Ferry, ous use since they were built, while oth- and the chamber of commerce building including this correspondent, know ers around town have been recycled, have added visual interest to First how lucky they are. Not too many other some torn down, some restored, and Street by using log siding. The old small towns with a population of just others beautified with historical murals. Shrum Motor Company building was over sixteen hundred can boast of hav-

20 IDAHO magazine renovations ing the Snake River at their back door was sufficiently well-known to be printed playground equipment. A picture- and the Bennett Mountains in their ed on maps. The community had perfect baseball field took ten years of front yard, a hot springs industry, state potential to thrive. The railroad provid- volunteer labor and donated funds to and city parks, the Oregon Trail ed jobs and commerce, a school was create on the grounds of the Glenns Education and History Center, a golf built, churches were organized, and the Ferry High School. The high school course, a winery, a swimming pool, King Hill Irrigation District canal proj- received a new roof financed through a plenty of sports fields, a rodeo arena, a ect promised to guarantee constant, million-dollar bond passed by the com- cross-country motorcycle race track, easy access to water for farmers and munity. Twenty teak wagon wheel county fair grounds, three recreational gardeners. (IDAHO magazine spot- benches purchased by sponsors have vehicle camping grounds, an opera the- lighted the town’s history and growth in been placed around town. atre, an airport, a railroad, a major high- its January 2002 issue.) Last year, the revitalization com- way, and, of course, people who are hav- The early potential of Glenns Ferry mittee commissioned artist Susan ing fun making their little city a more was realized over the years, even to such Helton to paint a panoramic, historical exciting place to live. recent additions as a state-of- the-art mural depicting Glenns Ferry’s history By the time Glenns Ferry was water system that began operating in on the old Simplot Tank, next to the incorporated on October 18, 1909, it 2005, a newly dedicated recreation area railroad tracks. Helton also painted a already was a well-established commu- for boating, water skiing, and fishing, small mural of a horse and buggy on nity of eight hundred on the north and a new picnic pavilion in the city the historic Bostic’s Livery Barn, which bank of the Snake River, with the park built by volunteers while the city had been freshly painted by volunteers. Oregon Short Line Railroad cutting government refurbished the historic Another mural painted several years through it. As early as 1890, the spot gazebo in the park’s center and upgrad- ago on the wall of a downtown historic renovations PHOTOMERRITT LES BY PHOTOLAIB JILL BY

LEFT TOP: Susan Helton painted a panoramic history of the town on a disused silo.

ABOVE: Pioneers enter the Snake PHOTOMERRITT LES BY River in Fred Choate’s mural.

LEFT: Painting by Susan Helton. building, which shows pioneers crossing Committee, a $95,000 Idaho the number one hundred. Whenever the Snake River, was recently restored Department of State Parks grant was anyone or anything reaches that mile- by Idaho artist Fred Choate. Donations awarded for the construction of a two- stone, a celebration is just about man- from citizens, businesses, and the cham- mile walking and bike path that will con- datory. The twentieth mayor of ber of commerce helped to fund these nect the Three Island State Park with Glenns Ferry, Joanne Coon-Lanham, mural projects. the Carmela Vineyard Golf Course and extends an invitation: “Our little town The first grant received by the Winery and eventually with the core is all spruced up and ready for her revitalization committee was $15,000 downtown business area. Construction birthday party celebration on from Idaho USDA Rural of this path is in the beginning stages. September 25 and 26. Please come Development for planning and survey The beautiful state park, which changed and help us celebrate.” work. A recent grant for $405,000 the image of the area, continues to be a On Friday, the town’s Centennial secured from the Idaho Department of favorite recreation and camping spot for Celebration events will include a Commerce (IDC) ensured funding for many. Within it, the Oregon Trail homecoming parade, a football game, more renovation. Old sidewalks have Education and History Center was and a street dance in the evening. On been torn out and are being replaced, completed and dedicated on July 14, Saturday, the high school will host with much help from volunteers. 2000. It would not have become a reali- the Centennial Commemorative When that work is finished, thirty ty without the perseverance of many in Program at 2:00 PM. An All-Classes decorative and functional streetlamps the community and the generosity of School Reunion Dinner and Dance and a four-sided town square clock the state government. will be held at the Fairgrounds at paid for by donors will be installed in The revitalization committee also 6:00 PM. The School Museum, the the next phase of the IDC grant, has a vision for the future, which Opera Theatre, the Old Shrum which also includes placing brick pav- includes a railroad park and visitor cen- Motor Company Building, and the ers on four downtown blocks, and tree ter with an old steam engine static dis- Oregon Trail Education and History plantings along First Street. play, and more trees and flowers. Center will be among establishments Through the Gem Community There’s something magical about open for tours during the day. 

22 IDAHO magazine roadside attraction PHOTO VOGT BY MICHAEL PHOTO

ABOVE: A man on a dinosaur greets Shoshone Ice Cave visitors.

RIGHT: Guide Katie Hobdey leads a tour of the main cave. PHOTO VOGT BY MICHAEL PHOTO Cave of Mystery How Shoshone’s Ice Caves Lost and Regained Their Chill

By Rob Lundgren

he entrance to the Washakie, the Shoshone Indian Seventeen miles north of the Shoshone Indian Ice chief known for his friendliness old railroad town of Shoshone, the ice caves provide not only a way to Caves was easy to towards the white man. The T beat the heat during Idaho’s long, spot. Donning my sweatshirt in overtones are undeniably hot summer days, but also lessons the summer heat, I approached kitschy, but on a forty-minute in the state’s geology and history. a man sitting on the neck of a tour, I found out why the ice “It’s the only ice cave in our area,” tour guide Katie Hobdey said green dinosaur near a three-sto- caves receive more than thirteen as she led two dozen of us down a ry high statue of Chief thousand visitors annually. hundred stone steps penetrating

deep into the main cave’s freezing return, bringing light and fertility to Robinson, almost singlehandedly and sub-freezing temperature zones. the tribe once again. The main cave, restored the cave in the 1950s and “It’s kind of neat having a volcano approximately one thousand feet 1960s, after it was damaged and lost in our area, and yet a lot of locals long, is really part of a 4.5 mile-long its freezing capability. “We’re high don’t even know about it.” Hobdey, lava tube, and is not likely to melt elevation here (4,500 feet),” he con- who lives in nearby Gooding and any time soon. That’s because just tinued, “and we have a unique air will be a college freshman this fall, the right amount of moisture and flow in the mouth of the cave.” admitted that she had never visited air flow transform the cave’s interior The lava tube was created when the Indian Ice Caves until she into a permanent freezer, in which the Black Butte volcano erupted became a guide. the temperature only fluctuates more than sixteen thousand years The main cave was known as between twenty-eight and thirty- ago. The Shoshone Indians also “The Cave of Mystery” to ancient three degrees Fahrenheit. worshipped the volcano, which they Indians. Edahow, an Indian prin- This freezer effect helps to make regarded as a fire god. There are cess, was thought to have been bur- the cave unique. “It’s the lowest-ele- two types of lava flows: “aa” is ied in the ice within the cave. The vation ice cave in the world that rough, jagged, and spiny, while Shoshone believed that someday the holds ice year-round,” says manager “pahoehoe” is more billowy and ice would melt and Edahow would Fred Cheslik, whose uncle, Russell ropy. Pahoehoe caves are usually

24 IDAHO magazine roadside attraction

OPPOSITE: Headed for the caves? You’re on the right track. PHOTOMICHAEL BY VOGT

RIGHT: Results of the cave’s “freezer effect.”

found in Hawaii, yet this is the type and hanged. mulate ice year-round. The ice began of lava that covers two-thirds of the Another story has it that more melting, and continued to melt Black Butte flow. than $300,000 in gold, silver, and throughout the decade. When anoth- The ice cave first became known currency are hidden within the caves, er hole was blasted in the rear of the to white men in 1884 when Alfa including a gold bar that weighs two cave, virtually all the remaining ice Kinsey, a local boy out looking for hundred pounds. Such loot has disappeared within five years. his goats, accidentally stumbled never been found, nor has the The ice was long gone when upon it. By 1900, the cave was sup- $40,000 taken by a single bandit in a Russell Robinson, the uncle of the plying ice to the bank heist in current cave manager, entered the town of Shoshone The main cave, Hailey in the early scene in 1954. Discharged from the and its nearly two 1900s, which some military, Robinson returned home dozen saloons, approximately say was stashed in and was taken to the caves by his which boasted of one thousand the cave. Around father. The road there was littered having the only iced feet long, is really 1900, the entrance with trash, and the caves were filled beer in the West. In slowly began to fill with broken bottles and rusted beer the early 1920s, the part of a 4.5 mile- with ice, until it cans. Obtaining a lease from the fed- cave was thought to long lava tube. was almost impass- eral government, Robinson set to have been used as able by 1930. A work. After a good deal of effort, he part of a cattle-rus- group of men from finally succeeded in sealing off most tling operation. Cattle were shot, Shoshone blasted a rock overhang to of the main cave in a way that re- dressed out, and then lowered into allow easier entrance, not realizing established an air flow promoting the the mouth of the cave to cool off. they had tampered with the delicate accumulation of ice. In 1962, the The rustlers were eventually caught air flow that caused the cave to accu- Shoshone Indian Ice Caves re-opened

Visitors travel about one hundred feet underground in the main cave. and have been going strong ever since. also identified other lava tubes, to cut out certain things,” he said. The main cave is approximately wildlife, and plants in the area. As “Instead of staying in a fancy motel, one hundred feet below ground, we went through the cave, we were you may camp out. But you’re not with fifty to sixty feet of lava rock treated to some eerie sights, includ- going to cut out everything, because overhead. “We’ve ing prehistoric then it wouldn’t be a vacation.” got about twenty animal bones and He added with a smile, “I thousand tons of He finally sealed small groups of recently had a tourist visit here ice in there, and off most of the stalagmites. from Africa, and it was the first I’ve got to contin- Visits con- time he’d ever been in a place that’s ually keep it cave in a way that tinue daily through below freezing. I think he was glad below the walk- promoted the September 30. to get out of there.” Perhaps one of ways,” manager accumulation of ice. More people are the most poetic reasons to visit the Cheslik said. coming this year ice caves comes from Russell The tour is than in the past, Robinson, who penned these lines not strenuous, but don’t forget to and Cheslik’s theory about that situ- of verse: “ I realized this at age bring a jacket and a pair of sturdy ation draws on decades of family three, for I hated the inside/And shoes. Although most of the excur- business history. “When you go on a longed for the desert where the sion is in the cave itself, Hobdey vacation in a recession, you’re going wind blows so free.” 

