Relf was a 1st lieutenant in 1855-1856 at Ft. Miner, Curry County, Oregon. He is a veteran of the Rogue Indian Wars.
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One of the most prominent figures in Idaho's history since the early days, both in mining and in the political circles, was Captain Relf Bledsoe, a lifelong Democrat.
Captain Bledsoe was born in Henderson County, Kentucky on August 16, 1832. In 1850, when he was eighteen years of age, he traveled through Mexico to California, reaching Los Angeles when it contained only a few houses, which were inhabited by Mexicans.
In 1854, he was elected Superintendent of a mining company in Southern Oregon. He participated in the fights against the Indians in the Rogue River valley, joining a volunteer company to aid in quelling the insurrection and defending the settlers. He became a Private in Company "K”, Second Oregon Infantry, and was rapidly promoted until he reached the rank of Captain. His record through the Oregon Indian wars was remarkable and on one occasion Captain C. Auger embraced the Captain with the emark: "You are the best man to fight Indians at close quarters I have ever saw. I could constantly hear your voice above the din of battle clear across the river."
In 1861 the Oro Fino gold excitement brought him to Lewiston, Idaho Territory. He was the first merchant at Elk City and was later connected with a large mercantile establishment at Florence, Idaho Territory.
In the Fall of 1862, he had a command of a company of sixty-six men who traveled across the mountains to the Boise Basin, brought there by the second discovery of gold in the Territory. They located claims, and Captain Bledsoe, along with Tom Hart, washed the first pan of dirt in the vicinity of Placerville. "With-in a year, at least a score of the men who came over the mountains from the north with Captain Bledsoe died on the streets and in the saloons of Basin towns. The cool and intrepid Bledsoe, who neither drank, gambled, or engaged in brawls, was well qualified to handle those daring and reckless men. He was a peaceable person but under a quiet demeanor was a man who could be a fearless adversary."
Captain Bledsoe was the Representative from Idaho County to the 1862-63 Legislative Session of Washington Territory. The meeting was held at Olympia, Washington Territory. In this session, the Captain framed the bill that organized Boise County. The following year Idaho Territory was separated from Washington Territory.
In 1863, he was in the general mercantile business in Placerville with C.C. Higby. Their store stood on the corner of Granite and Standifer Streets. Bledsoe and Higby had been in the mercantile business together in the older camp of Florence.
He served as a messenger for Wells, Fargo & Co. in 1864. The following article was taken from the “IDAHO WORLD": R. Bledsoe, W.F. & Co.'s messenger left Placerville on Friday (August 6, 1864), making the trip to Walla Walla and back to Placerville inside of six days.
Captain Bledsoe was elected to Congress in 1864, but did not serve, members of the First Congress were held over. He was elected Probate Judge of Ada County in 1872. He held various positions of trust in the state and had been a prominent candidate for Territorial Governor, President Cleveland being strongly urged to appoint him Chief Executive of the Territory.
He was a messenger for Wells, Fargo and Company, again, in 1872. He traveled from Boise City to Silver City and Idaho City.
Captain Bledsoe was the superintendent of the South Mountain Mining Company in 1875.
He was the Supreme Court bailiff in 1890.
On July 1, 1858, Relf Bledsoe married Miss Helen Kinney near Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Kinney. Helen was born in New York City, New York on November 30, 1842. With her parents, when a girl of eleven years of age, she crossed the plains from Terre Haute, Indiana to what is now Benton County, Oregon, where her father took up a donation claim, and where the family resided for many years. On the long journey the ox teams passed through Boise Valley and it was supposed they camped near where the city of Boise is now located.
From this union seven children were born. Sadie Anna (Sarah) was born in Oregon in 1860. She married L. Vineyard. Anna Laurie was born on August 19, 1861 in Oregon and on October 29, 1889, she married Francis William Galbraith. She died on September 5, 1899. Relf J. was born in 1864 in Washington Territory. Emalie was born in 1865 in Idaho Territory and she married William Nemiah Northrop. She died in 1943. John M. was born in Idaho Territory in 1868 and died in 1926. Two more boys were born, Joe and Lloyd, but they must have died before 1880, because they were not enumerated in that census.
Captain Bledsoe was a member of the Masonic Lodge #2 of Boise City.
Captain Relf Bledsoe died at his home at 302 West Washington Street at 11:00 o'clock on Friday evening, August 5, 1910 of cardiac dropsy after a lingering illness of more than two years.
Helen Kinney Bledsoe died at Boise on May 27, 1919.
They are both interred in the Pioneer Cemetery - Boise, Idaho.
Courtesy: Hugh Hartman.
