Great Grandson of Albert Horsley (aka Harry Orchard) Speaks Out

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of a couple of brief contacts with descendants of Albert Horsley, better known as Harry Orchard. Several years ago I learned of a great grandson of Orchard but was never able to establish direct contact. At times, there seems to be a reluctance to come forward, to make contact or to start a conversation. I can certainly appreciate if that is the case. As one of Orchard's ancestors once said to me (paraphrase of my recollection),"Albert was not the subject of conversation around the dinner table."

I am very pleased that Mr. Larry Taylor, a great grandson of Harry Orchard, has stepped forward and responded to the feedback page on the Idaho Public Television (IPTV) website for Assassination: Idaho"s Trial of the Century. Mr. Taylor's contribution to the historical record is an important one. Until now, views from descendants of Harry Orchard have generally been missing from the discussion of these tragic events that brought murder and misery to so many. I encourage Mr. Taylor, other descendants of Harry Orchard, or descendants of any of the many participants in this saga, to continue expressing your views and your opinions regarding this troublesome time in our history.

At a moment in time that I shall never forget, Bruce Reichert, of Idaho Public Television, stated at the premiere of Assassination: Idaho Trial of the Century, "John Richards has helped all of us realize how a murderous deed does not simply vanish. It can resonate for a century, its treachery touching many innocent souls."

I would now add that Larry Taylor has helped us realize it too.
Feedback Page: Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century

First Photograph Of Jury That Will Render Judgement On Haywood

This newspaper photograph is similar to other views of the jury we have seen before but is reportedly the first. A good view of each juror along with the names. Click on the photo to enlarge for viewing.

--Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, IN, June 10, 1907, page 1

"The most remarkable aspect of that dozen was their relative homogeneity. All were or had been farmers. Nine still tilled the land, while one was a real estate agent, one a building contractor, and one a foreman of fence construction. Eight were Republicans, three were Democrats, and one was a Prohibitionist. All but one were fifty years old; most were in their late fifties or their sixties. All wore beards, chin whiskers, or mustaches, or a luxuriant combination of the three."
--From Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas

To see a couple of more pictures of the jury and inside the Haywood courtroom, click here.

6/24/2010 - From Idaho Statesman.com

Click on the link below. Of course I stopped on the page regarding Frank Steunenberg and "Idaho's Trial of the Century" but be sure to check the rest.
New Idaho historical exhibits at the Capitol

1889 - Pinkerton Advertisement

"James McParland, Supt. Denver, COLO"

"Men specially adapted to work among Miners and in Mining Camps can be furnished; also men to Procure Evidence in Mining Suits."

Click image to enlarge and view unitizing my Footnote.com viewer.

The Martyr of Idaho

A familiar scene, the statue of Governor Frank Steunenberg across from the capitol building in Boise, Idaho. That is Frank W. Steunenberg, Jr., standing next to the statue of his father. My great uncle Frank was five years old at the time of the assassination, the youngest child of Frank and Eveline Belle Steunenberg. He died August 12, 1990. I am not sure of the date of this photo. Perhaps circa 1970? The photograph came from among my mother's belongings as it was not in the family photo albums.
Frank Jr. wrote a couple of books: Greater Love  was written in 1952. Frank Jr., in my interpretation, later indicated that the attention on Orchard, including parts of this book and Orchard's alleged redemption, and Frank's own visits to see Orchard in prison, became too much the focus of this story.
The Martyr of Idaho (text of the book not available online but click on the link or book cover to be taken to another blog post). Click again on the newspaper article to enlarge for reading. Martyr, written in 1974, placed the focus back on the Steunenberg family from our roots in Holland, to a future governor as a young boy in Iowa (see A Teenage Future Governor), to life in Idaho, the governorship and ending with the assassination.

