History Of Oneida County
Pioneer Museum | Samaria | Legends | Cemetery | Welsh Heritage
Oneida County was formed in 1864. The name, an Indian word for a member of an Iroquoian tribe once in New York State, was chosen by the legislature because some of the early settlers were from Oneida, New York. Soda Springs was designated to be the county seat. Brigadier-General Patrick Edward Connor had laid it out the previous summer, 1803. With three companies of soldiers, and some families of Morrisites, he established Fort Connor, and created the first hotel and general store. However, treaties with the Bannock and Shoshone Indians in the fall of 1863 brought about by the presence of troops made travel along the Oregon Trail safe for the first time. As immigration dwindled,, the strategic importance of the military post declined. A bill of the Territorial Legislature passed on January 5 1866 moved the county seat to Malad City. For two years the county government was maintained in the upper level of Connor’s adobe hotel in Soda Springs.
The valley was visited between 1818 and 1821 by Donald McKenzie, a French-Canadian, and his party of trappers associated with the Northwest Company. Legend says that the name “Malade” was given to the largest stream by some of these trappers, either because they were made sick by drinking the alkaline water, or because they ate food that was tainted by the water. The word is French for bad water, or sickness.
Jim Bridger, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company may have passed through the valley in 1832 as a guide to Captain Benjamin Bonneville. The first colonists to pass through, in 1885, were a group of LDS missionaries going to establish Fort Lemhi. An early freight road crossed the Malad valley and went to the Bannock valley, but after settlement began the Portneuf rout was used by way of Marsh Valley. Much traffic still continued to cross the Malad valley. One of the best-known roads was the Oneida Wagon Road, from Malad to Blackfoot. It was operated on a toll basis by William Murphy, and later by H.O. Harkness. Old settlers still recall the bandits who repeated robbed the stage of god being shipped to Salt Lake City from the Mines in Montana.
In 1854 the Waldron family, LDS converts from England settled the lower valley, and probably helped in building the old Malad Fort near Portage, Utah. However Indian hostilities around 1860 drove them back to Utah. No further attempt to colonize was made until 1864, when seven men and boys from Utah began to irrigated farming community where the present Malad City now stands. Benjamin Thomas built the first house, made from willows and mud. His son David was the first white Child born in the settlement. By 1886 Malad City was the fastest growing village in eastern Idaho.
The first Cemetery was on Hungry Hill, but was moved because it was polluting the water. Early stores, besides that of Henry Peck, were operated also by A.W. Vanderwood, Joseph W. Morgan, and the LDS Church. The building for the business of the LDS church still stands to this day as the Evans Co-op.
Oneida County was formed in 1864. The name, an Indian word for a member of an Iroquoian tribe once in New York State, was chosen by the legislature because some of the early settlers were from Oneida, New York. Soda Springs was designated to be the county seat. Brigadier-General Patrick Edward Connor had laid it out the previous summer, 1803. With three companies of soldiers, and some families of Morrisites, he established Fort Connor, and created the first hotel and general store. However, treaties with the Bannock and Shoshone Indians in the fall of 1863 brought about by the presence of troops made travel along the Oregon Trail safe for the first time. As immigration dwindled,, the strategic importance of the military post declined. A bill of the Territorial Legislature passed on January 5 1866 moved the county seat to Malad City. For two years the county government was maintained in the upper level of Connor’s adobe hotel in Soda Springs.
The valley was visited between 1818 and 1821 by Donald McKenzie, a French-Canadian, and his party of trappers associated with the Northwest Company. Legend says that the name “Malade” was given to the largest stream by some of these trappers, either because they were made sick by drinking the alkaline water, or because they ate food that was tainted by the water. The word is French for bad water, or sickness.
Jim Bridger, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company may have passed through the valley in 1832 as a guide to Captain Benjamin Bonneville. The first colonists to pass through, in 1885, were a group of LDS missionaries going to establish Fort Lemhi. An early freight road crossed the Malad valley and went to the Bannock valley, but after settlement began the Portneuf rout was used by way of Marsh Valley. Much traffic still continued to cross the Malad valley. One of the best-known roads was the Oneida Wagon Road, from Malad to Blackfoot. It was operated on a toll basis by William Murphy, and later by H.O. Harkness. Old settlers still recall the bandits who repeated robbed the stage of god being shipped to Salt Lake City from the Mines in Montana.
In 1854 the Waldron family, LDS converts from England settled the lower valley, and probably helped in building the old Malad Fort near Portage, Utah. However Indian hostilities around 1860 drove them back to Utah. No further attempt to colonize was made until 1864, when seven men and boys from Utah began to irrigated farming community where the present Malad City now stands. Benjamin Thomas built the first house, made from willows and mud. His son David was the first white Child born in the settlement. By 1886 Malad City was the fastest growing village in eastern Idaho.
The first Cemetery was on Hungry Hill, but was moved because it was polluting the water. Early stores, besides that of Henry Peck, were operated also by A.W. Vanderwood, Joseph W. Morgan, and the LDS Church. The building for the business of the LDS church still stands to this day as the Evans Co-op.
Early settlers in the Malad Valley
Before Idaho became a territory in 1863 and before Oneida County was formed in 1864, there were people moving into the Malad Valley.
After members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled in the Salt Lake City area in 1847, colonists started moving into other areas in the Great Basin. Many groups were searching for pasture for their livestock. Brigham Young, the President of the Church at that time, began a concerted effort to expand the settlement of the members of his church. In the early 1850’s, settlements were developed in other parts of Utah.
President Brigham Young came to southern Idaho in June of 1855, where he reported good grass and wheat lands in the Bear River and Malad Valleys.
As reported by Glade Howell in his thesis entitled “Early History of Malad Valley” written for the Department of History, Brigham Young University, he told of a second trip to the Malad Valley in 1857 by President Young when he wrote, “Malad Valley north of Bear River, has been considered a pretty desolate, cold, hard, sterile valley. It was so looked upon by us, as we passed through it on our way north. At the same time we considered it a tolerably good grazing country, and that people could possibly live there. But after we had traveled over the basin rim into Bannock Valley, descending a mountain beside the one we called Big Mountain is a mole hill, down through the little Bannock Valley on to Shanghi Plain and traveled northeasterly and northwesterly almost in a semicircle to Spring Creek, then up Spring Creek over to Salmon River and wended our way down that stream through the swamps and willows and climbed over the points of the bluffs to keep from being mired, and had paid our brethren a visit and returned again to Malad Valley, it looked to us like one of the most beautiful valleys that any person had ever beheld, while before this experience we thought nobody could live there and I expect that if we had gone a few hundred miles north, it would have looked still better.”
