Revisiting The Idanha Hotel

Idanha Flashback.

Picture to the right of the Idanha Hotel and Charles Siringo from Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas: "At times the spacious lobby (of the Idanha) didn’t seem large enough to contain all the gunslingers in the prosecution camp. One day, two of the deadliest-Charlie Siringo and Bob Meldrum-confronted each other by the mahogany bar. Hawley had imported Meldrum and his sidekick, Rudie Barthell, ostensibly under subpoena as prosecution witnesses, actually as insurance against federation 'thuggery' or other contingencies. Ten years before, as sheriff of Carbon County, Colorado, Meldrum had pursued a gang of horse thieves headed by 'Kid' Curry, while the Pinkerton's sent Siringo to infiltrate the bunch. Unaware of the desperado’s identity, Meldrum had almost killed Siringo. Now, as they eyed each other grimly, Meldrum's hand jumped toward his revolver pocket. 'I've felt worst about not getting you than any man I ever missed,' he growled. 'It's all right, Bob,' said Siringo. 'I call it all off.' Ultimately, they downed a whiskey together." (Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas, 1997).

Below are a couple of  recent postcard acquisitions. I have a couple of the first one but did not have one with the notations you see on the right hand side regarding room rates.

Circa 1903-4. This postcard is pre-assassination (12/30/1905) and Frank stayed here from time to time when on business in Boise. ©JTR

As indicated on the postcard above, E. W. Schubert was then manager of the hotel. The Idanha had opened in January 1901 with John Cage as manager but he left a year later. Schubert, the assistant manager at the time, took over. Schubert would remain manager until 1908, including through that period when the Idanha played witness to many individuals and events related to Frank's assassination in 1905 and the trial of Bill Haywood in 1907. Schubert actually testified briefly at the Bill Haywood trial as to the accuracy of the Idanha's registration books showing Harry Orchard was in the hotel during the time of a failed attempt to blow up Frank (and the hotel & guests). Orchard had confessed as to this attempt and his total disregard for other patrons and employees at the hotel.

Circa 1908-1913. ©JTR

Anyone you know? Give a holler if you can ID any of these boys. ©JTR

I am assuming this is a basement storage area. It took a lot of supplies to run a large hotel and to feed the guests. In this photo Charles H. Grout is now manager. Shubert had remained manager until 1908 and Grout took over from 1908 until 1913. Hence, we can date this postcard as during that period of time.

Early RPPC from the same time period circa 1901-1906. Doesn't look like much in the way
of power poles & lines have yet been installed. ©JTR

Did Walter Johnson pitch at the Idanha?

With it sprinkling outside. Walter wound up and pitched a few down the 2nd floor hallway
 to his Weiser Kids catcher. Photo & caption above from The Idanha by Dick d'Easum.

©JTR

Of course this photo of the Idanha with a note from Justice Byron Johnson will always have an honored place in my collection.

Related links:
The Idanha: Guests and Ghosts of an Historic Idaho Inn  By Dick D'Easum

Saturday, March 1, 2008 (letter on Idanha letterhead).
Frank Steunenberg to son Julian - February 2, 1905

Saturday, January 17, 2009
Boise Idaho - Real Photo Postcards & Covers

Saturday, May 3, 2014
Shootout over Harry Orchard

Saturday, March 15, 2008
Would Trade a Mantle, Mays, Koufax or Robinson for a good Steunenberg, Orchard, Siringo or Meldrum

Saturday, October 6, 2012
Golden Arches

Sunday, September 20, 2015
Idanha Hotel Match Safe

I will take the $5.00 room 5th floor turret with a bath and claw foot tub. Hot water better be working.

Idanha Hotel Match Safe

Here is an item currently listed on eBay related to the Idanha Hotel. A early 1900's match safe, match box or sometimes called a Vesta case. Since I didn't have a spare $1,200 in my collectibles cookie jar at the moment, I settled for asking the seller, stroyer500, for permission to use a couple photographs. Permission was granted and in return I get to share this very interesting item and am happy to also provide a bit of free advertising.

