Latah County
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At the first territorial
legislature the region lying north of Nez Perce county and west and north of
Shoshone was set apart as a sub-division, but no name was given to it and no
county organization was effected. The southern portion of this section was the
first to assume a definite form, being organized into Latah county in 1880. From
the remainder Kootenai county was created, and from it Bonner county later was
taken.
The northern part of Idaho was slow in settlement. Almost all of
the early developments were closely associated with mining. The first gold
discoveries were on branches of the Clearwater, not a great distance from the
present southern boundary of Latah county, but the subsequent explorations, for
several years, lay to the south. After the opening of Boise basin, the
immigration was to that part of the territory, and the northern diggings were in
time almost depopulated.
North of Latah county, settlement was still
longer delayed. It was not until the discovery of the placer and lead-silver
deposits of the Coeur d'Alene district and the building of the Northern Pacific
Railroad that that portion of Idalio became populated.
One of the
earliest settlers in Latah county was Asbury Lieuallen. The section, of which
Moscow is now the center, had been given the name of Paradise valley, and the
appellation was not inappropriate. The hills and undulating prairies were very
attractive, while their mantle of native grasses prophesied the wonderful
richness of the soil that after years have demonstrated. Mr. Lieuallen, in March
of 1871, camped in this valley, and, impressed with its advantages, determined
to take up a land claim and establish his home there. At that time the nearest
houses on the south were at Lewiston, about thirty miles away. To the east,
reaching to the crests of the Bitterroot mountains, lay the unexplored wealth of
mineral and timber. Between Paradise valley and the town of Spokane Falls there
were but two or three ranches. Westward one hundred miles was Walla Walla, then
the supply point for a great section, which boasted of the only flouring mill
between Portland and St. Paul.
The homestead taken up by Mr. Lieuallen
is about three miles east of Moscow. There he farmed for a few years and other
settlers established themselves in the vicinity — probably a score. A mail route
was established in 1872 and the postoffice, situated a mile from where .Moscow
was soon to be started, took the name of the valley. The mail was brought in
from Lewiston on horseback.
Moscow was founded in 1875 and has from the
beginning been the business enter of this rich district. The first saw mill
brought into Paradise valley was installed about six miles northeast of the
town, but it was operated for only a short time and was then removed. In 1878 R.
H. Barton brought in a portable mill, which he had hauled by oxen from Corinne,
Utah. This mill was set up six miles east of Moscow. S. J. Langdon and Jack Kemp
joined Mr. Harlon in this enterprise and they began the manufacture of lumber in
the fall.
The population in this part of Idaho having materially
increased, by legislative act approved May 14, 1880, Latah county was organized
and launched on its independent career. It was at the time one of the smallest
counties in the territory, but had a larger percentage of tillable land than any
other subdivision.
Latah county has an area of 1,127 square miles, or
727,900 acres. A very small portion, less than three thousand acres, is still
public domain and is classed as mountainous, timber and agricultural land.
Included within the Coeur d'Alene national forest are 117,043 acres.
The
northern part of the county is drained by the Palouse river and its tributaries.
In the southern portion is the Potlatch river, which empties into the
Clearwater. Topographically, the county is rolling, the hills in the north
becoming high. Near the western border are elevations that may be dignified by
the term mountains.
The distinctive feature of Latah county is that it
includes almost one-half of the noted "Palouse country," the great wheat-growing
region, which in the production of that cereal is not excelled by any
unirrigated district in the United States. The soil is a rich clay loam,
underlaid by a basalt and granite formation. It has been formed by the
disintegration of the country rock. Principally the lavas, mixed with volcanic
ash. The particles are very fine, favoring the retention of moisture. Generally
speaking, the soil is deep, and in a few places tests have disclosed a depth of
thirty to forty feet. It is of wonderful fertility as evidenced by the great
yields of grain, especially of wheat. Instances are cited where one hundred
bushels have been harvested from a single acre. Eighty-acre fields have yielded
an average of sixty bushels to the acre. In 1912 the average from the entire
wheat area in the county was thirty-six bushels per acre, a production that no
other part of the state can equal, and this after the ground has been sowed to
wheat for many years. The wheat fields of Latah are not as extensive as those of
some other counties, but the bushels produced there total more than the yield in
any other one county. Latah has no peer in the number of flour mills, nor in the
possession of elevators and warehouses, there being within its limits eight of
the former and twenty-five of the latter.