26 IDAHO magazine out to pasture PHOTO BY LISA SHINE PHOTO

One of the author’s grandchildren, Kinzie Nielsen, helps with kidding. Rent-a-Goat Weeds and Wildfire, Watch Out: the Indiscriminate Grazer Approaches

By Lisa Shine

ver since I was a little with me—and cows were at the of income are limited. You have them, girl growing up in the top of my list. The horses and you feed them, and then you sell them. suburbs of Los dogs have come and gone What next? E These days, the birds singing and a Angeles, I wanted to live and throughout the years, but the breeze gently blowing through the work with animals. When I cows, well, they just went. locust blossoms continue to give me moved to Indian Valley seven- great joy that I live in Idaho. Looking With the decline of the cattle mar- over a sea of green topped with white teen years ago, I was deter- ket and the physical labor involved for a and brown gives me a wonderful and mined to have it all. Horses single woman, it was not profitable. The peaceful feeling. The white and brown and dogs—which I brought problem with cattle is that your sources is a herd of African Boer Goats, plus

LEFT: The author’s goats weed the pasture of Nina Hawkins in Cambridge.

OPPOSITE: A nanny tends to her new kids.

one Saanan nanny, which my sister and in the kidding process, toweling off the The use of goats for controlled I raise. We decided to start our goat babies when necessary, making sure grazing has been in effect since the early herd three years ago. the babies suck, and naming the ones 1980s, and is working well. In No more hustle bustle of an eight- they help to deliver. Grangeville, for example, Ray Holes to-five, or worrying about what to This year we have decided to aid uses his herds of about 2,500 head to wear to work. The goats don’t care the “green” movement by making our graze weeds in areas such as the Weiser whether my jeans match my cowboy goats available for grazing properties River Corridor in Washington County, hat, or if my shirt has infested with nox- and around Hells Canyon. Goats, a stain on the sleeve. This year we ious weeds or in which I think are wonderful animals, Our goats have given need of fire control are great at this particular job. A goat’s us the ability to expe- decided to aid buffers. Scientific digestive system, beginning with its sali- rience making soap, the “green” move- evidence supports va, is designed to sterilize most seeds as lotion, cheese, and the usefulness of they pass through the system, making yogurt. Ice cream, ment by making goats in both these the seeds less likely to reproduce the too. These products our goats available activities. Goats can next year. Of course, this also reduces give us a better for grazing. lessen the need for the ability of weeds to move from one appreciation of how chemical sprays by area to another. Goats can eat just things used to be ridding areas of about any vegetation, even weeds and done. We also have learned how to weed infestations. They also can help to brush that are poisonous or harmful to deliver triplets when they’re all tangled eliminate build-up of potential fuel for other livestock. They also love dry up, and set broken legs. We have a bet- fires, especially around houses in areas leaves, and will chase several feet after ter understanding of certain laws of prone to devastation by wildfire, such such a delicacy. nature. The grandchildren get involved as the Boise foothills. Goats are browsers, which means

28 IDAHO magazine out to pasture

unless they are left unattended for a very long time, they will not stay in one spot, eating plants down to their roots. They bypass grass in favor of the more appetizing weeds and brush, enabling grasses to replace weeds, and to flourish for grazing by other animals. According to an article published by the North Dakota State University Agricultural Department, goats thrive on leafy spurge—a noxious weed in Idaho— which has a crude protein content greater than twenty-seven percent in early season. Have you ever noticed where thistles and other weeds grow? Look next time, and think about what used to be there. Noxious weeds are adaptable, appearing where the soil has been depleted of nutrients that could support more desirable vegetation. Grazing goats also leave a byproduct that is tromped into the ground to fertilize and rejuvenate soil, which chemical sprays certainly can’t do. PHOTO BY LISA SHINE PHOTO out to pasture

The author’s goats grazing their home turf in Indian Valley. PHOTO BY LISA SHINE PHOTO

An online article published recently The other ecological advantage of step back in time, and yet it has an by the University of Idaho Extension grazing by goats is the reduction of openness of thinking and acceptance explains that controlled grazing of pas- ground fuel build-up. The destruction that I haven’t found anywhere else. tures by goats can increase the quality wreaked by wildfire includes the soil The community comes together for its of forage for that in its path. Fire neighbors in times of need, and people area and reduce costs depletes moisture and get together once a month for a bingo to ranchers. The Controlled nutrients, and causes pot luck at the community library. strategy is to let the grazing by goats erosion. When goats Indian Valley has a fire department, a goats graze only long graze a big area, such library, a post office, a store, a café, a enough to leave at can increase the as the Weiser River grange hall, and, most of all, good peo- least four inches of quality of forage Corridor, they are ple. I am in the best relationship of my the plant, because and reduce costs herded by ranch life here, with a very understanding enough foliage expo- hands and dogs to man, who is not quite sure about sure will then remain to ranchers. keep them within pre- goats, but is willing to learn. for photosynthesis to scribed boundaries. If I think it takes imagination and promote return growth without using the area is small, such as a yard, a lit- open thinking to care for Idaho’s all the root’s reserves. The article says tle pasture, or a roadway, the goats resources. How long will our relatively this type of grazing can increase the usually are restricted by solar electric clean rivers and forests stay that way? diversity of the pasture plant communi- mesh fencing. Of course, goats are no cure-all, but ty and lengthen the grazing season. I love our goats, and I think that owning them has helped my sister and Putting goats into the pasture early keeping them in Indian Valley gives me to start thinking about alternative would eliminate brush and open it up me a special opportunity to enjoy ways to handle the growing problems of to help increase grass growth. them. In some respects, this place is a noxious weeds and wildfire. 

30 IDAHO magazine

Even at First Sight, This Beauty Gives Cause for Her Name

By Jennifer Lamont Leo

Picture this. It’s the perfect day for a drive. You hop in your car and head north and east from Sandpoint about sixteen miles, following Highway 200 as it hugs the curves of the Lake Pend Oreille shoreline. Pretty soon one side of the highway starts to bank up sharply, while the other side opens out to the lake in one of the most breathtaking vistas you’ve ever seen. Pulling to the side of the road to get a better view and perhaps snap a photo or two, you mur- mur, “No wonder it’s called Hope.” Just gazing on the beauty of the place lifts your spirits.

Hope, on the northeast shore of Lake Pend Oreille.

PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO PHOTO COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, SANDPOINT MUSEUM, PHOTO HISTORICALSOCIETY COUNTY COURTESY BONNER

As fitting as the name may Pend Oreille in Bonner County, and a few bears roam freely, much seem, Hope was not named for the Hope is built in narrow tiers up a as they did back when the only rush of good feelings its beauty steep hillside that borders the lake, humans to observe them were the inspires, but for a man named Dr. with the highway and railroad run- Indians. Kootenai and Kalispel Hope, a respected veterinarian ning along its base. The Cabinet tribes have called this area home who cared for teams of horses Mountains rise to the east, the for centuries. In the transcript of (and the occasional human, too) Monarchs to the south, and the an oral history taken in the 1970s, back when the railroad tracks were cold waters of glacially-carved longtime resident Barbara nothing more than a heap of tim- Lake Pend Oreille stretch out to Littlemore recalled, “In the fall, ber, steel, and spikes. Nonetheless, the west. Indians by the thousands came there’s no denying that the natural Originally covered by dense from far and near for a reunion. beauty of Hope makes its name forests of pine, cedar, larch and fir, The ‘great gathering place’ was particularly appropriate. Perched the area is still thickly wooded. Indian Meadows, a large, flat on the northeast shore of Lake Deer, moose, grouse, pheasants, spread of land near Clark Fork, a

34 IDAHO magazine few miles east of Hope. The mead- veyor, cartographer, and fur trader debate among archeologists. ows were flooded later when the who explored and set up trading The bicentennial of . . . dam was built.” Littlemore said opportunities throughout the Thompson’s and McDonald’s the Indians “placed their venison Northwest as an employee of the arrival at Lake Pend Oreille has and elk in pits with Indian turnips North West Company. Although been marked by several events this and other edible roots covered the Kullyspell House venture was year, including the recent David with twigs and earth with the fire short-lived—Thompson soon Thompson Bicentennial on top. Plentiful moved on to Conference. Co-sponsored by the dewberries and establish other David Thompson Bicentennial huckleberries When David posts, and Committee and the Kalispel Tribe, from the hill- Thompson arrived McDonald too it featured educators’ workshops, sides added to left shortly lectures, classes in traditional the menu.” in 1809, he traded thereafter—Kul- skills such as basket weaving and When animal skins with lyspell House moccasin making, and a Kalispel Englishman holds the dis- encampment at the Diamond T David Thompson the Indians at tinction of being Ranch at nearby Clark Fork. A arrived in the Kullyspell House. the first trading replica of Thompson’s cedar-plank area via Canada post in Idaho. A canoe, handcrafted by Gold in 1809, he trad- roadside memo- Mountain resident Bill Brusstar ed animal skins and other prod- rial erected in 1928 next to the using methods and tools described ucts with the Indians at Kullyspell highway commemorates this by Thompson in his journals, is House, the trading post estab- achievement. Kullyspell House currently on display at the Bonner lished by Thompson, his partner, was later destroyed by fire. Rock County Historical Museum. Finan McDonald, and their hardy formations discovered in the Hope’s first real building crew near present-day Hope. 1920s might be the remains of the boom was sparked by the con- Thompson was an explorer, sur- post, but that is still a matter of struction of the Northern Pacific PHOTO COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, SANDPOINT MUSEUM, PHOTO HISTORICALSOCIETY COUNTY COURTESY BONNER

OPPOSITE: Members of the Kalispel tribe in a store in Hope, early 1900s.

RIGHT: David Thompson Kullyspell House monument unveiling, 1928.