Contributor: Rooty P (49278253)
______________________________________________________________________________
One of the most prominent figures in Idaho's history since the early days, both in mining and in the political circles, was Captain Relf Bledsoe, a lifelong Democrat.
Captain Bledsoe was born in Henderson County, Kentucky on August 16, 1832. In 1850, when he was eighteen years of age, he traveled through Mexico to California, reaching Los Angeles when it contained only a few houses, which were inhabited by Mexicans.
In 1854, he was elected Superintendent of a mining company in Southern Oregon. He participated in the fights against the Indians in the Rogue River valley, joining a volunteer company to aid in quelling the insurrection and defending the settlers. He became a Private in Company "K”, Second Oregon Infantry, and was rapidly promoted until he reached the rank of Captain. His record through the Oregon Indian wars was remarkable and on one occasion Captain C. Auger embraced the Captain with the emark: "You are the best man to fight Indians at close quarters I have ever saw. I could constantly hear your voice above the din of battle clear across the river."
In 1861 the Oro Fino gold excitement brought him to Lewiston, Idaho Territory. He was the first merchant at Elk City and was later connected with a large mercantile establishment at Florence, Idaho Territory.
In the Fall of 1862, he had a command of a company of sixty-six men who traveled across the mountains to the Boise Basin, brought there by the second discovery of gold in the Territory. They located claims, and Captain Bledsoe, along with Tom Hart, washed the first pan of dirt in the vicinity of Placerville. "With-in a year, at least a score of the men who came over the mountains from the north with Captain Bledsoe died on the streets and in the saloons of Basin towns. The cool and intrepid Bledsoe, who neither drank, gambled, or engaged in brawls, was well qualified to handle those daring and reckless men. He was a peaceable person but under a quiet demeanor was a man who could be a fearless adversary."
Captain Bledsoe was the Representative from Idaho County to the 1862-63 Legislative Session of Washington Territory. The meeting was held at Olympia, Washington Territory. In this session, the Captain framed the bill that organized Boise County. The following year Idaho Territory was separated from Washington Territory.
In 1863, he was in the general mercantile business in Placerville with C.C. Higby. Their store stood on the corner of Granite and Standifer Streets. Bledsoe and Higby had been in the mercantile business together in the older camp of Florence.
He served as a messenger for Wells, Fargo & Co. in 1864. The following article was taken from the “IDAHO WORLD": R. Bledsoe, W.F. & Co.'s messenger left Placerville on Friday (August 6, 1864), making the trip to Walla Walla and back to Placerville inside of six days.
Captain Bledsoe was elected to Congress in 1864, but did not serve, members of the First Congress were held over. He was elected Probate Judge of Ada County in 1872. He held various positions of trust in the state and had been a prominent candidate for Territorial Governor, President Cleveland being strongly urged to appoint him Chief Executive of the Territory.
He was a messenger for Wells, Fargo and Company, again, in 1872. He traveled from Boise City to Silver City and Idaho City.
Captain Bledsoe was the superintendent of the South Mountain Mining Company in 1875.
He was the Supreme Court bailiff in 1890.
On July 1, 1858, Relf Bledsoe married Miss Helen Kinney near Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Kinney. Helen was born in New York City, New York on November 30, 1842. With her parents, when a girl of eleven years of age, she crossed the plains from Terre Haute, Indiana to what is now Benton County, Oregon, where her father took up a donation claim, and where the family resided for many years. On the long journey the ox teams passed through Boise Valley and it was supposed they camped near where the city of Boise is now located.
From this union seven children were born. Sadie Anna (Sarah) was born in Oregon in 1860. She married L. Vineyard. Anna Laurie was born on August 19, 1861 in Oregon and on October 29, 1889, she married Francis William Galbraith. She died on September 5, 1899. Relf J. was born in 1864 in Washington Territory. Emalie was born in 1865 in Idaho Territory and she married William Nemiah Northrop. She died in 1943. John M. was born in Idaho Territory in 1868 and died in 1926. Two more boys were born, Joe and Lloyd, but they must have died before 1880, because they were not enumerated in that census.
Captain Bledsoe was a member of the Masonic Lodge #2 of Boise City.
Captain Relf Bledsoe died at his home at 302 West Washington Street at 11:00 o'clock on Friday evening, August 5, 1910 of cardiac dropsy after a lingering illness of more than two years.
Helen Kinney Bledsoe died at Boise on May 27, 1919.
They are both interred in the Pioneer Cemetery - Boise, Idaho.
Courtesy: Hugh Hartman.