In all my Idaho searching I have never seen another one of these. Have any of my fellow Idaho collectors seen one? How rare are they? If you have one, or know more about these, please let me know at: john.t.richards@sbcglobal.net

This is really a nice Idanha collectible!

Other Related:  

Idanha search of this blog

Cooper Hewitt Matchsafe collection

"Bad Man" and/or "Hair Trigger" Bob Meldrum

Remember seeing this RPPC of mine elsewhere on the blog? This is from my mother's (Brenda Steunenberg Richards) old photo album and was used by Idaho Public Television on their website and also in the article A Case for Murder highlighted in the previous blog entry. At the foot of the stairs on the far right is Warden Whitney from the Idaho penitentiary and just to his left is a fellow by the name of Bob "Bad Man" Meldrum. Of course Harry Orchard is to Meldrum's left and up toward the top of the stairs is the more well known Charles Siringo.

So with the likes of Orchard and Siringo, what could be so bad about Bob? Anthony "Tony" Lukas described Bob pretty well.

Excerpts from Big Trouble...

"Meldrum was widely known as Hair Trigger Bob because of his habit of shooting men-armed and unarmed-on the smallest provocation. The wooden grips on his .44 Colt revolver bore fourteen notches, each representing a man he had taken down. A cocky little fellow-barely five food six and 140 pounds, with icy gray eyes glaring above a flamboyant mustache-he was especially truculent when drunk, which was often. He suffered no penalties for his gun play since most of it had been performed in the employ of law enforcement agencies or corporate clients. Formerly the town marshal of Dixon, Wyoming, a community notorious for its six-shooter free for alls, he worked of late for Colorado mine owners. Indeed, notches thirteen and fourteen were added to his gun during the Telluride skirmishing. He'd also teamed for a time with the notorious gunman and sometimes Pinkerton, Tom Horn. Meldrum was thus a classic example of that romantic but often misunderstood figure exemplified by the protagonist of Owen Wister's The Virginian, the seemingly free-spirited gunfighter who, in his lethal defense of property rights, played such a large role in imposing a new industrial and corporate order on the rambunctious West."

Continuing from Big Trouble with Haywood, Pettibone and Moyer en route to Idaho on the "kidnap special" train from Colorado...

"and Bob Meldrum, now (Buckeley) Well's orderly-cum-bodyguard. Once again, as at Telluride, Meldrum was putting his gunslinger skills at the disposal of the West's new corporate order. As he swung aboard the train, Haywood, Moyer and Pettibone recognized Hair Trigger Bob as their old adversary, a desperado ready at any moment to put a bullet through them."

"Haywood had plenty of opportunity to study Meldrum. Each of the prisoners, still in handcuffs, was watched closely at all times (even when he went to the toilet, it being feared that the fugitive might succeed in squeezing out the toilet window). Although guard assignments shifted, Meldrum seemed to keep his pale eyes on Haywood. "I never say a human face that looked so much like a hyena," Haywood recalled. ”His eyes were deep set and close together. His upper lip was drawn back, showing teeth like fangs."

And Meldrum and Siringo, working for the same side this time, meet up at the Idanha...

Picture to the right of the Idanha and Charles Siringo. From Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas.

"At times the spacious lobby (of the Idanha) didn’t seem large enough to contain all the gunslingers in the prosecution camp. One day, two of the deadliest-Charlie Siringo and Bob Meldrum-confronted each other by the mahogany bar. Hawley had imported Meldrum and his sidekick, Rudie Barthell, ostensibly under subpoena as prosecution witnesses, actually as insurance against federation "thuggery” or other contingencies. Ten years before, as sheriff of Carbon County, Colorado, Meldrum had pursued a gang of horse thieves headed by "Kid" Curry, while the Pinkerton's sent Siringo to infiltrate the bunch. Unaware of the desperado’s identity, Meldrum had almost killed Siringo. Now, as they eyed each other grimly, Meldrum's hand jumped toward his revolver pocket. "I've felt worst about not getting you than any man I ever missed," he growled. "It's all right, Bob," said Siringo. "I call it all off." Ultimately, they downed a whiskey together." (Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas, 1997).