In 1855, fifteen families led by Ezra Barnard, settled on the east side of the Malad River on the south end of the Malad Valley, which was called Oregon Springs. Again quoting Howell, he said that some of the other settlers were, “Daniel and James Stewart, A. B. Hill and James Frodsham. Emmeline Waldron and Amelia Frodsham were the only women in the first party. Emmeline Eliza Waldron, the daughter of Emmeline Waldron, was the first white child born in the Malad Valley, on October 9, 1856, at what is now East Portage.”
The settlers constructed an adobe fort on about one acre of ground. On the inside of the fort they dug cellars and erected log homes. The settlement had to disband in 1858 because of problems with the Indians.
Emmeline (or Emeline) Waldron and her children later returned to the Malad Valley and settled in Samaria in 1870.
In 1863, A.W. Vanderwood became the first permanent settler in the Malad Valley, He also settled in what was called East Portage, on the east side of the Malad River where the East Portage schoolhouse was later built. The place was called Mt. Springs, and Vanderwood kept the mail station there.
The same thing that brought early colonists to the Malad Valley earlier brought Henry Peck to the Malad Valley, the abundant valley grasses. In the beginning, Henry Peck and Judson L. Stoddard were partners in a livestock business and established a ranch opposite the present site of Portage.
But then the rest is history, and Peck, along with his sons and a group of settlers, came to the site of the original Malad City Townsite in 1864 to make their permanent settlement.
Before Idaho became a territory in 1863 and before Oneida County was formed in 1864, there were people moving into the Malad Valley.
After members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints settled in the Salt Lake City area in 1847, colonists started moving into other areas in the Great Basin. Many groups were searching for pasture for their livestock. Brigham Young, the President of the Church at that time, began a concerted effort to expand the settlement of the members of his church. In the early 1850’s, settlements were developed in other parts of Utah.
President Brigham Young came to southern Idaho in June of 1855, where he reported good grass and wheat lands in the Bear River and Malad Valleys.
As reported by Glade Howell in his thesis entitled “Early History of Malad Valley” written for the Department of History, Brigham Young University, he told of a second trip to the Malad Valley in 1857 by President Young when he wrote, “Malad Valley north of Bear River, has been considered a pretty desolate, cold, hard, sterile valley. It was so looked upon by us, as we passed through it on our way north. At the same time we considered it a tolerably good grazing country, and that people could possibly live there. But after we had traveled over the basin rim into Bannock Valley, descending a mountain beside the one we called Big Mountain is a mole hill, down through the little Bannock Valley on to Shanghi Plain and traveled northeasterly and northwesterly almost in a semicircle to Spring Creek, then up Spring Creek over to Salmon River and wended our way down that stream through the swamps and willows and climbed over the points of the bluffs to keep from being mired, and had paid our brethren a visit and returned again to Malad Valley, it looked to us like one of the most beautiful valleys that any person had ever beheld, while before this experience we thought nobody could live there and I expect that if we had gone a few hundred miles north, it would have looked still better.”
In 1855, fifteen families led by Ezra Barnard, settled on the east side of the Malad River on the south end of the Malad Valley, which was called Oregon Springs. Again quoting Howell, he said that some of the other settlers were, “Daniel and James Stewart, A. B. Hill and James Frodsham. Emmeline Waldron and Amelia Frodsham were the only women in the first party. Emmeline Eliza Waldron, the daughter of Emmeline Waldron, was the first white child born in the Malad Valley, on October 9, 1856, at what is now East Portage.”
The settlers constructed an adobe fort on about one acre of ground. On the inside of the fort they dug cellars and erected log homes. The settlement had to disband in 1858 because of problems with the Indians.
Emmeline (or Emeline) Waldron and her children later returned to the Malad Valley and settled in Samaria in 1870.
In 1863, A.W. Vanderwood became the first permanent settler in the Malad Valley, He also settled in what was called East Portage, on the east side of the Malad River where the East Portage schoolhouse was later built. The place was called Mt. Springs, and Vanderwood kept the mail station there.
The same thing that brought early colonists to the Malad Valley earlier brought Henry Peck to the Malad Valley, the abundant valley grasses. In the beginning, Henry Peck and Judson L. Stoddard were partners in a livestock business and established a ranch opposite the present site of Portage.
But then the rest is history, and Peck, along with his sons and a group of settlers, came to the site of the original Malad City Townsite in 1864 to make their permanent settlement.
The Freight Route and Ben Holladay
FREIGHT ROUTE
When Malad became the county seat in 1866, business picked up. With stage lines and freighters on their way north to Montana gold mines, and new families moving in every year, Malad became a boomtown. In 1864, the Ben Holliday Stage Line went through Malad, headed northwest over Bannock Mountain to Ross Fork. In 1865, the route was changed to run north to the Portneuf Road and on to Ross Fork. Malad pioneers built homes along both routes. Main Street running north and Bannock Street running northwest still mark the old freight and stage routes. The city center is at the fork of these two routes.
Ben Holladay: The man to see if you wanted wheels in the 1800’s
Settlement of the Malad Valley didn’t come about because people were seeking a new place to live.
It happened because of an energy dilemma. The problem existed because fuel, in the form of wild hay, was needed to provide strength for 2,000 head of mules and horses which were being used to pull the stagecoaches and freight wagons carrying people, merchandise, mail and money during the United States’ westward movement in the 1880‘s.
Henry Peck was one of the many pioneers who contracted to provide feed for the livestock. Thus, it was the search for hay that led Henry and his companions from Willard, in the Utah Territory, to Malad in 1864. Impressed with the long and picturesque valley, the streams, land suitable for crops and the scenic mountains, the group decided to resettle. And so it was that a new community in the Territory of Idaho had its beginning.
As a contractor needing hay for his livestock, a man named Ben Holladay was therefore indirectly responsible for establishing a community in the Malad Valley. He was also a major factor in shaping the destiny of hundreds of other settlements throughout the West.
That’s because Holladay, known as “The Stagecoach King”, owned and managed the largest transcontinental system in the U.S. prior to the coming of the railroads.
Of Scottish descent, Holladay was born and reared on a Kentucky farm where he learned about the advantages of hard work. Six feet tall, handsome and strongly built, he had dark, penetrating eyes, thick hair, beard and moustache – all black. Tremendously ambitious, shrewd and intensely dedicated to making a success of his business ventures, he had a professional gambler’s instinct of when to take a chance with the hope of reaping large financial gains. While courteous, generous and friendly with those who worked for him he could be harsh and blunt with those he thought may have crossed him in his efforts to control the network that covered over 3,000 miles of rough, dusty and perilous roadways.
Holladay wasn’t the originator of the freight and stagecoach lines, but when this type of transportation hit its peak, his company dwarfed all rivals.
Gold Strike!