©SEPTEMBER 2009 35 PHOTO COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, SANDPOINT MUSEUM, PHOTO HISTORICALSOCIETY COUNTY COURTESY BONNER PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO PHOTO

Railroad in the early 1880s, which and homes for workers and man- owner Wellington Sharai sold land brought thousands of workers to agers. Although Hope had been to the school district for the old the area and opened up new surveyed by the railroad in the late Hope School (built in 1919), and opportunities in the lumber and 1880s, it was officially incorporat- also “sold” land (for one dollar) on tourism industries. At first Hope ed as a town in 1891 and platted which to build the Methodist was just a quiet spot along the by the government in 1896. Episcopal Church of East Hope. tracks for trains running between The population of the city of Today the towns appear to blend Minnesota and Portland, Oregon. Hope was pegged at seventy-nine seamlessly. Over the years some But in 1890 the Northern Pacific during the 2000 census, but the residents have claimed long- moved its Rocky Mountain divi- larger area locals call Hope encom- standing competition between sion point from Heron, Montana, passes neighboring East Hope and them, but others insist that no to Hope for easier access to water. the surrounding countryside as such competition exists. More than a depot, the division well. East Hope was incorporated Some old-time residents point was a central location where in 1913. From the beginning Hope remembered that the Ringling train cars were serviced and stored, and East Hope were hand-in- Brothers circus train, en route to train crews were recruited and dis- glove, the primary difference being Spokane, would stop at Hope to patched, and operations were man- that Hope’s economy grew from water the animals. “It would come aged. Almost overnight Hope the railroad, while East Hope’s in at about four o’clock in the emerged as a bustling town with a was primarily centered around a afternoon, and all the townspeople roundhouse, offices, shops, stores, sawmill. Early East Hope property eagerly awaited its coming,”

36 IDAHO magazine Barbara Littlemore recalled in the Villard steamboat was a familiar oral history. “Standing on the first sight in Hope’s harbor. Owned by bench above the tracks, everybody the Northern Pacific Railroad, it watched the animal keepers lead was used for towing lumber and the elephants to the water a few supplies used in the construction feet away, where the big animals of the railroad. Other well-known enjoyed a bath, spraying the cold steamboats were the Blue Bell and water over themselves. Imagine the Antelope, which raced each seeing rhinocer- other on the lake os and bears— until the Antelope chained, of Everybody watched struck a rock and course—in the animal keepers sank. Lake Pend To attract pas- Oreille!” lead the elephants sengers, the rail- While rail- to the water a few road built a three- road and pack story luxury sum- train were com- feet away, where mer hotel, mon forms of they had a bath. Highland House, transportation in 1886, and pro- before the auto- moted it to well- mobile, Hope was also a busy port heeled Easterners as a comfortable for steamboats, which were an way to experience the West. An important means of transporting 1889 article in the Spokane Falls Stop& in mail, passengers, and lumber in Review promoted Hope as “the see us! the days before decent roads were Switzerland of America” and the IDAHO magazine has moved built around the lake. The Henry Highland House, “from the piazza to new offices in the historic Zurcher Building. Our new address is: 102 S. 17th St., Ste. 201 Boise, ID 83702

PHOTO COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, SANDPOINT MUSEUM, PHOTO HISTORICALSOCIETY COUNTY COURTESY BONNER You can still call us with your ideas and inquiries at: OPPOSITE LEFT: Hotel Hope, a 336.0653 restored version of Hotel Jeannot. or (800) 655.0563

OPPOSITE RIGHT: Hotel Jeannot, 1916. or mail us at: RIGHT: Hope school, now vacant. P.O. Box 586, Boise, ID 83701

©SEPTEMBER 2009 37 PHOTO COURTESY BONNER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, SANDPOINT MUSEUM, PHOTO HISTORICALSOCIETY COUNTY COURTESY BONNER

Another hotel was opened by the 1990s and now called the ABOVE: Children of Chinese work- Joseph M. Jeannot in 1898. Built Hotel Hope, the building still ers Louis and May Den. by Jeannot’s brother Louis and stands as a local landmark, OPPOSITE: David Thompson called the Hotel Jeannot, it although it is not currently in ser- Bicenntennial Conference replaced an earlier structure that vice as a hotel. attendees in traditional garb. had burned to the ground, and was In the 1890s, Chinese laborers said to have hosted its share of were brought in by the railroad, as luminaries, many as three of which a magnificent view is including In the 1890s, hundred at a time. obtained of Lake Pend d’Oreille Theodore Segregated from [sic], and forest clad mountains Roosevelt, Gary Chinese laborers white townspeo- rising almost perpendicular from Cooper, and were brought in by ple by barriers of the pebbly beach and distant peaks Bing Crosby. language, custom, joining the blue horizon line.” One Over the years a the railroad, as and racial preju- famous visitor to stay at Highland variety of other many as three dice, the Chinese House was the Civil War General businesses occu- lived mostly in an William T. Sherman. However, the pied the build- hundred at a time. area often hotel did not flourish as expected, ing, including a referred to as and was closed after a few years. butcher shop, a series of restau- “China House.” For the most part, The building later housed a school rants, and, reportedly, what some the men intended to work for sev- and a movie theater, and then was called a “club” and others called an eral years, amass some money, and torn down in 1944. “opium den.” Carefully restored in return to China. Since most didn’t

38 IDAHO magazine intend to settle permanently, old- discoveries at Chloride at the lower swept the lake, and many of the timers recall very few Chinese end of Lake Pend Oreille, some commercial buildings and homes women and children. In addition to early Hope residents were eager were destroyed in the flood. An working for the railroad, Chinese prospectors. “Men were always out article in the Hope Examiner residents grew and sold vegetables seeking for a fortune in gold or sil- reported that “the water was two and ran laundries. A man named ver,” wrote Laurie Anderson in an feet higher than ever known, it Twin Woo, who managed the unpublished history of the town, being almost up to the ties on the Chinese workers for the railroad, “but it never amounted to much.” tracks in the Hope railroad yards.” also owned a store, the Twin Woo Several fires in the 1890s and Today Hope remains a popular Company. There are remnants of a early 1900s caused substantial por- tourist destination, especially for Chinese cemetery in Hope, tions of the town to be rebuilt. In outdoor activities such as hunting, although some workers arranged for the early days buildings were gener- camping, fishing, and boating. One their bones to be returned to China ally flimsy, hastily erected, and key attraction of the area is Sam in the event of their deaths. prone to burning. Water, too, was a Owen Campground, a scenic camp- Encouraged by silver and gold hazard. In 1894 a violent storm ground with some eighty campsites,

profile The Man Who Gazed at Stars Little-Known Now, David Thompson Explored and Mapped Northern Idaho By Loy Ann Bell any people contributed to the early exploration and development of this Mcontinent, but none left a more significant mark on it than a man named David Thompson. The Hudson’s Bay/North West Company trapper, whose accomplishments included the establishment of Idaho’s first trading post, explored wherever he traded. Over his career he mapped more than 3.9 million square kilometers of North America, leaving reliable, detailed maps for Lewis and Clark and others who followed. He has been called the greatest land geographer who ever lived. During his explorations, David Thompson traveled over fifty- five thousand miles. His 1814 map, revised from all his surveys, measured six-and-a-half feet wide by ten feet long and accurate- ly showed the location of all North West Company trading posts. Encompassing 2,340,000 square miles from Lake Superior and Hudson Bay to the mouth of the Columbia River, it was so accurate that one hundred years later it was used as a basis for maps

PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO PHOTO issued by the Canadian government and the railways.

©SEPTEMBER 2009 39 PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO school near Westminster Abbey where he received a good good receiveda near he Westminsterwhereschool Abbey wasenrolled by his mother inthe historic Grey Coat charity he seven, Athis died.Welsh when father old years two only stars”.at gazed who man “the him called Indians the night, every instruments his through theIndians, feata initself. Because hestared at the heavens fare,guns, and horses, and did itwithout trading whiskey to war Indian Plains Northern on information first recordedthe Indiantribes ofthe United States and Lower Canada. Healso hismen. Hewas the first to trade with the northwestern by Idaho,and built wereThompson Montana Washington,and PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO 40 IDAHO magazine IDAHO 40 profile Bornin Westminster,England onApril 30, 1770, David was Thefirst trading posts west ofthe Continental Divide in

- excess against his future pay. Armed with his newvide instruments, him with surveying he instruments instead,pro tocompany and the but asked trainingThompson their pleted to charge any com- they when clothes of suit a with apprenticespresented HBC protection. Thompson’s apprenticeship endedright in eye, 1791. probably Usually, from observing the sun his of sight the withoutlost he time, this During House. Cumberland of proper eye longitude the formeasurement distance lunar measurement—a science.”the of excellentmaster an astronomyunder terbecameI Turnor’sonly assistant and thus learned practical pleasure,and win- pride the ever.with wrote later“During He David’schanged forlifelessons. opportunity the The in join to studya group offour men and invited the invalid Thompson today’s formed country,near AthabascaHe Jasper, the Alberta. thanten years. Turnorwas planning surveyinga expedition to more for HBC’s Turnor,surveyor the official been had who placea called Cumberland House, which was visited by Philip himwith permanenta limp. OctoberIn 1789, hewas living in bankand broke his leg, life-endangeringa accident that left cornerofHudson Bay. the on FactoryChurchill at Canada, in arrived he September in and London,from ship a on family,sailed his to goodbye said he May In chosen. those of one David was Thompson fourapprentices to goto America and fourteen-year-old tides.1784In the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) requested educationingeography, algebra, navigation, and learning the On February 1, 1790, David recorded his first navigational a down fellDavid year-old eighteen 1788, December In David encampment. Thompson the at taught ket-weavingwas BELOWOPPOSTIE: & businesses.lakefront of LEFT:One Hope’spicturesque Traditionalbas- - - a beach, and a boat launch. The five-dollar gold piece. They built geoning center for the arts. Several park was named for Sam Owen, a their home on the property and studios and galleries showcase Missouri native logged and works by local artists such as who, as a young farmed it. In Barbara Janusz, whose watercolor man in the Signs are that Hope 1940 the Owens landscapes are inspired by the 1880s, landed in is a burgeoning deeded thirty- area’s beauty. The picturesque Hope via stage- center for the arts. five acres of their lakeshore is dotted with marinas coach and a property to the and restaurants, including the Ice Northern Pacific Several studios and U.S. National House, the Floating Restaurant, work train. In galleries showcase Forest Service for the Hope Market Café, and 1895 Owen and a park that now Beyond Hope Resort, among oth- his wife, Nina, works by locals. bears his name, ers. The Hope Memorial acquired a and for the Community Center, a nonprofit homestead on a peninsula just David Thompson Game Preserve. organization founded in 1984, is south of Hope, reportedly for a Signs are that Hope is a bur- the heartbeat of the community.

