Musician Gary Eller strums up Idaho history

A nice article in today's Idaho Press-Tribune about historical Idaho music hunter—Gary Eller.  Click link below.

Musician Gary Eller strums up Idaho history

Be sure to visit Gary's Idaho Songs Project website for a lot of information and to sample early Idaho songs and ditties.

Below I have included a link to a blog post on one of the songs cited in the article. 

"'Are They Going to Hang My Papa,' a 1907 labor protest song that attempted to influence the trial of Bill Haywood, accused of assassinating former Idaho Gov. Frank Steunenberg. According to the Idaho Songs Project website, the title refers to Haywood’s 10-year-old daughter Henrietta. It’s one of Gary Eller’s favorites."

John Richards collection.

I would venture to say the presence of Haywood's 10-year old daughter and invalid wife played an important role (though perhaps difficult to quantify) in the trial and the eventual outcome.