Discovery of gold in Montana and Idaho during the early 1860’s prompted Holladay to establish a stage route from Salt Lake City to the mines. Through better service, the “The Stagecoach King” was able to drive a rival transportation firm out of business, and another highly profitable spur line was added to his chain. Soon, the ticket office at Atchison was swamped with those headed for the mines in hopes of finding fortune and tremendous amounts of gold were being shipped back East. In one day, the Holladay Express Office at Denver shipped $68,900 in gold that had been mined in Montana and Idaho and was being freighted to the East Coast.
Originating in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, trips were made to points in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. At a cost of $350, a stagecoach passenger could travel from Omaha, Nebraska to Virginia City, Montana by way of Denver, Salt Lake City, Corinne, Malad and Fort Hall. The trip was made in 13 days if all went well.
But the precious metal also attracted another element to the territories – the road agents or highwaymen. Operating from “robbers’ roosts” all along the 500-mile route from Salt Lake City to Virginia City, the bandits’ favorite place for attacking was in Southern Idaho, especially the Portneuf River section and the pass between Malad and Marsh Valley. The holdups sometimes netted the highwaymen small fortunes but most met with violent deaths. Some were killed during the attacks by gunfire from the coaches’ drivers, guards and passengers. Others were hunted down by vigilantes or law enforcement officers and usually executed.
When Malad became the county seat in 1866, business picked up. With stage lines and freighters on their way north to Montana gold mines, and new families moving in every year, Malad became a boomtown. In 1864, the Ben Holliday Stage Line went through Malad, headed northwest over Bannock Mountain to Ross Fork. In 1865, the route was changed to run north to the Portneuf Road and on to Ross Fork. Malad pioneers built homes along both routes. Main Street running north and Bannock Street running northwest still mark the old freight and stage routes. The city center is at the fork of these two routes.
Ben Holladay: The man to see if you wanted wheels in the 1800’s
Settlement of the Malad Valley didn’t come about because people were seeking a new place to live.
It happened because of an energy dilemma. The problem existed because fuel, in the form of wild hay, was needed to provide strength for 2,000 head of mules and horses which were being used to pull the stagecoaches and freight wagons carrying people, merchandise, mail and money during the United States’ westward movement in the 1880‘s.
Henry Peck was one of the many pioneers who contracted to provide feed for the livestock. Thus, it was the search for hay that led Henry and his companions from Willard, in the Utah Territory, to Malad in 1864. Impressed with the long and picturesque valley, the streams, land suitable for crops and the scenic mountains, the group decided to resettle. And so it was that a new community in the Territory of Idaho had its beginning.
As a contractor needing hay for his livestock, a man named Ben Holladay was therefore indirectly responsible for establishing a community in the Malad Valley. He was also a major factor in shaping the destiny of hundreds of other settlements throughout the West.
That’s because Holladay, known as “The Stagecoach King”, owned and managed the largest transcontinental system in the U.S. prior to the coming of the railroads.
Of Scottish descent, Holladay was born and reared on a Kentucky farm where he learned about the advantages of hard work. Six feet tall, handsome and strongly built, he had dark, penetrating eyes, thick hair, beard and moustache – all black. Tremendously ambitious, shrewd and intensely dedicated to making a success of his business ventures, he had a professional gambler’s instinct of when to take a chance with the hope of reaping large financial gains. While courteous, generous and friendly with those who worked for him he could be harsh and blunt with those he thought may have crossed him in his efforts to control the network that covered over 3,000 miles of rough, dusty and perilous roadways.
Holladay wasn’t the originator of the freight and stagecoach lines, but when this type of transportation hit its peak, his company dwarfed all rivals.
Gold Strike!
Discovery of gold in Montana and Idaho during the early 1860’s prompted Holladay to establish a stage route from Salt Lake City to the mines. Through better service, the “The Stagecoach King” was able to drive a rival transportation firm out of business, and another highly profitable spur line was added to his chain. Soon, the ticket office at Atchison was swamped with those headed for the mines in hopes of finding fortune and tremendous amounts of gold were being shipped back East. In one day, the Holladay Express Office at Denver shipped $68,900 in gold that had been mined in Montana and Idaho and was being freighted to the East Coast.
Originating in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, trips were made to points in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. At a cost of $350, a stagecoach passenger could travel from Omaha, Nebraska to Virginia City, Montana by way of Denver, Salt Lake City, Corinne, Malad and Fort Hall. The trip was made in 13 days if all went well.
But the precious metal also attracted another element to the territories – the road agents or highwaymen. Operating from “robbers’ roosts” all along the 500-mile route from Salt Lake City to Virginia City, the bandits’ favorite place for attacking was in Southern Idaho, especially the Portneuf River section and the pass between Malad and Marsh Valley. The holdups sometimes netted the highwaymen small fortunes but most met with violent deaths. Some were killed during the attacks by gunfire from the coaches’ drivers, guards and passengers. Others were hunted down by vigilantes or law enforcement officers and usually executed.
Legends of Early Robberies in Oneida County
It is a well-known fact that there were actual stagecoach robberies that occurred in the early history of Oneida County. The problem is that there are many versions of the same stories, and it seems that accounts of different stories have been combined into one story, making it very confusing for the reader to determine what happened and when it happened.
In the early years, freight wagons were used to transport goods to the Montana gold mines. These wagons were drawn by either mules or oxen, and were so slow that they made only between three to five trips a season. They could only travel about twelve miles a day.
In 1864, Ben Holliday purchased the stage line that went through Malad. The passenger stages could travel about a hundred miles in twenty-four hours, and were drawn by between four to six horses who were changed every twelve or fifteen miles. Drivers were changed every fifty miles. The drivers were usually accompanied by a man called a messenger, who was a guard that rode beside the driver.
Holliday (Halliday as they call him) was described as being very energetic and farseeing. The Honorable John Hailey writes from personal knowledge about the famous stage man as follows: "At the time Mr. Holliday established his Overland Stage Line from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City to Helena, Montana and to Boise, the country through which his stages must run was wild, inhabited by none save Indians, usually hostile, and a few white men who were equally dangerous. Few men would even have entertained the idea of engaging in such a dangerous and hazardous business, which involved the investment of several hundred thousand dollars to build substantial stations, and fit up the road with the necessary live and rolling stock, forage, provisions, men arms, and ammunition for the protection of life, property and the United States mail, but Mr. Holliday did it successfully. He opened the great Overland Route and transported mail and passengers from the east to west and return with reasonable celerity and security, besides making the route much safer for others to travel and blazing the way for the Union Pacific railroad, which was commenced soon after."
