The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 397 - Idaho Governor Caleb Lyon (live)

Episode Date: September 24, 2019

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine Idaho Territory Governor Caleb Lyon.SourcesTourRedbubble Merch

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and a half ago at the knitting factory so please enjoy the comedy of blah blah blah blah blah. Yo! What's up boysy? Yeah okay no no no guys boysy no no no no no no guys come on we got through this already. We're supposed to be friends. That's right sir. You're listening to the dollop. This is a bi-racial American history podcast. Each week I a black gentleman read a story from American history to my nemesis. You know these are supposed to like tell people what the show is. There's liberties and then there's what

you're doing. You're having luxuries that's what you're having. Gareth Reynolds who's not his nemesis but has no idea what the topic is going to be about. I choose my nemesis. My nemesis doesn't get to say he's not my nemesis. I choose my nemesis. We would drove in a car for like nine hours yesterday together. The whole time I kept saying you're my fucking nemesis. No we had pleasant conversation. Very pleasant. And then I would turn and I would go this is my fucking nemesis I'm talking to. Well I can't dispute that I suppose. I wasn't there for all your asides. Your villainous window asides. I'm with my nemesis though. That could have happened.

I'm keeping time now just because. Don't say Jesus. Why are you so upset by that? Does I mean it's news to me. I'm interested but I'm not offended. Oh Jesus. Jesus fucking Christ. I didn't come here for this shit. Get to the fucking show. Now he knows how long it is. Well there goes the show. The fucking asshole. I didn't come here for time watching. You fucking clown. Shall we. December 7th 1822. Year of our Lord Jesus Christ. Caleb Lyon. By the way that's twice the amount the carp got. There's absolutely no way any of you know who the fuck that is. They just like the name. It's pretty good. Was born in Greg New York about 40 miles from Syracuse.

Grew up in a prominent family on a state named Lyonsdale. Caleb Lyon Lyonsdale. That makes sense. I think the estate was named after the family. That's right. Pay attention guys. His grandfather fought in the battle of the Bunker Hill of Bunker Hill not the Bunker Hill. I like that. I like the Bunker Hill. That's another respectful. So you know their old school. Nearby was oh sorry so young Caleb went to boarding school in Montreal and then graduated from a university in Vermont with a degree in engineering. Okay. After school he spent a few years traveling in Europe. Sure. Yeah. We all do. He wanted to be a writer and seemed for

a while headed for that kind of life. He wrote over elaborate poetry. What. That's really something. I mean to me like anytime I read a poem I'm like it's a lot of words. I mean it really is. It's a lot. It's too elaborate. Caleb these are not poems. These are stories. They are. You've crossed. And he read a novel about a British expat who was captured by some Aboriginal people in Tasmania. Okay. Caleb also came up with a unique look. He had long hair. War a red cravat and a velvet coat. I like. Yeah. Anytime someone's rocking a cravat. Let's go. Yeah. None of this was normal for the time. Okay. Because it does surely to all of us

sound very normal. Right. Like the idea that you're wearing a kerchief people like oh my. What is that. He's got a handkerchief around his neck. That's all I got. None of this. Oh yeah. So he pursued a career of a writer for some time and went on tour lecturing. But his family was not down with the artist lifestyle and they pushed him to get into politics. Okay. Something rich families do. Why are you not a senator. Right. That's where the money is. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Sorry guys. Don't mean to burst the bubble on that one. Right. They're public servants. You guys have two senators. How big is your population. How big. How big is Idaho's

population. A couple million. Got one point five million. That's cool. We have fifty fucking million people in two centers. So go fuck yourself. I'm ready whenever you are. So his family with Democrats Cable's father was a close friend of William Marcy a senator and governor from New York. He was an attack dog with a political machine and he came up with the phrase to the victor belong the spoils. Nice. So in the mid forties he was Polk's secretary. By the way that's pretty obvious though isn't it. But the phrase. Yeah. Well I mean I know the phrase but like there's nothing super unique about what he's saying.

Fuck whoever wins gets it all. It's like yeah. And everyone's like how'd you come up with that. We're gonna shit on him. He came up with a fucking thing people like. You're like you're this is the guy who's like we signed cars. A legacy is a legacy. So he be this guy became Polk's secretary of war which allowed him to get political appointments made. Sure. Now the U.S. and China signed a treaty to begin diplomatic relations. And then Marcy got Caleb the job of console stationed in Shanghai. OK. So he has he just wanted to be a writer. Yeah. And now it's family's like you should get into politics. I suppose. And now he's in

Shanghai like but my life. So Caleb headed to California where he was to then ship off to China. But once he got to California he was pretty not into going to China. Makes sense. So he turned over running the console office to one of his deputies and joined the gold rush. Wow. What a deputy is like I'm sorry you do it by gold. He's running taking his kerchief off. I'm free. That's a long trip for that deputy to take on a whim too. Is it cool. No. Shit. My year. Yeah it's not a great. My year. So Caleb. So Caleb. He's not going to China but that didn't stop him from telling everyone that he went to China. Interesting. OK. This

is important character development. I feel like. So this fans insane. They told everyone he worked as the console. He said he was very busy. By the way that's always the sign of someone who's full of shit. Real busy people are like I'll get back to you. Not busy people like I'm swamped. I cannot even today. He also told people he fought in the Mexican war as an officer under General Scott but there were no military records that exists for a kid lion. So well he left him in Shanghai. Also he said he was in China at the same time he was fighting in the Mexican war. That's possible. Super hard to do. That's possible. You might

be shooting from China that direction. You still technically are involved. So Caleb was actually in the gold fields prospecting. But he did not strike it rich. And then he eventually resigned as console in 1849. Wait no no no he already did do that. No he didn't. Yes he did. No he was still the console. He just had another guy doing the work and he was out getting gold as a field. Pretty good way to handle a job. So he's getting fucking paid. Right. Another guy's doing the work. And he's just a terrible prospector in his part time. That's right. He then possibly due to his family connections attended the

