Bingham County
IDGenWeb
Of the counties of Idaho, Bingham occupies a place of no secondary importance as
considered from the standpoint of industrial development and historic interest.
Created in the territorial days, it was organized in 1885, the act for its
creation having been approved January 13th of that year. It was the largest
county in Idaho at the time of the admission of the state to the Union. A
description of the county given in 1891 may consistently be preserved and shows
that at that time the county was 176 miles in length, with a width of ninety
miles. Its area was about fourteen thousand square miles, and thus it comprised
about eight million acres of land. It extended from the Montana line on the
north to within about twenty-one miles of the Utah line on the south, with
Wyoming lying to the east, the county itself being in the southeastern part of
the new state of Idaho.
By an act of the legislature, approved March 6,
1893, a strip of about fifty-six miles was taken from the south end of the
county for the creation of the new county of Bannock, and by an act approved on
the 4th of March of the same year a strip of about seventy-five miles was taken
from the north end of the county, to form the new county of Fremont. This left
Bingham county a territory that was about ninety miles east and west and about
forty-five miles north and south. The original county was organized in 1885, in
consonance with enactment by the territorial legislature.
The central
portion of Bingham county is traversed by the Snake river, and what is
designated as the great Snake river valley composes a large part of this section
of the county. The Snake river proper, the South Fork of the Snake river, the
Blackfoot river and Willow creek are the principal streams of the county and
afford most admirable irrigation resources. Distinctive fertility marks the soil
of Bingham county, more than two-thirds of whose area is agricultural land, much
of the upland region of the county being specially available for dry farming.
The elevation of the county varies from 4,400 feet to 4,949 feet. The 1909-10
records given by the state commissioner of immigration, labor and statistics
state that the county has about seven hundred and sixty thousand acres under
canals and has water appropriated and attached to the land for more than four
hundred thousand acres. From a publication issued at the opening of the second
decade of statehood are taken the following statements concerning Bingham
county; and these data are specially interesting in connection with the great
progress that has since been made:
"For quantity and quality of
production there is no country that can excel and few that can compare with this
valley. The most extensive yield of wheat, oats, hay and potatoes is here shown.
All kinds of vegetables are raised, such as squash, pumpkins, turnips, beets and
tomatoes, and while it can not be called a corn country this product is often
raised and matured."'
To the sixth biennial report (1909-10) of the
state commissioner of immigration, labor and statistics definite credit is given
for much of the information given in the paragraphs that immediately follow.
The principal products of Bingham county are wheat, oats, barley, alfalfa,
clover, timothy, potatoes and sugar beets, while vegetables of all kinds are
successfully propagated. Fruit-growing is receiving much attention in this
county, which has at the present time some fifteen thousand acres planted to
fruit, excellent apples, pears, prunes, plums, cherries, and all kinds of small
fruits being grown. Alfalfa is produced all through what is known as the Snake
river valley, and here this product does exceedingly well. Ordinarily it yields
three cuttings, and the first of the season averages from three to four tons to
the acre, the product being in great demand for commercial and feed purposes. At
this point it may be noted that more attention is now being given by Idaho
agriculturists to the feeding of their alfalfa and other produce to live stock
maintained on the individual ranches, and thus a direct and valuable impetus is
being given to the stock industry in various sections of the state. Potatoes do
remarkably well all through the Snake river valley, and especially in Bingham
and other counties of southeastern Idaho. They pay the producer a greater net
revenue, investment being considered, than any other crop with the possible
exception of fruit. With even casual care the yield is 200 bushels to the acre.
Where due diligence is exercised, a yield of 350 to 400 bushels is insured.
There are records of from 500 to 700 bushels on small tracts where especial
attention has been given to cultivation. There are few blights or other pests to
cut down the crop.
About two-thirds of the area of Bingham county is
mountainous. The snow in the mountains does not commence to melt until June,
when it furnishes an abundance of water to aid in irrigation, the highest stages
of the rivers and minor streams being usually between the 15th of June and the
10th of July. The climate of Bingham county is mild, the mountains abound in
both large and small game, the Snake river and its tributaries yield fine trout
to the fisherman and the lakes are well supplied with ducks. In the mountains
are found elk, deer, bear, mountain lion and mountain sheep. In most instances
the great storms that traverse the continent, especially those from the west,
pass either to the north or south of this section. A blizzard or cyclone is
never known in this valley and whenever the weather is severely cold there is
hardly a breath of air stirring. "It is a beautiful sight on a frosty morning,"
says a writer, "when the sun is just beginning to cast its rays over the
mountain tops, to see the smoke from scores of chimneys rising straight toward
the sky for hundreds of feet."
In Bingham county crops are raised by
irrigation, so that a crop failure on account of drouth or excess of rainfall is
not known. Being at the head of the water supply of the Snake river, there is no
danger of the supply being exhausted. Some of the finest irrigation systems of
the state are to be found in this section and concerning them more specific
mention is made in the chapter in which the general irrigation improvements of
the state are treated. The immense canal system of the American Falls Power &
Canal Company is a project that has contributed in wonderful degree to the
development of Bingham county. The Oregon Short Line Railroad passes through the
county north and south and crosses the Snake river at Idaho Falls. The Idaho
Falls Interurban Electric Railway will eventually cover the greater part of the
Bingham county portion of the Snake river valley and its present facilities are
very appreciable in extent. Idaho Falls was formerly the principal city of
Bingham county but is now included in Bonneville county, of which it is the
judicial center, this latter county having been created from the northeastern
part of Bingham county. The population of Bingham county according to the census
of 1910 was 23,306, including Bonneville county, and it now has an area of 2,363
square miles. The metropolis and county seat of Bingham county as at present
constituted is Blackfoot, which is one of the attractive towns of the northwest,
with well shaded streets and a considerable number of handsome residences.
Blackfoot now has, on authoritative estimate, a population of fully four
thousand. It is situated on the main line of the Oregon Short Line Railroad
going north, with a branch to Mackay. It is twenty-five miles north of
Pocatello, Bannock county, a place known as the "Gate City." From the territory
of Bingham county was taken a part of the county of Power, which lies to the
southwest and of which due mention is made in this volume. At Blackfoot is
located the Idaho Asylum for the Insane, one of the best institutions of its
kind in the Union. A number of rural towns and villages in various parts of the
county afford needed trading facilities and all are prosperous and progressive.
Within the limits of Bingham county is situated old Fort Hall, as well as a part
of the old Fort Hall Indian reservation, the remainder of which is in Bannock
county, mention of both being given on other pages of this work.
The
city of Blackfoot has two banks, a sugar factory, a flour mill, an opera house,
two well conducted hotels, an alert commercial club, and two newspapers. It has
well ordered electric-light and water-works plants. Blackfoot has six churches —
Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Catholic, Lutheran, and Latter Day Saints.
The incorporated village of Shelley is on the Oregon Short Line Railroad and
the Snake river and is situated eighteen miles northeast of Blackfoot. Its
population is about eight hundred and it has a bank, a flour mill, three
churches, and an electric light plant, besides claiming a progressive weekly
newspaper.
Source: History of Idaho: A narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, by Hiram Taylor French, published in 1914, pages 189-192, extracted 2021 Jun 17 by Norma Hass
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This page was last updated 09/07/2023