The mountainous area along the Portneuf Canyon made it one of the most dangerous stretches of road between Salt Lake City and Butte, Montana. It was very difficult to track men over the lava rocks that are so prevalent in the area, and the country was heavily timbered. The gold that was brought down from the Montana mines made it very tempting for highwaymen and encouraged highway robbery to such an extent that in time gave birth to vigilante groups.
One of the most famous robberies took place in what is now Bannock County at a place that came to be known as Robber’s Roost, which is near McCammon, Idaho. Accounts vary, but it is believed to have taken place on July 26, 1865.
The accounts even vary as to the amount of money and gold being carried and eventually stolen, and as to whom the passengers were in the stage. In piecing together the story, it seems that the robbery was planned in Boise, Idaho, and included the leader named Brockie Jack who had recently broken out of jail in Oregon (another account indicates that the leader was Jim Locket); “Big” Dave Updyke, the Ada County Sheriff; Willy Whittmore; and Fred Williams (who in other accounts is called Frank Williams). Other accounts indicate there were as many as ten men who took part in the robbery. Apparently part of the plan was that Williams was to book passage on the stage and ride along as a passenger. The other three named in this account traveled from Boise to the area along the Portneuf Canyon known as Robber’s Roost, where there is a very narrow canyon.
This version of the story says that the bandits gathered a number of large boulders to block the stage road, and that Willy Whittmore was armed with a new Henry repeating rifle. He was to shoot the lead horses if the driver tried to get around the roadblock.
The robbers apparently waited some weeks until on July 21, 1865, the stagecoach left Virginia City with a seasoned driver, Charlie Parks, and seven passengers, including one calling himself Fred Williams.
On July 26, 1865, the coach reached the stream near the place that the three outlaws were hiding in the brush. Slowing down, the coach traveled through a stream of water, went up the bank, and suddenly stopped because across the road there were the boulders the bandits had placed to stop the coach. The outlaws appeared from their hiding places with guns raised. From the coach, one of the passengers, a professional gambler named Sam Martin, poked his head out of the side door with a revolver in his hand. Aiming at Whittmore, he pulled the trigger and shot off Whittmore’s left index finger. Enraged, Whittmore shouted, "It’s a trap!” and began to empty his rifle into the side of the stagecoach. In a desperate attempt to escape, Charlie Parks tried to break through the brush but Brockie Jack shot both of the lead horses and the stage stopped dead in its tracks.
The injured Parks scrambled from the coach and dashed towards the woods. In the meantime, Fred Williams, the outlaw accomplice, and passenger James B. Brown, a Virginia City saloonkeeper, were also able to escape into the nearby timbers.
Brockie Jack grabbed the rifle out of Whittmore’s hands and he approached the stagecoach where he found all of the passengers dead. Inside were the bodies of Sam Martin, the professional gambler who had shot Whittmore; Mr. and Mrs. Andy Ditmar, a Mormon couple who had been visiting relatives in Bannock, Montana; Jess Harper, an ex-Confederate soldier who was on his way to visit his parents in Sacramento, California; and a man named L. F. Carpenter, who was headed for San Francisco to catch a steamship to New Orleans. All were dead except Carpenter, who was injured and feigned his death in order to survive. (In other accounts, it indicates that Ditmar is known as Dinan, Didnan or Dignan. Other accounts also indicate that his wife did not accompany him, and that he was carrying gold dust along with a man named Holmes. In even another account it indicates that the other passenger with Ditmar was named McCausland, and another account says there was a passenger named Lawrence Merz.)
In another account it states that Southeast Idaho pioneer Alexander Toponce recalled, "My friend Dignan had twenty-seven buckshot in his body."
After the outlaws were gone, Charlie Parks and James B. Brown emerged from the timbers. Brown pulled the still breathing Carpenter from beneath the dead bodies and made him and the injured Parks as comfortable as possible inside the coach. He then cut the stage loose from the two dead horses and drove it to Miller Ranch Station. (Another account indicates that Carpenter had escaped from the coach, crawled to the riverbank only a few feet away, dropped into the water and then found a place to hide.)
As the survivors told their story, Parks recognized Brockie Jack and David Updyke, while James Brown positively identified Fred Williams and Willy Whittmore. The insurance company, in an attempt to reclaim its $86,000 loss, immediately offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the gold and the capture of the robbers. In the meantime, the vigilante committee issued orders to hang the criminals once they were captured.
Willy Whittmore, the hot-tempered gunman who had killed all the passengers, was the first to be caught while on a drinking binge in Arizona. He resisted arrest and was subsequently shot. A week later Fred Williams was captured in Colorado and hanged by the local vigilante committee. Both men were nearly penniless when they were killed.
Having been elected as the Ada County Sheriff In March of 1865, the vigilantes had to be more careful with David Updyke. On September 28, 1865, the Payette River Vigilance Committee arrested him on a charge of defrauding the revenue and failing to arrest a hard case outlaw named West Jenkins, but Updyke made bail and fled to Boise where he had more influence. However, the citizens in Boise were also fed up with the criminal elements and began to form groups for the purpose cleaning up the county. By the next spring, Updyke left Boise with another criminal known as John Dixon. They were followed by the vigilantes, captured and hung. On April 14, the bodies were found with a note pinned to Updyke's chest accusing him of being "an aider of murderers and thieves”. The next day an anonymous note appeared in Boise that further explained the committee’s actions. "Dave Updyke: Accessory after the fact to the Portneuf stage robbery, accessory and accomplice to the robbery of the stage near Boise City in 1864, chief conspirator in burning property on the overland stage line, guilty of aiding and assisting escape of West Jenkins, and the murderer of others while sheriff, and threatening the lives and property of an already outraged and long suffering community.”
As to the last outlaw - Brockie Jack - he seemed to disappear into oblivion.
There is no record of the gold bars having ever been sold or found. One account indicates that it was believed the gold was buried at the City of Rocks.
So there you go. Whether or not this is a true account, probably no one will ever know. It may be a conglomeration of several accounts or of several different robberies that over the years have been mixed up into one. However, history does record that this area known as Robber’s Roost was known for the stagecoach robberies that took place there.
An account by Malad resident, Hattie Morgan was included in “Idaho’s Malad Valley, A History” by Thomas J. McDevitt, M.D., which seems to confuse the above story with another separate story. Morgan indicates that the driver of the stage was Mart Goddard and that the messenger was “Curley Dan”. She does name Frank Carpenter but says that he was killed and a youth named Stone, one of the robbers, was shot in the leg. Morgan also related that there were only two robbers involved who used two manufactured dummies to help them. Morgan places Robber’s Roost as being ten miles north of Malad, which does not seem to coincide with other historical accounts. So you can see that it becomes very confusing to obtain the true facts.
McDevitt also includes several other versions of the story, which seem to be a story that happened at a later time, in 1870.