California Constitutional Convention in 1849. Okay. There he became involved in the making of the seal of California. Wow. The seal had a. I thought that was Jose by the way. The seal had the goddess Minerva quote having sprung full grown from the brain of Jupiter. So a little bit of acid when they're coming up with it. And then out of Jupiter's brain. I'm sorry I'm driven hard. I mean the only one. She is. She's sitting with a Roman battle helmet and spear. And there's a gold miner swinging a pickaxe in a hole. There's lots of ships on water and a bear eating grapes. If bears are anything like

dogs that's not a good idea. It's been changed a bit. Now there's the bears not eating grapes but it's kind of the same. Someone eventually was like that doesn't make any sense. A bear eating grapes like one. It's literally the bear is laying down at the feet of Minerva and he's like just like eating fucking grapes. It looks really normal. It's what grapes. It's what bears do in the wild and grapes. It's what they do. It's definitely what grapes do in the wild. That's how you if you're gonna fucking hunt a bear you put out a pile of grapes. Yeah. Yeah. So the original design was actually done by US Army

major Robert Garnett but there was a lot of friction between the military and civil authorities. So Garnett didn't want to introduce the design at a convention. Okay. So Caleb was the guy. Oh no. So Caleb was the convention clerk. So he introduced it as his own design. I did all this. That's mine and it didn't take as long as you think and the bear came to me. That's Jupiter's brain. A lot of it's really good. I'm really good at this. I do a lot of stuff. Why is the bear eating grapes? Well the bear is eating grapes because this actually happened. To me I was out there in the forest one day and I saw the

bear eating the grapes and Jupiter's head exploded and I was there for it and has a brain and I'm Caleb and I did it all. Alone too. Nobody helped me. Just me and my trusty kerchief. Did I mention I also live in Shanghai right now? I didn't. No I did not know that. Well, well, well. What aren't I doing? Lots of stuff. So, so Caleb was then given a thousand dollars by the state of California. To leave. To go get out. We don't like your vibe. Not good. To do some work on the seal. To buy a dye in press to print it up. I mean I don't know where this is going but as far as things you have to do this is a pretty easy

task. He fucked it up. I know. He bought a type of dye in press that were too shallow and weak to print the seal. It's good. But still after all this he got credit for the original seal of California design. Okay. And then didn't do anything. After a while people started to catch on. On February 19th, 1850 the Daily Alta newspaper wrote, Caleb quote, received his money out of the civil fund and is now conveying it to the Sylvan retreats of Linesdale. Although he had no right or title to the honor of either designing or executing the seal more than that of the King of Tartary. Wow. All right. Easy. Talk about elaborate

poetry. Word police. So now this is being written about in the paper Caleb was like oh I should go back to New York. Right. Okay. Right. So he goes back to New York and even though he'd been a console under well sort of under the Democratic administration. Not even sort of. Not at all. But he now decided he was going to be a wig. Okay. And this was right as the wigs were dividing and basically dissolving so then he became an independent and with his family connections he got himself elected to the New York legislature. Okay. And then he got upset because he wanted to make the Erie Canal wider but nobody else did so

he resigned. Well that's a hill to die on isn't it? Yeah. Please. Please. I don't know how. I'm done. I'm out of here. I can't. In 1851 he served in the state Senate and then he was elected to the US Congress still as an independent. He serves one term. James Haddock wrote that Caleb was known quote by always appearing with a flaming necktie and curiously grotesque clothes. All right. Hot vibe. And that he had a persuasive and flattering tongue which at time served him in the absence of sincerity and ability. So he's a sociopath. He's a velvet sociopath. It's not a great description. Right. But he looks good.

Well does he? I mean I'd like to see him look as puzzling. He sounds like a Batman villain. So Caleb is living on family money and he gives speeches when he can. He's a very gifted speaker. About what? What are his speeches? About writing. He's a next politician now. Right. He began looking for a job with some prestige. Something with a title that paid well but didn't involve a lot of work. Okay. And then he became a Republican. And then disaster struck and the Linesdale estate burned to the ground in 1860. Okay. So Caleb moved to Staten Island. Okay. So now being a Republican he made

alliances with people in the Lincoln administration and then waited for another sweet diplomatic appointment. Right. But nothing came. He applied to be the minister of Bolivia. I mean look how do you not get it? I mean that was like so niche. But instead another job opened up. Oh no. The governor of the Idaho Territory. So just you can now be the governor. At that point well so in 1863 Lincoln signed the Organic Act which made it a territory and at that point the territory was larger than Texas. Okay. The name Idaho was first suggested in 1859 when miners in Pikes Peak voted to call their area Jefferson Territory but

they soon learned it was frowned upon to name a territory after a president. So they debated a bunch of names and all agreed that Idaho was the best name. Did Idaho. George Milling said it was a native word that meant gem of the mountains. Okay. All right. But just before the Senate officially voted to name it Idaho they learned it was not at all a Native American word. So it's safe to say Idaho is like the college girl who goes to get like the like Asian themed writing on her arm that means be peaceful forever. It's like no no no no no it means clean toilet. What? Why? What? What? It's better than dirty toilet. Yeah it's

true. I got that one. Yeah. But I asked for it. So so they find out it doesn't mean that and just before the Senate officially voted to name it Idaho they learned it's not a Native American word so they named the territory after the local river Colorado. But after that Idaho was still used used by for to name different cities and places around the gas. As a placeholder? Yeah people like. We don't know what we're gonna call it. We're gonna call it Idaho. It's like junior. We're just calling him junior for now. One of those places was Idaho County of the Washington territory. I'm a little confused but okay. So finally in