As we can see, the shades of law and order were often difficult to distinguish in those days. Governor Gooding, Hawley, McParland and others had agreed to put the likes of Meldrum and Siringo on the payroll to counter any threats of labor violence. At times it was difficult to determine who was the greatest threat and who exactly represented law and order!

Here is a picture of Bob Meldrum's actual Colt courtesy of collector/dealer Kurt House. Kurt is another history buff as well as gun collector/seller that I ran across in my travels. We struck up a conversation and I found out he was a Bob Meldrum collector and had acquired one of Meldrum's Colt's for his collection.

From Kurt's description:

"This fancy, silver, engraved, ivory griped sidearm of Bob Meldrum's is a good example. Meldrum caused the demise of about 15 victims, was finally convicted of one charge and served in the Wyoming Penitentiary. This Single Action was sold to Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett, Chicago, Illinois and shipped March 10, 1904 with four other guns without mention of engraving, although experts agree it was engraved by Cuno Helfricht of the Colt factory. It is silver plated, .45 caliber, with carved ivory steerhead grips, and is inscribed on the butt with initials "RDM." It was the property of Robert "Bad Bob" Meldrum who served in various capacities as a mine security guard, lawman, Pinkerton agent and hired gunman in Telluride, Colorado and around Baggs, Wyoming" (And as we know, Boise, Idaho too!). Kurt House Collection, Paul Goodwin Photo.

The pictures are from Kurt's 2008 Calendar of "Significant Colt Single Action Revolvers." Each month highlights a Colt of historical significance.

You can contact Kurt through his web page and/or email if interested in purchasing one of these great calendars.

Website: http://www.kurthouse.com/

Email: Cowboyhous@aol.com

More Meldrum:

Museum of Northwest CO. (scroll down for Meldrum)

Tom Horn's friend Bob Meldrum

9/15/2008 - From blog reader "Corn Chips Pie".
Just read your blog entry on Bob Meldrum, and thought you might be interested to know (if you don't already) that Thomas Pynchon's most recent novel, the 1085-page behemoth "Against The Day," focuses on the mining troubles in Colorado of a century ago. Good old "Hair-Trigger" Bob Meldrum is a character in the novel, though not a major one.

More Pics of Meldrum's Colt courtesy of Kurt House. You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

Frank Steunenberg to son Julian - February 2, 1905

I love this old letter written on original Idanha Hotel letterhead. It conjures up a picture of Frank sitting down in the Idanha lobby or perhaps in his room during a visit to Boise. It is more personal in nature then the letters of government and business and I hesitated a bit before sharing it with the world. However, it is important to see Frank Steunenberg not only in the role of governor and martyr, but to get a glimpse of him as husband and father. Here we see that Frank dealt with similar issues that most of us as parents have experienced with our children (a child away at college, behavior, grades, lack of responsibility, etc). 

My grandfather Julian was a bit of an impetuous lad and had not applied himself to his studies while living with the family in Caldwell. He appeared to be slipping down the same road as a student at Walla Walla College. Although Julian went on to a lifelong membership in the Adventist Church, he was less then enthusiastic (as was his father) about it at this point in his life and with having been sent away to "that missionary" school in Walla Walla, Washington.

Belle Steunenberg, by 1905 a very active and devoted member of the Adventist Church, apparently insisted that Walla Walla College would be the chosen institution at which young Julian would continue his education. Many of the Steunenberg’s had been members of the Presbyterian Church and more closely associated with Dr. Boone and the College of Idaho. Belle’s conversion to a then new and very small sect of Adventists no doubt raised tensions within the family and probably to some extent within Frank’s circle of personal, business and political friends and associates.