Last week we related a story about Robber’s Roost, an area along the Portneuf Canyon in Bannock County, and a famous robbery that took place there on July 26, 1865. In 1865 that area was a part of Oneida County and was known to be one of the most dangerous stretches of road on the stage route between Butte, Montana, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Apparently, the area around Malad City was also a popular place to hijack the stagecoach, because there are at least three stories told of robberies that took place near there, which will be related here.
McCay, Jones, and Spangler
Three men named McCay, Jones, and Spangler, followed a stage out of Malad City in 1870, and held it up about six or seven miles from the city. It is said that Spangler and Jones were later captured; however, Jones escaped from jail, and Spangler apparently entered a plea bargain, giving information that led to the recovery of $6,000 of the $9,000 taken from the coach.
Using dummies during a robbery
About two weeks after the robbery related above in 1870, there was a holdup near the top of the Malad Divide. It is believed that this is the robbery that was referred to by Hattie Morgan in “Idaho’s Malad Valley, A History” by Thomas J. McDevitt, M.D. One man was known variously by three different names - Ed. Flag, Frank Long and Frank Carpenter. The other man had a last name of Stone and was said to belong to a good family from Louisville, Kentucky.
The robbers placed three dummies in a half exposed position near the road and, according to the story, made off with $36,000 in gold bullion without firing a shot. The stagecoach that went through the area that day carried no passengers.
Hattie Morgan said that the name of the driver was Mart Goddard and that the messenger was “Curley Dan”. The stage returned to Malad after the robbery and the men said that they had been held up by a gang of five men (Supposing that the three dummies were considered part of the gang?).
In a history written as part of the American History and Genealogy Project (AHGP) for Bannock County, Idaho, the story is related that J.N. Ireland, Tom Oakley, Daniel Robbins and four other men trailed the robbers from the spot where the robbery occurred and followed them to Birch Creek. (We assume Birch Creek near Robin in Bannock County).
It was dark by the time the robbers were found; so early the next morning, Ireland and the six other men crossed the creek and came close to the unsuspecting thieves. When the robbers became aware of the posse, they hid in a hollow. Ireland and his men divided, with Ireland and Robbins deciding to trail the thieves, three men staying with the robbers' horses and one man, Tom Oakley, hiding behind a rock with a rifle. As Ireland and Robbins were trailing the robbers, Oakley yelled out to them in warning. At that time Robbins was shot. The robbers tried to run and Oakley shot both of them, killing Flag (aka Long or Carpenter) and shooting Stone in the leg.
This agrees with Hattie Morgan’s account, which said that her father, Dr. J.W. Morgan was summoned along with J.W. White, who found the posse threatening to hang Stone.
The Malad men tried to get Stone to tell where the money was. Stone tried to tell them that there were three other men involved (the dummies?) and that they had the money. It is said that after Tom Oakley (after whom the town of Oakley, Idaho was named) “took the matter in hand” that Stone finally confessed that the money was hidden near Elkhorn. It was later found.
The account that is recorded by the AHGP indicates that Stone’s leg was amputated. Robbins recovered and later passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was related later by Stone, that as Ireland and Robbins were trailing the men, with Ireland wearing a grey shirt and Robbins wearing a white shirt, he and Flag saw a gleam of white through the foliage, which was Robbins' shirt, causing them to shoot Robbins.
Stone was tried and found guilty. He was sent to the penitentiary in Boise but secured a pardon after a short time and became a preacher.
After the posse returned to Malad, they found out that a reward had been offered for the capture of the two men, and so each man received $1,280 each.
Another story was found, almost identical to the above account, indicating a robbery on the Malad Divide where there were three bandits, one with the name of Ad Long, and several dummies. Dan Robbins was cited as being the US Marshal, but the posse was comprised of men from Marsh Valley. The year was different too, happening in 1872. It states that the members of the posse were given a reward with which each built a large frame home.
One other account tells of a robbery that took place near Malad where dummies were placed in a turning in the road. Again, there were no passengers in the stage, but the robbers made off with several bars of gold.
Charley Phelps
Forty-three year-old Charley Phelps, accompanied by Joe Pinkham, was driving a stage through the Portneuf Canyon near Robber’s Roost in the summer of 1873. The two men heard a voice call out for the stage to stop, but as the story goes, instead of stopping the two men fired at the sound of the voice. As shots were returned, Charles Phelps was killed.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported in two stories on July 19 and July 21, 1873.
“Attempted Stage Coach Robbery
“Private dispatches received from Malad last evening, gave intelligence of a daring attempt to rob the stage in Port Neuf Canyon, Idaho, near the place known as ‘Robbers Roost.’ The attack was made from both sides of the road, simultaneously, the highwaymen discharging their guns at the coach, the discharge only wounding the driver, Charles Phelps, in the body. This brave man, notwithstanding his injuries, plied his whip to the horses, and escaped with the passengers and treasure. Dr. Graham, of this city left here this morning to attend on Mr. Phelps. The officers of Oneida County are out in search of the rascals, and we hope they'll capture them dead or alive. We learn that the driver died last night from the effects of his wounds. We hope the pursuers will be successful in arresting the murderers. - Corinne Reporter.”
“Death of Charles Phelps
“Since writing our account of the murderous attack on the Montana stage, we have received intelligence of the death of Charles Phelps, the heroic driver whom the robbers shot on Wednesday night. He expired early yesterday morning, from the effect of the wound received, and will be interred today at Malad City. Colonel Reed left here this morning for the latter place, to attend the funeral, and give decent burial to the brave man who died at his post of duty like a soldier. Mr. Phelps was originally from Western New York, and, at the time of his death was about fifty years of age. He had been in the service of the Overland Stage Company for several years, and was highly respected by his employers and all the people who knew him. - Corinne Reporter.”
Phelps is buried in the Malad City Cemetery where the following inscription is engraved on his headstone:
“In memory of Charles Phelps, of St. Lawrence County, New York.
“Driver on the Overland Stage Line, who was mortally wounded, July 16, 1873, in an attack on his coach by highwaymen, in Portneuf Canyon, Idaho, and died on the following day.
“Age 43 years.
"He fell, as all true heroes fall.
“While answering to his duty's call.
"This stone is erected by his friends and companions, who loved and respected him, and sincerely mourn his death."
Ben Holladay
Even Ben Holladay was involved in a stagecoach robbery. The story is told of when he was riding in a stagecoach with his wife who was ill, and two highwaymen stopped the coach. It is said that one of the robbers stuck a shotgun in the window of the coach within a foot of Holladay's nose and told Holladay to keep his hands up and not move. Holladay’s nose started to itch, and he later related the story as follows, "'Stranger,' I said, ‘I must scratch my nose! It itches so that I am almost crazy!