Latah county is also unique
among the other counties of Idaho in the method of its farming, it being the
only section that does not report irrigated land. The natural precipitation,
which ranges from twenty-five to thirty inches yearly, is sufficient for the
maturing of its wonderful crops. .Attention is being turned more and more to
diversified farming and live-stock is receiving due consideration. As a producer
of winter apples Latah county ranks high among the fruit districts of the
Northwest. Apricots, peaches, pears, grapes and other fruits are also grown
commercially. The location of the State University at Moscow, with the College
of Agriculture and the Experimental Farm, gives to the farmers of this county
superior opportunities for keeping informed as to the best methods of farming,
fruit growing and the raising of live-stock.
In connection with the
wheat production of the county may be mentioned an invention in farm machinery
known as the "Idaho Harvester." which is manufactured at Moscow. With this
device it is claimed that from twelve to fifteen acres of wheat may be cut,
threshed and sacked in the field per day, at an average cost of about $1 per
acre, as again.st the much heavier expense incurred by the usual method of
binding, stacking and threshing. The practical working of this implement is
being watched with interest.
A region is fortunate if, in any one
particular, it may claim pre-eminence, but Latah not only stands at the head in
wheat production, but also has the largest saw mill in the world. This mill is
located at the town of Potlatch on the Palouse river, in the northern part of
the county. It is owned by the Weyerhauser syndicate, cost $1,000,000, and has a
capacity of seven hundred and fifty thousand feet a day. It stands at the
western edge of the great while pine timber area of the state. The town is the
logical accompaniment of the dominating industry and numbers about one thousand
people. Most of the houses, which are neat and convenient, have been built by
the syndicate and are rented by it to those employed in the mill. There is also
in the town an assembly room and library furnished with reading matter for the
use of the employes. No saloon is permitted within the town and the use of
intoxicants by the mill people is prohibited.
In a mineral way,
comparatively little has been done in this county. During the past years
probably Latah's principal connection with the mining industry has been through
the callable engineers who have graduated from the School of Mines at the State
University, many of whom have taken responsible positions in Idaho.
Considerable placer gold has been recovered, chiefly from the Hoodoo district.
In the more rugged part of the county are found granite outcrops which carry
deposits of gold, silver and copper. These ores are also disclosed in some
places where the streams have cut through the lava and exposed the older
formation. The chief copper explorations have been in the Troy district, a few
miles east of the town of that name. The copper deposits so far opened are of
low grade, but give promise, under normal market conditions, of being
profitable.
No doubt the most interesting mineral feature is the mica,
some of the best commercial bodies of that substance in the West being found in
Latah county. Disputes as to ownership, which have involved the best properties
in litigation, have delayed the development of this resource. The Muscovite
mine, near Avon, has made some shipments of mica and much of its product has
proven to be of superior quality.
Moscow is the county seat and one of
Idaho's important centers of population, worthy of special mention that is given
it elsewhere. There are several flourishing towns within the county lines.
Potlatch, the largest of these, has already been referred to. The others have
populations of less than one thousand.
Troy is located on the
Spokane-Lewiston branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad, about thirteen miles
east of Moscow. It has mills for the manufacture of lumber and of flour. The
town is electrically lighted and has a system of waterworks.