profile

spent the next several ing Saleesh House on the Clark Fork River near today’s years exploring and trad- Thompson Falls, Montana. In 1811, he completed one of his ing in Canada. Surveying most significant accomplishments: ascertaining the entire and mapping became course of the Columbia River from its source at Columbia Lake his passions. to its mouth at the Pacific. The winter of Sadly, no likenesses of Thompson are available, and the 1796-97 marked a only description of him was given by a contemporary, J. J. momentous decision Bigsby, who met him at a North West Company dinner in for the trapper/explor- 1820. “He was plainly dressed, quiet and observant. His figure

PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO PHOTO er. The Hudson’s Bay was short and compact, and his black hair was worn long all Company placed a around and cut square, as if by one stroke of the shears, just strong emphasis on trade and discouraged him from spend- above the eyebrows. His complexion was of a gardener’s ing so much time on surveying and mapping, but David ruddy brown, while the expression of deeply furrowed fea- believed the surveying was important. He joined the rival tures was friendly and intelligent, but his cut-short nose gave North West Company (NWC) in 1797. About two years later, him an odd look. His speech betrayed the Welchman.” he married Charlotte Small, the daughter of a prominent NWC On August 24, 1812, Thompson retired to Montreal, survey- partner and his Indian wife. Theirs would be a deep, lasting ing the north shore of Lake Superior on his way east. He had love. She accompanied him on his travels, and bore him five of spent twenty-eight years in the Northwest, twenty-two of them their thirteen children in the wilderness. Thompson wrote, “My as a trained surveyor. At forty-two years of age, his great explo- lovely wife is of the blood of these (Cree) people, speaking ration was done. He arrived in Montreal a fairly well-to-do man. their language, and well educated in the English language, He’d been reasonably well-rewarded by the North West which gives me great advantage.” Company and looked forward to a comfortable retirement. In the spring of 1808, David followed the Kootenay River However, his later years were beset by economic misfor- into Montana and Idaho, near Bonner’s Ferry. The next year he tune. He financed two of his children in business ventures that returned, then continued south on horseback to Lake Pend bankrupted him. The North West Company and the Hudson’s Oreille, where his party started building Kullyspell House on Bay Company merged in 1821, but the HBC never forgave September 10. He spent the remainder of the fall and early Thompson for leaving in 1797. His survey data, including work winter exploring the vicinity, and ended the year by establish- he had done for the North West Company, were sent to map-

©SEPTEMBER 2009 41 The center hosts a daycare center and a number of concerts and events throughout the year. President Obama has said, “There has never been anything false about hope.” Obviously he wasn’t talking about the small town on Lake Pend Oreille, but the same sentiment applies. Hope is the real thing. If you find yourself in north Idaho, it’s well worth a visit.  PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO PHOTO

profile

maker Aaron Arrowsmith of London, which didn’t credit the explorer. Because of Thompson’s protests, the British foreign secretary finally paid him the paltry sum of one hundred fifty pounds to compensate him for the information. Maps and a completed atlas he had sent to the Foreign Office in 1843 were never returned or paid for. He eked out a living doing various surveying jobs while he continued to petition the government for recognition of his work. In 1846, when he was seventy-six, the vision in his sighted eye became so poor he could no longer work at surveying or mapping. He applied for a pension with the British government, but was denied.

PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO PHOTO Eventually, he had to sell all of his posses- sions, including his instruments, to support his family. He began writing his narrative, filling seventy-seven notebooks with his adventures. Washington Irving, the American author, tried to buy his forty-volume journal, but understandably, Thompson refused to sign an agreement that would not allow him full credit for the materials he’d gathered during his explorations. In 1857, with little credit for his accomplishments, David Thompson died blind, penniless, and in virtual obscurity. Charlotte, his faithful wife and companion, died three months later. They were buried side-by-side in

PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO PHOTO Montreal’s Mount Royal Cemetery. 

42 IDAHO magazine calendar of events

Hope PHOTO BY JENNIFER LAMONT LEO

MAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER OPPOSITE TOP: Hope volley- Every Friday during the warm months, a lively farmers’ market ballers raising funds. is held at the Hope Memorial Community Center. OPPOSITE BOTTOM: Scenes from the David Thompson NOVEMBER TO DECEMBER encampment. A Christmas giving program conducted through Hope ABOVE: The duo Folk Memorial Community Center has become a tradition. Remedy performing at the Hope Farmers’ Market. Donations of money or gifts for children and adults (new or “gently used,” no clothing) are accepted from the beginning of November. Contact the community center’s manager, Carolyn Speelman, at 264-5481, email [email protected], or send checks to PO Box 405, Hope, ID.

AUGUST 2010 The twenty-seventh annual Bodacious Barbecue will be held at the Hope Memorial Community Center next year, around the third week of the month.

©SEPTEMBER 2009 43 model behavior

She’s a Beauty In Pocatello, a Union Pacific Building Lures Train-Lovers to Model Heaven

Story and Photos by Dianna Troyer n the summer of 1878, north from the transcontinen- through the Fort Hall Idaho’s first locomotives tal railroad in Utah, and it Reservation. Both railways Ichugged through finally reached the gold mines were subsidiaries of Union Pocatello, their whistles of Montana in 1880. The Pacific, at one time Pocatello’s shrieking and wood smoke Oregon Short Line, heading largest employer. puffing from stacks. The west across Idaho from This history is celebrated in the Utah and Northern Railway’s Pocatello Junction, was grant- Union Pacific Railroad Building narrow-gauge track came ed a right-of-way in 1882 B-59 in downtown Pocatello, just a

44 IDAHO magazine model behavior

OPPOSITE: John Dingman keeps an eye on his train.

LEFT: Idaho’s only model railroad society in a working railroad building.

ABOVE: The tiny N gauge model. block from the tracks. From inside pany’s distinct yellow and red. But nine-year-old, Jenna. the building, the clang, rumble, and the main attraction is the model The little trains whir and hum screeching brakes of Union Pacific’s trains in a 3,000 square-foot layout along tracks winding over bridges, real trains can still be heard. The room that draws visitors like moths through tunnels, and past panoramic Herculean locomotives shudder as to a porch light on a summer night. paintings. A rare derailment or crash, they slowly gain momentum to pull As visitors stand in the lobby which can be particularly absorbing, is their long, heavy payloads. and decide what to look at first, usually fixed quickly. The society pays Building B-59, smiles of antici- tribute to Pocatello’s past with replicas now home to the pation slip across of historic railroad buildings along the Pocatello Model A rare derailment their faces, like layout, while in the present it capti- Railroad and or crash, which the half-moon vates kids of all ages and occupations Historical Society, shape of railroad with its many train models. does dual duty. can be particularly tracks sliding “We have it all,” says society The front 1,500 absorbing, is usually across southern president Larry Gilbreath, grinning square feet of the Idaho, which as he welcomes visitors and tells building are devot- fixed quickly. have given many them about the various scales: N ed to a museum, towns along the gauge, the smallest and similar in size with train memo- way, including to matchbox cars, G or garden gauge, rabilia and black-and-white photos of Pocatello, their reason for existing. the largest, and the gauges in steam locomotives and early railroad Building B-59 is the sort of place between, HO, O, and S. buildings in Pocatello. Along the where you always discover something The hospitable society members walls, long glass display cases feature you missed previously, no matter how not only have shared their models models of Union Pacific’s train many times you’ve visited. My family with the public since organizing twen- engines and cars painted in the com- has visited often at the urging of our ty-three years ago, but are always glad

©SEPTEMBER 2009 45 model behavior

to give tours for class field trips or scouting projects and to share their expertise. “We’ll help anyone who wants to learn about model trains, or has a problem with their train at home, or might want some advice on building a track layout,” Larry says. Society member Wayne Roderick’s enthusiasm is contagious when he says trains are toys for big boys and girls, entrancing kids of all ages. “I played trains with my son when he was young, and now I’m seventy-three, and we’re still playing with trains,” says Wayne, who has more time to play train since retiring as an electrical engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration at the Pocatello Regional Airport. For society members and visitors before Christmas. Attendance ranges the model trains inside the large layout such as my husband, Eric, the model from 100 to 140 at each holiday open room will eventually be guided along trains trigger childhood memories, house. In the lobby, “The Polar Express” the tracks by a centralized traffic control when they maneuvered their models is shown on TV. Admission is free, system. “It’s still under construction, and designed track layouts, and hours although donations are accepted. because we need a little more funding slipped away like minutes. Eric, like Many cities in Idaho have active and manpower to build about sixty other society members, still has his model railroad societies, but Pocatello’s wayside signals,” says Wayne, nicknamed childhood model train set, painstakingly is the only one located in a railroad the Resident Chief Engineer for his packaged in storage, ready to pass on to building still in electrical engineer- our daughter. active use. Union “My brother and I ing experience. “I’m sixty-one, so my train set is Pacific employees “The task fifty years old,” Larry says. gather in a room in shared a train set of remote switch “Mine is fifty-three years old and the building for that was made in control and the is an HO train,” pipes up sixty-three- training sessions. “It computer dis- year-old Ron Ferrel, society secretary. was once Union 1955,” John play that emu- John Dingman, fifty-eight, the Pacific’s crew dis- Dingman says. “It lates the old society’s vice president and treasurer, patch center,” Larry Union Switch tops the other two. “My brother and I says. “A past mem- still runs well.” and Signal CTC shared a Lionel train set that was made ber worked for the equipment that in 1955,” he says. “It still runs well.” railroad and negotiated an agreement was at Pocatello in years past is up Interest in the society’s model trains for us to be here. We have a great rela- and running,” Wayne says. “For peaks during the Christmas holidays. tionship with the railroad. We’ve been many years, Pocatello was the con- Open houses are held each Saturday here since 1999.” trol point for all railroad traffic for from after Thanksgiving to the Saturday Just like the life-sized trains outside, hundreds of miles in all directions.