In this letter, we leave behind the difficult decision making of a governor and see the sometimes equally challenging role of father and husband. Unfortunately, I do not have what apparently was a letter written by Julian to which Frank is responding. Julian's "physical condition" seems to be interfering with his studies and we see the firm fatherly advice of Frank basically telling him to get over it! My guess is that Julian may have already been bitten by the love bug from a young Francis Beardsley Wood…hence his “physical condition" and lack of attention to his studies. Francis of course would later become Julian's wife and my beloveded grandmother. She would help restore stability and happiness after the shattering experience of his father’s brutal murder just eleven months after this letter was written. 

"Remember, you are but a boy, and if you live, you will have many, many more years of mature life in which not only to plan, but to do." 

"With Love, Your Father, Frank Steunenberg"

Comments from a reader

Here is part of a recent email exchange with Gary Heagy. Gary in undoubtedly an avid history buff and well versed on the subject of Harry Orchard. Some good comments that I don't want to bury in the guest book and Gary agreed to let me use as a main post. Although I still want to encourage folks to use the guest book (near the top left column), I think I will start sharing a few of the more thought provoking emails as a blog post when it is OK with the author.
From: Gary & Terri Heagy
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2010 10:11 AM
To: john.t.richards@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Governor Steunenberg

John,

I just came across your blog about the history of the 1800-1900's in Idaho, especially of your great-grandfather Frank Steunenberg. Wow! I really appreciate all you've put together, though I've only had an opportunity to browse through it briefly so far. I wish I had found it a few years ago.

I grew up as an Adventist reading the Harry Orchard book. A few years ago I decided to do more research about the story on the internet and then took a trip to Caldwell and Boise. I learned so much about your great-grandfather and the great man he was. I saw the place where his home was, his bank, the monument, AK's home, the gravesite, the library collection of material, etc. In Boise I went to the museum, the monument, the Idanha, the penitentiary, the historical society, etc. I purchased and read the books "Big Trouble", "Idaho's Governors", "Greater Love", "The Martyr of Idaho", "The Idanha", "A Room For the Summer", etc. I made a huge notebook of copies of documents from the newspapers, Crookham collection, files at the historical society, etc. This whole story really absorbed my attention, though it has been on the back burner for the last couple years.

I agree with you and your great-uncle Frank that too much was made of Harry Orchard and not enough was said about your great-grandfather. He was very courageous and did what he knew to be right regardless of the outcome. I have come to greatly admire him and the depiction of his murder, especially by his brother in a letter, is so grievous. I have no doubt that AK died of a broken heart because of it. Harry Orchard was a thug and despicable criminal.

To me, though, through all of this I have come to also admire your great-grandmother. The story of her forgiveness of Harry Orchard is amazing. Especially at the time when he was still an evil, murderous thug of the unions who had just ripped her life apart, mangled her husband, horrified her family, ruined her future, and more. You might understand if she had forgiven the elderly, grandfatherly Harry Orchard, but what she did speaks of an amazing woman. Her comments to the press, her sending books to Harry, even meeting with him, and in 1921 signing a petition along with your grandfather and her other children to allow Harry to be released... wow. I would love to know more about her as well.

I personally believe Harry's confession and change of life to be real, and I believe Belle did as well. There is no doubt that he could have gotten out of it just like Adams, Haywood, and the others if he would have stuck to his original story. The letter he wrote to your great-great uncle Peter begging him to ask for the death penalty seems genuine. He said he would much rather die for his deeds as he deserved than to live out the rest of his life in the pen. I don't think he turned state's witness just to keep from hanging. If it hadn't been for him, the state would have had zero opportunity to go after the unions. They would have had the union, too, if Adams hadn't recanted.

I do think that God changed Harry Orchard from the vile person he was, who could kill a great man like Frank Steunenberg in cold blood, to a humble repentant sinner saved by God's grace. I feel that is what makes people focus on his story. But unfortunately they have raised him up to being a hero instead of your great-grandfather. I have thought about writing another book for the Adventist denomination that balances the story a bit better than the original Harry Orchard book, but we'll see...