"'Move your hands,' he shouted, 'and I'll blow a hole through your head big enough for a jack-rabbit to jump through!'
“I appealed once more. 'Well,' he answered, 'keep your hands still and I'll scratch it for you.'"
When asked if the robber scratched his nose, Holladay answered that, he scratched it “…With the muzzle of the cocked gun. He rubbed the muzzle around my mustache and raked it over the end of my nose, until I thanked him and said that it itched no longer." (As quoted by Root and Connelly, The Overland Stage to California, p. 560.)
It is said that Mrs. Holladay slept through the entire incident! Apparently the robbers didn’t know who was in the coach, as it states in the story that they didn’t notice the extra gilt with which it was adorned. They did get Holladay’s watch and gold chain, but totally missed a well-filled money belt.
In the early years, freight wagons were used to transport goods to the Montana gold mines. These wagons were drawn by either mules or oxen, and were so slow that they made only between three to five trips a season. They could only travel about twelve miles a day.
In 1864, Ben Holliday purchased the stage line that went through Malad. The passenger stages could travel about a hundred miles in twenty-four hours, and were drawn by between four to six horses who were changed every twelve or fifteen miles. Drivers were changed every fifty miles. The drivers were usually accompanied by a man called a messenger, who was a guard that rode beside the driver.
Holliday (Halliday as they call him) was described as being very energetic and farseeing. The Honorable John Hailey writes from personal knowledge about the famous stage man as follows: "At the time Mr. Holliday established his Overland Stage Line from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City to Helena, Montana and to Boise, the country through which his stages must run was wild, inhabited by none save Indians, usually hostile, and a few white men who were equally dangerous. Few men would even have entertained the idea of engaging in such a dangerous and hazardous business, which involved the investment of several hundred thousand dollars to build substantial stations, and fit up the road with the necessary live and rolling stock, forage, provisions, men arms, and ammunition for the protection of life, property and the United States mail, but Mr. Holliday did it successfully. He opened the great Overland Route and transported mail and passengers from the east to west and return with reasonable celerity and security, besides making the route much safer for others to travel and blazing the way for the Union Pacific railroad, which was commenced soon after."
The mountainous area along the Portneuf Canyon made it one of the most dangerous stretches of road between Salt Lake City and Butte, Montana. It was very difficult to track men over the lava rocks that are so prevalent in the area, and the country was heavily timbered. The gold that was brought down from the Montana mines made it very tempting for highwaymen and encouraged highway robbery to such an extent that in time gave birth to vigilante groups.
One of the most famous robberies took place in what is now Bannock County at a place that came to be known as Robber’s Roost, which is near McCammon, Idaho. Accounts vary, but it is believed to have taken place on July 26, 1865.
The accounts even vary as to the amount of money and gold being carried and eventually stolen, and as to whom the passengers were in the stage. In piecing together the story, it seems that the robbery was planned in Boise, Idaho, and included the leader named Brockie Jack who had recently broken out of jail in Oregon (another account indicates that the leader was Jim Locket); “Big” Dave Updyke, the Ada County Sheriff; Willy Whittmore; and Fred Williams (who in other accounts is called Frank Williams). Other accounts indicate there were as many as ten men who took part in the robbery. Apparently part of the plan was that Williams was to book passage on the stage and ride along as a passenger. The other three named in this account traveled from Boise to the area along the Portneuf Canyon known as Robber’s Roost, where there is a very narrow canyon.
This version of the story says that the bandits gathered a number of large boulders to block the stage road, and that Willy Whittmore was armed with a new Henry repeating rifle. He was to shoot the lead horses if the driver tried to get around the roadblock.
The robbers apparently waited some weeks until on July 21, 1865, the stagecoach left Virginia City with a seasoned driver, Charlie Parks, and seven passengers, including one calling himself Fred Williams.
On July 26, 1865, the coach reached the stream near the place that the three outlaws were hiding in the brush. Slowing down, the coach traveled through a stream of water, went up the bank, and suddenly stopped because across the road there were the boulders the bandits had placed to stop the coach. The outlaws appeared from their hiding places with guns raised. From the coach, one of the passengers, a professional gambler named Sam Martin, poked his head out of the side door with a revolver in his hand. Aiming at Whittmore, he pulled the trigger and shot off Whittmore’s left index finger. Enraged, Whittmore shouted, "It’s a trap!” and began to empty his rifle into the side of the stagecoach. In a desperate attempt to escape, Charlie Parks tried to break through the brush but Brockie Jack shot both of the lead horses and the stage stopped dead in its tracks.
The injured Parks scrambled from the coach and dashed towards the woods. In the meantime, Fred Williams, the outlaw accomplice, and passenger James B. Brown, a Virginia City saloonkeeper, were also able to escape into the nearby timbers.
Brockie Jack grabbed the rifle out of Whittmore’s hands and he approached the stagecoach where he found all of the passengers dead. Inside were the bodies of Sam Martin, the professional gambler who had shot Whittmore; Mr. and Mrs. Andy Ditmar, a Mormon couple who had been visiting relatives in Bannock, Montana; Jess Harper, an ex-Confederate soldier who was on his way to visit his parents in Sacramento, California; and a man named L. F. Carpenter, who was headed for San Francisco to catch a steamship to New Orleans. All were dead except Carpenter, who was injured and feigned his death in order to survive. (In other accounts, it indicates that Ditmar is known as Dinan, Didnan or Dignan. Other accounts also indicate that his wife did not accompany him, and that he was carrying gold dust along with a man named Holmes. In even another account it indicates that the other passenger with Ditmar was named McCausland, and another account says there was a passenger named Lawrence Merz.)
In another account it states that Southeast Idaho pioneer Alexander Toponce recalled, "My friend Dignan had twenty-seven buckshot in his body."
After the outlaws were gone, Charlie Parks and James B. Brown emerged from the timbers. Brown pulled the still breathing Carpenter from beneath the dead bodies and made him and the injured Parks as comfortable as possible inside the coach. He then cut the stage loose from the two dead horses and drove it to Miller Ranch Station. (Another account indicates that Carpenter had escaped from the coach, crawled to the riverbank only a few feet away, dropped into the water and then found a place to hide.)
As the survivors told their story, Parks recognized Brockie Jack and David Updyke, while James Brown positively identified Fred Williams and Willy Whittmore. The insurance company, in an attempt to reclaim its $86,000 loss, immediately offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the gold and the capture of the robbers. In the meantime, the vigilante committee issued orders to hang the criminals once they were captured.
Willy Whittmore, the hot-tempered gunman who had killed all the passengers, was the first to be caught while on a drinking binge in Arizona. He resisted arrest and was subsequently shot. A week later Fred Williams was captured in Colorado and hanged by the local vigilante committee. Both men were nearly penniless when they were killed.