Kendrick is
the center of a rich farming country, on the Potlatch river, and has good
railroad facilities. Its elevation is only twelve hundred feet, being more than
fifteen hundred feet lower than Moscow. As a fruit section, it is distinguished
for its apricots and peaches. It also has a flour mill and manufactures brick on
a commercial scale. This town, with its brick business blocks, well kept streets
and cement sidewalks, presents a pleasing appearance.
Juliaetta is
another prosperous farming community, situated down the river six miles from
Kendrick. It is surrounded by the bountiful wheat fields and has its mill to
care for this product. In its vicinity are some of the best orchards and
vineyards in the county. This place, as well as its sister towns, is lighted and
has a good water supply.
Genesee is in the southwestern part of Latah
county and is distinctly an agricultural center. It is well built and reflects
the prosperity of the surrounding country. It is the terminus of the Palouse
branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Its ten warehouses and elevators and
its two flouring mills are testimonials as to the fertility of the farm lands
tributary to it. There are some fine apple orchards near Genesee. In addition to
the usual good public schools, this town has a Catholic parochial institution.
Deary, although small in numbers, is worthy of mention because of the
fact that it supports two flouring mills, being, with the exception of Genesee,
the only town favored with that number. The manufacture of flour is emphasized,
because it is impossible to speak of Latah county without laying stress on the
production of wheat and its allied industries. Great strides in supplying the
material for the "staff of life" have been taken during the forty years since
Asbury Lieuallen took up his homestead in Paradise valley, when the mill nearest
him was one hundred miles to the west, and eastward, over the weary stretches to
St. Paul, not a wheel was grinding wheat.
Latah county is fortunate in
its transportation facilities, which have no doubt been an important factor in
its progress. The steel rails traverse it from east to west and penetrate
practically every section, so that no part of the county may be considered
remote from railway service. All of the towns, except the mere hamlets, enjoy
this advantage, and each resource has, at its very door, the means of cheap and
speedy conveyance. The lines operating within the county are the Northern
Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound, the Oregon-Washington Railway and
Navigation Company, and the Washington, Idaho & Montana.
This city of five thousand is the business metropolis of the rich
Palouse country, the county seat of Latah county, and the chief educational
center of Idaho. Its beginning, as is usually true of towns dependent on an
agricultural section, was modest and its growth unsensational. In May of 1875,
Anbury Lieuallen, an early settler in Paradise valley, as that region was then
called, established a little store on a tract of land lying just west of what is
now Main street, and named this trading point Moscow. The merchandise which he
sold had to be hauled in from Walla Walla and prices were high. At times brown
sugar cost fifty cents a pound and $1 would buy but five pounds of flour. In
1877 the postoffice, which several years previously had been established at
"Paradise," one mile east of Moscow, was moved to Lieuallen's store, and he
became Moscow's first postmaster.
In the summer of 1877 there occurred
the war with Chief Joseph and his followers. Although the worst depredations
incident to this war were committed farther south near Mount Idaho and
Grangeville, still the danger to the settlers in the vicinity of Moscow was
imminent. A stockade was built in the town. It was constructed of logs from six
to ten inches in diameter, the ends set in the ground and placed close together.
These logs had to be hauled from the hills six miles away, the perils faced in
securing them being very great. The principal fear of the people of Moscow was
that the Coeur d'Alene Indians to the north of them would join the Nez Perce and
en route would raid all the settlements. For many days about thirty settlers
with their families occupied the fort and anxiously awaited developments. They
were in a defenseless condition, as their fortification had been hastily built
and was inadequate and they were but poorly supplied with both arms and
ammunition. Through the influence of the chief of the Coeur d'Alenes, who was
friendly to the whites, and the efforts of Father Cataldo, who was in charge of
the mission, an outbreak among the northern Indians was prevented and soon Chief
Joseph and his band were forced into Montana where they later surrendered.
