Looking back: Mother gives birth in stalled car during ‘raging blizzard’ and dog praised for helping searchers find avalanche victim
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Jan. 15 to Jan. 21 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BLACKFOOT — A Blackfoot man was sentenced to four months in the county jail for “obtaining money on false pretenses,” the Blackfoot Idaho Republican reported on Jan. 15, 1909.
“He had a catalogue of musical instruments and claimed to be the agent of the Pocatello Music company and took an order for a guitar on which he collected two dollars in advance from the Japanese customer, as an evidence of good faith,” the paper stated.
He gave the customer a receipt for the two dollars and “that was used in evidence against him.”
1926-1950
DAYTON — A mother gave birth to her baby boy in the family car during a “raging blizzard,” The Preston Citizen reported on Jan. 19, 1950.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, of Clifton, were on their way to Preston for the birth of their baby when they “found their car soon hopelessly stalled in the heavy snow” between Dayton and Clifton.
“Despite frantic efforts of Mr. Anderson and several other men who worked to shovel the car out and free it from the snow, the baby arrived,” the local paper wrote.
Kevin Anderson was a seven-pound baby who spent the first 45 minutes of his life in the car. The vehicle was eventually freed and towed by a tractor to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Panter’s home in Dayton.
“Dr. Leo Hawkes rushed to the Panter home where he attended baby and mother,” the paper reads.
The Preston Citizen said Mrs. Anderson was “doing fine this week after the harrowing experience.”
1951-1975
THATCHER — A local sheriff captured three teenagers who escaped from the Utah State Industrial School in Ogden, Utah, the Caribou County Sun reported on Jan. 20, 1955.
After escaping, they went to Thatcher and stole a car. The three teenagers — ages 15, 16 and 17 — apparently stole three cars “in their brief period of freedom.”
“The car stolen at Thatcher … did not run well, and the youths were followed by Thatcher residents until the sheriff arrived,” the article explained.
The teenagers “offered no resistance” and were returned to Ogden.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A dog stayed on a mountainside with the body of a man who was in an avalanche until searchers found them, the Idaho State Journal reported on Jan. 15, 1976.
The dog belonged to Tom Drake, 29, of Pocatello. Drake was still missing as of the date the article was published. The dog, Sandy, was found near the body of David Hudson, 31. Searchers used the dog in hopes of finding the body of Drake buried somewhere in the same avalanche area where Hudson’s body was found.
“They were accompanied by Sandy, the young dog whose loyalty led to discovery of the first body late Tuesday morning,” the Journal said. “Spotters in a helicopter first saw the animal and directed ground searchers to the area where the dog had uncovered Hudson’s buried hand.”
The paper said the two were reported missing Saturday evening after they failed to return home from a hiking trip to the top of Indian Peak, about six miles south of Pocatello. Tracks of the two men led from the peak to the head of the canyon where the slide occurred.
It took 14 hours to get Hudson’s body out of the snow and to the road. Sheriff Carl Croft said Larry Miller, an avalanche specialist with the U.S. Forest Service, planned to detonate charges above the fatal slide area to stabilize the snow mass and make the area safer for rescue workers.