1863 the territory of Idaho was created out of that county and everyone to this day still pretends that Idaho is a native word for Gem of the Mountains when it actually actually means absolutely fucking nothing. But you had a fun trip in Thailand didn't you? So Idaho territory did not have much say in running its affairs. The president appointed the governor's secretary's just as most other territorial officials. The Senate would confirm them. So the governor's salary was 2,500 a year. Okay. Which was really low for most men who are competent and could do a good job. Yeah. But Caleb was

like yee-haw! Well the people of Idaho were always happy we're always happy to have someone who appointed from the West Coast like California. That went away. But did not like Easterners. They were immediately called carpetbaggers. Also most of the Idaho legislature were Democrats and the appointed positions were Republicans. Okay. So Lincoln gave the first Idaho governorship to his buddy William Wallace. Okay. Not that one. Well I was just about to say. He died. I'm on rental. It took him four months to get to the territory. He began serving in March 1863 and he named Louis-ton. Is it Louis-ton or town? He named

Louis-ton as the temporary capital of the territory. Sir, it worked out. Still pissed. Well he did that because that was the only city in Idaho that was reachable by a wagon and had a post office. Well then that's a fair capital. That's like, I mean maybe that we need capitals anymore. You don't really need a capital. Right then you did. It was where the bartender in the wagon could get to. It's like that's the capital. Why? Because we can go there. The rest of it can't be. We haven't seen it. We can't get there. Other cities were bigger but could only be reached by pack mule. Well yeah, you don't want to pack mule it to

the capital. I've always said that. So William Wallace then ran and got elected as Idaho's lone congressional delegate. I think he could do more to lobby for the the territory and he bailed in January 1864. Okay. He served as governor for a total of nine months. The congressional job paid $4,500 more. Okay, so farewell. So Caleb Lyon is then given the governorship. Okay. Dave, I got a really good feeling. I feel like if we've learned anything about his experience, this guy's ready for the job. What hasn't he done? All the things. But what? He came out to Idaho territory in 1864. He shipped a lot of his belongings

ahead of him. After all the stuff arrived, he said the Department of the Interior was supposed to pay and the Department of the Interior was like no we're not gonna pay that. So neither paid and Wells Fargo got stuck with the bill. It's okay. It's okay. Yeah, finally. Finally, we got one over him. Back then. Meanwhile, okay, so Caleb arrives in Boise on August 8, 1864. He was immediately met by a group of Boise delegation members who wanted Boise to be the capital instead of Lewiston. So he's in the suddenly in the middle of a heated disagreement of where the capital should be. And he doesn't know how to

handle anything. No. He has no expertise on anything. And he doesn't want to. He's like I just want to do stuff. Yeah. The mining camps of Idaho territory were divided into three areas separated by massive mountain ranges and the clear water, Salmon River mines, the Boise, Hawaii. That was like when a baby takes its first steps. You were so you even I asked my cousin how to say it. He told me and then I forgot. And the upper area that would become Montana less than a year later. So it's the three. It's actually Moontana. But keep going. So no matter what any governor tried to do, at least half the state's going to be pissed off

at him. So Lewiston had been the main city when gold rushes were around. Pierce and Florence were on, but now they're over and Lewiston is on its way down. Okay. It once had 10,000 people. It's now down to about a thousand. Okay. Yeah. Risk of like becoming a ghost town. So gold a bit discovered in Boise and now that was where everyone's flocking. Okay. So Warren had made Lewiston the capital, as I said, and the man left in charge when Warren left was territorial secretary W. D. Daniels. Okay, called Lewiston, quote, for want of a sufficiently strong and cultivated intellect. So he's like, you're too stupid for yes. He's like

Lewiston is full of fucking idiots. And we're not. That can't be the thing. It's okay. But still he couldn't, he couldn't choose a site for the capital. And also Lewiston technically wasn't in Idaho territory. There's a lot of problems with Lewiston so far, right? It was still, it was in the Nez Pierce Reservation. Okay. So more importantly, Caleb didn't seem to give a shit. When he took the job, he may have thought it would be very similar to Colorado, but Idaho was much rougher. Cities like Lewiston were just shacks and tents that provide basic services to minors. And Caleb saw himself as an East Coast intellectual and a man

of poetry. Wait, wait, wait, Dave. You just moments ago describe the, like, if you're from the East Coast, if you're him, they're like, get out of here. Yeah. Okay. But he's also like, he's, I mean, he's technically what was called the dandy back then. Like he's a fancy man. Yeah. And they're all like fucking chewing on rocks and shit. It's like, when you, it's like, it's a lot like yesterday when we went to the Harley-Davidson place to charge your electric car. That's right. It's exactly like that. It is 100% like that. We're the same. And when the Harley guys came out and laughed at us, like, you know, you know, someone is so

confident mocking you when they'll point and you're looking at him like those guys, you're like, dude, can you be like subtle? We know you're talking shit. Can you? Those assholes. What? Now, Idaho is all rough cowboy and minor types. Cib's clearly not one of them. He wore clean linen. He took daily baths. This is great. He wore dress suits and once attended a society event in his shallow tailcoat. Sir, sir, of all the things to lose your shit over, short tails in the summer. Yeah, only a time traveler can have that reaction to what was just said. What? And William McConnell

