“Mail call, mail call.” These words have long caused the heart of many a homesick wayfarer to quicken in anticipation. The conveniences of our modern postal system were unknown to early travelers passing through the rugged Idaho frontier. If old legends are true, ingenious journeyers devised their own system of...
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Stanley 'Bow-Wow' Wojtkiewicz
When the Freshmen Class of 1943 assembled in the fall of 1939 to elect officers, they were addressed by an enthusiastic young man promoting the virtues of Stanley Wojtkiewicz, who was promptly elected President. The nominator, it turned out, was Mr. Wojtkiewicz, who, grinning widely, always said his name was...
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More Mining Film Preserved
More mining film preserved 16mm color film (pos.) Kodachrome, approx. 300 ft. on a 7" reel, 3 splices. Stibnite; Bunker Hill, Burke Canyon. 1950 Stibnite, Idaho and the Bradley Mining Co. scenes from 1950, showing surface operations from a high vantage point, vans, a bulldozer at work, much on the...
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Even More Mining Film Preserved
More mining film preserved 16mm color film (pos.) Kodachrome, approx. 300 ft. on a 7" reel, 1 splice. Page Mine; Bunker Hill; Yankee Fork. (n.d., but c. late 1940s) Much footage of the Page Mine sawmill, with panoramic views of the town and mining site, and people. The Bunker Hill...
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Mining Films Preserved
Historic mining films from Idaho’s Silver Valley Mining District have been preserved thanks to a 2007 Partnership Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) awarded to the University of Idaho Library’s Special Collections & Archives. The original moving pictures were filmed in 1926 and 1930 by Harry Webb Marsh,...
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General Chrisman, Idaho's Grand Old Man
In April 1936, the University of Idaho campus celebrated an unusual event when President Neale cancelled classes. The occasion: President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just designated, at Congress’ behest, General Edward R. Chrisman as Commandant of Cadets and Lecturer in Military Science and Tactics Emeritus for the “remainder of his...
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Packing the Goods
Before there were roads or rails, goods were shipped by boat or barge and then on by horse or mule. As the nation’s transportation network developed, only the most inaccessible places continued their dependence on pack trains for supplies. In many of Idaho’s remote places, the pack train era lasted...
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A Lonely Cabin
A century ago, in the days before corporate entertainment found its mass market and spread from the cities to rural areas, people made their own fun. They took walks, went to the park or to the river, played cards, put on home-grown entertainments, had picnics, and visited their friends and...
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Henry David Thoreau Manuscript Leaf
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau
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Summer Session - 1928
In the spring of 1928 the Northern Pacific Railway Company, as part of its publication of brochures and pamphlets encouraging travel to the Pacific Northwest, prepared a slim page-sized illustrated piece inviting the reader to consider attending summer school at the University of Idaho. One piece of paper folded to...
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