The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1910-01-14
HAMER'S TRIBUTE
TO GEO. |. SHOUP
Cantimled fram tlirst Pane

Continued frnm First Page
most heroic tests. To the country ma
ture has been prodigal OF gifts. Lofty
mountains, pregnant with richest ore,
valleys for more fertile than the Nile,
water sheds, snow crowned, the source,
supply and inspiration OF future fer
tile fields, and from lowliest hill to
lofties' crag an amplitude of price
less timber, all patiently awaiting the
advent of the stout heart and willing
hand. But the valleys required pa
thence to subdue, the mountain heights
were hard to climb the forests diff
cult and hazardous to penetrate, and
every nook and Granny, every stone
and bush and tree that aboriginal cum
ming could discover or devise was APP
priated as an ambush for the treach-
erou3 savage, resentful of the white
mans intrusion on his "happV hunt
ling ground"
Far removed from danger of inva-
sion by the hostile armies of the Con-
federacy, and eagerly engaged in ex-
tracing wealth from the ever gener-
Gus hills. one would naturally expect
the people of that remote territory to
display but little interest in the bloody
scenes being enacted along the Po-
tOmac, and many no DOUBT did, but
George l.. Shoup was not one of them.
The withdrawal of the regular troops
from the frontier in 1861 for the de-
fence of Washington, left the settlers
of Colorado at the mercy of hostile
Indians, ever ready to take advantage
of favorable occasion to exterminate
with tomahawk and scalping knife the
widely separated and unprotected
camps and settlements.
Thus, young Shoup, for the first
time in his life, faced chance to serve
his country in practical way, and
turning his back upon the alluring OPP
portunities which beckoned from every
hand. he enlisted as a private soldier
in Captain Baxter's Company of In
dependent Scouts. His natural sol
dierly qualities, for he came of Revo-
lutionary stock his cheerfullness in
the camp and his gallantry on the
field soon won him deserved promotion,
and, at the age of &c, he became
Lieutenant of the First Colorado Cav
airy, scouting on the borders of Texas
and Indian Territory. He was later
n i - I'll
Colorado Cavalry and during the in
term of active warfare, while his new
regiment was bivouaced in winter
quarters, served as a delegate to the
first constitutional convention of his
last adopted state, to which position
of honor and trust an already CRATE
full people had unanimously called him.
The early spring, however, found
him again engaged in the ardous du
ties of the field, and, as the command
ing officer of his untried regiment, he
participated in the battle of Sand
Greek, one of the most sanguinary in
western history, tho termination of
which brought lasting peace to the peo-
pie of Colorado respite from many
years of Indian depredations that
proved as profitable as it was well
come.
When in 1865 the last grand tri-
umph at AppomattoX came, and the
gallant young colonel of volunteers
saw his country's flag peacefully wav-
ing over reunited. stronger and more
patriotic nation than ever before, he
took his discharge from the army,
and with light heart, a slim purse, a
conscience free from reproach, and a
military record spotless as star,
turned his eyes toward Idaho.
There again his patriotic fever
found full sway. In newer, and If
possible. wilder community than the
one last left behind, his tireless ener-
gy. unusual qualities of leadership
and wise counsel, now tempered and
disciplined by years of valuable ex-
perence, were in immediate and per
emptory demand. AT Salmon City
Lemhi county, Idaho, which ever attel
was his home, he embarked in farm
ing, mining and merchandising, and
soon took rank as one of the most sue
cessful business men in the West.
His zeal for the general welfare and
his aptitude for public AFFAIRS soon at
tracted the favorable attention of his
neighbors. who almost Immediately
elected him their representative in the
lower branch of tho territorial legisla'
ture. In 1873 they returned him tC
tho upper house, and in 1884 he was
appointed Commissioner to the Worlds
Cotton Centennial at New Orleans
This appointment he Mt first declined
for business reasons, but, discovering
later that none would take tho position