The Crime and Incarceration of Ray Snowden

I just can't resist a good Idaho Pen story. Not directly Steunenberg related, but the video below is about an Idaho murder and the one and only hanging that took place at the old Idaho Penitentiary. We see our friend Rachelle Lattau, now Curatorial Registrar at the Idaho State Historical Museum, providing the tour and information about Snowden's stay at the pen. I believe Rachelle was the Interpretive Specialist at the time this video was made, just as she was during our November 2007 visit. I was of course in Boise at the time for the premiere showing of Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century. The small picture to the right is Rachelle and I during the special tour she hosted for us. Rachelle subsequently earned her well deserved promotion to Curatorial Registrar at the museum. 
(For those receiving automatic emails but not able to see the video about Ray Snowden immediately below...click here and be taken directly to my blog. Better to go there anyway). 
 
Rather accidentally, I ran across an episode of Ghost Adventures filmed at the Idaho pen and looking for the ghost of Ray Snowden. I will leave you to find and view that program on your own if you haven't already. Can't say I was too impressed but always interesting to see the penitentiary. Ghost Adventures described Snowden as "the most notorious inmate confined to the halls of the Idaho State Penitentiary....a man once dubbed "Idaho's Jack the Ripper." I can understand such a characterization for the sake of program publicity, but Snowden hardly stands up to the notoriety of one Harry Orchard. At least they did include Harry on the website as another notorious inmate.
For those that have seen the Ghost Adventures program, they didn't find anything ghostly related to Ray Snowden. No unusual happenings or hauntings. But remember all those rattlesnakes the ghost hunters kept running into and screaming and jumping all over about while climbing the hill behind the pen--no surprise there as they were walking in Harry Orchard territory. 

Other Idaho Pen Stories
Another hanging almost took place at the Idaho pen, that of Douglas Van Vlack. There was a Steuneneberg twist to this one. See below.

Eveline "Belle" Steunenberg Letter to the Idaho State Prison Board Re: Douglas Van Vlack Execution

A Good Hanging Spoiled by John T. Richards

Husband Killer Lyda Southard

More Selected Blog Posts

A CELEBRATED CASE & SEVEN FOOT GOVERNOR

"Steunenberg was a boyish, impulsive and utterly fearless individual, reckless to the verge of absurdity and incapable of actual crookedness of any sort. He knew perfectly well that he had antagonized a very large class of the community, but did not seem to be at all worried over the fact. He was a giant physically, standing seven feet in his stockings, and his physical strength was as great as his courage."

Click image below and go to my Footnote.com viewer.


Seven feet! Why James Naismith (credited as the inventor of basketball) would have been recruiting the governor to be an early Jayhawk at Kansas University. Often these Haywood trial articles were a strange blend of fact and fiction applied to all sides, further confusing the reading public and only fanning the flames of Labor versus Capital.

Picture to the right shows the Jayhawks in 1899 and Naismith standing far right. No seven footers.

BTW, the governor was 6'4", just about the same as my height. See Cousin George Crookham, Jr. and I in our playing days. Cousin George long before I came along! Click link below.
More Basketball

Since I am on a basketball theme (I haven't been mentioning much about the NBA playoffs this year), my Lakers have stumbled their way into the finals against the Boston Celtics. Although I was kind of hoping to see LeBron James and his Cleavland Cavaliers, the tradition of the Celtics and Lakers brings with it more of an historical flavor. Not sure if the Lakers can stand up to Boston or not, what with seven foot big man Andrew Bynum nursing a bad leg. I wonder if any seven foot governors are available?

Memorial Day

It seems fitting this Memorial Day weekend, and nearing the anniversary of D-Day (6/6/1944), that I am just finishing up the book, The Victors, by Stephen Ambrose. Ambrose gives a fair view of both the heroic efforts of the NCO's and other enlisted men that made the success D-Day possible despite the miscalculations and errors that occurred during the landing and subsequent invasion to liberate Europe. The men up front, through individual heroism and leadership, were able to overcome many of the blunders of the commanders (right on up to Eisenhower). A good read and a reminder of the the carnage of war and the sacrifices made to save the world from Hitler and the Axis powers.