reported that Caleb wore suspenders. Oh boy, that's a, oh, someone's better than the belt. Someone fancies themselves better than the elastic. And then they're also all all Democrats and the hate Republicans. It was probably because he was like fancy, so people would pull his like they pants him in the street a lot. So he started to wear suspenders. I hope so. Oh, nice try. No, no, no. Not on my watch. Nice try. Just a peeksy. Caleb also told them he wanted to be called Caleb lion of Lyonsdale. Do you mind? I know it's long, but I'm fancy. But instead, locals started calling him Kale of Dale. If that gets back to him, you know, he's

sorry, gents, don't mean to be this guy. But I think there's been a miscommunicado. I wanted to be called Kale of Lyons of Lyonsdale. And I've heard you're calling me something so different. Not upset, not upset. Kale of Dale. Yes, that's the one. Hmm. I feel like you know what I want to be called. Yeah, Kale of Dale. I'm gonna pull your pants down. Nice try. One step ahead of you. If you've got a cock and balls. Oh, dear. I do. They're just under many pairs of undergarments. So money from Washington was not making its way into the Idaho territory because Idaho had been established on the last day of the congressional session, so no

money had been appropriated. I'm glad to hear that Congress has always been like this, where you're just like, wait, what's like we can't because of the it's done? You're like, what is your job? Can you do it? No, honestly, no. We're incapable. So taxes are kind of impossible to collect. No land, patents have been granted, so there's no property tax. So Idaho Territory taxed, quote, alien minors $4 a month. This was just basically a tax applied to Chinese people. What did you guys know that sometimes you're racist? And that was also a deterrent to try to keep Chinese people from moving to Idaho.

Oh, that's nice. It's always nice when your racism kind of has two effects. Yeah. Yeah. Also, any money that they got was hard to deal with because there were no actual banks in Idaho. I mean, what the banking system was quote, informal at best informal. Yeah. So it's like a guy named Lou. Yeah. You all hold your money. All right. You want to be a banker? Okay. All right. You're in charge. Caleb wrote to Washington, quote, I commenced the administration of this department under the difficulties of the greatest description. There's also really no code of law at this point. So what is it? All I know is what it isn't. It just

sounds like land. Okay. I can handle it. Daniels had tried to adopt laws, but they were repealed. So technically murder was not even illegal. Jesus. It's not. Don't cheer that hard for that. Murder. What? Imagine living where murder was legal. Well, that's a shame. All my friends are dead. That's tough. I'm gonna go kill him. I'm sick of this. I'm going to kill him because I can. Yeah, it's totally cool. Hit him with a fucking rock in the head a bunch of times. Killed him. Well, off to bed. That's everything. So vigilante gangs became huge in the Lewis scenario. They hanged 24 criminals within a span of a few months, including club

clubfoot land. Is that a club? Oh, that's a man. Clubfoot land. Why does he sound like an amusement park for the one footed? I don't know. I don't know. Come on down to clubfoot lane. We got roller coasters you can fit in. Red. They killed red. Spanish Frank. Spanish Frank went down. Yeah. Dutch, Dutch John and whiskey bill. Whiskey bill. He actually put himself into the apparatus. He was, I'm ready to go. I'm sick of this. You guys are gonna have fun. Oh, this guy. I can't breathe. We haven't got you on the thing yet, you idiot. I'm dying. So the government's lacking because most positions are vacant. There's no money to pay anyone.

Filling vacancies is almost impossible. Also, because there's no money, K-lib is not being paid. Okay. But K-lib did try to stop the violence that was occurring in southern Idaho. He did? Yes. Yes, okay. Between the Shoshone tribes and settlers. Okay. He managed to negotiate a treaty which diffused the situation for a while. The treaty called for 23 Native American leaders to give up 30 miles of land along the Boise River and called for the leaders to turn over criminals they captured to US Lama. It also finally put Lewiston in Idaho. Finally, the state capitals arrived. In return, the tribes got a reservation along the river with

the same fishing rights as settlers and then later on we'll take that away. In the end, in the end the conflict between the Shoshone and settlers continued. At one point during the negotiations, K-lib wrote a letter to the US Interior Secretary in which he discussed a tract of land that was designated to be under Native American control. It apparently had a lot of valuable minerals on it. And K-lib asked the Interior Secretary if that piece of land could be left out of the negotiations so he and the Interior Secretary could buy it together. Oh, wow. Okay. The Interior Secretary didn't respond. Okay. Unfortunately, they agreed upon

treaty didn't get much more backing from K-lib after it was signed and the National Indian Commissioner concluded it was not written properly and then it was never ratified by Congress. So what is it? It's just like nothing. A promise agreement? Yeah, then it would just turn out to be shit. Okay. Lewiston is still not part of Idaho. Okay, great. So close. During the negotiations, K-lib stayed in a while for Boise. At first he tried to stay above the fight over where the capital should be. Right. As governor, who would want to dip your toe in that? Historian Leonard Errington wrote, quote, he tried to placate everyone by giving

speeches on his experiences in the Holy Land. So saying so much while saying nothing. Also, he's never been to the Holy Land. I bought his bullshit for a second. I was like, look, it's a great story, but no, he doesn't have one. But Boise was now the territory's largest city and by far most people in Idaho lived in the South and also K-lib became friends with a guy named Henry Riggs who owned a, yeah, who owned a bunch of land that would become Boise. Okay. Now Riggs and K-lib went to Lewiston together and that made everyone in Lewiston think that K-lib had promised to switch the capital to Boise. Sure. And Riggs

happened to be, happened to have been a Democratic representative who had once introduced a bill to move the capital to Boise. Okay. He'd also named his son Boise. Okay. Last one's real egregious. So, it's like the secret. So the next session after the 1863 vote to discuss the move of the capital was November 14th, 1864. And the Boise delegation managed to push the bill through. K-lib signed a quote without hesitation. Okay. And Lewiston went, bug fuck. It was concerned that violence would break out. They threatened to