46 IDAHO magazine model behavior

OPPOSITE: Trains whiz around the three thousand square-foot layout room.

RIGHT: Society president Larry Gilbreath shows a Union Pacific Railroad model.

Today, all of that activity is centered kids,” he says. “They like to follow her organizing formally in 1986, the at the UPRR Harriman Dispatch around the track. She’s a beauty,” he society members met through Center in Omaha.” says, adjusting the speed by turning a Wayne in the early 1970s. Replicas of Pocatello’s early rail knob on a handheld wireless radio “I built the HOA Teton Shortline yard have been built to tweak the control. “It’s the exact train that was in the basement of our newly con- imagination and transport people running in 1949,” says John, who structed house,” Wayne says. “It’s a back to an earlier era. “We finished researched the train’s history. mythical freelance railroad that goes the roundhouse and coal tipple,” Before moving to Pocatello and right through parts of Yellowstone and Wayne says. “The ice house and working for Union Pacific, John was Teton national parks. The newspaper wheel shop are under construction. a lever man for the Illinois Central ran a story about it, and I was inundat- The tie plant and the Ramsey in Chicago for twelve years. “Back ed with people who wanted to see it. I Transfer, where trains were moved then, you had to pull levers to met other model railroaders, and out of from the narrow gauge to the stan- switch trains to different tracks,” he that came this group. It’s still set up in dard gauge tracks, are in the plan- explains. He and other members my house, and even has a website, ning stages.” swap train stories, laugh and banter www.tslrr.com.” One of the most popular train with an easy camaraderie that comes Wayne says he notices an increas- models is John’s California Zephyr from decades-old friendships. The ing interest in model trains from Baby passenger train, its sleek silver passen- society has about eighteen members, Boomers who are retiring. “The kids ger coaches highlighted with green including four founding members— are gone, there’s a spare bedroom, and trim. “I can always tell where she is on Larry, Wayne, Ron and John now they have the time and money for the tracks by finding the throng of Griggs—who are still active. Before the hobby.” 

PHOTO BY LES TANNER

HIGHWAY

REVISITED

48 IDAHO magazine In Part I of my “Old Highway 95” odyssey, I described the little towns it went through, the hills it went around, the rivers it wound alongside. For most folks who drove the old highway, though, I’m sure it was the three hills they had to go up and down that they remember most—and possibly hated and feared. Descending those three hills—Winchester, Lewiston, and the south side of White Bird—was my goal for the next two days.

Part II: Sights Seldom Seen On a Road Less Traveled By Les Tanner

©SEPTEMBER 2009 49 I had spent the first night of my the new highway. It, too, traversed looking down and across at exactly trip in Winchester State Park. The the same nearly half-mile vertical what that early writer had next morning, I got up early to make distance, but it was definitely not described. Except for a few tight sure I could make it to that day’s the easy climb that the current turns near the top, the drive down destination: Moscow, the home of grade is. It wasn’t as short, either: the grade was not too bad, and it my friends Tom and Arlene Miller. I seventeen miles, as compared to sev- was scenic, as well. I encountered wanted to be there in plenty of time en-plus. The old Winchester grade no other traffic until I was near the for . . . . well, in time for dinner, if didn’t have all the twists and turns bottom. As with my other side you must know. As I was eating in it as did the Lewiston and White trips, I was seeing country that few breakfast, I noticed what appeared Bird grades, but someone who drove see these days. In a sense, I was to be fish rising in the lake a hun- the old highway suggested this may sorry I hadn’t ascended the grade dred feet or so down the hill from have been a disadvantage to truckers rather than descending it, though. where I’d camped. The water looked headed downhill. On the other two It would have given me a better too murky for that to be true, but I grades, they were forced to drive feeling of what travelers of old had suddenly found myself down by the slowly to negotiate numerous hair- to deal with. lake’s edge, fly rod in hand, and pin turns. On Winchester, they The grade ends at Culdesac, within minutes I had hooked, land- could relax a bit—and suddenly find where I got back onto the new ed, and released some small bass, themselves in serious trouble. highway and drove to Lewiston. I two bluegills, and a trout. stopped there to eat lunch and call My next order of business was to IDAHO: A Guide in Word home. I called the Millers, too, drive down the old Winchester Grade. and Picture (Caxton, 1937) making sure they’d set an extra Folks traveling U.S. 95 between describes what one sees from the top place at the table. As I did at Lewiston and Grangeville probably of the grade:“The Culdesac White Bird, I drove up the new notice the community of Culdesac [Winchester] Hill is one of the most Lewiston Grade, saving the old about a hundred yards to the east of impressive pictures in the State. Like grade for my trip home. the highway, at MP 291. They may the Lewiston [and] White Bird Hills, also see the sign a few miles farther it offers a remarkable panorama, In my search for information south announcing that Winchester [which] cannot be fully appreciated about “old 95,” one of my correspon- is a couple of miles west of the high- until the summit is reached and dents was Richard Weingroff, an way. Between the two lies a fairly vision turns back and downward. employee of the U.S. Department of long but not terribly steep grade, Down this mountain, farms are pic- Transportation in Washington, D.C. with passing lanes and no curves to turesquely landscaped for miles, lying A goldmine of information about the speak of. It follows Lapwai Creek steeply on either side of the highway U.S. highway systems, he was excep- from Culdesac (elevation 1,640) to from elbow to elbow. This is doubtless tionally generous in sharing it. In one the relative flatness at the top (ele- the best area in the State to show how of the informative email attachments vation 4,000). I don’t even know if completely cultivation has possessed he sent was a statement to the effect it has an official name, but I sup- many of the most difficult slopes . . .” that the Idaho portion of old U.S. 95 pose “New Winchester Grade” was contained entirely within the would be appropriate. To get to the grade, I drove state’s boundaries. I had heard or read Most likely very few travelers north through Winchester, past the that for a short way north of the are aware that anyone traveling sign pointing to the new U.S. 95, Lewiston hill, the highway jogged over between Culdesac and Winchester and continued on several miles, past into Washington for a couple of miles before 1960 would negotiate the farms and grain fields, until at last before returning to Idaho. Another original Winchester Grade, primari- the road turned to the west. Soon I surprise was that the U.S. ly because none of it is visible from found myself at the edge of a hill Government owns the roads and high-

50 IDAHO magazine RIGHT: Genesee streetscape.

BELOW: Looking west from the top of Winchester grade.

ways that pass through federal lands, such as military reservations and national parks, but all other U.S. high- ways are owned and maintained by the states through which they pass.

North of Lewiston hill, U.S. 95 PHOTOLES BY TANNER is now four lanes for several miles, but it returns to two lanes near Genesee, a mile or so east of the highway. I was ahead of schedule—I could have spent more time by spending the next few hours back to follow the old route—and fishing!—so I drove into town. I wandering around that part of the was glad I did. Again I was reward- was somewhat surprised to see a Palouse, so I drove back into town, ed by a drive through country that street sign at the east end of Main where the folks at city hall assured virtually no one sees any more. Street informing me I’d found “Old me that “Old Hiway 95” did eventu- There were some beautiful farm- Hiway [sic] 95.” I didn’t want to ally return to the main highway sev- steads along the way, and at one chance missing dinner at the Millers eral miles to the northwest. I went point, surrounded by trees, was a PHOTOLES BY TANNER

LEFT: Doug Schoeffler of Lewiston with a newer water trough.

ABOVE: The old concrete water trough on the Spiral Highway is gone. PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTESY DOUG SCHOEFFLER PHOTO

lovely white country church. The sign encourages folks who played in the brook or climbed I not only made it to the are not in a hurry to drive down trees and picnics were set out, per- Millers in time for dinner, but even the well-maintained roadway, so haps even on red-and-white check- was able to spend a few minutes in they can experience a model of ered tablecloths. an antique store looking for some- early highway engineering. I wasn’t, The concrete trough is no lon- thing for my wife. Bearers of gifts so I did. Two or three miles below ger there, but somebody had put are more likely than are non-bear- the summit, I came upon flowers much effort into making the spot a ers to be allowed to go fishing the affixed to a cross above a small welcome place to stop and rest. next time they ask. wooded glen. This appeared to be Flowers were planted here and I was now halfway through my more than just a wide spot in the there, and a white picnic table had trip, my next objective being to road, so I stopped to investigate. been placed along the brook. The descend the old Lewiston grade, An informational sign told me that sign contained the address of a which was where I headed the fol- the area, Water Trough Glen, was web site, which I decided to pur- lowing morning. According to a originally known as Cottonwood sue when I got home. [See “Water signboard at the top of the hill, Corner. The glen had been a well- Trough Glen” sidebar.] the old grade replaced the original known stopping place for cars and I made it safe and sound to the wagon trail in 1917. It is ten miles trucks that wound up and up—and bottom of the grade, learning as I long and descends 2,000 feet to up—along the Spiral Highway. A went why the Spiral Highway is so the west edge of Lewiston, the small brook flows along the bottom aptly named. I should have tra- lowest point in Idaho at some 780 of the glen, and someone once had versed this hill in the other direc- feet above sea level. The old grade constructed a concrete trough tion, too, to find out what it was was the only way up the hill until beside the road, into which water really like to drive U.S. 95 in the the new grade was completed in from the brook was piped. As men good old days. 1977. That’s sixty years of cars waited for engines to cool down I filled up the gas tank in and trucks grinding up, or inching enough to re-fill boiled-over radia- Lewiston, and headed for the last down, what is referred to on many tors, they would stand around com- big part of my sojourn: A drive maps as the Spiral Highway. plaining about the hill while kids down the old White Bird grade.

