Law Comes to the West: Miners Moonshiners and Outlaws

 

In the mid- 19th century, the western United States was often portrayed as a lawless frontier, a vast expanse of rugged wilderness where justice was as unpredictable as the landscape. With the rapid expansion of settlers, miners, cowboys, and enterprising folks alike, there was need for justice. Most of Wyoming was in the Louisiana Purchase. Idaho however, was west of the Louisiana Purchase boundaries, occupied by native Americans and was sparsely distributed with French and British fur trappers, some Spaniards from the south and some Asian and Russian explorers. The Corp of Discovery Expedition set up forts in territories west of the Louisiana Purchase's boundary and sent US Army soldiers to assist the settlers with law and order. John Jacob Astor commissioned westward explorations and used the forts to set up commerce trading sites for the American and Pacific Fur Companies. By the Civil War, there were nearly 7 million Americans living west of the Appalachians. 

At the end of the Civil War in 1865, another migration of various peoples came from the east and across the Mississippi River into the American frontier. The eastern United States was battered from the war and everyone wanted a new start. The Homestead Act of 1862 promised 160 acres of land to every man and married woman willing to 'proof up' on the property. In addition to legislation designed to facilitate western settlement, the U.S. government assumed an active role on the ground, building numerous forts throughout the West to protect and assist settlers during their migration. The US Army was the law of the land before, during, and after the Civil War. 

Idaho and Wyoming were granted statehood in 1890. Local governments were fledgling and still relied heavily on Army rangers to uphold the law. Neighboring Utah did not become a state until 1896 and the boundaries between the 2 states and a territory were disorderly.  

PBS American Experience: The Path to Utah's Statehood

Law and order came to the land over time. Vigilante justice was offered a civilized alternative through a system of local courts. Towns were building courthouses, appointing judges and sheriffs, and the federal government was still there to back them up, especially helpful in the rural outreaches of the jurisdictions. The US Forest Service had rangers upholding the law as soon as the Caribou National Forest was designated in 1907.

 

Grand Valley and the Caribou mountains were quite lawless until the rangers started to pass through the mining towns, sheep camps, and little homesteads. Mining towns were notoriously rough places. Bars made up the bulk of businesses in mining boom towns like Caribou City but were condemned by prohibition and it was the task of the US Forest Ranger to hold these operations accountable to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The stories of moonshine operations being found in the hills, and drunk sheepherders stretched across Grand Valley were told by these rangers. Watch for those stories in future posts.

  

 

The 23rd Annual Swan Valley Old Timers Reunion (1985)

 

This story below was submitted by Jordan Higham.  He is the son of Charles W. Higham, the storyteller. Charles parents were Joseph Lawrence Higham and Katherine 'Katie' Marie Goettsche Higham. Joseph Lawrence was born in Conant Valley in 1891. Katie was born in Oklahoma in 1894.  They were married in 1916.

Joseph Lawrence Higham and 

Katherine 'Katie' Marie Goettsche Higham

 Below is a picture of the Higham brothers homestead in Conant Valley.

Joseph Lawrence's father was Joseph William Higham. He and his brother, Charles Richard (Dick) homesteaded in Conant Valley in 1876.  They came to Conant Valley with their father, also named Charles Higham, as young adult men.

Joseph William and Margaret Jones Higham

 

If you have a story or photos to share about Swan Valley, Grand Valley, Pine Creek Bench, Conant Valley, or the surrounding area, send us an email at svoldtimers@gmail.com.  Thanks- Audi

