Looking back: Dogs stay with murdered owner for five days, home catches fire again and ‘Ugly Man Contest’ held
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 29 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
ARCO — Two dogs stayed with their murdered owner until he was found, the Blackfoot Idaho Republican wrote on Jan. 27, 1911.
Dr. A. W. Peters was killed on his ranch, located 45 miles from Arco. Before his death, he went to Arco where he “secured about $200 in pension money, besides an additional amount for some cattle.” It was believed he had between $500 to $1,000 when he returned home.
“It is assumed the person or persons who slew the aged man were familiar with the conditions and knew he had this money,” the article reads.
The paper said Peters “must have been surprised by the robbers in the cabin” and “probably put up a desperate struggle for a man of his 70 years because his head and face were terribly beaten and mutilated.”
The robbers “stripped his body and the cabin of everything of value” and then “placed the body in a chair in an upright position as it was found.”
“Faithful, even after death, two starving dogs stood watch for five days beside the stark body of their murdered master, while the winter winds howled around the little cabin and blew through the front door which was left standing open by the cowardly assassins after they had beaten Dr. A. W. Peters,” the Blackfoot Idaho Republican explained.
Peters was well known to the “old-timers” and was one of the oldest Idaho residents, according to the local paper.
“Governor Hawley was so incensed by the evident brutality of the crime that he announced the state would make a thorough investigation, and if the verdict of the coroner’s jury that it was a foul murder is substantiated, a big reward will be offered for the capture of the guilty party or parties,” the paper said.
1926-1950
REXBURG — A Rexburg family’s home caught fire for the second time in four years, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported.
The local paper said on Jan. 23, 1933, a fire started in the basement before “completely demolishing” the Nathan Levine residence. The fire wasn’t discovered until it had “made considerable headway” and firefighters weren’t able to get it under control “until after the structure had been leveled to a huge smoldering mass of ashes.”
The fire started in the middle of the night and nobody was home. Mr. and Mrs. Levine were on their way to California and their two sons “moved to the hotel while their folks were away.” A man at the hotel smelt smoke and went outside to investigate where it was coming from when he discovered the house fire.
“The first time (the home caught fire) firemen arrived on the scene in time to save part of the structure,” the article said. “Furniture and other belongings were saved four years ago, but nothing was taken from the home this morning.”
1951-1975
RIGBY — An “Ugly Man Contest” was held in Jefferson County in 1959, according to The Rigby Star’s Jan. 29, 1959, newspaper.
Four people entered the contest including Don MacKay, Mike Donohoe, Rigby High School Principal Stanley M. Boyle and Jefferson County Sheriff Howard Shaffer. The contest was “all for fun” and “to stimulate interest in the current polio drive.”
“The voting board, under the supervision of Cliff Smith, is posted in the Smith Hardware Main Street store,” the article mentioned. “As you vote, you may indicate your choice by voting for your candidate, but it always requires some cash.”
Over $300 was raised through the contest the previous year.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A 16-year-old boy was arrested on charges of grand larceny after a car was reported stolen from a parking lot in Pocatello, the Idaho State Journal said on Jan. 29, 1976.
“The youth told police he thought the car was abandoned and had towed it home,” the Journal wrote.