Bannock County
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The county of Bannock, named for the Indian
tribe once so numerous in Southern Idaho, was created by the Second State
Legislature, the act being approved by Governor McConnell on March 6, 1893. The
boundaries as defined by that act were as follows: "Commencing at the
intersection of the township line between townships 4 and 5, south with the
Snake River; thence down the Snake River southwesterly to the mouth of the Port
Neuf River; thence up the Port Neuf to what is known as the point of the
mountain, about four miles northwest of Pocatello; thence southerly in a
straight line to the top of the range; thence along the crest of the mountains
below Malad and Marsh valleys to a point on the top of the range, due west of a
point one mile south of the present southern boundary of the townsite of Oxford;
thence due east to the Bear Lake County line; thence northerly and easterly
along the line of Bear Lake County to the line of the State of Wyoming; thence
north to the intersection of the township line between townships 4 and 5, with
the line of the State of Wyoming; thence west along said township line to the
place of beginning."
Bannock was taken from the southern part of Bingham
County and as originally created included a portion of Power County. The act
creating the county assigned it to the fifth judicial district and designated
Pocatello as the county seat. It is one of the elevated counties of the state,
no point within its boundaries having an altitude less than 4,200 feet above sea
level. Farming and stock raising are the principal occupations, about 200,000
acres being under irrigation.
Old Fort Hall, established in 1834, was
within the limits of the present Bannock County and near Pocatello have been
discovered the remains of some old Indian fortifications constructed of earth
and bowlders. The mouth of the Port Neuf Canyon was formerly the favorite winter
quarters of freighters and cattlemen on account of the good feeding ground.
Around the post at Fort Hall a considerable settlement grew up and cultivation
of the land was commenced, but the modern settlement of the county dates from
the building of the Oregon Short Line Railroad in 1882. Since then the
population has gradually increased until Bannock is the second county of the
state in population and third in wealth. The census of 1910 gives the number of
inhabitants as 19,242, and the assessed valuation of property in 1918 was
$28,938,226.
Pocatello, a historical sketch of which is given in another
chapter, is the second city of Idaho and an important railway center. Other
thriving villages in the county are Alexander, Bancroft, Downey, Grace, Lava Hot
Springs, McCaramon, Marsh Valley and Swan Lake. These places are all on the
railroad lines and are shipping points for the surrounding agricultural
districts. Grace is the terminus of a branch of the Oregon Short Line railway
system which connects with the main line at Alexander. It is located on the Bear
River and is said to have the largest hydro-electric plant west) of the great
dam across the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa. At Lava Hot Springs, which are
owned by the State of Idaho and leased under state control, a health resort is
growing up, which is becoming more notable every year.
Pocatello, the "Gate City" of Idaho and the second city of the state,
is the county seat of Bannock County. It is located on the Port Neuf
River, about sixteen miles above its mouth, at the junction of the two
main lines of the Oregon Short Line railway system. In 1881 the site of
Pocatello was a sagebrush plain. The next year the Oregon Short Line
Railroad was completed to this point and the Pacific Hotel was built for
the accommodation of passengers. At that time it was the design of the
railroad officials to establish the main division point at Shoshone,
where the Ketchum branch left the main line for the Wood River mining
districts, and shops were already under construction. Trouble over the
townsite arose at Shoshone, and as the railroad company owned some two
hundred acres of land where Pocatello now stands, the division point was
established at that place, though the only buildings there at the time
were the hotel and the store of the Fort Hall Indian trader, it being
almost in the geographical center of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
In 1887 the shops of the Utah & Northern Railroad at Idaho Falls
were removed to Pocatello. This brought four or five hundred men there
and the two railroad companies united in building a number of houses
(afterward known as "Company Row") for their employes, the first
dwelling houses ever erected in the city. J. M. Bennett, superintendent
of bridges and buildings, and his wife were the first couple to occupy
one of the houses, and the depot was dedicated with a grand ball in
October. A schoolhouse was also built in 1887 and the first term of
school was taught by a Miss Brooks. Immigrants rushed in and in a short
time Pocatello was a typical frontier town. Money was plentiful, the
restraints of law were negligible, saloons and gambling houses
flourished, etc. Within a few months after the establishment of the
railroad shops over six hundred people had located in Pocatello and more
were arriving almost daily.
Then trouble arose with the Indians
over the possession of the land. The railroad company had permitted
settlers to locate upon the railroad lands, but many became "squatters"
on the Indian lands and were ordered off the reservation, their "shacks"
being torn down. Fred T. Dubois, then delegate in Congress from Idaho,
was asked to use his efforts to secure the passage of a measure by
Congress that would relieve the situation. Conferences were held with
the Shoshone and Bannock Indians at Fort Hall, accompanied by barbecues
and "big talks," until the chiefs were persuaded to sell 2,000 acres of
the land at the railroad station to the United States for a townsite,
and Mr. Dubois succeeded in having Congress ratify the contract.
