This week we are going to look at the effects of the Homestead Act in Boise, and learn more about one of the famous homesteaders in the valley. It needs to be pointed out that in the Boise River Valley, few abuses of the Homestead Act occurred, and most claims were farmed instead of being used as a way to grab large tracts of land and turn a profit. According to the Boise State University thesis, “The Economics of Homesteading in the Boise River Valley, Idaho, 1869-1870,” by Rodney J. Valentine, Homestead Act claims in Ada County were financially rewarding. For example, in 1870 there were 414 farms and the value of the land was at $5.11/acre, and by 1880 those numbers increased to 1,885 farms with the value of the land at $8.64/acre. Not only was the land profitable, it was also productive: between 1870 and 1880, the population of Ada County doubled but the wheat output increased 7 fold, and in 1880 Idaho produced 1,483 pounds of edible beef for every man, woman, and child. This excess in meat and crops sold for a profit in the mining regions north and south of Boise, as well as to markets outside of the region. The majority of individuals in Boise producing this excess had come to the valley shortly after the Homestead Act was enacted. In Isaac Coston’s case, he arrived in 1863, the year that Boise incorporated as a city.

Coston located his ranch seven miles from the city, on the south side of the river. The log cabin that he built is currently located in the Pioneer Village next to the Idaho State Historical Museum. Coston’s cabin was only one of the many improvements he made to his land; the others included an irrigation ditch he built in 1864 with F.C. Ghost, and various agriculture experiments. Coston was actively cultivating his land, making a profit growing buckwheat, a grain that was typically imported. He also experimented with growing fruit trees on both his sloped and flat land, resulting in the fruit trees on the slope performing better and resisting cold weather because of improved air flow. In addition to homesteading, Coston became a prominent member of the community; he was elected to the Territorial Council and the Territorial House of Representatives. There are many other examples of people like Isaac Coston who arrived in Boise, claimed land under the Homestead Act and proceeded to create a home and shape Boise’s community. There were individuals who abused the Homestead Act, but Coston and others in Boise used the Act to find economic security for themselves and their families.

If you want to share the story of your family’s contribution to Boise, or their homesteading story, please email Brandi Burns at bburns@cityofboise.org.

1. The Boise Creative & Improvised Music Festival Presents “Me and My Shadow”, Saturday 5/11 & 12, Visual Arts Collective READ MORE

2. Re-Art Presents “Monkey Show Puppet Performance”,
Saturday & Sunday 5/11 & 12, Boise Public Library, READ MORE

3. “Sustenance” and exhibition about food by Idaho Artists,
Visual Arts Center, READ MORE

4. Boise Music Week Presents “The King & I”,
Saturday & Sunday 5/11-12, Morrison Center, READ MORE

5. “Questions My Mother Can’t Answer” by the Boise Contemporary Theater,
Saturday & Sunday 5/12-13, READ MORE

A unique aspect of the Act was that minority groups could claim land, including women, former slaves, and immigrants. Claimants were only required to pay an $18 filing fee and had to spend the next 5 years “proving up” the land by living there and building a home. The land may have been practically free, but time, hard work, and trials went hand-in-hand with homesteading, and they could be staggering obstacles. Claims were on unsettled land, so depending on the area where people filed their claim, they would have to clear trees, find water for crops (assuming that the land claimed was even suitable for farming, which much of it was not), fight insects, animals, drought and loneliness. There are many personal accounts of homesteaders around the nation and their experiences—a great online account is the Library of Congress’s Prairie Settlement: Nebraska Photographs and Family Letters, 1862-1912. This collection tells the story of the Oblinger family in Nebraska and their efforts to prove up their homestead claim; it is also a great collection that offers an opportunity to see women’s lives on the Nebraska plains, and the dynamics of 19th Century courtship through personal letters and accounts. Other accounts include:

• Homesteading Legacies, a compilation of stories about various homesteaders and descendants of homesteaders. 
• Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. It’s an account of a woman and the letters she writes to her former employer detailing her life on the ranch.
• My Antonia by Willa Cather. Fictional account of a bohemian family homesteading on the Nebraskan plains.

In addition to these resources, check out the resources available on the Bureau of Land Management’s website about the history of the Homestead Act.

Come back next week for accounts on homesteading in Idaho, and please feel free to share your stories about past family members who homesteaded. Email Brandi Burns at bburns@cityofboise.org, and your story could be featured here!

