INDIAN EXPERIENCES, LOVE OF NATURE, MORE COLLEGE, IDAHO JOBS

Indian Experiences
My stay in Kamiah proved to be a most interesting experience. It is the headquarters of the historically prominent Nez Perce Indians.  Chief Joseph, during the period of Indian wars, made the longest fighting retreat recorded in the history of those wars. A goodly percentage of the Indians in the Kamiah area were well-educated and were successful farmers or businessmen.

Example of a Nez Perce girl in 1910.  Library of Congress

A nice looking young Indian girl named Josephine, who had spent several years in schools in the East preparing to become a school teacher in an English school, returned to Kamiah while I was there. A few (white) young people with whom I had become acquainted knew Josephine and would invite her to accompany us on a picnic or cook-out. She would tell us about the history of her people and point out interesting writings on rocks made by Indians many years ago.

Example of Anasazi petroglyphs, New Mexico.  Library of Congress

One day she told us she would be leaving in a few days to accept a teaching position in a college in Kansas. The next day one of my white friends said, ‘Did you hear what happened to Josephine?’ The tribal council had held a meeting to consider Josephine’s plans and concluded she was about to get entirely away from the tribe. They decided she should marry one of the middle-aged men of the tribe and so informed her. A few days later, I saw Josephine on the street wearing the typical Indian shawl over her head and with her eyes looking downward. She never again spoke to any of us and was clearly back into the tribe--undoubtedly with a broken spirit.

Love of Nature
Never having lived in a mountainous area, I was truly fascinated with the Kamiah setting. I got a pair of elk skin high top shoes that were waterproof and began hiking among the foothills. Father had a Brownie (camera) that took 5” x 7” pictures and had a splendid lens. He had converted it to a film pack from the original glass plates. I would strap that camera over a shoulder, take a lunch Mother had prepared, and spend most of the day hiking and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Kenneth ready for a hike

Carrie Mae, Elzumer, and Roland; Kenneth in back

Carrie Mae in the center; Roland is on the far left and Kenneth on the far right.  Others?

Winter was an especially interesting time. All cars were put in storage as the road up the bill to nearby towns was too treacherous for winter travel so horse-drawn sleds were in common use. The snow storms were the most beautiful I have ever seen. Being located in a “pocket” among the hills, we never had winds of any consequence, so the snow would pile up six inches and more on fences and tree limbs and the large flakes would fall so thickly one could hardly see across the street.

Occasionally the sun would appear and settle the snow, then another big snow would pile it up again. I would join a few boys my age in shoveling off a frozen part of the river nearby for skating but by the time we had the snow pushed away, we would be too tired to do much skating. Often there would be another snow during that night— so it was a contest with the weather and so far as skating was concerned we usually lost out.

Example of ice skaters at Lake Forest, Chicago.  Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Courtesy of Chicago History Museum

First Employment in Idaho
Father was able to get an appointment for me as his assistant to help him with his duties as receiver for the three failed banks. When he went to Kooskia [Orofino], I would stay at the bank in Kamiah and occasionally I would spend a few days at the Orofino bank.


Christmas with Indians
The most unusual Christmas program I ever at tended was at an Indian church in Kamiah. They had a large Christmas tree that reached to the ceiling and was attractively decorated with home made ornaments.

There was a program in which the children took part and finally the chief of the tribe recited the experiences of the tribe when the government troops were pursuing them in what has been recorded in history as the longest military retreat [1,600 miles]. This was given in their native tongue while the congregation swayed back and forth with a monotone that reached a loud pitch at crucial points of the story. A member of the tribe sitting next to me interpreted the story for me--and it was an exciting story!  [Click on Retreat and Surrender and scroll down to section of the same title read the account.] 

More College
I decided to enroll with the Lasalle Extension University for a higher accountant degree. I completed the course about three years later and took the C.P.A [Certified Public Accountant] examination in Boise.  At that time I was living in Blackfoot, Idaho. The man who took the two day examination when I did wrote me about the outcome. He learned from the clerk in the Idaho State House that our papers were graded according to the standards of the American Institute of Accounting in New York City and both of us received passing grades.

One of the two members of the Idaho examining board signed the report. When the other board member came in the clerk said, ‘We have two more C.P.A’s” The board member marked through our grades on the report and reduced them about 30%. He said, “Now add up the grades and see how many new C.P.A’s we have.” Of course that failed both of us.