split off from the North and join the Washington Territory. Okay. And Boise responded by saying that Lewiston was shit and no one was living there anymore. So the Northerners sued saying the legislature should have to have, should have met in January since they waited until November. The bill's not valid. Okay. But there's no Supreme Court. Sure. So it went to a probate judge in Lewiston who said the Lewiston guys were right because he's from Lewiston. Weird. And then he locked up and ordered that the territorial seal and archives could not be removed. And he had them guarded by six armed guys. So he's like Lewiston

is going to be the capital forever unless you kill these men. That's right. Right. Okay. He said anyone who tried to remove them would be arrested. And then Lewiston got the judge to either put Caleb under house arrest or just or just some legal injunction against him saying everything you're doing is illegal. So he would. So he got like a personality cease and desist. Caleb is now under threat. Now Caleb doesn't really give a fuck about anything. He's like I just want to hang out. I want a nice job. So he told some people he was going duck hunting. And then he he he basically walked six miles and then caught caught a

ride across the Snake River and went into Washington where a stagecoach is waiting for him and he went to Walla Walla. Wait. Wait. He bailed. He bailed completely. The governor ran away completely. The governor the governor literally was like I'm leaving. Wait. Wait. Forever. Well we'll see how the story goes but right now he's gone. He fucking left. The governor is missing. Yeah. Okay. It's a first. I find I'm charmed by it honestly. I like it. I feel like I'd vote for that guy. I'd be like that guy gets it. He knows what it's like to be totally overwhelmed and not know what to do. I'm done. Just swimming. I'm sorry. My

legs. So the governor of Idaho territory is a wall. Okay. The next high the next highest ranking federally appointed politician was territorial secretary Clinton DeWitt Smith. So he goes well now I am acting governor. Right. Because the governor because the governor ran ran away. Governor's MIA. And then he wants to make Boise the capital. Okay. So he gets he goes to a fort gets a bunch of soldiers and goes to Lewiston. Oh Jesus. Where the six guys are like I don't want to fight. Right here. I think this is what you're looking for. If there's anything else you guys need to honestly let us know. We love Boise. It's a great

place. I love it over there. This is a shit hole. This is not as a shit pit. So they break in and they take the territorial seal. More state capitals should be picked out like this. But do you remember this is the same shit that happened in Texas. They fought over. Yeah. A bunch of papers in a seal. Right. Yeah. Right. And it just kept getting moved. You're the fucking capital. Yeah. We've got the capital. It's like it's just crazy. Nicholas Cage in National Treasure. Boise. Absolutely. It has to be Boise. There's no other option. Who was that. Nicholas Cage's grandpa. Grandpa Cage. So proud of my son Nicholas. What about is

there an English danger field around. Well. I tell you. I tell you. What about an Italian. Stop. What are you doing. Is there an Italian. No. I'm not your little monkey and I've already told you that one. I can't do. I failed at it. Do it. Oh man. Let me tell you. It's like we're living in Italy. I just I want that to be my life is just trying to combine accents and celebrities forever. So they take the territorial seal. He stuffs as many of the archive papers he can fit into his saddlebags. Sure. And then they head for Boise. Okay. After 16 days on the road they arrive. Jesus Christ. I didn't think it was that far. Yeah.

Well you know it's a horse or whatever you're on. It's pretty far. Yeah. By car I'm sure it's shorter. Yeah. By horse it's. But by horse. Way far. How many of you guys have ridden a horse from Lewis and Boise. How great would it be if on Google Maps there was a horse thing where you're like how about by horse. It's not so bad. If I can get over those edges that won't be hard. And they arrived in Boise on April 14th 1865. The day Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Stop what you're talking about. We have the most important thing. Oh that's interesting. Fucking actors. So Smith made a short speech on the balcony of the Overland Hotel. A large crowd of Boise residents cheered him. Quote I feel welcome

now for it seems to me that I have got among my friends. It is the first time I have felt so since I arrived in the territory. What are you six. He then said he was really tired and went to sleep. You got to be really tired to end your speech with it. I'm very tired. Good night. I'll be going to sleep immediately. Now because I'm going to take a piss before I go to bed. I forgot to mention that part. Sorry everybody. As you are. Also terrible about Abraham Lincoln. Just so tragic. But I don't think I'm going to lose any winks over it. I'll be in the master. I'm going to go this way. I'm sorry. I was going the wrong way. I got to seal. He got his brains came out. But I'm like look what I got. Who's

the winner. Me. Anyway I'm tired. I need a nap. I can take a bath. You guys can stick around for the bath if you want. I'm going to wear my robe around. Open. Idaho style. That's actually the preferred Travolta method. So because the president got assassinated there wasn't a lot of press about the taking of the seal. It really is bad timing. Yeah. They're the real victims. Now Smith continued on acting as governor for a while. People in Lewiston now called him a quote buffoon and drunkard. Sure. But Caleb is still just in the woods somewhere. He's gone. He's kicking it in Walla Walla. It feels like you went to Burning Man. God that would be amazing if he started. He would fit right in a burning

man. Totally. Hey man is this your eighth trip. What is this. I'm lost. So you just where the ass got. And my suspenders. In August 14th 1865 Smith went to inspect the courts mine. Courts mines at Rocky Bar. And then with some miners he got super shit faced and died during a game of chess. You definitely call chick made at that point. That's the question. He looked at camera. Checkmate. So he was a drunk. He got so drunk. By the way how bad must he have been a chess. He got so drunk he died. You're probably not like which way is the horsey move. Horsey's pretty. This is my king. I'm gonna kiss him. I feel bad for the ponds. They just sacrificed themselves. Isn't that wild. Look. Imagine.