1. LISTEN, Free Oral History Training for Youth & Teens, Workshop,
   Idaho State Historical Museum, 5/5 10:00AM-1:00PM
2. One Picture Show :: Stephen Eichhorn, Exhibition,
   Black Hunger, 5/5 7:00PM-10:00PM
3. Transition new work by BOCOLAB & Francis Fox, Exhibition,
   Visual Arts Collective, through 5/26, see website for details.
4. Shades of Black Show, Exhibition,
   Boise State Student Union, 5/5 6:00PM,  see website for details.
5. Wicked Waters, Exhibition,
   Idaho State Historical Museum, through 7/9, see website for details.

Today is the first day of National Preservation Month, which is a month where communities all across the nation take 31 days to celebrate their history. Celebrations range from walking tours, lectures, preservation workshops, and historic demonstrations. This year Idaho is celebrating the 150^th year of the 1862 Homestead Act, and cities around the state are offering activities. (READ MORE)

There are several interesting options for everyone in the Treasure Valley, including walking tours of the Bown House, a look at the Cyrus Jacob house, and Preservation Idaho’s Orchids and Onions Annual Preservation Awards. The Department has two signature events for Preservation Month as well as exclusive posts here every week of the month about homesteading in the Boise Valley.

Our first event is the last Fettuccine Forum for this season, “What the Heck is the HPC? Learning, Living, and Loving Boise’s Historic Districts,” where moderator Amy Pence-Brown and a panel of experts will explore a history of historic preservation in Boise and the way policy and guidelines have been developed to protect our cultural heritage. The Fettuccine Forum is a free series on First Thursday. (JOIN)

After your revelries on First Thursday, don’t forget to attend our LISTEN program this Saturday. The goal of the LISTEN program is to build a stronger community by connecting our youth with older generations and help to foster appreciation for their contributions and experiences. This is a great opportunity to bring your kids or grandkids and learn how to do oral history!

Check back in a few days for our first post about the history of the Homestead Act!

Near the end of the 19^th century polio, short for poliomyelitis virus, spread around the world in epidemic proportions and for fifty years it threatened the entire human population.  In 1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who suffered from the lifelong effects of the disease, founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP).  The foundation was responsible for meeting the high cost for the care and rehabilitation of thousands of children, they sponsored scientific research towards the future eradication of the disease, and they promoted public health education and hygiene programs.  Between the years 1947-1951 Idaho received more than $1.7 million from the NFIP for financial assistance to polio patients.

The foundation created a network of care and treatment that hoped to meet the demands of such a devastating disease.  In order to do this fundraising was essential; the federal program relied directly on contributions from community fundraising.  For years civic organizations like the rotary and fraternal organizations like the Elks too the lead in local communities raising funds for polio.

In 1926 the Crippled and Defective Children’s Clinic opened in Boise, caring for children who suffered from the malformation of polio.  In 1940 the Crippled Children’s Society was organized under the Easter Seal.  In 1947 the Elks Convalescent Home for Children was opened.  In 1949 the Idaho Department of Public Health found that Idaho’s polio outbreaks were much higher than the national average [1].  Child welfare had become a growing concern of the state department during the early half of the 20^th century, and the public looked to the state for help fighting the scourge.

Idaho Statesman Collection at Boise State University Special Collections

The annual March of Dimes drive received a lot of positive public attention. Communities were always gracious and willing to donate to the cause; while Idaho received a large share of national funding from the NFIP, it donated a larger portion as well.  The foundation quarters, run by the fraternal Order of the Eagles, under Lloyd Killian, was located in the historic Eastman building, once located at the corner of Ninth and Main Streets.  The organization relied on volunteer contributions from the community through mail and business solicitations, and through special events like the Basque dances, the Marching Mothers annual fashion show, the “Buffalo club party”, and other public and private auctions [2].  The money went towards emergency needs and immediate care of polio victims, but also towards the long-term care that was required when children became handicapped and required extra care.

The Iron Lung (pictured at top) was developed in 1927 by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw.  Some strains of the polio virus caused paralysis, some cases were temporary, and others left more permanent danger.  One of the biggest dangers was the paralysis of a person’s abdomen and diaphragm-the large muscle that controls the lungs-which meant a person could die of suffocation.  The external ventilator used a high pressure atmosphere created within the tube to compress the lungs, forcing the individual to exhale.  Then the pump would switch, creating a negative pressure, forcing the lungs to rise, and an individual to inhale.  In many cases a patient’s condition would improve, and they would regain the ability to breathe on their own.  Without the respirator thousands of children would simply have quit breathing. Boise received its first iron lung in 1949, by then they were still high tech and expensive, short in supply and high in demand.  The March of Dimes was responsible for procuring iron lungs for patients all over the country just as they were in Boise.