Horse Thieves in Conant Valley 

Told by: Charles W. Higham 

My great grandfather, Charles W, had two sons, Joseph and Richard(Dick) Higham. They did a lot of moving and homesteading. Homesteading means that the government would allow you to move onto some vacant land. If you built a home, a couple of corrals, a barn, took good care of the property and stayed long enough then eventually it became yours for free. Joseph(my grandfather) and uncle Dick went up to Conant Valley and decided it would be a great place to homestead. They built a log cabin, barn and whatever else they needed to do to make homesteading a sure thing for them. That's where this story begins. My dad, Joseph L Higham, was given the assignment to watch after the ranch up in Conant Valley. He was a young man about 18 or 19 years old. One day he was sitting on the porch of the little cabin they had up there. As he was sitting there, he saw some riders coming down the Stagecoach Trail into Conant Valley. There were 3 guys on horses and they were pushing the horses as hard as they could go. As he watched them he could tell they had about used up their horses because they were having a hard time running. When the riders stopped at the cabin the horses were completely tired out with their tongues hanging out in dire need of water. The riders asked him which was the way they needed to go, to go to Jackson, Wyoming. My dad pointed the way up the trail they were going on and said just keep going the way you're going. They got back on their horses and headed down the trail. About an hour after they left, a second group of about 15 horsemen came down the trail. This was the sheriff and his posse. A posse is a group of men the sheriff rounds up to try and help him catch someone who has done something wrong. The sheriff told my dad they were chasing some horse thieves and asked my dad if he had seen 3 riders come by here. He replied that he had and said they went that way towards Jackson. The posse left the cabin and took up on the trail after the 3 guys on horses and my dad never heard from them again. One day about a week after all that happened, he went for a ride to check on their cattle. A ways up Pritchard Creek he came across the horse thieves again. They were all there together in a row hanging from a big limb on a big tree. The posse had caught them and that's what they did to the horse thieves in those days. If they caught them they didn't give them a trial, they just hung them. He didn’t have a shovel with him so he went back to the cabin and got a shovel, took it back up there, dug a grave for them and put them in there. I really wish I knew where that was and if those men are still there.

 In the picture below, you can see the stagecoach trail cut across the hillside in Conant Valley.

Outlaws of Grand Valley

Miners and mountain men, horse rustlers, train robbers, and outlaws were prevalent in the area between 1850-1930.  Jackson Hole was a notorious hangout of outlaws. Grand Valley and Swan Valley were great places for outlaws to hide out as well. Horse rustlers and bank robbers alike found the area suitable to pass through. They could hide in the draws to rebrand horses far from the detection of homesteaders. They found relief and sympathy from some, yet were feared enough that most respectable people didn’t want anything to do with them. The likes of Butch Cassidy and Al Hainer, Lum Nickerson and Ed Harrington, Hugh and Charles Whitney, Matt Warner, and Tom McCarthy were hopscotching from Jackson’s Hole to Pierre’s Hole, over Pine Creek Pass and down the Rainey Creek drainage; slipping through the hills to Grand Valley, across the river, either fording it or using one of the river ferries; heading over the Caribou foothills to Pocatello or Fort Hall; heading south to Salt Lake City or down through the Salt River valley, slipping past Salt Lake City to southern Utah; or heading north to Montana. There was a steady flow of stolen horses being rebranded, as evidenced in nearby Horsethief Canyon, at the upstream end of the Grand Canyon of the Snake River, and then relocated to be sold. Horses stolen in Cokeville would be ‘laundered’ by way of rebranding and then taken to Virginia City or Bannock, Montana. They would then steal horses on the way back to their operational headquarters and hide them in the uninhabited draws. Eventually they would deliver these newly acquired horses to unsuspecting folks in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and the cycle would start over. 

 

 

Grand Valley's location at the junction of Idaho, Wyoming and Utah made it a strategic place for outlaws to dance around jurisdictions. Idaho and Wyoming became states in 1890 but Utah was still a territory until 1896. The laws of the new states were just being made and could hardly be enforced. State lines weren't defined. Butch Cassidy and Al Hainer were among the outlaws who hid out in the upper reaches of the Snake River. After rustling horses, they wintered at the Davis Ranch in Star Valley in 1893, just inside of Utah territory. They were discovered in the spring when their mail was flagged by the postmaster. The sheriff went looking for them and in 1894 Butch Cassidy was sentenced to 2 years in prison in Wyoming. He was pardoned by the governor before he served his full sentence and returned to the area to continue to do what he did best.

