Inmates of the Idaho Penitentiary 1864-1947 - Idaho State Historical ...

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HIDDEN HISTORIESA CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINENB Sources for this timeline are available from the files and cross-reference for each respective inmate.Check the catalog by inmate number to find the reference numbers for each individual.James Oscar Baker (no. 88) becomes the penitentiary’s youngest inmate at age 10. Baker pled guiltyto manslaughter for shooting a man in the Soda Springs saloon where his father tended bar. A petitionfor his pardon claimed the inquest jurors were “unable to agree” that a boy of Baker’s “tender years”could be held “responsible for his acts or not.”18851886The district attorney of Kootenai county railed in a letter againstFirst District judge Norman Buck’s recommendation to pardonCharles Ross (no. 177): “I do not believe it will have any effect onthe Governor. First, because Governor Stevenson will not pardonRoss if every man in the Territory recommended it unless he isconvinced that it was justifiable homicide, and secondly, that JudgeBuck has never convinced Gov. Stevenson of his ability, honesty, orfairness any more than he has the people of Kootenai or ShoshoneCounties, and I can just fancy Gov. Stevenson throwing down hisrecommendation with a look of disgust and the forcible remark of‘Judge Buck be damned’.”Frank Ferron (no. 154) dug through the wall ofhis cell, into the cell of Nate Young (no. 161) andThomas Lovett (no. 162) in preparation for hisfirst escape attempt. Ferron was later disciplinedfor assaulting Edward Harrington (no. 180) witha “heavy tin cup” while at dinner, for escaping byremoving the bricks from the ceiling of his cell,for destroying food, and for insolence, laziness,and disobedience.18871888A letter to the governor regarding William Hordemann (no. 172) notedthat co-defendant Rodney Wright (no. 113) had come to Idaho “fromOregon ambitious, as many of our western boys are to become a cow-boy.He was thrown into wreckless company, young full of vivacity, got mixed upwith a drunken carousal and shot one of his companions... but most of thepeople, like myself, have little sympathy with this cow-boy element.”Dennis McCarthy (no. 73), convicted of murder,received letters of recommendation from fiveformer wardens and superintendents of thepenitentiary. Among them, US Marshall JohnHailey noted that he entrusted McCarthy withthe care of his two children, but professedignorance “as to his guilt or innocence of thecrime for which he was sent here.”A petition for the pardon of RichardPeeke (no. 98), signed by over 250citizens, addressed the Board ofPardons as “Our Servants.” While“condemning the license of the pastby our ex servants in pardoning coldblooded murders,” the petitionerscalled on the board to now “‘let’Richard Peeke out from ‘our’ prison.”1889189018911892A letter of recommendation from the War Department called attention to DrE J O’Callaghan’s (no. 135) service record in the “Indian Campaigns in Wyomingaway back in the ‘seventies’,” and a recommendation from Admiral Benjamin Sands“referring in the highest terms to his conduct at the storming of Fort Fisher— whichassault you know was no pic-nic.”1893John Wilson (no. 251) organized a prison “Thanksgiving Programme” with music contributed fromboth inmates and the outside community. Wilson, Monroe Palmer (no. 332) and Orlando Barker (no.232) were to play the harp, while Joseph Ross (no. 293) and James Marble (no. 240) sang.1894
IDAHO STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY18951896During a “spree” at the “John Bankssaloon” in Payette, John Burns (no.498) cut a hole in the pocket of asleeping friend’s overalls, extractingtwo dollars, and spending a halfdollaron a round of drinks at the bar.Burns spent less than seven monthsinside for this “grand larceny.”Physicians visiting the penitentiary at the request of theBoard of Pardons to attend to Major Darnold (no. 319)and Frank Reed (no. 320), reported: “As to the Sanitarycondition of the rooms occupied by these two convicts,It is none of the best as they are, but may be improvedin some measures and made as aseptic as possible. Themost essential thing for the benefit of sick convicts at yourprison is a good light airy Hospital. Considering the numberof men now in the institution.”1897Levi Dixon (no. 731) was convicted of assault after a two-year dispute with a man “who tried to jump, and thereby secure apreference right” to land Dixon occupied under the “Homestead laws of the United States,” and for which Dixon had sought, andobtained recognition in the probate court of Nez Perce county.18981899“Naomi Mc.D. Phelps, Evangelist” and “Alice Phelps, Evangelist” petitioned the governor for the pardon and releasefrom “that place” of Robert Gray (no. 513), convicted of stealing “a cayuse pony, worth about five dollars.”A former deputy sheriff from Colorado, Elmer Halford (no. 715)was convicted of grand larceny after failing to cut another man’shorse from his own herds of horses and cattle— herds that,according to his petition for pardon, “had taken years of his earlylife to accumulate, and... have since been neglected and scattereduntil only a small number remain.” Halford requested a release “inorder to gather and save the few remaining bands before the wintersets in.”1900Petitioners claimed that William McGraw (no. 737) had not receiveda fair trial or just sentence in 1897 due to the political climate,namely, the judge’s aspirations to the Supreme Court, the recentpassage of a “women’s suffrage measure” and influence of “thefemale vote,” and the impact of 1895 legislation which raised theage of consent (to eighteen).19011902Fifteen-year old Ida Laherty (no. 901) stole a team of horses from aMoscow livery stable, at the request of a “young gentleman.” Lahertyand her accomplice drove the team to Oakesdale, Washington,where they parted company. Laherty drove the team on her own60 miles to Sprauge, where she was arrested. Laherty spent threemonths in the penitentiary.19031904In March, Arthur Arey (no. 538) requested the “flower job” from thewarden, in a bid for leniency from the pardon board. In July, he was“put at pounding rock” after he was caught in a “dope” smugglingconspiracy with Frank King (no. 870), Joseph O’Donnell (no. 743),and Michael Baker (no. 840). In December, his letter to the Boardof Pardons stated: “I am no paragon.” Between 1897 and 1905, Areyreceived disciplinary action on no less than ten occasions; in 1905he was confined to his cell “indefinitely.”Spanish-American war veteran James Crea (no. 1045) killed a man who threatened tostrike him with a “Tom & Jerry mug” during a fight in the Maze saloon (detail shown)in Grangeville.xvi
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Page 3 and 4: Inmates of the Idaho Penitentiary 1
Page 5: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSIn 2001, Bonnie Ful
Page 8 and 9: INMATES OF THE IDAHO PENITENTIARY 1
Page 12 and 13: INTRODUCTIONA HISTORIC MYSTERY, SOL
Page 14 and 15: INTRODUCTIONA TALE OF TWO INMATESby
Page 24 and 25: GLOSSARYTO CROSS-REFERENCED COLLECT
Page 26 and 27: CATALOGINMATES of the IDAHO PENITEN
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INMATES OF THE IDAHO PENITENTIARY 1
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INDEXNAMES, ALPHABETICALName No. Na
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INDEXINMATE DESIGNATIONS by COUNTY
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377INMATES OF THE IDAHO PENITENTIAR
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INDEXWOMENNB This index represents
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INDEXJUVENILESNB This index represe
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