My companion took the examination again and was given a passing grade. I had become manager of the Livestock Credit Corporation at Blackfoot and never took the time to go through that two-day ordeal again. So that is how near I came to a C.P.A. degree.

Kenneth Leroy Scott

Car Accident
One day when my father had a business trip to a neighboring town up on the prairie for transportation he engaged a man who had a taxi business, and took Mother, Roland, and Marvin along. While coming back down the canyon road, the steering gear broke and the car went off the road, rolled over, throwing everyone out and landed in a ditch. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt except Mother who had a ligament in one of her legs injured and she suffered from that the remaining years of her life. Roland must have been asleep and was pitched into some bushes and came crawling out shouting, “What is going on here?”

Experiences as Bank Receiver
In 1921, I was appointed receiver of the failed bank at Montpelier, Idaho not far from the Wyoming line. Later, I was receiver of the State Bank at Weiser, Idaho. My third assignment was at the Fruitland State Bank near the Oregon line. I rented a warehouse to store several big trucks that the former cashier of the bank bought with bank funds that I repossessed. Also I accumulated farm equipment and some livestock that borrowers turned in as payment on their debts. One day a borrower came in the bank and said, “I’m leaving town. The only thing I have left under the mortgage to the hank is a horse and saddle and I’ve tied him to the tree in front of the bank.” I occasionally would hold a public auction to sell those items.

My next and final receivership was of the D. W. Stanrod and Co. Bank at Blackfoot, Idaho. This had been one of the oldest and largest banks in southern Idaho. It was established by Mr. Stanrod who had a general store that supplied miners and truckers who hauled ore from the mines in the Salmon River Country to the smelters in Utah. The miners would ask him to store their gold nuggets in his safe and that led to his opening a bank.

Example of gold nuggets from a mine in Alaska, circa 1900.   Courtesy of Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library

At the time of the bank failure, Mr. Stanrod was quite old and he could never believe that his son, the cashier had committed many crimes of misappropriating bank funds and bonds left for safe keeping and had made many bad loans which caused the bank’s failure.

The State Bank Commissioner sent John Beaker, an able attorney and certified public accountant with much experience in investigating bank failure, to Blackfoot to make a thorough audit of the bank records. I was authorized to help him make the audit which proved to be an exciting experience. Presently, I was able to trace irregular transactions through the bank records and help assemble evidence for the criminal trial.

As receiver, I received many claims for preference over depositors. I would assemble facts from the bank records and prepare a formal presentation to the District Court. To save the expenses of an attorney presenting the cases, I was granted permission to present those cases to the District Judge for decision.

This period of bank failures when the depositors often lost practically all their deposits resulted in improved examination of banks and ultimately to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to guarantee deposits up to certain amounts.

In this period when I was a receiver, I saw many extremely tragic cases where persons lost their life savings. Sometimes well managed banks without any irregularities would be the victim of false rumors causing “a run” on the bank when depositors would form long lines into the bank to demand their deposit in cash.

Since no bank ever has more cash than a small percentage of its deposits, such a run would force the bank into receivership for no reason except the panic of depositors from false rumors. The difference now is that depositors have confidence in the government guarantee.

 

KENNETH MOVES TO LAMONI, IOWA, THEN BOISE, IDAHO

In this post, we return to Kenneth's account of his life in his own words:

After graduating from the Chillicothe Business College, I returned home and shortly afterwards obtained a job as office manager with Donaldson and Bill, a Ford agency at Lamoni, Iowa.

Kenneth Leroy Scott

Early Cars
This was in the days when the cars had to be started by the use of a crank at the front of the car. I often operated the gasoline pump, which was operated manually with a crank to dispense the gasoline. After making the gasoline sale the customer usually wanted me to start the car by cranking it. There was danger of the engine “kicking” if the spark lever was too far advanced which could break one’s arm.

Man cranking a Model T Ford.  Courtesy www.ncroots.com

It was customary for Ford dealerships to have a “closed territory”, often for an entire county, in which no one would be given another dealership. This was a very profitable business, but the Ford Motor Company sometimes took advantage of the dealer. There was such a demand for Fords that they couldn’t manufacture them fast enough to supply the demand. So we had to present signed orders to get a freight car load, which was the way they were shipped. So we would order for example: 3 coupes (which were new and very popular), 2 touring cars and one sedan. Maybe I would receive I coupe, 2 touring cars, and 3 solid-tired trucks (the latter being in oversupply). Without warning we would sometimes receive notice that there was a freight car load of Ford parts and tires at the railway station with sight bill-of-lading attached which we must accept or endanger our standing with Ford Motor Company.