 

 

Ed Harrington, pictured at right with his family, and Lum Nickerson were well known to frequent the area. Not as notorious as Butch Cassidy, but just as troublesome they were. They were both residing in Teton Valley, Idaho and made their own community their favorite place to rob. What started out as petty theft grew their appetites for more brazen endeavors. They started out rustling horses, but went on to frequently rob the local mercantiles of the area. Ed Harrington, for a time held a respectable job as a mail carrier. I suspect his wandering eye was always looking at other peoples property on his mail route to steal from in the night, a respectable job and his faithful wife always providing him an alibi. They were also train robbers, holding people at gunpoint to take their valuables. They were said to have robbed 19 trains in one day. They must have been feared, because they lived in relative peace by all accounts in Teton Valley, Idaho. Their neighbors, probably not so much. You can read more about Lum and Ed at Teton Valley Magazine: Teton Valley's Checkered Past

 

There were sympathizers among the Grand Valley homesteaders, including Oliver and Cy Jacobson, and Ralph Janes, who had worked on cattle ranches in Wyoming with the Whitney brothers, pictured to the left, and said they were good, honest, and hardworking men. After robbing a saloon in Monida, MT, Hugh and Charlie Whitney jumped on a train to Idaho, only to end up in a gunfight aboard the train, killing the conductor and getting away. The saga of the disappearing Whitney brothers is as good a story as can be told. Follow this link to read a 3 part story about how slippery they really were. Speaking of Idaho: Hugh Whitney Got Away The Edwards ferry near Edwards Creek (now under Palisades Reservoir) transported outlaws across the river, turning a blind eye to their warrants. Jeff Clark, a homesteader from the Ririe area, and Lydes Canary, who was supposedly Calamity Jane’s brother, were said to have gone as far as South Dakota to steal horses and bring them back to the upper Snake River for rebranding and sale (OTP pg 69-70). 

 

 

Carriboo Jack

In my last post about the mining towns that popped up around Caribou Mountain, I barely mentioned the mountains namesake. Cariboo Jack, as he was known, was one of the first miners in the area west of Star Valley and Swan Valley.  His real name was Jesse Fairchild and was known for his boisterous stories of his own accomplishments in British Columbia. In 1870 he discovered gold near Greys Lake, Idaho and established a mining camp that became the largest in Idaho. The Caribou Mountain Gold Strike lasted 20 years and produced $5 million in placer gold.

 

He did a lot that was worth bragging about. Below are some of the quotes from Cariboo Jack:

When he spoke of his home in British Columbia as a child, he said, “the caribou ran so thick that a fellow could run all the way to hell and back atop them and never touch bare ground. Their breath, which turned immediately into snow and ice, kept the north country covered in white. They would build a mountain in a minute with their breath.”

Of himself, he said, “I was born in a blizzard snowdrift in the worst damn storm to ever hit Canada. I was bathed in a gold pan, suckled by a caribou, wrapped in a buffalo rug, and could whip any grizzly going before I was thirteen. That’s when I left home.” When challenged on his tales he’d respond: “It is so. I will let you know I am from Carriboo!”

When it came to bragging about his equipment and animals, he said of his mule “so danged smart he had to change socks once a week or she wouldn’t let him ride her. She could open any gate built: she stole a full year of grain, a sack at a time from a Quaker farmer, each night he built the latch higher on the door until finally the mule couldn’t reach it. That only stopped her one night, the next night the mule was seen standing on hind legs telling the family dog standing on her forehead how to open the latch.”

He spent 14 years in the gold mining towns of Caribou and Keenan cities. Below is a picture of his grave in Soda Springs, Idaho and the wild story of his death.

 

 

(This account of Fairchild’s death is taken from “Historic Soda Springs Oasis on the Oregon Trail” by Ellen Carney with permission.)

J. J. Call went up the river looking for beaver tracks, he heard there was a big one there, but he didn’t see any outstandingly large tracks until he got to where the big cold water spring comes in the river. He bent over looking at the tracks when he heard a noise and reared up. There was a huge grizzly coming right at him. He didn’t even have time to draw his pistol and turn around, but fired from under his arm.