Up to this time there had been no regular plat of the town made, but
in June, 1889, the townsite was surveyed and the following year the lots
were sold at auction. Before the auction sale the population of the town
had reached about three thousand, many of whom had erected buildings
upon lots to which they held no title. A committee of citizens was
therefore organized to protect these improvements and when such lots
were offered for sale this committee announced that Mr. so and so had
improvements thereon and requested outsiders not to bid against the
owner of the buildings. The request was observed except in one case, and
even in that instance the bidder was "persuaded" to withdraw his bid.
Immediately after the sale of lots, shanties were pulled down, and
better buildings were erected, business blocks and handsome residences
springing up almost like Aladdin's palace.
Pocatello was
incorporated as a village in the spring of 1889, too late for the
regular spring election, and the county commissioners of Bingham County,
in which the village was then located, appointed the first board of
trustees, viz.: H. L. Becraft (chairman), A. F. Caldwell, Doctor Davis,
L. A. West and D. K. Williams. .At the same time Samuel Gundaker was
appointed marshal, but he resigned after a few weeks and W. S. Hopson
was appointed to the vacancy. The first village election was held in the
spring of 1890 and resulted in the choice of C. S. Smith, J. H.
Shuffleberger, John G. Brown, A. F. Caldwell and D. K. Williams,
trustees; James Scanlon, marshal; J. F. Myers, treasurer.
Under
an act of the Second State Legislature in 1893, Pocatello was
constituted a city of the second class, divided into four wards, and at
the first city election Edward Stein was elected mayor; Edward Sadler,
clerk; J. J. Curl, treasurer; J. F. Connor, police magistrate; A. M.
Bagley, E. P. Blickensderfer, M. Condon, W. J. Harvey, Al. Miller, F. H.
Murphy, George Griffith and J. H. Shuffleberger, councilmen.
Pocatello was named in memory of the old Bannock chief, whose followers
roamed over the Snake River Valley in early days and kept the pioneers
on the alert to prevent depredations. When Bannock County was created in
1893, Pocatello was made the county seat. The city has expended over
half a million dollars on its system of waterworks, which is one of the
best in the state. The supply comes from the Gibson-Jack and Mink
creeks, which have their sources near the summits of Bannock and Kinport
mountains a short distance southwest of the city. Around the headwaters
of these streams 50,000 acres of the Pocatello National Forest have been
set off and sheep excluded therefrom in order to protect the purity of
the water. The melting snows of the mountains are conducted by the
creeks to three large reservoirs and thence distributed to all parts of
the city under an average pressure of 115 pounds, supplying all the
water necessary for domestic purposes and fire protection.
The
first electric lights in Pocatello were furnished by a small company
called the Pocatello Electric Light and Telephone Company, which
obtained its power from the railroad shops. In 1892 Daniel Swinehart
built a dam across the Port Neuf River and erected a power house, which
was put in operation in June, 1893. The city now obtains its electric
current from the hydro-electric power plant at American Falls, about
twenty-five miles to the west.
Pocatello has five banks, large
brick and tile works, six lumber companies, three planing mills, a
cement block factory, wholesale houses, one wholesale grocery having a
trade of about one million dollars annually, an opera house, a packing
plant, two ice factories, a $15,000 public library, hotels and
restaurants, fine retail stores handling all lines of merchandise, a
general hospital, churches of eight denominations, modern public school
buildings and many cozy homes. The Idaho Technical Institute is located
here, the Masons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, Elks and Eagles all
have their own buildings, the railroad men have a clubhouse and the
Young Men's Christian Association has a membership of over fifteen
hundred and property worth $100,000 the largest Railroad Y. M. C. A. in
the United States. Four sessions of the Federal Court are held here
every year. The railroad company's payroll at this point amounts to
$125,000 every month. The population in 1910 was 9,110 and in 1918 it
was estimated at over thirteen thousand.
McCammon, situated in the western part of Bannock County, is a junction point for the main line and the Salt Lake City & Butte division of the Oregon Short Line railway system. It is in the irrigated district of the Port Neuf-Marsh Valley project and is an important shipping point. The village was incorporated in 1908 and two years later reported a population of 321. In 1918 the population was estimated at 600. McCammon has a bank, a weekly newspaper, waterworks, electric light, modern public school building, a telephone exchange, well stocked stores, churches of various denominations, etc.
Lava Hot Springs are situated on the main line of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, thirty-four miles east of Pocatello and near the center of Bannock County. The springs are the property of the State of Idaho, having been deeded to the state by the United States Government at the time of the opening of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, on which they were located. There are 187 acres of land in the grant, a portion of which is admirably adapted for the use of camping and outing parties. The altitude of the springs is 5,000 feet and the climate is ideal for a health resort. Portions of the more level sections of the grant have been converted into pleasant parks and beautified with lawns and trees. There is a $10,000 sanitarium, two bath houses, forty tent houses that are maintained by the state and rented furnished for light housekeeping, the whole property being in charge of a superintendent. The volume of water is immense and the temperature ranges from 108 to 142 Fahrenheit. The medicinal properties of these springs are becoming better known every year.
Contributed 2021 Jun 14 by Norma Hass, extracted from History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains, Volume 1, pages 606-609, 751-755, 784, and 813.
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This page was last updated
03/20/2025