Here is a another review of the book that comes from Nathaniel Tripp, a platoon leader in Vietnam. I am not a veteran, opposed the Vietnam war and was a lottery winner in the draft in 1969 as an eighteen year old kid out of high school. I did not even know what "lottery" meant at the time and it is the 1969 military draft that I think of today whenever I hear the word. That's probably why I never play today's so-called lotteries. My winning number was 326--not a million bucks but felt like it at the time. I always look to those that served as far better judges of such books as this one from Ambrose. Tripp ends his review with an important distinction between the history versus the culture of war. However, what I took away from The Victors was not the culture of war, but more the amazing heroism, ingenuity and staying power of what Ambrose terms the "citizen soldier." It is on this Memorial Day we honor all those who have fought and died. At the same time we must remain on guard that the culture of war that Tripp is rightfully concerned about, along with misguided patriotic fervor and our politicians, does not lead us down a road that unnecessarily expends our most valuable resources, the men and women of the American military. I believe Ambrose successfully communicates that view.

I am always amazed when I look back at the efforts undertaken during WWII and wonder if the country could ever be mobilized in such a manner again if world events demanded it. I must admit to not being overly optimistic in that regard.

At this time for reflection, please click her and visit some of my prior Memorial Day related posts.


Hundreds of D-Day and other WWII photographs are available on footnote.com. Click on the image above and you will be taken to my account. Click "Enlarge" and go to the viewer. In addition to this image, you should be able to click on "Open Filmstrip" in the bottom left hand corner of the viewer and be able to access the many other D-Day and WWII photos.

Big Trouble: The Steunenberg Assassination

An informative blog post from Dr. Hans Schantz summarizing the assassination, trial and Big Trouble. Tony Lukas would be pleased with the critique. Thank you Hans for visiting the Governor Steunenberg statue while in Boise and for mentioning my blog in your article.

Click on the link below.
Big Trouble: The Steunenberg Assassination

Nice picture of the governor too. It looks like great-grandpa was finally cleaned up a bit for the Capitol building re-dedication. Click on the picture a couple of times for a close-up enlarged view.

1913 Paterson Silk Strike & Big Bill Haywood

Here is another photo that came with the ones in the previous post. This shows Haywood a few years later in 1913.



April 29, 1913.
Leaders of the IWW who are conducting the Paterson N. J. mill strike. Left to right Carlo Tresca, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and William D. Haywood.
Photo News Dept. American Press Ass'n., 225 West 39th St., New York

Looks to me like Al Pacino could depict Carlo pretty well in a movie. I wish my Italian grandfather, Robert J. Ricciotti (aka Richards), an American Railway worker, had been around longer, as no doubt he could have taught me a thing or two about Carlo Tresca.

Haywood, Moyer & Pettibone Photographs

These aren't anything you haven't see before but are a couple of "original photographs" I recently picked up. Now I don't really consider them originals but they probably were made from an original print or maybe a negative. Hence, I would not pay as high a premium and got them at a reasonably inexpensive price. Maybe someone out there knows more about these kinds of photographs. They were typically archived by newspapers and magazines and used as needed in their publications. The photos are usually much sharper and show more detail as opposed to how they come out on newsprint. We have seen these from coverage of the trial in 1907 and in various publications since.

That's William D. "Big Bill" Haywood in the top photo taken inside his jail cell at the Sheriff's office in the Boise Courthouse. You can click here and view the same photograph in a newspaper article from 1907 by going to my Footnote.com website. And here is the same item as an artists rendition. Lower photo outside the jail/Sheriff's Office, probably on a break during the trial or waiting for the days proceedings to start. George Pettibone, Haywood in his traditional pose turning his bad eye away from the camera and Charles Moyer. Names are written on the back but we know these guys anyway.

View all of my "Spotlights" on Footnote.com.

Mom and that's me under construction.

John (me) and my mom, Brenda Steunenberg Richards, circa 1951, in Pacoima, CA...well you can sorta see me. The valley (Pacoima, Van Nuys, Glendale, etc.) wasn't such a bad place in the 1950's. Parts of it were not so great in later years. It would not be long after this picture that I would be born at Glendale Hospital. We left the valley in 1960 to head up the road to a small, mostly one street and Jungleland town called Thousand Oaks ("T.O."). Not so small these days.