Moscow's first school house was built in 1878 and was located across the
south fork of the Palouse river. R. H. Barton was engaged as teacher and the
school opened in the fall. This was known as the Maguire school house. Its site
was not satisfactory to those whose interests were identified with the town
rather than the country, as it was distant from the business center, which then
consisted of one store, almost a mile. A contention in regard to this matter
arose between the two factions and it was determined to decide the controversy
by vote. The ranchers took the not wholly unreasonable position that it would be
just as easy to move the town to the school as to pursue the opposite course,
and for a time it seemed that their votes would outnumber those of the
urbanites; but, largely due to the energy of Mr. Lieuallen in getting out
voters, the people of Moscow carried the day. A plot of ground was donated by
Mr. John Russell and a new building was erected on the site that the Russell
school edifice afterward occupied.
The first church established was the
Baptist. It was organized on August 6, 1876, at the Paradise valley school house
by Rev. S. E. Stearns, who during two years preached there once each month. A
church building was erected in Moscow in 1878 and it was, for some time, the
only house of worship. Within the ten years following no fewer than eight
denominations were represented in Moscow, the majority having their own
buildings.
In a business way the event of chief importance to Moscow in
its early days was the establishment of a mercantile concern, in the late '70s,
by W. J. McConnell, afterward governor of Idaho, and J. H. Maguire, under the
firm name of McConnell, Maguire & Company. These men erected a building at the
corner of Second and Main streets, in later years the site of the Moscow
National Bank. The structure was one hundred and twenty feet long, had a
frontage of thirty feet, and contained a $50,000 stock of goods. The population
of Moscow at the time this building was completed is said to have numbered
twenty-five. The establishing of so large a business under the conditions then
existing showed great enterprise on the part of its founders and drew many
people to Moscow to do their trading, which was very beneficial to the town. To
this, probably more than any other single cause, may be attributed the
subsequent growth of Moscow. In this connection may also be cited the flour mill
which, at about this time, was erected by the Moores, and which was another
important factor in the town's upbuilding. Within fifteen years of its birth,
Moscow had an assured position among the important cities of Idaho.
Being both the commercial and political center, Moscow naturally receives the
benefit of the varied resources of the entire county — the bumper crops of wheat
and other grains, the great lumber output and the prize-taking fruits. In
addition to the usual business enterprises, Moscow has a $50,000 packing plant,
vinegar works, fruit packing establishments, flour mill, and a brick and cement
block factory. It is also the home of the manufactory making the Idaho
harvester, a machine which many believe is destined to revolutionize the
harvesting of wheat. Moscow has three banking institutions carrying large
deposits. Three newspapers are published in the city, one of them, the
Star-Mirror, being issued daily.
Moscow takes a just pride in its solid
business institutions, which are commodiously housed; in its attractive homes,
its salubrious climate and pleasing surroundings ; and its advantages along the
lines of culture, social life and education give it an enviable place among the
cities of the state.
There are three public school buildings, including
the one for the high school which was recently erected at a cost of $85,000. The
Catholics have established here the Ursuline Sisters Academy, and the Moscow
Business College is an educational asset of the town. Pre-eminent among the
schools not only of Moscow and of the state, but ranking with the standard
institutions of the nation, is the State University with its associated colleges
of agriculture and of mining engineering, and the .state experiment station.
Moscow has demonstrated that it is a safe custodian of such a school and of
the young men and women who attend it. There are within the city twelve church
organizations, ten of which have their own structures. Moscow has, according to
reliable figures, a greater number of church people than any other city of like
size in the United States. It has further indicated its trustworthiness by
abolishing the sale of intoxicating liquors. Moscow and the county of Latah
accomplished this in an unusual manner. No elections were held to determine this
question, but the people elected a city council and a county board of
commissioners the members of which were pledged in advance to issue no permits
authorizing the sale of intoxicants.
Situated in the heart of a country
of wonderful productivity, easily accessible by rail, possessing the refinement
and culture that are characteristic of college towns, and with one of the best
universities in the West, Moscow affords to all who enter her gates exceptional
educational advantages, an ideal location for homes and profitable business
opportunities.