Anyway, it is an honor to be able to communicate with you,

Gary Heagy

From: John T. Richards Jr. [mailto:john.t.richards@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2010 4:16 PM
To: 'Gary & Terri Heagy'
Subject: RE: Governor Steunenberg

Gary:

I really appreciate the email. It appears you have put a considerable amount of time and thought into you study of this subject.

Are you in Idaho? As you may have read, I am a CA boy but we have roots in Idaho and kinfolk still living in the Caldwell/Boise area. I hope to make another visit there soon. 

There was a Deanna Davis that I corresponded with and finally met in 2007 that was interested in writing a new book. Deanna and I, along with archivist Jan Boles, met in the archives at the College of Idaho. Here is a summary of that meeting from my daily log in case you have not discovered it yet on my blog. It may be of some interest. 

November 9, 2007 - College of Idaho Archives with Jan and Deanna

Today we headed over to the COI archives for a visit with Jan and I wanted to get a look at that wonderful old court docket from 1906 that had been rescued from the dumpster. Quite a find with the names we all know (Haywood, Petitioner, Moyer, Orchard, Simpkins, etc) but including the quiet presence of a young Julian Steunenberg as a witness to Orchard’s presence in Caldwell. Thank you Cousin Bill and Jan for seeing that the item found its way safely into the hands of the archives. Our friend Jan has of course been of great importance to the Steunenberg family with the establishment of the George L. Crookham Jr. collection. He served as a consultant to the IPTV production and his white beard and hair served him well as a member of the Haywood trial jury. He is not really as old as any of those Haywood trial jurors but he played the part well! Thank you for all your work and for keeping me in touch with happenings in Idaho. You are an invaluable resource.

Jan, John, Deanna

We also had the pleasure of meeting with Deanna Davis from Pacific Press in Nampa. Deanna and I had corresponded briefly and we arranged to meet and discuss the SDA Church’s desire to have her write a new book on Harry Orchard. I was happy to hear Dianna say that she wanted to do more then just a rehash of The Man God Made Again, and plans to update and include other elements from the story on which we have been focusing so much recent interest. Perhaps it is Belle Steunenberg and later Frank Steunenberg Jr. who played significant roles in Orchard’s alleged salvation that deserves more prominent recognition. Regardless of one’s personal view of Orchard’s real or faked conversion, as someone opposed to capital punishment I cannot apply that view only to modern times and ignore the past. I am at peace with Orchard’s life sentence, supportive of my ancestors that made sure it stayed that way but find regrettable some of the unusual freedom’s that Orchard enjoyed during his life at the Idaho pen. Deanna also spent a considerable amount of time looking over my mother Brenda’s treasured copy of 60Years of Progress-Walla Walla College. The book has many notations and markings made by my Grandmother Frances Beardsley Wood Steunenberg. Some of our ancestors on my grandmother’s side were pioneers in the early days of the college and the Walla Walla Valley. That is another story to be told but suffice to say that Julian Steunenberg was smitten by the young Frances while attending college and we know the story went on happily for a lifetime thereafter.

Jan and I were recently corresponding and mentioning that neither of us has heard from Deanna so I am not sure the status of her book efforts.

The SDA has played an important, albeit sometimes controversial, role in our family. Great Grandma Belle was viewed as a bit fanatical by the mostly Presbyterian Steunenberg clan. Her forgiveness of Orchard put her at odds with many that preferred to see him swing from a rope. We still have a few living family members that are SDA. I am not but we grew up always familiar with the church and respecting the Sabbath due to the many happy weekends spent with my grandparents Julian and Francis Steunenberg.

As you read over my blog, I think you will find many indicators of my views and findings. Of course, the story seems never ending as a new bit of information or person of interest always seems to pop up, one being the recent surfacing of a great grandson of Harry Orchard. There may be more information coming in that regard soon.

Please keep in contact, let me know if you have any questions and always feel free to share your views. The blog has grown far beyond my original intent and some things are rather hard to find. If looking for something particular, please let me know.