Incidentally, my father purchased the first Ford Sedan in our area. In a weak moment, he let me take the Sedan, which he valued greatly. I called a neighbor girl and we started for a ride. Presently I heard a ‘bump, bump” under the car and by the smell realized I had hit a skunk. There was no way to remove that terrible odor except to let it wear off over a period of weeks. Needless to say, I didn’t drive the car again for many weeks.

Ford Model T Sedan.  Source:  http://picsdigger.com/domain/oldcarandtruckpictures.com/

My father, like many others his age, had trouble learning to drive after years of driving a team of horses. He practiced driving in our large barn yard. The Model T Ford had three foot pedals, one was the low gear when pushed down and also the driving range when released, the middle pedal was reverse, and the third pedal was the brake. On his first attempt at driving, Father started off slowly in low and when he saw the woven wire fence "approaching,” he began shouting “whoa, Whoa, WHOA” like he did for the team of horses and only stopped when the fence held the car.

The following is a quotation from a chain letter written by my cousin Geraldine Jordan, daughter of my uncle Charles Scott, in which she describes a typical experience with the very early automobiles:

"That old Overland was a source of pride and achievement to Mom and Dad.  We kids thought we had just about everything!  In fact, we were THE FIRST to own a car in the neighborhood.  I'm not stretching the truth--whenever we came to a steep hill, Papa would tell Mother to get out of the car with us kids and WALK up the incline, and he would make it alone.  He never was sure the top would be reached in safety!   Momma would be so concerned too, for fear the car wouldn't climb a hill.  The driver and rider in the front seat always had to get out each time gasoline was put in the tank.  (Note by Kenneth:  The first car Dad purchased was a Ford Sedan--the first in Harrison County--and it had this same arrangement for a gasoline tank.)

American-made 1914 Overland being pulled over a river in Queensland, Australia, courtesy John Oxley Library, via Wikimedia Commons

If a storm was possible, everyone had to get out and help with the top, and side curtains were installed all the way around.  Our Overland was SUPER.  It had a self-starter and the lights were battery operated.  When we reached a speed of 50 miles per hour, we were really flying and that was TOP speed."

Kenneth joins the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Back to my Lamoni experience. I engaged a room and meals at the home of a family living near the Ford agency. This was a nice clean place with good home cooking. Presently I learned they were members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints and that the headquarters of that church was located in Lamoni. They persuaded me to go to their services and eventually to be baptized and receive membership. About a year later, I migrated to Idaho where I went to the services of the Reorganized Church in Boise a few times. That was the last time I attended any of their meetings.

Kenneth’s parents move to Boise, Idaho
Shortly after I moved to Lamoni, Father sold his bank interests and loaded the family belongings in a railway freight car and the family boarded the passenger train for Boise, Idaho where he purchased a 5 acre tract and large house a few miles west of town on the “Bench” toward Meridian. My Grandfather Scott had sold his farm and moved to Meridian [Ada County, Idaho) where he purchased a nice home and several acres of fruit trees. When my folks moved west, they left their Ford Sedan with me to be driven out later.

Typical farm in Ada County, May 1936  (Source:  Library of Congress)

Trip to Idaho; A Harrowing Experience
In the spring of ..., I started for Idaho in the Ford Sedan, never having been farther west than St. Joseph, Missouri. When I reached the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa, the highway went onto a planked rail road bridge to cross that rather wide river. The rail road track turned out of sight on the opposite side of the river and there being no watchman in sight, I had visions of meeting a train about half way across the river so I just waited. Presently a car came from behind me and went across so I got up my courage and nervously drove across.

Bridges over Missouri near Council Bluffs, circa 1952.  Courtesy of Douglas County Historical Society Archives

The next event I recall is when I came to the Platte River in Nebraska. It was a turbulent, rushing stream slapping the bottom of the wooden single lane bridge with a turn-out at midstream and with much of the guard rail missing. I pulled to the side of the road to appraise the situation.

Presently a car load of young people came along and went rapidly across with surface boards rattling. So I cautiously started out gripping the steering wheel and watching the roaring stream from the corners of my eyes until I reached the other side. Later I learned that the river is rather shallow and I was seeing it at the spring run-off time.