The Idaho State Elks Convalescents Home was founded in 1947 in an attempt to meet the needs of polio patients and their families.  By the 1950s polio numbers were on the rise, and the cost of treatment was not cheap.

Idaho Statesman collection at Boise State University Special Collections

In the event that a child survived the initial illness, but suffered its devastating effects, the families were faced with the additional cost of rehabilitation and even long-term care.  The Elks home filled this need in the community, and the NFIP funded the home through fundraising from organizations such as the March of Dimes.  To the director of the NFIP, the concern for community in Idaho was apparent in their willingness to organize and fund such important welfare programs.

The successful inoculation measures in the 1950s slowed the outbreak of the disease, and by 1955 the home changed its name to the Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Center as it shifted its focus from polio to other rehabilitation and care needs of the valley.   In 1957 the Elks moved to their present facility.

1.  Idaho Daily Statesman September 1, 1949

2.  IdahoDaily Statesman January 18, 1952

1. Boisicanos (Art Show), Mexican Consulate, Friday 4/27, 6:30-8PM

2. Los Angeles Piano Quartet, Morrison Center Recital Hall, Friday 4/27, 7:30PM

3. International Market, The Waterfront at Lake Harbor, Saturday 4/28, 9AM-3PM

4. Native Plant Sale, MK Nature Center, Saturday 4/28, 10AM – 1PM

5. Intro to Flameworking, Boise Art Glass, Saturday and Sunday 4/28-29, 10AM-6PM

We’ve had a few inquiries about the bridge crossing the river on Capitol Blvd this week.  It is commonly known as Memorial Bridge; dedicated in a bronze relief to the pioneers who traveled west by wagon train.  The Oregon Trail Memorial Bridge was built in 1931 on or at least very near the spot where wagons crossed the Boise River on their way into the city.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.  Tedious facts!  The story behind the bridge is much more fascinating.

The bridge itself was an essential part of the plan for a grand entrance into the city, a vision that grew with the upgrade of the Capitol building in 1912, and the construction of the Depot in 1924.  The Spanish style Depot was built to face and echo the Capitol building located down the bench and across the river.  But Depot Hill, as it was known in the 1920s, stood at the top of a dirty gravel road and was mocked by those who had wanted to build the depot closer to Broadway, where there was another established and well traveled city entrance.  But the Harriman Family, who built the Depot, and owned both the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific wanted to create an entrance that used the view of the brand new Capitol dome, and the path between the two buildings as its guiding principle.  A bridge connecting the two was essential, but a Bond proposal in 1927 failed to pay for the endeavor, and so for nearly a decade the plans had remained just that.

In the 30s federal relief funding allowed city developers to follow through with the completion of the entryway now known as Capitol Boulevard. The Morrison-Knudsen Co. engineers were chosen to design and build the bridge, and finally the art deco structure was dedicated with a clay-fired tile mosiac, presented by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in remembrance of the Oregon Trail pioneers.  The bridge made the Depot accessible, and the view from Platt Gardens just below the Depot’s clock tower remains one of the premier views of our city today.

For more information on this and other articles or to ask your own questions, please contact Brandi Burns (bburns@cityofboise.org), Boise City Historian.

Sources:

History Along the Greenbelt by Jim Witherell.

1. Red Light Variety Show, Visual Arts Collective, 4/20-21 & 4/27-28, 8PM

2. Chair Affair, Stueckle Sky Center, 4/20, 9AM-7PM

3. Finn Riggins Record Store Day Kickoff, Linen Building, 4/20, 8PM

4. Earth Day Celebration, Boise WaterShed, 4/21, 10AM

5. Atomic Mama, Neurolux, 4/21, 8PM

1. Re-Art with TRICA, Saturday and Sunday (4/14-15), See web for details.
2. Buy Idaho Saturday Market at the Linen Building, Sunday (4/15), See web for details.
3. Spring Book Sale at the Boise Public Library, Friday-Sunday (4/13-15), See web for details.
4. Opera Idaho’s Ballad of Baby Doe at the Egyptian Theater, Friday-Sunday (4/13-15), See web for details.
5. Idaho Dance Theater’s Spring Show at the BSU Special Events Center, Friday-Sunday (4/13-15), See web for details.