He hit the grizzly across the face. The animal reared up on its hind legs and hit Call, who was wearing a big canvas hunting coat with an ample lunch in his pocket.The bear’s claws went through the coat and lunch and Call’s heavy underwear, leaving claw marks in his hip. The blow knocked him about twelve feet and into the river. The grizzly was about to come after him, when distracted by Call’s little cattle dog. Call, deciding not to stay and argue with a grizzly when armed with only a pistol went back to town to get his rifle and some dry clothing.

Call’s wife hid his rifle until he could get someone to go with him. In Gorton’s Saloon a man by the name of Lee Wright said he would go if he had a gun. The bartender handed him one. Then Fairchild, being the man who boasted he could whip any grizzly, and probably having a few too many drinks under his belt, quickly volunteered.

While the others set a row of fires to bring out the grizzly, Fairchild took off right down through the willows, and all at once they heard him screaming. Running towards the screams, they found a large grizzly had picked Fairchild up and was shaking him like a dog shaking a rat. When they finally got a shot at the bear, he fell with his head right on top of Fairchild.

Wright ran to town for a buggy and sent a rider to Malad for a doctor. When the doctor arrived, he sewed up all of the cuts instead of leaving an opening so they could drain. Carriboo Jack contracted blood poisoning and a week later was dead.

(Yellow Pines Times: Jesse 'Cariboo Jack' Fairchild)

 

 

 

Boom towns around the Caribou Mountain Gold Strike

 

Trappers and mountain men were becoming fewer by the 1860’s, but mining was booming and there were lots of miners trying to find gold in the upper Snake River area. McCoy Creek was a major mining tributary of the upper Snake River during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The ‘Cariboo Mountain Gold Strike' happened in 1870 and the boom towns were up and running by 1871. Gold, silver, and copper were taken from these mining operations around the Caribou Mountain. It is estimated that between $1.6 million-$5 million dollars worth of gold was extracted before the boom was over.

 

 

 

There were 3 mining towns in the Caribou National Forest, to the west of Grey's Lake, Idaho and east of present day Palisades reservoir: Keenan City, Caribou City and Herman. Keenan City and Caribou City were both on arms of McCoy Creek. Herman, more of a supply town than an actual mining town, was on the Grey’s Lake side of the Caribou mountains, closer to present day Soda Springs. In the 1870's and 1880's these towns were scattered along the creeks, really just unorganized assemblies of shacks set up by miners looking to squat on a spot long enough to find some gold and improve their living situation. Hundreds of people came and went through these boom towns. Most busted and abandoned their humble abodes. Those who found good amounts of gold and persevered the winters on Caribou mountain, rising to over 9000 feet, made improvements to their mining operations, set up sawmills, lining man made trenches with wood for sluice boxes and creating ditches to haul water to them. Some evidence of this still exists. Below is an image from some 4x4 enthusiasts showing one of the trenches that was used for mining. (Photo courtesy: https://www2.zukiworld.com/feature_cariboumountain/)

Jesse Fairchild, also know as Caribou Jack, was said to be one of the first to find gold and set up shop. He was reported to be a boisterous frontiersman from British Columbia, often bragging about his enterprises which, besides mining included bear hunting, gambling, and swashbuckling. Caribou City is named for him. Billy Clemens, Mark Twain’s cousin, was an important community member of Caribou City (Our Turn Paradise, Wiese, Lynn, pg 57-58). He was the first postmaster and a bar owner, besides reportedly doing very well as a miner. He first took up a claim in 1871 and was raking in as much as $1500 per day for an entire month across his enterprises.  By 1897 the town of Caribou City was 'settled' and by 1900 it had tallied 32 saloons, also serving as whorehouses and gambling establishments.