I miss Kathleen. So. Why are you like Al Gore during the debate right now prick. At least I'm not by it with my teeth falling out. We've got the best health care in my teeth. My mouth is out. My mouth has fallen out of my head. My mouth is out of my head. My mouth is fully out of my head. My eyes exploding. My mouth is out of my head. So Smith's obituary in the Walla Walla statements said he was buried on the spot. He died. Quote with the usual manifestation of mourning. He'd been governor for nine months. So now I don't. Is there like a curse. The curse of Idaho time nine every nine months. It's just like pregnancies. So. So now Idaho territory had no federally appointed leadership. Great. It went on the

way for a while. Wallace though had talked Lincoln before they got shot. He had talked Lincoln. Well of course. Yeah. I mean after they got him after Abe. Here's the pitch and I know this is a bad time for you and for Mary. My heart goes out to both of you. Here's the deal. It's called money Abraham and we can make tons of it. He's weakened at burning him. Come on Abe. Come on. Just sign the thing. Just sign it Abe. Sign it. So he had talked Lincoln into reappointing him as governor but then Lincoln was killed and that changes things. Kayla's buddies in D.C. thwarted Wallace's return. Okay. So. Because Lyon still wanted to be governor even though he was in Walla Walla. Well that's

just none of what works. I guess if you're him. I mean why wouldn't you think that. You right. He wants them. I think he wants the money. Yeah. Okay. So at this point there was an ex San Francisco bartender named Horace Gilson is Horace Gilson about to become the governor. He had been doing some minor clerical work for Smith. So he decided he should be in charge and he declared himself governor. This is like an NBC pilot. And there was nothing to justify his declaration. He just did it and no one stopped him. Well yeah because this is the beauty of living in a lawless vacuum. You could just be like I'm the governor. Yes. Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Waiting for a glare of some kind

and nothing. So one of the first things Gibson Gilson did was to go through Smith's financial records and cut deals with people to get more money. Sure. Okay. Wait for him for well for the state. Okay. And then he found out about thirty three thousand dollars that was supposed to go to the Idaho Territorial Treasury. It was waiting in Oregon City, Oregon and had to be transported to Idaho. Sure. He declared he would go and pick it up. Okay. And he did. And then he and then he got on a ship to Hong Kong. God damn it. What. So Idaho's governor is the dad who went out for cigarettes every time. I mean how do you like how do you get into another governorship relationship. We've been hurt before. I'm the good guy. Yeah right.

We're not seeing governors right now. We're taking some us time. So Caleb had been gone for eleven months. Two governors too. And then he shows up in Boise. Hello. Hey. Oh. Walla Walla was unbelievable, believable. And he said he was still governor and intended to serve out his term. And everyone's like what fuck you. But they just let a random clerk do it. So they're like all right. Yeah. They're like it can't be worse than the guy who was a governor for one day and took thirty three thousand dollars to China. So he was still governor. So he just got to go away for eleven months and come back. Quite a trip. So it turns out the reason he came back was because Idaho Territory was about to become a state

and that meant the state could send two senators to DC which is a great title and a pay raise. So he's going to run for senator. So he comes back to be the governor because he knows it's going to be a state and then he can make more money to be the Senate. Yeah. This is a good representative for sure. This guy's good. He started cozying up to local Democrats. Not everyone was thrilled. A newspaper called him quote a revolving light on the coast of Scamptom. Again it's beautiful. But let's get to what it is. You just call him a dickhead. Yeah. Just be like this guy's a dickhead. So where was I. So Caleb then then claimed that a prospector had found diamonds in a why he county which is out like deserty kind

of area. Right. Sure. And this led to a massive diamond rush. OK. As people all flock there to find diamonds. Sure. Hundreds of claims were staked. And he's he just he said this with he made it up. OK. Sure. Right. There's no right. He just said there's a bunch of diamonds in the sand. So all these people flock there and just started digging. Yeah. I don't know. I just sometimes I say stuff. Yeah. I'm crazy. Now the situation in Washington D.C. was not helping Caleb's future outlook with Lincoln dead and Democrat Andrew Johnson as president. Democrats were in control of appointing positions in the territory and they didn't think much of Caleb. Wonder why. I don't know. There's no reason so far to

not have faith. Thank you man. The rumor was Caleb was going to be replaced by a Democrat named David Ballard. So is that really. Is someone really not happy with David Ballard. Yeah. You should have voted then. Seriously. You can't complain if you vote. Yeah. You know a third party or whatever. Yeah. Fall in love now. Fall in line in November. That's right. What we're saying is vote Trump. Two keys are not getting turned on that endorsement. Well you're still waiting for Trump Jr. Well I think Baron would be better. I'm waiting for him to throw his hat in the ring. I really that's where I want to Melania. She'd be a great awesome president. Handholding if you don't want it is illegal. No more pooping

in bed. Oh that would be so mean to do to Trump if you couldn't poop in bed. So so Caleb decides to go to leave again. What is the deal. But before that in 1865 violence flares up between the Chichonis and other tribes again. Okay. So once again he negotiates a treaty. Well once again I mean this is sort of the only really good thing he did. He didn't even really do it the way he negotiated. He did. He negotiated a settle. But it didn't last. He didn't do anything. He didn't write it up right. And then he left. Yeah. Of course. Yeah. Okay. But he did negotiations and everyone agreed on stuff. Okay. So so he did that again. He went and there's negotiations again. Didn't write it up right. It was never ratified by

