The history of Bannock County, IdahoSaunders, A. C. (Arthur Charles)
History
The history of Bannock County, Idaho
Saunders, A. C. (Arthur Charles)
Bannock County (Idaho) -- History
In this way Pocatello has linked to herself the names and therefore the
history and adventures of the daring and hardy pioneers of the great
northwest. The history of her street names would be one of romance and
adventure, of daring and hardship, suffering and triumph, such as it
would be hard to equal. For this heritage of nomenclature, the city is
indebted to Daniel Church, former mayor of Pocatello, to the Tribune,
and others who selected this system of names.
Captain Bonneville’s expedition was one of exploration only. Captain
Wyeth came to trade with the Indians, but in this he met with small
success. The Hudson Bay Company, a wealthy English corporation,
had entered the territory and was most ably represented by
Doctor--sometimes called Captain--McLoughlin. He was an honorable, kind
and brave man, but far-seeing and shrewd. He covered the country with
a network of English, Canadians, French and Indians, and met American
competition everywhere by offering higher prices for furs than his
rivals could afford. Consequently Captain Wyeth’s expedition was not
a business success, but he deserves more than passing notice, not
only because his name is now a household word in Pocatello, but more
especially because he established Fort Hall, which he named after a
member of the firm for whom he had come west.
Captain Nathaniel Wyeth, having heard of the profits to be made in
fur-trading, led an expedition overland from Boston, arriving at Fort
Vancouver in the fall of 1832. Here he was to meet a vessel laden with
supplies and sent by a Boston company with which he was associated. But
the ship never came. After waiting all winter Wyeth decided that she
had been lost, and returned to Boston.
In 1834, Captain Wyeth returned to the northwest and this time a ship
containing supplies did come to meet him. In his party were three
Methodist ministers--Rev. Jason Lee, Rev. Cyrus Shepherd and Rev. T. L.
Edwards, who were the first missionaries to land in Oregon. It was on
this second trip that Captain Wyeth built Fort Hall, on the banks of
the Snake river, as a trading post, and here, on July 27, 1834, Rev.
Jason Lee conducted the first Christian service held in Idaho.
Competition with the Hudson Bay Company and the loss of many men by
desertion and death, finally forced the captain to sell out and return
to the east.
Two women deserve notice here as being the first white women to pass
through what is now Bannock county. They are Mrs. Whitman, wife of the
Rev. Dr. Marcus Whitman, afterward killed by the Indians, and after
whom Whitman College in Oregon, and Whitman street in Pocatello, are
named, and Mrs. Spalding, wife of the Rev. Spalding. They came to the
Northwest in 1836, and settled in Oregon.
Another expedition, under Captain John C. Fremont, after whom Fremont
street, Pocatello, is named, was sent to survey parts of this territory
in 1843.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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