BTW, would you mind if I post your email letter as a main post entry? Your expressed interests and many excellent points would be worth sharing. If you prefer, I will delete you email address so it will not show. Let me know.

Kind Regards,

John

3/16/1905 - Letter from Governor Frank Steunenberg ("Pop") to son Julian

"I have crossed the continent twice without taking a sleeper and you certainly can ride one night in a chair car or coach.
Pop."




















This is a brief letter from Ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg to his son (my future grandfather) Julian that I have decided to make public. You can also read a more lengthy and formal fatherly lecture in a letter from the governor (on Idanha Hotel letterhead) to Julian posted on my Saturday, March 1, 2008 blog entry. As opposed to the historical records and letters pertaining to the business of State, family correspondence gives us a glimpse into the more personal side of Frank Steunenberg and the everyday lessons that he imparts to his children. Here we can see that that Frank was a man of thriftiness and certainly wanted Julian to learn to be the same.

"Dear Julian -
Herewith pass to Huntington, you will have to pay $3.00 fare from there home. Herewith check for $25.00 - if this is not sufficient have Mr. Ohustaurm (spelling?) send me bill for balance. Show him this letter as authority. He will pay you enough out of the $25 to come home on. If you take night train you can come right through and not have any expense at Pendleton. You do not need to take a sleeper - I have crossed the continent twice without taking a sleeper and you certainly can ride one night in a chair car or coach.
Pop."


The letter and envelope are Caldwell Banking and Trust Company letterhead. Julian was attending Walla Walla College at the time. The envelope is postmarked March 16, 1905 from Pocotello, ID. About nine months later, on December 30th, 1905, the governor would be assassinated when opening the gate to the yard of his Caldwell, ID home. Julian would be home from college at the time visiting for the holidays. Typically Julian would have been at his fathers side but by a twist of fate had stayed in town for a few more minutes. He was walking toward home when the explosion occurred.

Shootout over Harry Orchard

Repeat visitors are familiar with this postcard from the trial of Bill Haywood in 1907 showing Harry Orchard coming out of the Ada County Courthouse in Boise. The postcard belonged to my grandparents, Julian and Francis Steunenberg, was handed down to my mother, Brenda Steunenberg Richards, and then to me. It has no postmark or writing on either side. A couple of my fellow Idaho collectors have asked about it in the past but they knew there was no point in making me an offer. I had never seen another but always figured a few more must be out there somewhere.

As stated elsewhere, the postcard is one of the few remnants of those events from my grandparents, as they rarely spoke of Frank's assassination, Haywood's trial, nor mentioned Harry Orchard. Rumor has it that grandpa and grandma did have more photographs related to the trial that were stored in a window seat. You can guess the next part—rain leaked in and ruined all the items. Not sure if true, but the story is consistent with the damage we see on the lower right corner of the postcard and similar to a few other items as if they got wet and were stuck together. One can only dream but no point crying over spilled water. 

Of course one of the questions about this postcard is who exactly in the photo are the outlaws?  Is it just old Harry or are the likes of Charlie Siringo, Robert Meldrum, Rudy Barthell, or maybe even Warden Whitney, on the right or wrong side of the law? There seemed to be plenty of guns for hire on all sides of the battle of Capital versus Labor. But seeing all these gunslingers, and the hardware we know is under those coats, would seem to give the advantage to the state and the mine owners.

Although the photograph is common in publications, I have never seen another one despite a search for many years, specifically intense over the past decade—until now. Quite to my surprise and pleasure, one popped up on eBay a couple weeks back with a starting bid of $5 bucks. What a bargain! Just the sight of it got my heart pumping and my sights zoomed in for the kill. After all, it had been a long search and I had to add this back up card to the collection. It would be an all out war with no prisoners taken.

I kept a daily watch on the postcard and right up to within a few seconds of the auction end it had a handful of bids and was still only $7.50. However, I could not be lured into any sense of easy pickings. Us Idaho collectors can catch each others scent and we all knew the others were lurking in ambush. I had predicted $200 as in the neighborhood of the probable purchase price, perhaps even higher if a couple or three of us got into our own labor war shootout.