Contributor: Rooty P (49278253)
Relf was a 1st lieutenant in 1855-1856 at Ft. Miner, Curry County, Oregon. He is a veteran of the Rogue Indian Wars.
______________________________________________________________________________
One of the most prominent figures in Idaho's history since the early days, both in mining and in the political circles, was Captain Relf Bledsoe, a lifelong Democrat.
Captain Bledsoe was born in Henderson County, Kentucky on August 16, 1832. In 1850, when he was eighteen years of age, he traveled through Mexico to California, reaching Los Angeles when it contained only a few houses, which were inhabited by Mexicans.
In 1854, he was elected Superintendent of a mining company in Southern Oregon. He participated in the fights against the Indians in the Rogue River valley, joining a volunteer company to aid in quelling the insurrection and defending the settlers. He became a Private in Company "K”, Second Oregon Infantry, and was rapidly promoted until he reached the rank of Captain. His record through the Oregon Indian wars was remarkable and on one occasion Captain C. Auger embraced the Captain with the emark: "You are the best man to fight Indians at close quarters I have ever saw. I could constantly hear your voice above the din of battle clear across the river."
In 1861 the Oro Fino gold excitement brought him to Lewiston, Idaho Territory. He was the first merchant at Elk City and was later connected with a large mercantile establishment at Florence, Idaho Territory.
In the Fall of 1862, he had a command of a company of sixty-six men who traveled across the mountains to the Boise Basin, brought there by the second discovery of gold in the Territory. They located claims, and Captain Bledsoe, along with Tom Hart, washed the first pan of dirt in the vicinity of Placerville. "With-in a year, at least a score of the men who came over the mountains from the north with Captain Bledsoe died on the streets and in the saloons of Basin towns. The cool and intrepid Bledsoe, who neither drank, gambled, or engaged in brawls, was well qualified to handle those daring and reckless men. He was a peaceable person but under a quiet demeanor was a man who could be a fearless adversary."
Captain Bledsoe was the Representative from Idaho County to the 1862-63 Legislative Session of Washington Territory. The meeting was held at Olympia, Washington Territory. In this session, the Captain framed the bill that organized Boise County. The following year Idaho Territory was separated from Washington Territory.
In 1863, he was in the general mercantile business in Placerville with C.C. Higby. Their store stood on the corner of Granite and Standifer Streets. Bledsoe and Higby had been in the mercantile business together in the older camp of Florence.
He served as a messenger for Wells, Fargo & Co. in 1864. The following article was taken from the “IDAHO WORLD": R. Bledsoe, W.F. & Co.'s messenger left Placerville on Friday (August 6, 1864), making the trip to Walla Walla and back to Placerville inside of six days.
Captain Bledsoe was elected to Congress in 1864, but did not serve, members of the First Congress were held over. He was elected Probate Judge of Ada County in 1872. He held various positions of trust in the state and had been a prominent candidate for Territorial Governor, President Cleveland being strongly urged to appoint him Chief Executive of the Territory.
He was a messenger for Wells, Fargo and Company, again, in 1872. He traveled from Boise City to Silver City and Idaho City.
Captain Bledsoe was the superintendent of the South Mountain Mining Company in 1875.
He was the Supreme Court bailiff in 1890.
On July 1, 1858, Relf Bledsoe married Miss Helen Kinney near Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Kinney. Helen was born in New York City, New York on November 30, 1842. With her parents, when a girl of eleven years of age, she crossed the plains from Terre Haute, Indiana to what is now Benton County, Oregon, where her father took up a donation claim, and where the family resided for many years. On the long journey the ox teams passed through Boise Valley and it was supposed they camped near where the city of Boise is now located.
From this union seven children were born. Sadie Anna (Sarah) was born in Oregon in 1860. She married L. Vineyard. Anna Laurie was born on August 19, 1861 in Oregon and on October 29, 1889, she married Francis William Galbraith. She died on September 5, 1899. Relf J. was born in 1864 in Washington Territory. Emalie was born in 1865 in Idaho Territory and she married William Nemiah Northrop. She died in 1943. John M. was born in Idaho Territory in 1868 and died in 1926. Two more boys were born, Joe and Lloyd, but they must have died before 1880, because they were not enumerated in that census.
Captain Bledsoe was a member of the Masonic Lodge #2 of Boise City.
Captain Relf Bledsoe died at his home at 302 West Washington Street at 11:00 o'clock on Friday evening, August 5, 1910 of cardiac dropsy after a lingering illness of more than two years.
Helen Kinney Bledsoe died at Boise on May 27, 1919.
They are both interred in the Pioneer Cemetery - Boise, Idaho.
