Looking back: Woman shoots rattlesnake inside her home, and man miraculously survives after accidentally starting fire near Heise
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Sept. 15 to Sept. 21 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BLACKFOOT — A woman shot a rattlesnake inside a home where children were also present, The Bingham County News reported on Sept. 21, 1911.
“Mrs. Fred Bennett, wife of the champion roper of this part of the country, is her husband’s equal in accomplishments,” the paper wrote.
Bennett was at their home in Blackfoot one evening when her husband was gone. She heard a rattling noise and looked around only to find a huge diamond rattler on the rafters of the cabin trying to slither its way down.
“The lady’s first thought was to run out and call her brother but decided that it would be dangerous to leave the children in the house with the mammoth reptile,” the article reads.
Instead, Bennett grabbed a gun that was hanging on the wall. As she did so, the snake struck twice at one of the children and then drew itself back onto the rafters.
Bennett quickly aimed the gun at the snake and shot it. It fell to the floor where it was discovered the bullet had gone through the snake’s body three times. The snake measured five feet and eight inches long.
“This is the longest snake heard of in the country for many years,” the paper stated. “In fact, it was about the first that had been seen for some time.”
1926-1950
BURLEY — A dead body was found under a bridge with nothing but a bible, dictionary and clothing in its possession, The Burley Herald reported on Sept. 15, 1932.
The body of the unidentified man, who was apparently between the ages of 55 and 60, was found under a highway bridge 22 miles east of Rupert. The paper said the man had evidently sought some kind of shelter.
He was last seen the previous Wednesday at the Knocke Service Station at Raft River. Mr. Knocke is the one who found the body. Coroner D.E. Johnson was called, and he declared the man had been dead for about 24 hours and had died of starvation.
“The dead man had often been seen here in recent years, traveling along the highways and painting scriptural verses on rocks and buildings,” the article explained.
The man had dark red hair about 18-inches long and had a beard. Finger prints and photographs were taken and efforts were being made to identify the man.
He was going to be buried in the Burley City Cemetery with Rev. Charles Reed in charge of the brief service.
1951-1975
HEISE — A man was miraculously alive after accidentally starting a fire near Heise Hot Springs, The Rigby Star reported on Sept. 18, 1958.
Larry Taylor, of Ammon, was operating a bulldozer when the incident happened. He was pushing soil away from an embankment near an electric pole line when his tractor hit a power pole, causing it to topple over. As it fell, it struck down telephone wires and started a fire that took off towards the Robert Quinn home.
“The suddenness in which the chain reaction of events happened stunned Mr. Taylor until almost too late to save himself,” the article states. “Realizing his danger, he jumped clear of the tractor just as the live wires fell upon the tractor. Had he delayed two seconds, he would have been electrocuted.”
The paper added, “Family members, including his wife and one child at Ammon were especially thankful that his life had been spared.”
Taylor immediately jumped into action and stopped the fire from reaching the Quinn’s home. But once the fire truck from Rigby got to the scene, the fire had reached the Ray M. Wheeler property. The fire gutted the ground floor of the home. Damage was extensive from both the fire, smoke and water.
Telephone crewmen from the Rigby exchange and the Utah Power and Light crew went to the scene immediately. Both lines were down and all service out for the entire area. The crews worked long hours on the day of the fire and the following day to restore the services.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A first-degree murder charge was filed against a 33-year-old Pocatello man also accused of attacking a Pocatello policeman with an ice pick, the Idaho State Journal reported on Sept. 15, 1977.
Khalil Kelly Thomas was accused of killing his 62-year-old mother, Mabel Thomas, with who Thomas was reported to have been living with.
Before police discovered the woman’s body lying in the hallway of their home, police arrested Thomas earlier in the day on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. This was in connection with him allegedly attacking an approaching officer.
Police had shown up at Thomas’s house after tracing the registration of a car that had struck a nearby house.
He was taken to Bannock Memorial Hospital where he was recovering from what “may have been” a self-inflicted stab wound in the chest.
Thomas was reported to be under police guard at the hospital. Bannock County Prosecutor Garth Pincock left open the possibility of an arraignment at Thomas’ hospital bedside if he was not released within a few days.
Police Chief John Perkins said Thomas had been treated for mental problems at State Hospital South in Blackfoot in recent years.
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