After the gold rush slowed in the early 1900's, more settlers were homesteading and cooperating to farm the land. Settlements, complete with mercantile, schools, and churches were taking the place of boom towns at the turn of the 20th century. The Homestead Act (1862) and the later Desert Lands Act (1877) promoted settlers to move west, especially into the arid countries that were yet to be successfully farmed. The Civil War veterans and freed slaves were being outnumbered by hundreds of thousands of settlers using the Oregon, Mormon and Lander Trails to go find their own manifest destiny in the free lands offered to them in the west. 

The last resident miner to leave Caribou City was in 1930. He was 96 years old and was moved to a family home in Star Valley, Wyoming. During the Great Depression, there was an uptick in mining again at Caribou Mountain, but when the 2nd World War began, most men were conscribed to service, so these mining sites were finally abandoned. The mouth of McCoy Creek (and about ½ mile up the creek) was flooded by the rising waters of Palisades reservoir in 1958, but this was long after the gleam of gold had swept over Caribou mountain. There are still a few mining claims on McCoy Creek to this day.

There are many stories to be told about the people who inhabited these boom towns, including that of the 500+ Chinese people, the famous folks like Cariboo Jack and Billy Clemens, and the outlaws and moonshiners of the area. Each of these will get their own post. As always, if you have information to contribute, please email us at svoldtimers@gmail.com. A lot of the information I use if from Lynn Wiese's book, 'Our Turn in Paradise'. Email us to buy your very own hardback second edition. 

 

 

Additional online resources:

Idaho State Historical Society: Site Report - Caribou Mountain-Tin Cup Creek 

 

The Yellow Pine Times: Caribou Mines 

 

 A Pitch from the Past: Jesse 'Cariboo Jack' Fairchild  

 

Star Valley Historical Society: Caribou City 

More notes from the 1984 OTR Reunion

 

Doward Kopp's Life Sketch

 

The 22nd Annual Swan Valley Old Timers Reunion (1984)

 

 

 

 

 

The Astorians: Mountain Men and Trappers (part 1)

 

 

(From 'Our Turn in Paradise, Wiese, Lynn, pg 46-48)

To understand the motives of the American explorers and 

mountain men takes a deeper knowledge of the American 

fur trade beginning in the late 18th century. 

The Jay Treaty of 1794 between the United States and 

Great Britain made it easier for Americans to do business 

with British run companies like the Hudson Bay Company 

and the North West Company, both dealing in the bounty 

of beaver pelts. After the Louisiana Purchase was complete

and the Corp of Discovery had reported back from their 

1804-1806 cross country voyage, American entrepreneurs 

like John Jacob Astor set out to harvest the bounty of furs 

that Lewis and Clark had described. It was a trapper's 

delight just waiting for eager Americans to plunder. 

The lines of governance in North America were not well 

defined in the late 18th century and the British and the 

French had already been exploring the Rocky Mountains and 

areas west of the Mississippi River for years. The Hudson                                                John Jacob Astor

Bay Company and the Northwest Fur Company were well established by 1810, when Astor formed the Pacific Fur 

Company, a subsidiary of his larger company, the American Fur Company. The instability of the United States 

fledgling economy and new policies led to the short life of the Pacific Fur Company. It was only registered as a 

business from 1810-1814 and did not report profits. Astor got his initial investment back and its unknown to me if 

the other partners were compensated. William Hunt's overland party of 'Astorians' was able to set up several forts 

along the Missouri and Columbia that became American outposts and were beneficial to American mountain men, 

trappers, miners, and entrepreneurs. Robert Stuart's party of 'Returning Astorians' helped thousands of pioneers 

who used the South Pass route they charted on the Oregon trail to follow their dreams west. 