Courtesy: Hugh Hartman.
Contributor: Rooty P (49278253)
______________________________________________________________________________
One of the most prominent figures in Idaho's history since the early days, both in mining and in the political circles, was Captain Relf Bledsoe, a lifelong Democrat.
Captain Bledsoe was born in Henderson County, Kentucky on August 16, 1832. In 1850, when he was eighteen years of age, he traveled through Mexico to California, reaching Los Angeles when it contained only a few houses, which were inhabited by Mexicans.
In 1854, he was elected Superintendent of a mining company in Southern Oregon. He participated in the fights against the Indians in the Rogue River valley, joining a volunteer company to aid in quelling the insurrection and defending the settlers. He became a Private in Company "K”, Second Oregon Infantry, and was rapidly promoted until he reached the rank of Captain. His record through the Oregon Indian wars was remarkable and on one occasion Captain C. Auger embraced the Captain with the emark: "You are the best man to fight Indians at close quarters I have ever saw. I could constantly hear your voice above the din of battle clear across the river."
In 1861 the Oro Fino gold excitement brought him to Lewiston, Idaho Territory. He was the first merchant at Elk City and was later connected with a large mercantile establishment at Florence, Idaho Territory.
In the Fall of 1862, he had a command of a company of sixty-six men who traveled across the mountains to the Boise Basin, brought there by the second discovery of gold in the Territory. They located claims, and Captain Bledsoe, along with Tom Hart, washed the first pan of dirt in the vicinity of Placerville. "With-in a year, at least a score of the men who came over the mountains from the north with Captain Bledsoe died on the streets and in the saloons of Basin towns. The cool and intrepid Bledsoe, who neither drank, gambled, or engaged in brawls, was well qualified to handle those daring and reckless men. He was a peaceable person but under a quiet demeanor was a man who could be a fearless adversary."
Captain Bledsoe was the Representative from Idaho County to the 1862-63 Legislative Session of Washington Territory. The meeting was held at Olympia, Washington Territory. In this session, the Captain framed the bill that organized Boise County. The following year Idaho Territory was separated from Washington Territory.
In 1863, he was in the general mercantile business in Placerville with C.C. Higby. Their store stood on the corner of Granite and Standifer Streets. Bledsoe and Higby had been in the mercantile business together in the older camp of Florence.
He served as a messenger for Wells, Fargo & Co. in 1864. The following article was taken from the “IDAHO WORLD": R. Bledsoe, W.F. & Co.'s messenger left Placerville on Friday (August 6, 1864), making the trip to Walla Walla and back to Placerville inside of six days.
Captain Bledsoe was elected to Congress in 1864, but did not serve, members of the First Congress were held over. He was elected Probate Judge of Ada County in 1872. He held various positions of trust in the state and had been a prominent candidate for Territorial Governor, President Cleveland being strongly urged to appoint him Chief Executive of the Territory.
He was a messenger for Wells, Fargo and Company, again, in 1872. He traveled from Boise City to Silver City and Idaho City.
Captain Bledsoe was the superintendent of the South Mountain Mining Company in 1875.
He was the Supreme Court bailiff in 1890.
On July 1, 1858, Relf Bledsoe married Miss Helen Kinney near Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Kinney. Helen was born in New York City, New York on November 30, 1842. With her parents, when a girl of eleven years of age, she crossed the plains from Terre Haute, Indiana to what is now Benton County, Oregon, where her father took up a donation claim, and where the family resided for many years. On the long journey the ox teams passed through Boise Valley and it was supposed they camped near where the city of Boise is now located.
From this union seven children were born. Sadie Anna (Sarah) was born in Oregon in 1860. She married L. Vineyard. Anna Laurie was born on August 19, 1861 in Oregon and on October 29, 1889, she married Francis William Galbraith. She died on September 5, 1899. Relf J. was born in 1864 in Washington Territory. Emalie was born in 1865 in Idaho Territory and she married William Nemiah Northrop. She died in 1943. John M. was born in Idaho Territory in 1868 and died in 1926. Two more boys were born, Joe and Lloyd, but they must have died before 1880, because they were not enumerated in that census.
Captain Bledsoe was a member of the Masonic Lodge #2 of Boise City.
Captain Relf Bledsoe died at his home at 302 West Washington Street at 11:00 o'clock on Friday evening, August 5, 1910 of cardiac dropsy after a lingering illness of more than two years.
Helen Kinney Bledsoe died at Boise on May 27, 1919.
They are both interred in the Pioneer Cemetery - Boise, Idaho.
Courtesy: Hugh Hartman.
Contributor: Rooty P (49278253)
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