Dec. 12, 2011 So You Love History?
I was recently asked to speak at a Rotary meeting about the history of the Boise Foothills and the city’s Greenbelt and River preservation. The meeting was a treat to attend. I participated in the Pledge of Allegiance (not sure the last time I recited that!), and the singing of My Country Tis’ of Thee. All of it brought back memories and a bit of nostalgia for my childhood. We met in the beautiful Crystal Ballroom at the Hoff Building, an art deco building in downtown Boise. The Hoff Building The most interesting and exciting event at the meeting was Rotary’s “History Minute,” where one member interviewed another. The interviewee, in this case, was a woman whose family had a long history in Boise. The answers she gave to the questions gave the 80+ people in the room a glimpse of Idaho’s development history, and I appreciated the respect this organization gave to our ties to the past. Thanks to Rotary for keeping people engaged in their communities and in history!
I also was recently asked to write a column for the newsletter of the Coordinating Council for Women in History. The column focuses on what a person can do with a degree in History, and why the subject still matters in our modern lives. As I tell my students, I think it’s critical to follow your passion and to realize along the way that you might have to get creative to make it work. But to pursue something that doesn’t interest you simply because there’s a market for it has never made a lot of sense to me. Happy reading, and Happy Holidays!
What Can I Do With a Ph.D. In History?
08/28/2011 Dr. Stevens Appointed to State Historical Records Advisory Board
Idaho Governor Butch Otter recently named SHRA’s Dr. Jennifer Stevens to the Idaho State Historical Records Advisory Board.
The mission of the fifteen-member Board, which is funded in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), is to advocate for the creation, preservation, dissemination and use of information that accurately chronicles the people and institutions of Idaho, both public and private.
The Board meets four times a year to review new NHPRC grant applications and to coordinate statewide historical records concerns.
For more information on the Idaho State Records Advisory Board, please visit: http://history.idaho.gov/shrab.html
Dr. Stevens’s appointment runs through October 2013.
8/11/2011 Local Water Organizations Hosting October 18 Conference on Boise River
Boise-area residents value and love the Boise River for its proximity to downtown, the recreational opportunities it offers, and the water it provides for local farmers. But the Boise River is not the same river it once was. The meandering series of shallow channels that criss-crossed the valley floor in the late 19th century has been replaced with a far more defined river channel bordered by residential and other urban uses. The Boise River now receives storm run-off containing pollutants which people in the 1890s could not have imagined. The local irrigation districts have to contend with keeping the water clean in their canals, as well, faced with runoff from the fertilizers used on their members’ fields. And, the specter of climate change has rendered all users uncertain of their water supply’s future. This messy set of concerns only begins to describe the complex web of issues related to Boise River management. (If you examine this historic video narrated by former Boise City Council member Bill Onweiler you will get a sense of the River’s history and its significance to the City of Boise 1970: The Boise River Greenbelt.)
To encourage conversation and collaboration, a group of local organizations is hosting a series of Brown Bag lunches leading up to their October 18th conference on private and public opportunities for ecosystem restoration on the Lower Boise River. SHRA is pleased to be a sponsor of these programs.
The Lower Boise River was the subject of a recent Feasibility Study by the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Feasibility Study was aimed in part at evaluating potential sites for additional water storage infrastructure – i.e. dams. Now, the group of local water leaders hosting this program series are going to talk about other opportunities which the river presents. Participants include members of the non-profit community such as Idaho Rivers United, as well as members of the irrigation and scientist communities. The series presents the opportunity for the myriad people and groups that use the Boise River to talk about and envision its future. Please plan to come to the Brown Bag lunches and especially the event on October 18, which will feature a keynote address by Boise State University president Bob Kustra.
Click here for details on the Brown Bag Lunch series: Idaho Rivers United brownbagflyer
Click here for information on the October 18 Vision to Reality workshop (more…)
7/26/2011 The Evolving Historical Profession
The NY Times printed an article today (7/26/2011) about how Geographic Information Systems have helped historians “see” the past in more unique and arguably more accurate ways.
Although the article does not specifically discuss SHRA’s specialty – environmental history — the use of Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, represents a major leap forward in the search for historical accuracy in this field. SHRA’s clients often utilize GIS consultants to provide visual representations of the area in question. Their maps are incredibly helpful to our historians when reading primary sources such as General Land Office field notes and survey plats or even simple historical maps. GIS maps help us to understand historical changes in stream beds, watercourses, and any other physical changes in the land such as tree coverage or accumulation of mining waste. We have worked with many of these GIS firms over the past eight or so years to create our own maps, as well, showing changes in land ownership over time, road locations and changes over time, and any other number of important historical events. GIS is an incredible tool in legal settings where visual representation can help tell a story to opposing lawyers or to a judge who may have stacks of paper to read but for whom “a picture tells a thousand words.” That one perfect map — done in consultation with a GIS expert – can make your case.
12/10/2010 SHRA in The Advocate
SHRA client Moffatt Thomas recently used the information in a report prepared by our firm for an article in the Idaho Bar Association’s newsletter. Attorney Scott Campbell cited the SHRA report in his article, “Irrigation Water Drainage Development in the Treasure Valley.” History of Irrigation and Drainage in the Treasure Valley
The report, entitled, A History of The Pioneer Irrigation District, 1884-1938, An Initial Report, was written for the purposes of litigation between Pioneer and the City of Caldwell. We conducted research in the National Archives in Denver to obtain much of the information on which this report was based. The Denver (Rocky Mountain) branch of the National Archives holds the records of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. We also did research locally at both the Idaho State Archives and various irrigation districts in the valley.