Lets consider the Embargo act and the Non-Intercourse Act when we think of this time frame. The Embargo Act 

of 1807 was a significant piece of legislation enacted by the United States Congress in response to the growing 

tensions between Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars. As American shipping expanded in the early 

19th century, both nations began targeting neutral American vessels to undermine each other’s trade, leading to the 

seizure of American merchant ships accused of trading with "enemy nations." American merchantmen who were trading with "enemy nations" were seized as contraband of war by British and French navies. In an attempt to protect its interests and assert its neutrality, the U.S. imposed a general trade embargo, the Embargo Act of 1807, halting all foreign trade. This made it hard for domestic (North American continental) trade, but it was especially hard to trade via shipping routes to Great Britain. Astor, who had been sending fine pelts to the British and filling his ships with European and Chinese goods to sell in his shops in America, was very encumbered by the embargo. In terms of diplomacy, the embargo failed to improve the American diplomatic position, and sharply increased international political tensions. Both widespread evasion of the embargo and loopholes in the legislation reduced its impact on its targets. In the waning days of Jefferson's presidency, the Non-Intercourse Act lifted all embargoes on American shipping except for cargo bound for British or French ports. Enacted on March 1, 1809, it exacerbated tensions with Britain. This drastic measure proved economically detrimental, increased domestic discontent and ultimately contributed to the onset of the War of 1812. British merchants were well-positioned to grow at Americans’ expense when the embargo sharply reduced American trade activity. 

  William Price Hunt   

John Jacob Astor was a German-born American businessman, merchant, 

real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in the fur

trade and by investing in real estate around New York City. Seeing the 

expansion of population to the west, Astor entered the fur trade in the 

Great Lakes region, where he made over $250,000 (the equivalent of 

$229 million dollars in 2024) exporting furs to Great Britain. He later 

expanded into the American west and Pacific coast where he was incredibly

 influential in trade with the Far East, creating the Pacific Fur Company in 

1810. Astor, was a savvy businessman and each time he was faced with the 

politicization of international trade affecting his business, he was thinking of ways to be more profitable and be patriotic by staying within the parameters of the laws of his new country. Following the passing of the Non-Intercourse Act, he saw more opportunity to do business in the Russia and China so he commissioned two expeditions to establish trade routes to the Pacific, one overland and one by sea.

The overland route followed Lewis and Clark's route to the Pacific Ocean. William ‘Wilson’ Price Hunt met John 

Jacob Astor in New York and in 1810 was one of the 6 founding members of the Pacific Fur Company. Hunt was 

commissioned by Astor to lead the overland expedition to the Pacific and establish a fort. After 340 days, the Astorians 

reached the mouth of the Columbia river and established Fort Astoria. in 1812, Hunt took a ship called the 'Beaver' 

to the Kamchatka peninsula and to Hawaii.

 The overland return voyage of some of the Astorian party took them through the upper Snake River Valley. In 1812, 

9 of their party ended up together near Alpine, Wyoming. They were called the ‘Returning Astorians'. Three of the 

returning Astorians, Hoback, Robinson and Reisnor stayed in the area to continue trapping. The other six, led by 

Robert Stuart, had a harrowing journey around the area. All of their horses were stolen and they were wandering 

around the areas of the Salt, Hoback, Greys, Green and Snake Rivers and even reportedly rafted down the Snake River. 

They eventually ended up heading in the right direction, after some Shoshone sold them ‘1 broke down horse’. 

(https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/astorians-south-pass-discovery) 

They found their way to the Green River and were the first white people to chart a course over South Pass, which 

was later traveled by thousands of settlers on the Oregon trail.

Robert Stuart                                      

 On pages 46-48 of 'Our Turn in Paradise', Lynn Wiese recounts the travels of the "Returning Astorians" through Grand Valley. Scans of those pages are below these other book recommendations.

 

'Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival' by Peter Stark

 

'Astoria: Or, Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains' by Washington Irving

 

'Across the Great Divide: Robert Stuart and the Discovery of the Oregon Trail' by Laton McCartney 

'The Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert Stuart's Narratives of His Overland Trip Eastward from Astoria in 1812-13' by Philip Ashton Rollins

 

 

  There is a marker commemorating the 'Returning Astorians' in Alpine, Wyoming.

(From 'Our Turn in Paradise, Wiese, Lynn, pg 46-48)

Fun Facts:

John Jacob Astor died on the Titanic, probably the wealthiest passenger on the doomed ship.