Looking back: Woman threatens ‘gang of drunks’ with gun and mom saves her choking 11-year-old son

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of April 3 to April 9 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

RIGBY — A “gang of drunks raised hell” in Idaho Falls before a woman threatened to kill them and scared them away, The Rigby Star wrote on April 4, 1912.

The group was trying to make a phone call in the middle of the night. It’s unclear why they wanted to make a call, but the night operator told them they’d need to “hunt up a phone somewhere else.”

“About this time, a lady who has rooms on the same floor of the telephone exchange opened the door leading to her room and with a gun in her hand informed the drunks that if they did not leave the premises instantly, she would fill them so full of lead that their hides would not even make a good sieve,” the paper wrote.

The group of drunks “did not wait for a second invitation to depart.”

The article added, “Fact is the sight of a gun in the hands of a determined woman caused them almost to fly.”

1926-1950

ANNIS — An Annis woman died at the age of 94 leaving behind a total of 264 children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

In an article dated April 3, 1930, The Rigby Star described Elizabeth Jane Garner Browning’s life as a “colorful one.” She was born on the Missouri River on Aug. 23, 1836.

“At the time of the general exodus of the Mormon people from Illinois her father became a member of the famous Mormon Battalion,” the local paper mentioned.

Her family moved to Utah in 1850, and four years later, she married David H. Browning. For 29 years they lived in Ogden where they had 14 children. In 1883, they moved to Annis.

“Mr. Browning passed away Dec. 30, 1913,” the paper said. “There are nine children who survive her, all of them past 50 years of age, three of them being past 70 and one past 75.”

Browning had 75 grandchildren, 158 great-grandchildren and 22 great-great-grandchildren when she died.

1951-1975

IDAHO FALLS — April 3, 1952, was the first day since December 1951 that “no snow depth” was recorded in Idaho Falls, according to the Idaho Falls Post Register.

“It was a welcome development for winter-weary residents hopeful that spring will spread her warm arms in fact as well as in name,” the article states.

The paper said “blustery weather” had “plagued” eastern Idaho.

“Stiff winds of 30 miles per hour were listed between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Thursday, after which they sharply subsided,” the Post Register explained.

The high that Thursday was 40 degrees. Partly cloudy conditions and “scattered showers or snow flurries” were expected later that week.

1976-2000

POCATELLO — A mom saved her 11-year-old son by performing the Heimlich maneuver, the Idaho State Journal said on April 6, 1977.

LaRue Hall, a purchasing buyer at Bannock Memorial Hospital, attended a 15-minute training program in March 1977 that taught hospital employees how to perform the Heimlich maneuver. The following month, her two sons were watching TV and eating snacks when one of the boys, Jeff Hall, “stood up clutching his throat.” He was not able to speak and was quickly turning gray.

“John (his father) immediately did what seemed natural,” the article reads. “He slapped Jeff’s back in an attempt to help the child regain his breathing. As Jeff’s color turned darker, the simple technique his mother had just learned flashed through her mind.”

She quickly performed the Heimlich maneuver and the second attempt “popped the food particle out like a bottle cork.”

Within seconds, Jeff’s color was back-to-normal and “he was able to thank his mother for saving his life.” The Halls live out of town, and the paper said it might have been too late by the time they got to a hospital.

The Heimlich maneuver had only been around for two years before this incident. Tentative plans were being made to “offer public instruction” on this technique in Pocatello, the article said.