52 IDAHO magazine Water Trough Glen, A Place to Be I’m sure that most people who have traveled U.S. 95 have seen portions of the old grade that climbs from the On the Spiral Highway at the spot called Water Trough town of White Bird to the top of the hill. Maps of the Glen, I read an informational sign that not only con- old highway show lots of twists and turns. One stretch in tained photos—including one of the concrete water particular had eight hairpin corners in a row. I’ve been trough and another showing an aerial view of told that some of these switchbacks were so sharp that Cottonwood Corner—but also the name and web truckers would occasionally have to stop part way address of the property’s owner. When I got home to around, back up a ways, and then go forward again. Caldwell, I looked up the website was and found an Imagine the frustration of truckers who had to negotiate the grade, whether or not they had to do the forward- e-mail address. Over the next couple of days, I back-forward maneuvers, and the drivers behind them. exchanged e-mails with two gentlemen from Lewiston: Gordon Barrett of Caldwell, whose father was at Larry Tannahill, the owner of the property, and Doug one time an Idaho State Senator, and later the Idaho Schoeffler, a friend who helps him care for the site. State Treasurer, was born in Lewiston, and traveled old Here’s some of what I learned from them: 95 many times with his parents. He describes the car they had as a “bug,” meaning it hadn’t much room, so he — The cottonwood trees which were the source of the original had to ride scrunched up in the back. The car didn’t name have long since fallen, and locust trees have taken over. have much power, either, and often there was only one Over the years, other trees have been planted, too: apple, cedar, way to make it up one of the grades: his mother would maple, cottonwood, and cherry. Some have survived, but most get out, put a rock behind a rear wheel to keep the car haven’t. Last fall the eldest tree at the time was lost. from rolling backward, and then would walk alongside — When Mr. Tannahill first acquired the property, it was full of the car as it struggled to a point where the grade was litter and piles of refuse left by careless visitors. He and many shallow enough for her to ride again. friends, especially Doug Schoeffler, spent countless hours When I was planning my trip, I had mentioned cleaning up the place. its purpose to Anna Holden of White Bird. Anna — In their clean-up, they found several spots where visitors had has been a very helpful White Bird contact when my left mementos and markers in remembrance of favorite pets wife and I have been looking for information for that had been buried there. They decided they’d allow that IDAHO magazine’s monthly Calendar of Events, and practice to continue, and now the nickname Pet Cemetery has I thought she might have some inside scoop about become attached to it as well. the White Bird grade. She was standing in line at the Grangeville post office when the subject came up, — Larry Tannahill said he and his friends “have placed several and someone who was also waiting in line suggested donated picnic tables there over the years; some survive, some that Anna get me in touch with Virginia Adkison of become kindling.” He maintains a small home-care nursery to Grangeville, who grew up on a ranch adjacent to the raise flowers and shrubs and trees until they are big enough to old White Bird grade. live at the glen. I had made contact with Virginia on the first — Water Trough Glen has seen many hundreds of visitors, the leg of my journey, and arranged to meet her at her majority of whom have been respectful of the property and of home on my way back south. In preparation for my the efforts of his friends and other visitors to maintain it. There visit, Virginia dug through her things and came up have been weddings, and reunions, big and small picnics, chili with dozens of photographs relating to the town of feeds, bonfires, and family days there. But for many people, White Bird, the old grade, the construction of the Water Trough Glen is just a place to sit, and rest, and contem- new grade, and related topics. She also had some plate in silence. It is, in Tannahill’s words, a place “to be.” great stories to tell, some of them related to the

LEFT: “Old Highway 95” bridge over White Bird Creek

ABOVE: Traffic on Main Street, White Bird. PHOTO COURTESY OF VIRGINIA ADKISON OF COURTESY PHOTO

photographs and some that were rable accidents, too. In one, a truck south side of the river, the bridge memories of things she had experi- full of candy had missed a curve also was used by pedestrians and enced or knew about. and toppled over, spilling its con- animals. A story goes that as a She said perhaps a bigger prob- tents; in another, it was a fruit herd of cattle was being driven lem than trucks in the summertime truck. She said her brothers had a across the bridge, it began vibrat- was tourists, especially those from field day each time, filling their ing and finally collapsed into the parts of the country that lacked pockets with loot. She didn’t say river, with the cows, I assume. mountains and curvy roads. They whether she had participated in Among other photographs would invariably drive as slowly as these treasure hunts. Virginia had gathered was one of a possible, and as far away from the One of her photographs camp located on her grandfather’s edges of the road as they could, showed the “old bridge” over the property where a group of con- blocking traffic, since the road was Salmon River, just south of the victs—part of the crew working on only a lane-and-a-half wide in town of White Bird. (That bridge the highway through White Bird— many places. Often, they would wasn’t part of the old highway, were housed. Another shows stop altogether, afraid to go any however. Old 95 crossed the townspeople out for an afternoon farther, whereupon someone would Salmon River just once, at what is stroll near the site where a bridge take pity on them and drive their called the Time Zone Bridge, just over White Bird Creek was being car and its occupants the rest of the north of Riggins.) Besides carrying built. Others show roadwork being way up or down the hill. vehicular traffic across the Salmon done much farther south, where She related a couple of memo- to the farms and ranches on the highway construction was being

54 IDAHO magazine done along the Little Salmon River. have done if she knew she was Weiser and Grangeville and Virginia told me another story, being recorded. This time, the Cottonwood. Travel the Devil’s unrelated to the highway construc- recording was perfect—and was Elbow and the Fruitvale-Glendale tion, which involved her efforts to played not long afterwards, at her roads. Take a peek at what used to record conversations with her mother’s funeral. be Mesa. Visit White Bird and mother. She had spent a week with The rest of my trip followed Winchester. Take the “shortcuts” her mother, tape-recording their the new highway—except for a that were part of old 95 out of talks about old times and family detour to see if the fish were bit- Midvale and Genesee. And last but history. She didn’t discover until ing in Brownlee Reservoir (they certainly not least, navigate all the later that the machine had not were)—and I made it home with- old grades. picked up her mother’s words. Next out incident, tired but quite Make sure you take some pic- time, Virginia used a better record- pleased with all I’d done and seen tures, too—and spend a few min- er, but it was too sensitive, and the and learned. It was a lot of fun utes at Water Trough Glen, while noise of a clothes dryer running driving as much of the old route as you’re at it. When you’re done, you nearby drowned out everything else I could. I met some good folks, may feel as I do: it’s nice to have on the tape. learned much about the parts of “new 95” available if we have to get That’s not the end of the story. Idaho through which 95 runs, and from here to there in a hurry. But Virginia’s mother loved music. saw some country that I’m sure it’s also nice to slow down and One day, Virginia and her daugh- many of this magazine’s readers smell the roses once in a while. And ter secretly taped her mother play- have never seen. it gives us a better idea of what life ing the organ and singing, which If and when you can, drive in Idaho was like back in the good she almost certainly would not through downtown Payette and old days.  festival report

LEFT: Homemade eats were served at the Malad Valley Welsh Festival.

OPPOSITE: Knitting on sale.

OPPOSITE INSET: The flag of Wales. No Welsh Spoken Here Have Malad Valley Descendants of Wales Killed Their Ancestral Tongue?

Story and Photos by Pat McCoy Rohleder

t was a small wooden Maybe that’s why I heard virtually started up again in 2005. paddle on a string. Any no Welsh spoken last June in the small About the only signs of the child caught speaking town of Malad City, even though the Welsh language around town were a I area claims the largest per capita con- few banners bearing the word Welsh at school had to wear centration of people of Welsh ancestry “Croeso,” in bright red letters. it, no doubt hoping and pray- outside Wales. I was there for the Pronounced “CROY-so,” it means wel- ing to catch some other Malad Valley Welsh Festival, which come. I was disappointed. The Welsh schoolmate making the same revives an annual cultural arts event are very proud of their language, and mistake. That way, the known as the Eisteddfod (eye- fought hard to keep it alive. When the STETH-vud, with a hard “th” on that English started punishing children for unwieldy necklace could be double “d”), held in Wales for centuries. speaking it at school, the ancient passed on to the next offend- In the Malad Valley, the celebration Celtic (with a hard “C” if you’re er. Whoever wore it at the was held from the first arrival of Welsh Welsh, a soft “C” if you’re Scots, and end of the day got a spanking settlers in the mid-1800s until just don’t call it Gaelic, which is Irish) from the teacher. before World War I, and then was became the rallying point for their

56 IDAHO magazine festival report DICK LEE 802 N. Garden Boise, ID 83706 342-5578 email: dickleeartist @aol.com

nationalism. I heard it spoken in Wales when I traveled there in 1973, but I’ve heard estimates that Cal, Erlick & Merrick fewer than half the Advertising, D.C. Illustration Welsh in Wales still E.S. Drake, Boise speak Celtic, and most of that half speak English, too. Illustration In Malad City, I attended a couple of talks on the his- Gallaudet College, tory of Wales itself, and of the settlement of the valley. I National Deaf Mute ended up pronouncing a few Welsh words for the speak- College, D.C. Illustration ers–as almost the only one in the room who could do it— Marine Technology but I added a disclaimer. I know only a half-dozen sen- Society, D.C. tences and phrases in Welsh. My family history has it that Exhibit design my great-great grandfather put his foot down upon arriv- Steele, Stoltz & ing in what was then the Utah and Idaho territories. “We Associates, Boise are in America now, and we will be Americans,” John J. Illustration Jones supposedly said. “We will speak English.” Washington Post, D.C. Layout design While my family didn’t settle around Malad City, the ILLUSTRATION + DESIGN ©SEPTEMBER 2009 57 festival report

LEFT: Barry Howard of Pleasantview shows a hackamore he handmade.

ABOVE: Patchwork quilts at the festival. same attitude toward speaking few of them spoke the language, even have told me young men are expected English apparently motivated the early though it is very difficult to learn. There to be able to write and recite poetry, Welsh settlers in that area. They con- were also few signs of Welsh culture in box, and sing. The Welsh are said to tinued the paddle-and-necklace cus- the craft fair in the park. Plenty of arti- have invented four-part harmony tom of trying to stamp it out that they sans were there selling the sorts of around 400 A.D., a good four centu- had known in their homeland before homemade items one often sees at ries before the rest of the world dis- emigrating to the New World. small town fairs, but where were the covered it. Welsh pioneers founded It’s certainly not hard to believe that weavers? The Welsh were famous for and formed the basis of the famous Malad City residents are of Welsh their complex weaving. There was Mormon Tabernacle Choir. ancestry. Friendly and welcoming, they some knitting, though, another craft Despite all this, I still think small gave their names as Jones, Williams, the Welsh were famous for. town festivals celebrating cultural her- Evans, or other obviously Welsh sur- Perhaps if I had been able to stay itage are fun. If you’re interested, keep names. While not all Welsh names end for the music festival that evening, I an eye on www.welshfestival.com for in “s,” it can be safely said that all English might have found what I was looking news of next year’s Eisteddfod. This names ending in “s” are originally Welsh. for. The Welsh are justifiably famous was my first visit, but I hope it won’t But it was a disappointment to find that for music. Friends who grew up there be the last. 

