Gov. Steunenberg proclamation creating the Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game & naming Charles Arbuckle as the first director

Click on the images to enlarge for viewing.
The proclamation signed by Governor Steunenberg is shown in the background and a photograph of State Game Warden Charles Arbuckle in the foreground.

"Visitors can see historically significant items related to the infancy of the department, such as the 1899 proclamation by then-Gov. Frank Steunenberg appointing the first state game warden, Charles Arbuckle, and thus creating the department. A document embosser, more than 100 years old, shows the department's seal."

Click here for more info: 
A Hundred Years of Hatcheries on Display


My thanks and appreciation to Sharon Clark of the Idaho Fish & Game Department for leading me to this discovery and for providing a copy of the proclamation. Hopefully I can get a look at it in person someday and get a few more photographs or scans.

If anyone has more photographs and/or information on Charles Arbuckle, I would sure appreciate knowing about it and so would Sharon and the IDFG.

Website: Idaho Fish & Game

Ballad of Harry Orchard

Here is a version of the Ballad (or The Song) of Harry Orchard that you may have heard elsewhere. This link was provided by Idaho historical roots music affectionado Gary Eller.

Ballad of Harry Orchard

We see a nice web page with the audio file of the song, a few familiar photographs and some brief information. Included is a somewhat tainted view (as is mine) quoting Emma Langdon. Emma is a very interesting historical figure in her own right but certainly subject to the same misinformation that was (is) common to all sides in the battle between miners and mine owners and labor versus capital. Looking at the news and politics of today, it sometimes seems we haven't progressed very far at all in 100+ years.

In regards to Harry Orchard, the statement "he was later eligible for parole, but refused to leave the prison" is pure fiction. Yes, there were efforts to parole Harry but they were not successful and hence he never had the option to leave the prison. Harry was in the Idaho Pen until he died because he had to be.

Although I try, and sometimes fail, to be as factual as possible, the point here is to explore the great historical music that was born out of the important events and struggles of the 19th and 20th centuries. No matter what your point of view, we all need to listen to the music.

Related Blog links

The Song of Harry Orchard

We Sing of Idaho

Other links

Pacific Northwest Folklore Society

The Cripple Creek Strike by Emma Langdon

The Long Memory by Rosalie Sorrels and Utah Phillips

The Long Memory (webpage dedicated to Utah Phillip)

COI Archives Spotlight #2 - 1/12/1890 original letter - Frank Steunenberg to family in Iowa

Back on 11/27/2010, I posted the first page of this personal though politically pertinent letter written by Frank Steunenberg on 1/12/1890 to our family in Iowa. I am finally getting back with the original four page penned letter followed by a three page transcribed version. Frank had been elected as a representative to the Constitutional Convention for Idaho in early 1889. I think the letter gives you a flavor of his dry humor, lack of formality and down to earth nature (my interpretation of a few of his personality characteristics).

On November 5, 1899, the citizens voted to ratify the State Constitution and on July 3rd 1890, President Harrison signed it into law and Idaho became a state.

This letter comes courtesy of the COI Archives but is not yet available as a part of the online collection.

Transcribed version of letter from Frank Steunenberg to his family.

The original and transcribed version of the letter are in the COI Smylie Archives but not yet available online. However, you can view many other documents by clicking on: Crookham/Steunenberg collection (not currently online)

Portland Woman Celebrates 108 Years

Portland Woman Celebrates 108 Years. Loreen was the first wife of my great Uncle Frank W. Steunenberg, the youngest son of Governor Frank Steunenberg. Uncle Frank was about five years old at the time of the assassination of his father. The children of Frank W. and Loreen are Alice Steunenberg Willoughby of Portland, OR (I believe) and Beth Steunenberg Allen of Boise, ID. May we all make it to 108...or even a 100 would be good! There must be something to the vegan diet Loreen has followed all her life and that my 18 year old daughter strictly follows too. I eat pretty healthy but still need a little meat now and then. Related blog post: Sunday, February 24, 2008 - The Martyr of Idaho by Frank W. Steunenberg - Uncle Frank's White Book and The Beatles White Album

The Union Block Building, Boise, Idaho

A nice old original photograph I have of the Union Block Building. I provided a scan several years ago and it was posted to the Boise Architecture Project (BAP) website but credited incorrectly. However, go to the BAP website where you can read more about this historic structure.

No doubt Governor Steunenberg and other kinfolk moseyed on down there from time to time. So did I during my 2007 visit to Boise. I reckon the governor would have stopped in at the Capitol News office that began there in 1901.

Fortunately, the building survived the scourge of urban renewal and has found a new life in a revitalized downtown. Click on the pic to enlarge for viewing.

"The Union Block Building is a Richardsonian Romanesque-styled building. It was designed by architect John E. Tourellotte in 1899 and was completed in 1902 at a cost of approximately $35,000. The builder, J.W. Smith used brick and sandstone. The Sandstone was quarried locally at Tablerock." -- From: Union Block Building