The last territorial legislature passed a bill establishing a university for Idaho at Moscow, in Latah county, and appropriating from the territorial treasury the sum of $15,000, with which the regents were to secure suitable grounds and plans for the buildings. A tax was levied for the creation of a building fund. ...
The University of Idaho is situated on an eminence to the
southwest of the city of Moscow, and overlooks one of the most attractive
prospects of mountain and valley in the Palouse country. The campus — a wide
sweep of lawn dotted here and there by tennis courts, a monument and a grove of
trees — is crossed from the city by a winding driveway.
The regents,
acting under the legislative act of 1888-9 establishing the university, secured
these grounds and erected the administration building. This was partially
completed in the fall of 1892, and on the 3d of October the school was opened.
The faculty consisted of the president and one professor. The students were few
this first year, and but six of them could rank as collegiate, all the others
taking preparatory work.
From year to year buildings have been added,
increasing the capacity and efficiency of the school. Liszt Hall was built in
1897. It is a two-story wooden structure and was formerly used as the
horticultural building. In 1907 it was refitted and is now the home of the
department of music.
In 1902 there was added the engineering building.
It was of brick and is three stories high, with a ground floor of 60 by 108
feet. Several of the sciences are taught in it and it also contains the machine
and wood working shops. During this year, also, Ridenhaugh Hall was built. It is
the women's dormitory and was named in honor of Mrs. Mary F. Ridenhaugh, of
Boise, who was vice president of the board of regents, in recognition of her
great interests in education and untiring efforts in behalf of the young women
of the university. Ridenhaugh Hall stands at the east entrance of the campus, is
of attractive appearance, and is finished and furnished throughout according to
the most approved plans. There are two reception halls, thirty-five dormers,
study rooms, and a dining hall which will accommodate one hundred boarders. The
apartments for the dean of women is in this building.
The armory and
gymnasium (1904) is a large, rectangular structure of red brick, with a ground
floor 129 by 64 feet. It was constructed at an approximate cost of $25,000 and
is one of the most pleasing of the university buildings.
The year 1906
added to the university three new science buildings. The one housing the
metallurgical laboratory is of red pressed brick and is the best for the purpose
in the Northwest, representing, with its equipment, an expenditure of $40,000.
It stands on sloping ground and has the different floors or levels common to all
mills constructed on a hillside. The assay building is of one story, constructed
of selected brick with rubble foundations, and is fully equipped for assaying
and small scale metallurgical experiments. It contains a furnace room, a
chemical laboratory, an office, a parting-room, balance room and a laboratory.
Morrill Hall, built of brick and stone at a cost of $50,000, was designed to
meet the needs of the College of Agriculture and the Agricultural Experiment
Station.
The year 1907 brought two more buildings to further the efforts
of the institution along utility lines. The flour mill is equipped for
experimental work in the improvement of wheat. One end of this building is used
for the investigation of fruit by-products. The forge shop is a temporary wooden
structure used by the department of mechanical engineering. Eight Buffalo
down-draft forges, with power blower and exhauster, have been installed,
together with an emery-wheel grinder and the necessary small tools, vises,
mandrel, etc. The next year the greenhouses, which arc situated just west of the
mill, were built.
A much needed central heating plant was provided in
1909, which furnishes steam heat to the majority of the university buildings.
At a meeting of the North Idaho Forestry Association, December 16, 191
1, a motion that the members of the association prorate their holdings to the
extent of $58,000 for the purpose of erecting a forestry building at the
University of Idaho was unanimously passed. The preliminary plans call for a
three-story brick building, sixty-three by one hundred feet, provided with
museum, library, offices, lecture rooms and laboratories suitable to meet the
urgent needs of the school of forestry; also a mill annex, where woodworking
machinery will be installed for laboratory work in lumbering and other forms of
utilization. The building when finished will be one of the most complete of its
kind m the United States.