A Look Back - Happy Mother's Day

Mother's day is a little bittersweet this year, but there are always good memories to sustain us. I won't repeat the whole story here, as you can look back a few years by clicking on the link below. That day, when I presented my mom with her honorary high school diploma, and hopefully helped heal an old wound from the 1930's, is one of my more cherished moments from recent times.

Brenda Steunenberg Richards-The Graduate-Class of 1936-Honorary Diploma September 2004

Fortunately, I had the videotape rolling when I presented her with the framed diploma you see in this picture. I think I will get the video out, view it again this mother day, shed a few more tears...and remember all the gifts she presented to me.

Have a Happy Mother's Day weekend everybody. John

More....
Brenda R. Richards (in progress)

My sister Kris entered a comment on this post that consisted of an excerpt of a poem she wrote. It's too good to only have a part of it and and might be missed by folks who don't click on the individual post or the comment link. So here it is below in its entirety. jr

I (Kris) was going through some things and discovered a poem I had written to Mom in 1971, I was about 23 and and the very young mother of a son. On this Mother's Day I want to include an excerpt to my beloved Mom.

Through days of smiles and carefree miles

We pass with nary a care;

Never aware of the troubles & trials,

That someone has to bear.

There’s seldom time to think of she,

Who mends our socks & sorrows;

Or pause a moment to stop and see,

Who’s guiding her tomorrows.

And so we run thru days of youth

To pathways yet to be;

Seeking love, in search of truth,

And finding both in she.

Moments, too, as all shall pass,

And children soon are grown;

Carefree days too soon to pass,

To children of their own.

So we watch and wait and pray,

For a child, young & free;

So we strive to be someday,

A mother such as she.

She, who’s greatest joy is giving,

And sharing unselfishly;

She, who spreads the glory of living,

If this I can one day be.

Loving, beyond so much,

and smiles, though troubles come;

Always there with a tender touch,

If this I can become.

One who’ll always lend an ear,

Though other have to go;

To share a smile and dry a tear,

If this I come to know.

Then, somehow, if this and more,

I ever grow to be;

Perhaps my son will know someday,

A mother such as she.

-- by Kris

August, 1971

A Timeless Tribute

Thank you Jan and Anna Marie Boles for this thoughtful and kind contribution in memory of my mother.

To visit the COI archives and the George L. Crookham collection, comprised of documents and letters from the Frank Steunenberg administration, go to:
G. L. Crookham Jr., Papers

GLC Online Collection

Bibliography/Acknowledgment

Timelines

Idaho Public TV (Assassination: Idaho's Trial of the Century)

More...
Papers reveal how Gov. Frank Steunenberg tried to suppress the Western Mining Wars --BY JAN BOLES ‘65

John's Footnote Spotlights

A Note from Mom - May 1992

"I had a great family - Kris, John, Cindy, Josh & Joey & Dad & I went to Montana de Oro on a nice picnic. John grilled chicken and sausage & we enjoyed that along with other goodies - Kris, Cindy & I made. I heard from Gary Sr., from Iowa, where he is on a job. Then later in the day from Gary Jr. & Sean by phone. So thoughtful of them. Talked to Connie also.
Glad to have a word from Beckie. I love her so much, even if we don't see everything exactly alike.

Beautiful Cards - I just couldn't throw them away. Cindy so thoughtful too, always brings flowers. Hope she and the baby do beautifully - Love all of you
Mom
May 1992"

Written May 1992 after mother's day and recently discovered among some cards my mother had kept. Interesting that she began with "I had a great family." Mom tended to write notes here and there that she knew we would discover later after she was gone. This is another of the little treasures she has left us. Referenced in the note are my sisters Kris (and her son Sean) and Beckie, my brother Gary, his son Gary Jr., Gary Jr's mother Connie, my sons Josh and Joe and my wife Cindy (then pregnant with my daughter Caley). Montana de Oro is a beautiful state park here on the central coast very near our residence. Over the years, Spooner's Cove has been the site of various family gatherings and birthday parties. Good memories. John

Brenda Steunenberg Richards
8/26/1918 - 3/21/2010