Well, I must say the last few seconds, with about a 1/2 dozen of us quick draw snipers left in the fight, was pretty heart stopping. Bang, bang, bang bang!—just as if Siringo and Meldrum had really drawn on each other when they met up in the Idanha Hotel. When the smoke cleared, I saw my last shot, despite all the ammo fired off, had hit the mark. Yes, I had finally taken down Harry Orchard, Meldrum and Siringo and they were mine!

Above is the recently purchased postcard. As you see, it has no creases and none of the water type damage as my other one. However, it has a few more dings around the edges and a couple nicks on the photo itself. And Bob Meldrum, upon closer examination, looks like he put too much pancake on his cheeks that morning. He doesn't look so ghostly on my original card.

The card is addressed to a "Mrs. R. R. Bassett" in Aberdeen Wash. I am tracking some possible interests Bassett family members in WA and ID may have had in the trial. If you have any info in that regard let me know.

Each of the two postcards has its positives and negatives but both are in nice shape overall for being about 114 years old. An added bonus on this newly acquired card is the writing on the front, "Taken in front of court house" and postmark on the back, "Boise Idaho, SEP 12, 1907"—not even yet a couple months after the Haywood trial had ended.

How much did it cost?  $180.27 to be exact. So in the ballpark of what I figured to be possibly $200 but still pretty rich for my blood. I am always looking for trades and there is a similar postcard with the same carriage and driver, Whitney, Barthell, Ackley, Siringo and Ed Hawley, son of James Hawley, that I would like to acquire. Meldrum is not in this one. Again, the photo is in various publications, including Big Trouble by Lukas, but the postcard is rare. I have seen a couple over the years, got outgunned in bidding a few years back on one, and am still in the hunt. I will come loaded for bear next time and a prisoner card swap is always possible too.

To those other Idaho/Haywood trial collectors, you wounded me but the shootout was fun and no one was hurt. How high had I set my sniper shots? Well, I can't reveal the amount of ammo I was packing to all my Idaho collector friends. It was a fair fight and we were only firing dollars. We all live to face off another day—on the streets of Boise Idaho—1907. 

Haywood, Moyer, Pettibone are now being tried for their lives!

This is a postcard that I am moving up from the unarchived section at the bottom of the blog.

Postmarked July, 29,1907. Hand written on the front it says:

"Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, July 24th, 1907
Dear K. This is the scene of the great mining riots for which Haywood, Moyer, Pettibone are now being tried for their lives. Yours, Bill"

And as we know, four days later, on July 28th, before this postcard reached its destination, the jury found Haywood not guilty.

Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century

The Trial of Bill Haywood

The Idanha Hotel-Witness to history

Clarence Darrow Digital Collection (including Haywood trial transcripts).

Postmarked Boise, Idaho, May 9th, 1907

Here is a post card of Boise showing Main Street and the Idanha Hotel. The card is very common and this one is not in very good shape.  So why bother buying and posting it here on the blog?

The interesting thing about this one is the date indicated by the writer, 5/8/1907, and the Boise, ID postmark of May 9, 1907. Do you know why?

Hint (I am inserting some punctuation that was commonly left out in those days): the writer says, "Does this scene look natural. Trial starts in morning. Have seen your papers?"

Here is a short blurb on the trial in question:
"With the Adams case out of the way for the time being, the state could move ahead with the prosecution of the Western Federation Officials.  After Fremont Wood replaced Judge Bryan and Boise replaced Caldwell as the scene of the trial, the trial of William D. Haywood was finally set for May 9th, 1907."
—Debaters and Dynamiters: The Story of the Haywood Trial by David H. Grover

So not a major historical discovery but an interesting postcard nonetheless. These old cards allow us to reach back and touch a moment in time from someone who was actually there on May 9th, 1907.

Related:
Monday, September 14, 2009
"6/14/(19)07 Big crowds here, on account of Haywood trial"