Congress. So what is he doing. What is he doing. He's getting it right. It's like he's getting around a table and everyone's like yeah let's do that. Well I think that's the end of everything. Should be done now. I'm going to Walla Walla. It's Burning Man. But but even though it was never ratified by Congress the signing of the treaty was commemorated with a painting. So they have a painting. A painting of a failure. Well they have a painting of something that never really happened. We're putting it in the hall of almost. It's the the hall most. But one positive thing that started happening was money started coming in from D.C. particularly to give the disputed settlements with the tribes. So it's money for tribes. Okay. Over these disputed

territories. Okay. Or what I think a lot of people call stolen land. Funny. It's a weird way of putting it. Yeah. Yeah. Well so there are a bunch of people like if you're living in a house. Yeah. And that a bunch of people move in. And they're like you have to live in the backyard now. Here's some money. Yeah. Kind of stealing your house. Well I take issue with that fella. I guess it begs the question if you take something from someone is it stealing. I think it's fair. I don't know if it's fair. It's a fair question. It's not a fair question. It's one of those tree falling in the woods sort of. I don't know the answer. Nobody does not know. Everybody knows the answer. Nobody will. The jury is still out. We can never be sure. It's actually that's what's crazy. We'll

never know. We'll never know. That's what drives some of us crazy. But to just have closure would be nice. Even if it was upsetting news. Let me know. I'd love to deal with it. I'll cope. But instead we have no definitive answer on what happened. We don't know. So we stole it. Yeah. Just it's exactly it's hard to put it into a sentence. By the way I'll live in your backyard for money if that's what this is about. I don't mind. You put a dish out there twice a day. I'm happy. You don't. Number one. I have two dogs. You got a third. But number two you don't. It's not the same analogy. You don't live in my house now. So if you if you just came and live in my backyard. I'm just asking how much to live in your yard. Can we stop beating around the bush

plus I get a hose shower once a week and you got to hold it. And I ain't talking about the hose. I'm going to water the lawn somehow. Wink wink. No winks. No winks. No hose. No none of it. You're not in my backyard. Email your wife. What the fuck does that mean. I'd like a definitive answer on this. I'm not getting one. No. No. Jury's out again. We'll never know. That's what's frustrating about those two. So part of the governor's job was to oversee the delivery of money and supplies to the tribes. Well this might be an issue. What is not part of the governor's job was to go and pick up the money himself and transport it. Well we just had a governor who did that. I mean really quickly had one. So so word had come that Caleb is going to be replaced by

this guy Ballard. So Caleb goes to the territory the territorial Indian affairs office and asks for all the money that was there that was supposed to be given to the Nez Pierce. OK. And Caleb told the clerk he was going to deliver it personally. Sure. Just how governors do. Yep. Yep. Just here's your money. I did it myself instead of having you know normal people do it whose job it would be. No I'll just hand deliver it. And the clerk thought that was weird. Good. Finally someone who's like what. No. And he said now that Ballard's been appointed this should wait until he arrives and he'll do it. Great. And Cal and Caleb said who knows when Ballard will get here. They need the money. Clerk when they went back and forth and finally Caleb got the money.

Great. Foolish clerk. You're nothing but a footnote now. A few days later Caleb left Boise for the last time and went to San Francisco. Does that mean he's not coming back. This dude is a deadbeat governor. He very had a great time. Let me guess he shows up once a summer with a football for Boise right. I know I ain't been the best year but in life's complex. That's what your old man's learned. Sorry I didn't mean to do an impression of your father. My father my dearest father is no longer with us. Can we have a moment. By the way that's the same carp contingent. That was amazing. Yay. You guys have been listening or reading my tweets or whatever. So he goes to San Francisco. He's just fucking partying. He's gone to fancy dinners. He's drinking. He's having a

good time. Finally the job he was suited for. In the spring of 1867 he goes back to New York. Okay. Now because he left just before ballot arrived Democrats thought that was a little suspicious. Yeah. Does he have the money. Yeah. He just he's this dude is unbelievable. Like you need suspenders when your balls are this big. Yes. He's got the that's what he was doing in San Francisco. He's just fucking partying with the dough. He's just living. Yes. Living the fucking high life. He's got a bunch of money. He's just like dumb and dumbering in San Francisco. He's like nah. What did we do last night. So because he bailed right when he bailed that the Democrats start looking to his activity in Idaho. They're not going to like what they find. Now Oregon

Center James Nessmith had started investigating Caleb's administration in late 1865. So he's way ahead of this. Sure. And he learned the Idaho tribes were not receiving money. They were promised. Okay. So he doubled his efforts because he knew the money had been sent from the federal government to the Idaho Indians office. So he knew that the money should be there. Sure. One of the reasons Ballard had been appointed was because of Nessmith. He wanted ballot out there looking through the books. So Ballard starts looking through the books when he gets to Idaho and he found close to $50,000 missing. Okay. Yes. Well yes. We know exactly where it is. It's up Caleb's nose. And then Ballard had a detailed audit. It's great that his last name is Lyon. I don't get it.

It's a really simple joke. I don't get it. Thank you sir for looking down with shame and clapping. I don't know. I don't understand what he's saying. Lyon. Like rar. Like it's like he's lying. Rar. Like it's like a rar. Now Y-I-N-G. Like lying. Yeah. Rar. Like lying. Like when you lie. That's an African lion. An African lion. No. Lying. And after the lion. Like the fucking verb. Lying. Lying. Like an African rar. Like a lion. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Him. It's a verb. I don't want the audience telling me what kind of words we're using up here. I'm pretty aware of what a fucking lion is and they're in Africa and they eat. No. No. We met halfway. It's good. Thank you for your help though sir. We got it. I'm gonna break your other leg. What? For those of you listening this man has no broken

legs so I don't know what Dave's talking about. He's got crutches. I don't see anything. Was your crutches. No. Yeah. He's looking at him. Oh someone else's crutches. He's got cast strength dude. Cast is like having. Yeah look at that. He's got a crutch. Well now that's a threat. Yeah. This is a really weird threat. I have problems getting out of here. I will show you. You will catch me easily. But I will not be able to keep up with you. Checkmate. So they did a detailed audit. They don't need to really. Well they did. They wanted the exact amount. Okay. It turns out Caleb lion of lion's tail had embezzled forty six thousand four hundred and eighteen dollars. Most of it intended for tribes. But Caleb was now back in Staten Island.