58 IDAHO magazine BUY LOCAL: apples apple juice apricots asparagus beans beef blueberries bread brown sugar butter cherries chocolate corn cottage cheese cucumbers eggs recipe eggplant contest elk meat sh goat products grapes ENTER YOUR FAVORITE RECIPE IN THE 2009 IDAHO magazine RECIPE CONTEST! greens green beans Rod Jessick, executive chef at the ve-star Coeur d’Alene Resort, and a panel of top Idaho chefs will herbs judge the entries. We’re awarding cold, hard cash plus an assortment of top-notch cooking products honey ice cream to the winning entrants. Winning recipes will be published in future issues of IDAHO magazine. jellies legumes At least one ingredient in each recipe must be an Idaho Preferred™ product. lettuce Please visit www.idahopreferred.com for a list of local products. melons milk nectarines Thanks for participating and good luck! onions organic peaches peppers pepper soy sauce plums Name: pork CATEGORIES: poultry Address, City, State, Zip: Entrée (main course) potatoes Phone: pumpkins Dessert raspberries Email: sour cream General (breads, salads, appetizers, soups, or sugar whatever strikes your fancy) Recipe Title: (Use additional sheets if necessary) squash strawberries ENTRY FEE: Idaho Preferred Product/s used: (List for each recipe) tomatoes Subscribers: $10 rst entry  One-year subscription $31.75  Two-year subscription $57.24  Recipe Entry Only tortillas $ 5 each additional entry turkey $ Entry fees total  Check enclosed  Charge my credit card whipping cream Nonsubscribers: $10 per entry wines PRIZES: Visa or MC#: Expiration Date: yak meat yogurt Category winners: $50 + $50 in cooking products Cardholder's Name: and much more! Overall winner: $100 + $150 in cooking products Address, City, State, Zip: *Receive one FREE entry when you order a new subscription! Phone:

Send contest entries and entry fees to: IDAHO magazine Recipe Contest, P.O. Box 586, Boise, ID 83701- 0586 Deadline: 4 / 30 recipe contest

Mustard Pizza By Kenzie Dains & Jessie Harrelson

INGREDIENTS CRUST: 1 cup warm water 1 pkg. yeast 1 tsp. White Satin© sugar 1 tsp. salt 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 2 1/2 cups flour

PREPARATION > Add yeast to warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in sugar, salt and oil. Add 2 cups flour and beat until smooth. Turn out onto a lightly floured board. Knead in additional flour until smooth. > Place in a greased bowl. Cover. Let rise in a warm place, free of draft, until doubled in bulk, 30-45 minutes.

INGREDIENTS PIZZA TOPPING: 1 cup liquid mustard 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese 1 cup sauerkraut 4 oz. pepperoni

PREPARATION > Preheat oven to 425º F. Lightly oil a baking pan and dust with corn meal. > Punch dough down and press out with hands on a baking sheet. (A little shortening on your finger tips will help.) > Mix mustard and mayonnaise together and spread on dough. Top with sauerkraut and pepperoni. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes or until the crust is brown and cheese is bubbly. Cut and serve immediately.

Kenzie Dains and Jessie Harrelson attend Central Academy in Meridian.

60 IDAHO magazine recipe contest

Vanilla Caramel Brownies By Austin Pickett & Matt Olsen

INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cups flour 2 cups White Satin© Sugar 1 tsp. salt 1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup Meadowgold© butter 4 eggs 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 16 caramel squares caramel syrup for topping

PREPARATION > Preheat oven to 350º F. > Grease 13” x 9” pan. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl then stir in wet ingredients. > Mix until consistency of thick batter. Place batter in greased pan. Place caramel squares on top of batter. > Bake in oven for 40 to 60 minutes or until top is golden brown. Top with caramel syrup and serve hot.

Austin Pickett and Matt Olsen attend Central Academy in Meridian.

10th LAST BLAST on the GRASS Hagerman, September 19

This popular car show and swap meet is held in the Hagerman City Park, and is free to spectators. Over 150 cool cars and jaunty jalopies (I hope the owners will forgive me for those names) are expected to be on display and in action. Vehicle registration is at 8:00 AM, with the Show & Swap running from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. PHOTOCOMMERCEHAGERMANOF CHAMBER COURTESY OF From 1:00 to 3:00, vehicles will take part in a fun run, and at 4:30 there will be a “burn-out” session, followed by a cruise. A “Parking Lot Dance” is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM. Information: [email protected]; or call (208)837.6613

BBQ Days Blues in Lumberjack Days September the Park September 17-20, Orofino 4-7, Kamiah September 12, Everyone is invited to help celebrate the history and In 1936, Hagerman heritage of lumberjacks and the timber industry at the a group of The headliner for the 7th 62nd anniversary of Lumberjack Days. Loggers come from community- annual “Blues in the Park” all over the world to engage in competitions that include minded citizens will be Eddie Shaw and the birling, axe throwing, tree climbing, and power and hand- decided to offer Wolfgang. Eddie was the saw sawing at an event that first took place on September a free barbecue 2006 and 2007 winner of the 28, 1947. A partial schedule of events includes the Kiddie

dinner as a way SCOTT “SCOTTY” OF COURTESY PHOTO “Instrumentalist Horn” Blues Parade (12:00 noon Friday); Main Parade (10:00 AM Sat- of saying “Thank Music Award. Also returning urday); Auction (12:30 Saturday); Skidding & Truck Driving You!” to area resi- by popular request is Lori B! The event, which will also feature (4 PM Saturday); Horse Pull (6:30 PM Saturday); and Log dents for their great food and beverages, will be held in the beautiful outdoor Show and Contests (10 AM Sunday). There will also be a

PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTESY KAMIAH CHAMBER OF PHOTO COMMERCE patronage. The venue of Billingsley Creek State Park, north of Hagerman, from carnival there from Thursday through Sunday. Kamiah Chamber 2:30 to 8:30 PM. Admission is $10, with children under 12 free. of Commerce has carried on the tradition for more Information: www.orofinolumberjackdays.org; than 70 years now, organizing and sponsoring nearly Information: www.hagermanidea.org; or (208)837.4522 or (208)476.3412 every aspect of the Labor Day weekend affair. Today, thousands of residents, former residents, and visitors Salmon Marathon Idaho State Draft Horse Show take part in BBQ Days every year. Events and activities September 12, Salmon September 24-27, Sandpoint this year include Kamiah High School JV and Varsity This year’s race is being sponsored by the Salmon Valley “Feel the earth shake as the teams and wagons rumble football games, and a downtown Teen Dance & Kara- Chamber of Commerce, the City of Salmon, the community, by the bleachers. Visit the barns and get up close and oke (on Friday), Arts and Crafts shows, a Quilt Show, a and local non-profit groups. The race is a fast, scenic, point- personal with these gentle giants.” Sounds neat, doesn’t horseshoe tournament, the Grand Main Street Parade to-point run which begins at Tendoy and ends at Island it? The program for the event, which is to be held at the and a Kiddie Parade (11:00 AM on Saturday), and the Park in Salmon. (For the history buffs who don’t already Bonner County Fairgrounds, is varied: watch the pulling FREE barbecue dinner from 5:00-7:00 PM Saturday af- know, Tendoy is the birthplace of Sacajawea, the Agaidika- competitions where burly horses pull sleds loaded with ternoon. Also, on Saturday night there will be a Street Shoshone woman who, with her infant child, accompanied piles of cinder blocks, and see the women, all dressed to Dance, and on Sunday at 5:00 PM, the C of C will play Lewis and Clark on their “Journey of Discovery”.) The course the nines in old-timey equestrienne gear, drive lightweight a softball game against the Selway Barflys. of the race follows the Old Lemhi Road as it winds along carts. You can also enjoy driving classes, farm classes, ju- the Lemhi River west into Salmon. There it crosses the nior and senior drives, and the final event: the magnificent Information: www.kamiahchamber.com; Salmon River at the end of Main Street and to the finish eight-horse class. or (208)935.2290 line in Island Park. Information: www.idahodrafthorseshow.com; Information: www.salmonmarathon.com; or (208)756.2100 or (208)687.1831