Having been elected as the Ada County Sheriff In March of 1865, the vigilantes had to be more careful with David Updyke. On September 28, 1865, the Payette River Vigilance Committee arrested him on a charge of defrauding the revenue and failing to arrest a hard case outlaw named West Jenkins, but Updyke made bail and fled to Boise where he had more influence. However, the citizens in Boise were also fed up with the criminal elements and began to form groups for the purpose cleaning up the county. By the next spring, Updyke left Boise with another criminal known as John Dixon. They were followed by the vigilantes, captured and hung. On April 14, the bodies were found with a note pinned to Updyke's chest accusing him of being "an aider of murderers and thieves”. The next day an anonymous note appeared in Boise that further explained the committee’s actions. "Dave Updyke: Accessory after the fact to the Portneuf stage robbery, accessory and accomplice to the robbery of the stage near Boise City in 1864, chief conspirator in burning property on the overland stage line, guilty of aiding and assisting escape of West Jenkins, and the murderer of others while sheriff, and threatening the lives and property of an already outraged and long suffering community.”
As to the last outlaw - Brockie Jack - he seemed to disappear into oblivion.
There is no record of the gold bars having ever been sold or found. One account indicates that it was believed the gold was buried at the City of Rocks.
So there you go. Whether or not this is a true account, probably no one will ever know. It may be a conglomeration of several accounts or of several different robberies that over the years have been mixed up into one. However, history does record that this area known as Robber’s Roost was known for the stagecoach robberies that took place there.
An account by Malad resident, Hattie Morgan was included in “Idaho’s Malad Valley, A History” by Thomas J. McDevitt, M.D., which seems to confuse the above story with another separate story. Morgan indicates that the driver of the stage was Mart Goddard and that the messenger was “Curley Dan”. She does name Frank Carpenter but says that he was killed and a youth named Stone, one of the robbers, was shot in the leg. Morgan also related that there were only two robbers involved who used two manufactured dummies to help them. Morgan places Robber’s Roost as being ten miles north of Malad, which does not seem to coincide with other historical accounts. So you can see that it becomes very confusing to obtain the true facts.
McDevitt also includes several other versions of the story, which seem to be a story that happened at a later time, in 1870.
Last week we related a story about Robber’s Roost, an area along the Portneuf Canyon in Bannock County, and a famous robbery that took place there on July 26, 1865. In 1865 that area was a part of Oneida County and was known to be one of the most dangerous stretches of road on the stage route between Butte, Montana, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Apparently, the area around Malad City was also a popular place to hijack the stagecoach, because there are at least three stories told of robberies that took place near there, which will be related here.
McCay, Jones, and Spangler
Three men named McCay, Jones, and Spangler, followed a stage out of Malad City in 1870, and held it up about six or seven miles from the city. It is said that Spangler and Jones were later captured; however, Jones escaped from jail, and Spangler apparently entered a plea bargain, giving information that led to the recovery of $6,000 of the $9,000 taken from the coach.
Using dummies during a robbery
About two weeks after the robbery related above in 1870, there was a holdup near the top of the Malad Divide. It is believed that this is the robbery that was referred to by Hattie Morgan in “Idaho’s Malad Valley, A History” by Thomas J. McDevitt, M.D. One man was known variously by three different names - Ed. Flag, Frank Long and Frank Carpenter. The other man had a last name of Stone and was said to belong to a good family from Louisville, Kentucky.
The robbers placed three dummies in a half exposed position near the road and, according to the story, made off with $36,000 in gold bullion without firing a shot. The stagecoach that went through the area that day carried no passengers.
Hattie Morgan said that the name of the driver was Mart Goddard and that the messenger was “Curley Dan”. The stage returned to Malad after the robbery and the men said that they had been held up by a gang of five men (Supposing that the three dummies were considered part of the gang?).
In a history written as part of the American History and Genealogy Project (AHGP) for Bannock County, Idaho, the story is related that J.N. Ireland, Tom Oakley, Daniel Robbins and four other men trailed the robbers from the spot where the robbery occurred and followed them to Birch Creek. (We assume Birch Creek near Robin in Bannock County).
It was dark by the time the robbers were found; so early the next morning, Ireland and the six other men crossed the creek and came close to the unsuspecting thieves. When the robbers became aware of the posse, they hid in a hollow. Ireland and his men divided, with Ireland and Robbins deciding to trail the thieves, three men staying with the robbers' horses and one man, Tom Oakley, hiding behind a rock with a rifle. As Ireland and Robbins were trailing the robbers, Oakley yelled out to them in warning. At that time Robbins was shot. The robbers tried to run and Oakley shot both of them, killing Flag (aka Long or Carpenter) and shooting Stone in the leg.
This agrees with Hattie Morgan’s account, which said that her father, Dr. J.W. Morgan was summoned along with J.W. White, who found the posse threatening to hang Stone.
The Malad men tried to get Stone to tell where the money was. Stone tried to tell them that there were three other men involved (the dummies?) and that they had the money. It is said that after Tom Oakley (after whom the town of Oakley, Idaho was named) “took the matter in hand” that Stone finally confessed that the money was hidden near Elkhorn. It was later found.
The account that is recorded by the AHGP indicates that Stone’s leg was amputated. Robbins recovered and later passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was related later by Stone, that as Ireland and Robbins were trailing the men, with Ireland wearing a grey shirt and Robbins wearing a white shirt, he and Flag saw a gleam of white through the foliage, which was Robbins' shirt, causing them to shoot Robbins.
Stone was tried and found guilty. He was sent to the penitentiary in Boise but secured a pardon after a short time and became a preacher.
After the posse returned to Malad, they found out that a reward had been offered for the capture of the two men, and so each man received $1,280 each.
Another story was found, almost identical to the above account, indicating a robbery on the Malad Divide where there were three bandits, one with the name of Ad Long, and several dummies. Dan Robbins was cited as being the US Marshal, but the posse was comprised of men from Marsh Valley. The year was different too, happening in 1872. It states that the members of the posse were given a reward with which each built a large frame home.
One other account tells of a robbery that took place near Malad where dummies were placed in a turning in the road. Again, there were no passengers in the stage, but the robbers made off with several bars of gold.
Charley Phelps
Forty-three year-old Charley Phelps, accompanied by Joe Pinkham, was driving a stage through the Portneuf Canyon near Robber’s Roost in the summer of 1873. The two men heard a voice call out for the stage to stop, but as the story goes, instead of stopping the two men fired at the sound of the voice. As shots were returned, Charles Phelps was killed.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported in two stories on July 19 and July 21, 1873.