The history of Pioneer Irrigation District represents the history of irrigation and settlement in the West during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The pioneers who settled the lands were brave souls who had visions of bounty where only sagebrush and rattlesnakes existed. The story of Pioneer Irrigation District tells us of the entrepreneurs that created many of the towns in the western valley and who were almost single-handedly responsible for encouraging the migration. It tells us of the coming of the railroad, and how critical the siting of the railroad was to the development of the West. It tells us of the manipulation of resources to support human life, and the ingenuity of those who came.
Pioneer Irrigation District and Moffatt Thomas continue to be clients of SHRA.
11/12/2010 County Records and Haunted Hotels
I had occasion to be in Baker City, Oregon last week on a research trip. The city itself has made a concerted effort to preserve its historic architecture, and the small downtown is charming. City Hall is a beautiful turn-of-the-century (20th) quintessential stone hall with a clock tower, and there are many National Register plaques gracing other buildings, as well. I even was treated to staying at the 100+ year old Geiser Grand Hotel, which is rumored to be haunted. Fortunately I am not able to confirm that point one way or the other…
What really struck me during my time in Baker, however, was how incredibly well-preserved the Baker County records were. My colleagues and I do a lot of historic research in County Courthouses across the West. County records are vitally important to environmental research in the West. An incredible amount of stuff happened at the county level in the 19th century. Mining claims were filed at the county, water claims were filed at the county, roads were built with county money, and many, many other things. But unfortunately, many states have done a poor job at preserving these records. Oregon is an outstanding exception to the rule.
I originally discovered the wealth of county material through the Oregon State Archives web site, which does a fine job of making the records searchable. I then discovered that much of the archival material was actually kept at the county courthouses around the state instead of at the State Archives in Salem. That discouraged me because of my long experience in other courthouses which are disorganized, unkempt, and easily compromised. That was until I actually arrived at the Baker County Courthouse. The two vaults where the records were kept were immaculate and incredibly well-organized. I had a finding aid from a few years back, but when I arrived I was told that the Oregon State Archives staff had just been there to do an audit, and that there was an updated finding aid. What state spends money on these things anymore? None I had been to recently, that’s for sure! But Oregon has done its citizens a huge favor by keeping these records accessible and easily searchable. Having these records so accessible to researchers like me and other SHRA historians will go a long way toward helping judges and lawyers sort out the difficult answers that lie in the past, and I firmly believe that it will save the state a great deal of money in the long run. So hats off to Oregon for keeping a budget alive for archives in these difficult times! I look forward to going back and examining in more detail the county surveyor books, court records, and water rights filings and knowing exactly where to find it all!
9/3/2010: The Mining Law of 1866
SHRA has spent quite a lot of time in recent months doing work related to the 1866 Mining or Right of Way Act. Among many other things, the law provides perpetual ROWs for uses that existed on public land at the time the land was withdrawn from the public domain. There is a provision of the law that relates to roads, and another that relates to irrigation ditches. The historical questions and policy implications of this law are significant.
In the West today, there are myriad groups fighting over these historic uses, which the federal government is in many cases trying to curb or eliminate (think of the “roadless” debates that have occurred over the past two decades). As far as SHRA’s involvement, our historians have recently been researching the history of roads in national forests and the history of irrigation ditches in designated wilderness areas. In each case, the historical question is when the road or the ditch actually came into existence — was it before or after the government designated the land as a national forest and withdrew it from the public domain? Sounds simple, but of course historical research never is!
The research has taken place in many locations and various archives, making these particularly interesting cases. We have found rich sources in the Bureau of Land Management archives, the Forest Service archives, and most interestingly, in local archives. Just yesterday, I uncovered 3 old photo albums that a 1920s mother made for her son. They had wonderful, old photos of the first airplane — called the “Tin Goose” — to land on one particular backcountry wilderness landing strip in the 1920s. The albums also showed an old miner holding up a gold bullion cube and packing the rest of those nuggets out with his snow dogs. In addition, the photos showed a well-known lake filled almost entirely with logs from the old logging days. We also found old surveys and hand-written notes from the road engineer describing how difficult it had become to design a road up one particular summit, particularly when there was sometimes 12 feet of snow!
These cases have been some of the most interesting for our historians, due in part to the picture we’re getting to paint of settlement and life in these very remote areas of the West. We’ve all read books on the West, but when you read the documents written by the people who were living on the ground and see the photos they took, you can almost feel what it was like for them, and how harsh life really was on a daily basis. The number of these cases in which SHRA is involved is growing rapidly, as this important law becomes a more widely used tool to protect old and historic uses on national lands. Professional historical research has been absolutely critical to our clients because of the important role that the historical facts play in these cases. We can only hope that they’re all as interesting as these have been!
7/7/2010 Historians and Gettysburg Casino
In June, many individual historians as well as the National Council on Public History and the Organization of American Historians wrote to the Pennsylvania Gaming Board to express opposition to a Casino requested for one-half mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park. Gettysburg was the site of a critical Civil War battle as well as a famous speech given by President Abraham Lincoln in which he invoked the values of the Declaration of Independence and reminded Americans that the men who died there died in order to preserve a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” It remains to be seen how the Board will vote, but the proposal has evoked a great cry among preservationists, community members, and historians alike.
6/17/10: History News
In the news this month are stories that demonstrate just how important good archival management and record keeping is to the successful functioning of our government.
As part of the process of holding hearings on Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan, the William Clinton Presidential Library opened approximately 46,500 pages of files relating to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s tenure at the White House Domestic Policy Council. The additional release of papers from the approximately 160,000 pages of material will be made available on the Clinton Library website in batches as soon as the records are processed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives is holding hearings throughout the month of June on the programs and activities of the National Archives and Records Administration, with the goal being to strengthen the Historical Publications and Records Commission. Part of the hearings will include a review of federal agency records management compliance with the Federal Records Act.