Looking back: Hikers discover frozen body on trail and crash happens in front of police station
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Nov. 6 to Nov. 12 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
RIGBY — The cook at the Western Union telegraph car was “severely accosted” by a highwayman, The Rigby Star reported on Nov. 11, 1920.
“The cook was just leaving the car when from the darkness, stepped the culprit who asked him to hold up his hands,” The Rigby Star said.
The cook refused and the highwayman “gave him a severe blow with a blunt instrument on the forehead,” knocking him to the ground.
“He screamed and the culprit immediately began to run,” the article reads. “The construction foreman fired two shots at the fleeing man.”
The highwayman was not apprehended.
1926-1950
POCATELLO — Almost the entire Pocatello Police Department was on the scene of a three-car collision that happened outside the police station, the Idaho State Journal reported Nov. 9, 1949.
A car driven by Clyde Sampson, 54, was coming out of an alley when it collided with a car driven by Charles Lott, 69. Lott’s car hit a parked car belonging to a police department clerical employee.
“Lott was arrested on a charge of operating a car with defective brakes, and Sampson was arrested on a charge of failing to yield the right of way,” the paper mentioned.
1951-1975
CHESTERFIELD — A family was sitting down for breakfast when a bullet came flying through the house, the Caribou County Sun reported on Nov. 6, 1958.
“(The bullet) came through the south wall of the house and over the breakfast table, hitting the north wall of the kitchen and scattering plaster on the floor,” the Caribou County Sun explained.
The bullet shattered the sugar bowl and “barely missed members of the family who were seated at the table.” The bullet was found on the floor by the wall.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — Hikers discovered a “frozen corpse” lying on a trail, the Idaho State Journal reported on Nov. 9, 1977.
The body was found along a trail in the Mink Creek area 10 miles south of Pocatello around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The body had not been identified as of the morning the article was published in the Journal. A wallet containing identification and cash was found near the body but officials weren’t sure if the wallet belonged to the victim.
“Blood-soaked clothing worn by the victim indicated the man, estimated in his early or mid-20’s, may have been shot near the heart,” the Journal stated. “An autopsy was to be performed this afternoon to determine the cause of death.”
The hikers told police they shouted at the man when they first saw him to ask if he was alright, then they notified authorities.
“The man wore a blue jacket, jeans and hiking boots,” the article mentioned. “Officers found a .38-caliber pistol about a quarter of a mile farther up the trail.”