When I approached Cheyenne, Wyoming, I got my first glimpse of mountains. While I was eating lunch, I asked the mechanic at a nearby garage to tune up my motor. When I again started down the road, the car keep slowing down, requiring me to use the low gear to get up speed only to have it slow down quickly. I grumbled to myself about that mechanic getting my car out of order until I looked back and discovered I was going up a rather steep grade toward a mountain.

Garages were rather far apart and whenever I came upon one, I filled the gasoline tank and inquired about the direction toward Boise, Idaho. The answer invariably would be “keep to the main road”. When I would reach a fork in the road, each looked similarly traveled. It was just a case of guessing which was the right direction and stopping the first car I met (which was quite infrequent) and asking if I was on the right road. If not, I had some back tracking to do.

Once I came to a sharp incline in the road that was too steep for the gravity gasoline feed in my car. The road was too narrow to turn around and try to drive up in reverse which improved the gravity feed in such a situation. So I parked the car by the road side and walked over to a near-by hill to see if I could locate a ranch house. Fortunately, there was house about a quarter of a mile away. There I inquired about gasoline and the answer was “yes” in five gallon cans at 50 cents per gallon and $1.00 for the car — a terrific price in those days. The nearest I could come to that price was a $10.00 bill which was my salary for 2 days work.  The lady returned presently and said she had no change. I said, “Well, I’m rather tired traveling so I’ll just sit here on the porch until someone comes along with change.” After about a half hour a man showed up with my change and I walked back to the car, poured the gasoline into the tank under the drivers seat and was able to get up the grade.  For the remainder of the trip, I carried five gallons of extra gasoline.

Also I carried a water can as the car would get hot occasionally, when I would get water from a stream and fill the radiator. A few times I had to remove the floor boards to tighten the brake and gear drums.

About half way across Wyoming, I began seeing an occasional splotch of orange colored paint on rocks along the roadway and recognized them as the first highway signs that the Lake Music Company in Salt Lake City had made to mark the road to that city.

Typical highway scene in Idaho County, July 1941 (Library of Congress)

The road from Pocatello, Idaho to American Falls, Idaho I soon discovered had “chuck- holes” hidden by about six inches of dust, so to avoid breaking a spring by dropping into one of those hidden holes, I had to drive so slowly I was constantly in a dense cloud of my own dust for about ten miles of that road.

Late the next afternoon, I reached Boise and presently I saw two boys whom I recognized as my brothers Roland and Marvin waving me into the driveway of a nice large house and I realized that my seven day drive from Iowa was ended. What a joy it was to see my mother, father, and brothers again!

Elzumer with Marvin (born 1916) and Kenneth (born 1899)

 My father was working with the State Banking Department with an office in the State Capital in Boise.

State Capitol, Boise, Idaho.  Courtesy www.CardCow.com

My folks had a nice 5 acre irrigated place, most of which was planted to a variety of fruit trees.

Typical family garden, Ada County, Idaho,  May 1936 (Library of Congress)

 
Kenneth moves to to Kamiah, Idaho

In a few days I returned by train to my work in Lamoni.  Idaho looked so attractive to me that I kept thinking about moving out there--an idea that was encouraged by letters from my parents.

In the spring of...,  I left by train for Idaho. At that time my folks were living in Kamiah [Ada County] in the northern part of Idaho where father was the receiver of a chain of failed banks at Grofino, Kamiah, and Kooskia, Idaho. At Lewiston, Idaho, I changed trains to a two car train that travel up the Clearwater River to Kamiah and a few miles beyond. It was an interesting trip up the Clearwater River Canyon mostly through a forest of splendid timber.

Example of Idaho railroad (Library of Congress)

At the station stops usually there were no houses in sight and I assumed the houses were on the top of the canyon. Frequently I saw a train line with many--what appeared to be--seats hanging from the steel cable. I thought that was how I would have to travel with my suitcase up to the top of the canyon when I reached Kamiah--not a pleasant thought.

When the conductor announced our arrival at Kamiah, to my pleasant surprise, it was located on a flat opening about 4 or 5 miles square, surrounded by stately pine-covered mountains. Later I learned that the tramways were only for transferring the bagged grain from the fields of the prairie down to the railway stations for shipment to market.