A "new" Saratoga may cost a little more than "$40,000 on construction and furnishings"

It looks like the Friends of the Saratoga over on Facebook are looking for more details on the hotel. References to the Saratoga are sprinkled throughout Big Trouble, with the more telling and interesting excerpt below coming courtesy of Google Books. The photograph also comes from Big Trouble and you have seen it on this blog and elsewhere. Maybe I will call it my official "Friends of the Caldwell Bank and Saratoga" picture. After all, both the bank and hotel are forever entwined in our family history and I can never think of one without thinking of the other. 

From Big Trouble: The Caldwell Band, led by the famed 'musicologist' Professor A. T. Gordon, posed here in late 1905, a few months before Steunenberg's assassination. They stand at the town's most prestigious intersection, Seventh and Main, looking toward the Oregon Short Line depot. On the left is Frank Steunenberg's Caldwell Banking and Trust Company; on the right, the Saratoga Hotel."

BTW, the bank building is currently listed for $250K. Double or triple that to include upgrades, restoration and bringing it up to code. I do keep hoping, wishing and dreaming! I am a friend of both the Caldwell Bank and the Saratoga.

The excerpt is from a favorite passage about Governor Steunenberg that gives the reader a feel for the Saratoga Hotel as a focal point and social center of the town in 1905. Fortunately, it is available on the preview pages so I don't have to type this one. Go down to the third paragraph on page 42 where it begins "As the governor crossed Seventh Avenue..." and read the subsequent four or so paragraphs. If you are receiving this as an email notification, you may not see the pages below and will want to click on and come to the blog for viewing. May take a few moments to load.

The Wild West History Association throws a Roundup in Idaho

Frank S. probably c.1890's Idaho legislature.

This year’s event takes place Wednesday through Saturday in Boise at the Riverside Hotel and in Idaho City. Article by ANNA WEBB — awebb@idahostatesman.com

"....For example, Bob Sobba (who worked in law enforcement for 36 years, including serving as the chief of police in Caldwell) will give a talk about Idaho's 'Trial of the Century' after the assassination of Gov. Steunenberg in 1907."

Bob will also be doing a presentation on Orchard and his life at the Idaho pen. Check it out if you get the chance and send me some comments and pictures for posting on the blog.

Here is the full schedule of events. 

Related blog post:
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Wild West Assoc. Convention, Boise, ID July 10-13, 2013

Fred Stocks, 1934 ~ 2013

Fred at the sawmill

I learned from cousin Bill Crookham this week that Fred Stocks, husband of my cousin Brenda Steunenberg Knowles Stocks (my mom Brenda's namesake), had passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Although I did not know Fred well or get to see him very often over the years, I am pleased we had the opportunity to visit a few short years ago when he and Brenda traveled from Le Sal, UT to the residence of my father & mother, John Sr. & Brenda Steunenberg Richards, in Paso Robles, CA. Cousin Brenda's father and mother were Abe Knowles & Doris Steunenberg Knowles, Doris being my mothers older sister and one of the five children of Francis and Julian Steunenberg. Click on the obituary below to read about Fred.

Fred Stocks, 1934 ~ 2013: Fred K. Stocks, age 78, passed away at Moab Regional Hospital on June 10, 2013, in Moab, Utah, after an extended battle with Alzheimers. He was born Oct. 13, 1934, in Moab. He was the second of...

Political and Civic Affairs

Political and Civic Affairs (click this link)
~THE STATE SEAL—THE TEST OATH—ASSASSINATION OF EX-GOVERNOR STUENENBERG — STATE INSTITUTIONS—STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY —WESTERN GOVERNORS' SPECIAL—TERRITORIAL OFFICERS OF IDAHO—OFFICERS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO~

Check out more interesting excerpts, information, resources and genealogy at Idaho Genealogy Trails.