The first university building, in which the
work of this institution was commenced in 1892, was destroyed by fire on the
30th of March, 1906. This was a great loss to the school and to the state, not
alone in the building, but in the valuable records, manuscripts and collections
which the flames consumed. Arrangements were speedily made to replace it, the
result being the beautiful new administration building in collegiate gothic
style. The central portion and north wing are completed and in use. The south
wing is yet to be erected. In addition to the library, offices, and many class
and lecture rooms, this building has an auditorium with a seating capacity of
nine hundred.
Gradually, as the schools throughout the state have
advanced, preparatory courses have been dropped from the university curriculum.
As stated before, in the beginning very few of the students were qualified to do
college work, and it was not until the school was in its thirteenth year that
the number of collegiate students exceeded those in the preparatory department.
As high schools, affording the opportunity for securing the preparatory work,
have been established, the entrance requirements to the university have been
advanced until now they are on a par with those of other first-class state
universities and colleges.
There is probably no part of the university
work of more importance to the state at large than that done in the College of
Agriculture. Instruction is offered in the various branches relating to farming,
fruit growing and animal husbandry. Special courses and short terms arc provided
for those who are engaged in these pursuits, and institutes and movable schools
are held at different points in the state.
The Idaho Experiment Station
was established in 1892 and made a part of the university. The legislature made
an appropriation of $15,000 to be paid each year. This is known as the "Hatch
Fund" and has been utilized by the station ever since its establishment. In
1906, congress passed an act appropriating $5,000 annually to each state and
territory for the purpose of providing funds for scientific research along
agricultural lines. This sum, according to the terms of the act, was to be
increased annually $2,000 until the total amount appropriated to each state and
territory should reach the sum of $15,000. This is known as the "Adams Fund" and
its use is limited to research work, and cannot be used for executive or
demonstration purposes, nor for the publishing of bulletins, improvement or
general expenses of the station.
The university has a farm of one
hundred acres where experiments are made in the growing of the various fruits,
grains and other produce. Tests are conducted to determine the best methods of
caring for and feeding livestock. From time to time bulletins, giving the
results of the work of the station, are issued.
About 1902 there was
added the Department of Home Economics. Its purpose is to enable young women to
reach the highest efficiency in home-making, and to achieve the best results
with the greatest economy of energy, time and money.
The university
consists of the following divisions: The College of Letters and Sciences, which
offers the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science
in Home Economics, Bachelor of Science in Forestry; the College of Agriculture,
granting the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture; the College of
Engineering, offering the degree of Bachelor of Science in Civil. Mining,
Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering; the College of Law, with the
degree of Bachelor of Laws. In addition to these degrees for under-graduate work
the university offers, in each of its different colleges, the master's degree
for one year of post-graduate study under prescribed conditions.
Of the
lands donated by the government for school purposes, 286,080 acres have been set
apart for the University of Idaho, which, when all are sold, will give this
institution a munificent endowment.
The first executive head of the
university was President Gault, who was succeeded by President Blanton. From
1900 to 1913, the school was under the guidance of President James Alexander
MacLean, who resigned to accept the presidency of the University of Manitoba.
Since then Dean Carlyle, of the College of Agriculture, has acted as president.
The filling of this important position is one of the first duties of the newly
created board of education.
Since the first year of the school, when it
had but two teachers and but few students, the growth has been steady and
substantial. In the college year of 1912-13, the university had eighty-five
instructors and assistants and 763 students. When these figures, taken in
relation to the population of the state and its financial resources, are
compared with those of other states, it will be seen that the University of
Idaho makes a most creditable showing.
It is confidently believed that
the new central board of control, under which all of the state educational
institutions have been placed, will succeed in effecting desirable changes and
improvements in the work of the different state schools, and that under the new
regime the university will enter upon a second and even more progressive stage
of its history.
Extracted 2021 Apr 22 by Norma Hass, from History of Idaho: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests, by Hiram T. French, Volume 1, published in 1914, pages 173-176, 265-267, 415, and 416-419.
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