“Attempted Stage Coach Robbery
“Private dispatches received from Malad last evening, gave intelligence of a daring attempt to rob the stage in Port Neuf Canyon, Idaho, near the place known as ‘Robbers Roost.’ The attack was made from both sides of the road, simultaneously, the highwaymen discharging their guns at the coach, the discharge only wounding the driver, Charles Phelps, in the body. This brave man, notwithstanding his injuries, plied his whip to the horses, and escaped with the passengers and treasure. Dr. Graham, of this city left here this morning to attend on Mr. Phelps. The officers of Oneida County are out in search of the rascals, and we hope they'll capture them dead or alive. We learn that the driver died last night from the effects of his wounds. We hope the pursuers will be successful in arresting the murderers. - Corinne Reporter.”
“Death of Charles Phelps
“Since writing our account of the murderous attack on the Montana stage, we have received intelligence of the death of Charles Phelps, the heroic driver whom the robbers shot on Wednesday night. He expired early yesterday morning, from the effect of the wound received, and will be interred today at Malad City. Colonel Reed left here this morning for the latter place, to attend the funeral, and give decent burial to the brave man who died at his post of duty like a soldier. Mr. Phelps was originally from Western New York, and, at the time of his death was about fifty years of age. He had been in the service of the Overland Stage Company for several years, and was highly respected by his employers and all the people who knew him. - Corinne Reporter.”
Phelps is buried in the Malad City Cemetery where the following inscription is engraved on his headstone:
“In memory of Charles Phelps, of St. Lawrence County, New York.
“Driver on the Overland Stage Line, who was mortally wounded, July 16, 1873, in an attack on his coach by highwaymen, in Portneuf Canyon, Idaho, and died on the following day.
“Age 43 years.
"He fell, as all true heroes fall.
“While answering to his duty's call.
"This stone is erected by his friends and companions, who loved and respected him, and sincerely mourn his death."
Ben Holladay
Even Ben Holladay was involved in a stagecoach robbery. The story is told of when he was riding in a stagecoach with his wife who was ill, and two highwaymen stopped the coach. It is said that one of the robbers stuck a shotgun in the window of the coach within a foot of Holladay's nose and told Holladay to keep his hands up and not move. Holladay’s nose started to itch, and he later related the story as follows, "'Stranger,' I said, ‘I must scratch my nose! It itches so that I am almost crazy!
"'Move your hands,' he shouted, 'and I'll blow a hole through your head big enough for a jack-rabbit to jump through!'
“I appealed once more. 'Well,' he answered, 'keep your hands still and I'll scratch it for you.'"
When asked if the robber scratched his nose, Holladay answered that, he scratched it “…With the muzzle of the cocked gun. He rubbed the muzzle around my mustache and raked it over the end of my nose, until I thanked him and said that it itched no longer." (As quoted by Root and Connelly, The Overland Stage to California, p. 560.)
It is said that Mrs. Holladay slept through the entire incident! Apparently the robbers didn’t know who was in the coach, as it states in the story that they didn’t notice the extra gilt with which it was adorned. They did get Holladay’s watch and gold chain, but totally missed a well-filled money belt.
The Collapse of the Deep Creek Dam
The Flood - The collapse of the Deep Creek Dam
An Interview with Arthur Williams 1987 by Oren Jones
I don't know exactly when the Deep Creek Dam washed out, April 1907, or 1908, but it was just before I was married. My wife and I come down Saturday night to the dance. After the dance I took her home. I came back down that way when I see water coming over the top of the dam.
I think a badger dug a hole, and the water soaked through; it didn't go over the top. They said there was two or three badger holes in the dam that was left. That's what started it, a badger dug a hole in it. There was little streams of water coming out. I rode over a little further. I knew it would go out. I could see it was starting to crumble. I rode down and woke up Aunt Ruth and Cy and told them it was coming. They got out. they had a lot of pigs. I went on down. My brother Sam had a broken leg and was on crutches. We got the cows and horses out, but couldn't do a thing with them pigs. By that time here was the water coming, so I got right on my horse and went down. I stopped at Oliver Brigger's house. Ruth was living in the Tom Brigger house. I woke them up. Ruth Richardson said Alec was over on the creek gathering wood. I hollered on him to get out, the water was coming. he just got out in time with the team and wagon. there was so much brush it would backup and then break through.
I woke Will Henderson up. They had lots of cows to get out. then when I got down to Dave Thomas, they were up early milking and got their cows out of the corral, then went down all the way, waking people up.
When I got in the city, I met DL, who was coming from his home to the old co-op store. As I rode down the road he said, "Start hollering that the Deep Creek reservoir is coming." When I got down to the big bridge by the Chivy garage, right there I started hollering that the water was coming. You ought to see the people running. They went way up on the hill there. It didn't widen out very far. it would have done a lot more damage than it did; it split in two parts; part went down the old creek bed, and the other went straight down. If it had come at the same time, it would have filled every store in town. It filled all the basements on the south side of town anyhow. It was quite the thing all right!
An Interview with Arthur Williams 1987 by Oren Jones
I don't know exactly when the Deep Creek Dam washed out, April 1907, or 1908, but it was just before I was married. My wife and I come down Saturday night to the dance. After the dance I took her home. I came back down that way when I see water coming over the top of the dam.
I think a badger dug a hole, and the water soaked through; it didn't go over the top. They said there was two or three badger holes in the dam that was left. That's what started it, a badger dug a hole in it. There was little streams of water coming out. I rode over a little further. I knew it would go out. I could see it was starting to crumble. I rode down and woke up Aunt Ruth and Cy and told them it was coming. They got out. they had a lot of pigs. I went on down. My brother Sam had a broken leg and was on crutches. We got the cows and horses out, but couldn't do a thing with them pigs. By that time here was the water coming, so I got right on my horse and went down. I stopped at Oliver Brigger's house. Ruth was living in the Tom Brigger house. I woke them up. Ruth Richardson said Alec was over on the creek gathering wood. I hollered on him to get out, the water was coming. he just got out in time with the team and wagon. there was so much brush it would backup and then break through.
I woke Will Henderson up. They had lots of cows to get out. then when I got down to Dave Thomas, they were up early milking and got their cows out of the corral, then went down all the way, waking people up.
When I got in the city, I met DL, who was coming from his home to the old co-op store. As I rode down the road he said, "Start hollering that the Deep Creek reservoir is coming." When I got down to the big bridge by the Chivy garage, right there I started hollering that the water was coming. You ought to see the people running. They went way up on the hill there. It didn't widen out very far. it would have done a lot more damage than it did; it split in two parts; part went down the old creek bed, and the other went straight down. If it had come at the same time, it would have filled every store in town. It filled all the basements on the south side of town anyhow. It was quite the thing all right!
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Idaho Commerce & Labor
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