62 IDAHO magazine september 1 - october 10/2009 idaho calendar of events SEP 13 AW4D Rodeo Fall Finale, Filer OCT TBA Fall Heritage Festival, Rathdrum 13 Show & Shine Car Show, Harrison TBA Snowmobile Swap/Spag. Dinner, Priest Lake 1 Grays Lake Rodeo, Wayan 13-19 Boat Show, Coeur d’Alene TBA Run/Walk w/Big Dogs, Pocatello 1-8 ICHA Futurity/Aged Event, Nampa 17-20 Latah County Fair, Moscow 1 Craters of the Moon Events, Arco 1-10/31 Fall for Boise, Boise 17-20 Lumberjack Days, Orofino 1 Community Concert, Burley 2-7 Twin Falls Co. Fair/Rodeo, Filer 17-20 Big Nasty Hill Climb, New Plymouth 1 Light the Night for Leukemia, Boise 4 Air Force 5-Miler, Mountain Home 18-19 ISU Roundup Rodeo, Pocatello 2-3 Fall Into the Holidays, Pocatello 4-6 BBQ Days, Kamiah 18-19 Car Show & Swap Meet, Hagerman 2-3 Harvest Street Fair, Emmett 4-6 Main Street Antique Show, Hailey 18-20 Got h’ART Festival, Hayden Lake 2-4 Challenge Bike Ride, Ketchum 4-6 Art & Antique Show, Ketchum 18-20 Idaho Charity Fair, Boise 3 ‘Hello Dolly’ Doll Show, Caldwell 4-6 Heritage Days, Spirit Lake 18-20 Mtn.Mamas Quilt Festival, Stanley 3 Fall Harvest Fest., Mountain Home 5 Climbing Wksp/City of Rocks, Almo 18-20 Hyde Park Street Fair, Boise 3 Art from the Heart, Coeur d’Alene 5 Walk to Cure Cyst.Fibr., Twin Falls 19 Health & Wellness Fair, Sandpoint 3 Beginners Triathlon, Nampa 5 Spud-Run, Rupert 19 Hidden Springs Duathlon, Boise 3 Harvest Run/Walk, Challis 5 Hidden Springs Kids Race, Boise 19 Idaho Spud Day, Shelley 3 Oktoberfest in the Park, Harrison 5 Hidden Spr. Sch. Daze Run, Boise 19 Fall Trail Ride/City of Rocks, Almo 3 Oktoberfest, Bonners Ferry 5-6 Coaster Classic Car Show, Athol 19 Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Shelley 3 Mud Bog, Weiser 5-6 Wooden Boat Show, Priest Lake 19 Mackay BBQ, Mackay 3-4 Bonner County Bazaar, Sandpoint 5-6 Air Force Apprec. Day, Mt. Home 21-10/12 Fall Foliage Island Tour, Sandpoint 3-4 Sum./Fall Barrel Racing, Gooding 5-6 Perrine Bridge Festival, Twin Falls 24-26 Women’s Fitness Celeb., Boise 3-4 Got Milk Finale Rodeo, Gooding 5-7 Wagon Days Celebration, Ketchum 24-27 Idaho International Film Fest, Boise 3-31 IMAG Juried Art Show, Garden City 5-7 Meadow Valley Days, New Meadows 24-27 Latah County Fair, Moscow 4 City of Trees Marathon, Boise 5-7 Paul Bunyan Days, St. Maries 24-27 Draft Horse/Mule Show, Sandpoint 4 Walk for Breast Cancer, Boise 5-12 Eastern Idaho State Fair, Blackfoot 24-27 Nez Perce County Fair, Lewiston 4 Oktoberfest, Priest River 6 Dry Rot Breakfast, Priest Lake 25-26 Lion’s Rodeo, Meridian 4-5 Festa Italiana, Coeur d’Alene 6 Wooden Boat Parade, Priest Lake 25-28 International Film Festival, Boise 9 Gallery Walk, Sun Valley 6 Music From Stanley, Stanley 26 Oktoberfest Street Party, Pocatello 9 Barrel/AW4D Barrel Race, Emmett 6 McCall Lake Runs, McCall 26 Bob Firman Cross Country, Boise 9 Pat McManus Show, Sandpoint 7 Free Concert in Park, Coeur d’Alene 26 Celtic & Highland Games, Boise 9-11 Canyon County Fall Show, Nampa 9-13 Lewiston Roundup, Lewiston 26 See Spot Walk, Boise 9-11 Fall Harvest Fest., Mountain Home 10-11 Art Show & Silent Auction, Riggins 26 Harvest Classic Run, Nampa 9-11 Trail. of the Sheep, Hailey/Ketchum 11 Opera in the Plaza, Coeur d’Alene 26 Baldy Hill Climb, Ketchum 10 Opera in the Plaza, Coeur d’Alene 11 Jazz in the Park, Boise 26 Oktoberfest, Post Falls 10 Celtic Harp Concert, Sandpoint 11-12 Harvest Party, Sandpoint 26 Crop Walk, Heyburn 10-11 ISHSA Judges Clinic, Nampa 11-12 Thunder Over Nampa, Air Mus., Nampa 26-27 Endurance Festival, Pocatello 10-11 Crafts in the Country, Twin Falls 11-13 Art in the Park, Boise 26-27 Thous. Springs Fest., Hagerman 10-11 Plein Air Art Event, Sandpoint 12 Blues in the Park, Hagerman 26-27 Lions Rodeo, Meridian 10 Oktoberfest, Sandpoint 12 Endurance Festival, Pocatello 27 Race for the Cure, Coeur d’Alene 10 Celtic Harp Concert, Sandpoint 12 Charity Ride, Lava Hot Springs 29 Minit. Bull Riding Finals, Pocatello 12 Indian Creek Run/Walk, Caldwell 12 Run with Animals, Boise Do you have a special event in your town? Send us the vital information, and 12 Family Fun Day, Fruitland we’ll make sure friends and neighbors across the street and across the state 12 Air Force Apprec. Day, Mt. Home know about it. All functions must be free to the public or darn cheap. Events 12 Art by the Pond, Rathdrum charging admission fees are welcome to purchase ad space. 12 Kootenai River Ride, Bonners Ferry DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: The first of the month preceding the month 12 Rim to Rim Walk/Run, Twin Falls of the event. Example: deadline for a March event would be February 1. 12 Car Show/Blackberry Fest., Juliaetta WRITE TO: IDAHO magazine Calendar of Events 12-13 Pygmy Goat Show, Boise P.O. Box 586, Boise, ID 83701 12-13 Sagebrush Arts Fest., Pocatello Fax: (208) 336.3098 12-13 Cycle Challenge, Coeur d’Alene 12-10/31 Scarecrow Stroll, Bot.Gard, Boise e-mail: [email protected]

writes primarily about regional forty-six, to get a college edu- history, culture, and business. cation. She has been a wait- She is co-author of Hanover ress, a firefighter, has installed Harvesters: A Pictorial History fire sprinklers, and worked for and has been published in sev- horse trainers. She moved to eral magazines. Indian Valley from California in 1992 with all her belongings in a horse trailer. Her work has been published in various Loy Ann Bell Elora Ramirez magazines and newspapers. Dianna Troyer lives in Jerome. Her articles have resides in Austin, Texas, with Lisa has two grown children discovered her love of writing in been published in eight horse her husband and dog. She and six grandchildren. fourth-grade, when she worked magazines in the US and one in believes in the magical power on her school newspaper. Since England. She’s currently complet- of story, and lives for her hus- then, she has worked at news- ing a mystery, The Horse She band’s outstanding cooking. A papers in Ohio, Wyoming and Rode Out On, and compiling a teacher of high school English Idaho. In 1999 after her daugh- short story anthology, Stories Rob Lundgren for five years, she has yet to ter was born, she quit working with a Western Flavor. She’s also likes to explore interesting find a classroom full of teenag- at the Idaho State Journal as working on a nonfiction book, places within the Gem State ers who haven’t gone hog-wild regional editor and began free- Personalities and Events of Idaho. and the West. An Idaho resi- over her adventurous stories lancing. In her spare time, she dent since 1974, he teaches from Idaho summers. rides her horse, skis and plays part-time at Homedale High gin rummy with her husband School and lives in Meridian Vicki Smith and daughter. with his wife and two cats. is a fifth-generation Idahoan with degrees in education from the University of Idaho and the College of Idaho. Her husband Dale made the Air Force his career, so with their two children they lived in seven states Tom Davenport and two foreign countries, but is an award-winning photogra- Pat McCoy Rohleder always considered Idaho their pher and writer in Hayden. is a native Idahoan who wrote home. Now retired, they live on Photography as a second career for newspapers in Idaho, Utah, the family ranch in King Hill. Where have you been? allows him to share things he Angela I. Nielson Texas, and Oregon during her IDAHO magazine encourages local loves with those who might is a freelance writer and pho- forty-year career. She self-pub- writers to consider the challenge not get to see them first-hand. tographer who writes a humor lished a book, Shelby County of writing our Spotlight stories. The need for conservation, the column for the Preston Citizen. Sampler, a history of Shelby Each month, IM features a different value of tradition, and an She prints photo note cards to County, Texas. Now retired, she’s Idaho city or town, detailing its history understanding of history are sell at craft fairs. Born and freelancing and pursuing the from its founding up to the present priorities in his work. needle arts, including making day. Our past stories have been done raised on a poultry farm in by individuals or groups. Why not get Caldwell, she currently resides bobbin lace. your family and friends together and in Preston. An avid journalist, give us the history of YOUR town? she also enjoys biking, read- Tell us your stories! ing, and works as a profes- Les Tanner sional barber. retired from teaching at College *SPOTLIGHTS on our schedule: Aberdeen McCammon of Idaho in 1996. He and Ruby Albion Oakley have been married for more Dubois Richfield than fifty years, and have two Kuna Rock Creek children and three grandchil- Lucile Spirit Lake dren. Les fishes, writes, gardens, Jennifer Lamont Leo and plays racquetball (to avoid FOR DETAILS CONTACT: grew up in Illinois and has lived Lisa Shine doing chores around the house). Steve Bunk, Managing Editor in Cocolalla since 2006 with her is a Licensed Master Social His normal attire is less formal [email protected] husband, Thomas. A freelance Worker who went back to than that shown in the photo. writer and history buff, she school in 1998, at the age of • If your town isn’t on the list and you’re interested in telling us about its history, let us know. 64 IDAHO magazine We need your help.

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS Become a part of our history project by sponsoring online issues of IDAHO magazine.  $28,000 — “Full Title” Sponsor For 10 cents per student per issue for each of Idaho’s current students, we will post IDAHO magazine onto Full opening page ad or acknowledgment our website and the Idaho Communities Libraries website. The history and heritage of Idaho they contain  $15,000 — Platinum sponsor will be available to students, teachers–and everyone who loves Idaho–permanently. 1/2 opening page ad or acknowledgement, shared Your sponsorship provides every student now enrolled in the state of Idaho a quality publication that will: Levels below: Inclusion in a list acknowledgment • Inform and entertain • Help teachers educate students • Last a lifetime  $10,000 — Diamond  $7,500 — Golden • Give Idahoans of all ages an opportunity to publish their stories and photos  $5,000 — Garnet  $1,000 — Patron • Give Idaho’s small towns a chance to shine along with the big ones. • Give Idaho the polished image it deserves  $______Amount of your choice Pencils cost more than a dime. You could get a couple of sheets of paper, but you can’t buy a book, CD, video, or a Thank you for your generous donation. multi-volume book. For only $9.60 we can provide the first eight years of IDAHO magazine for one student. Please call for donation details: 336.0653 or (800) 655.0653 Make a permanent donation to future generations. You sponsor the magazines for the kids, and we’ll include the rest of the world. Call Kitty Fleischman regarding deductible 501(c)(3) donations: at 336.0653 or 1 (800) 655.0653

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