Sure. He was questioned and first said he had never seen the money. Interesting start. Federal officials did not take that as an explanation because they knew what had happened and they kept pressing him and they threatened him to have him arrested. So Caleb then admitted that he took the money and that he had it when he left Idaho territory. Okay. But he planned to return the money to federal officials. Sure. Right. At some point. At some point. But the investigators were like well this is a weird explanation because the money had been sent by federal officials to Idaho territory. So we're not sure why you were bringing it back. Well. Because. Good point. Because it's supposed to it's sent there to go to the tribe. Yes.

For you to money. You're not supposed to bring money back. But I wanted it to have that Coolies Coast accent. Caleb could not explain why he had spent months parting in San Francisco while he had the money when there were actually federal officials in San Francisco they go to give the money to. Let's say you do everything he did. How do you not have any lie in the chamber just ready to go like any decent lie instead of like yeah I was partying. It was so fun. It's not. I love San Fran. I love the East Coast too. I just hate Idaho. I love everything else. I love to party. I really like partying. I don't know why he wouldn't have. He's like I didn't do it. No we know you did.

Okay yeah. Guilty. So he just when they asked him why he hadn't given the money to federal officials in San Francisco he just went I because I didn't. He said he said his plan was to bring it back to Washington DC. And so why would he bring it to DC. Well that's where the federal officials are. But okay but he had the money went to Idaho. Money went to Idaho. He picked it up. He took it to San Francisco. He's taking it on a tour. Now he's taking it back. Now he's taking it back to DC. But didn't DC give him the money. Yep. So he's like here you go. They're like that's for you. He's like.

So could you stop making that noise. It's the only way I get out of my weird decisions. So he said he told the investigators he had the money when he got on a train from San Francisco. So now he's like an algebra question. And then he put it under his pillow. I think we know what happened. The money fairy. She turned it into teeth. That devil. So he put it under his pillow while he was sleeping and then someone stole it. What. How much money are we talking about. $46,000 under his pillow. He's like I'm sleeping. I mean you're like standing up at that point. You're just like no. I put it under my pillow. I don't know what happened. How could it have. I was so comfy. Right under my pillow I was.

For some reason they didn't believe this. I mean you have months to come up with your reason. I think it was a pillow problem. But Caleb was never prosecuted. Terrific. It's very possible that a huge trial would have been an embarrassment for too many people and it's not like the money could be recovered because Caleb had spent it. No Dave. He slept it away. On April 20th 1867 Lewiston officially became part of Idaho. Sorry. There's gotta be someone from there here tonight. Is anybody from you are? Well they're taking a lot of shit from this fucking crowd. Oh okay so even people who live there are like it sucks there.

Yeah people who live there are like it's fucking garbage. We should get it out of here. Okay well come to Lewiston. It's a shit town. Lewiston a place to avoid. So but anyway officially became part of Idaho when the Senate finally ratified a new treaty. But still everyone who had just acted like it was part of Idaho the whole time so no one. When the New York Times ran when sorry Caleb died in 1875. He choked on bullshit. What did he die of? Just being a fucking asshole. The doctor. He was a huge prick. He's no longer with us. Well the New York Times ran an obituary on him. It repeated the story of him stealing the money just like it was a fact. Okay. Evidently it did from what he intended he

was never prosecuted the like I said the the reason was because too many people would get hurt. So he died in 1875. It's kind of the same way we prosecuted the bankers. Yeah it really is. But there would be so many problems if we didn't. And you know there's no way they're like let's make up for the money and give it to the tribe. They were just like hey sorry. Hey sorry. You know one of your gripe is not with us. It's with bedding. What the fuck just happened in here. So the Idaho statesman obituary stated he should have died in prison. Idaho became a state in 1890. That does not mean gem of the mountains.

So the the moral is is that just steal money and you're fine. Because he wasn't there was another guy left out who also had stole money and just left and they're like earlier before he became a territory. I'm going to go out and get cigarettes. Okay. Our governor. Yeah. Well I mean yeah it is it's weird because this country doesn't really have much of a history of white people getting away with everything. Wow. Yeah I don't know. I feel like there's what the fuck. I feel like I'm talking to Twitter. I mean where did that come from. That's just really like bedding bedding general bedding. You bastard. It's just so general like all white people are bad. And that's not even that's not even the truth. It's just most bad

people are white. Okay. Yeah I think we can meet in the middle there. Okay argument argument argument accepted. Well shit. Congrats on being the capital. It seems pretty easy. We want to thank you guys so much for coming out. We really appreciate it truly. Had a great time. Love your city. Gobble gobble. Uh the main source for today's episode was speaking ill of the dead jerks in Idaho history by Randy Staples. Also used those dirty scoundrels stole the capital by Seth Preston who in the Tribune capital mover theft by Royce Williams cabling the great train robbery by Dirk Langveld in Mountain Shadows a history of Idaho by Carlos A. Schwantes James Haddick's

history of Jefferson County New York 1793 to 1894 Los Angeles Herald wikipedia cemeteries rocky bar dot com and history of Idaho Leonard J. Errington I believe that's volume one and there you go. Bye