Looking Back: Devastating storm hits; mother and her two sets of twins arrested
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of July 13 to July 19 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
SALMON — A car fell over 30 feet and into the Salmon River, the Salmon Idaho Recorder reported on July 14, 1916.
Vivian Hovey drove his car off the grade at Dump Creek into the Salmon River. It’s not clear how the accident happened or how old the man was but he was referred to as “young.”
Hovey broke an arm in the accident. He couldn’t recall how he got out of the “badly damaged” car but the paper said “how he escaped death in such a fall would seem to be miraculous.”
1926-1950
EAST IDAHO — A devastating storm swept across eastern Idaho in 1932, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on July 14, 1932.
The storm brought lightning, wind, rain and hail. Norman Neal, 10, was killed when he was struck by lightning while riding a horse near Salmon. His body was found in a field by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Neal, some hours later.
Three girls — Thelma Dahle, 20, Nettie Dahle, 17, and Idamay Dahle, 9, — were also struck by lightning while riding horses near Arco during the same storm that killed Neal.
The girls were reportedly recovering but Nettie, whose horse was killed, suffered severe burns and was unconscious for several hours.
Another person, K.H. Riggs, a radio range station operator of Burley, was injured. He was knocked across a room when two bolts of lightning struck the station. He suffered an arm injury.
Along with the death and injuries reported, the damage from the storm was extensive. The most damage was apparently done at Soda Springs where the wind and hail storm was said to have been the “worst in the history of the region.”
The storm wrecked buildings, broke plate glass windows in most of the downtown stores, shattered windows in residences, uprooted trees and tore down power lines. The damage was estimated at $50,000.
The Soda Springs wool warehouse, which contained about 2,000 bags of wool, was wrecked. A garage, a lumber company plant, a confectionery, a church building and a grade school were considerably damaged, as well as numerous old buildings.
“Similar but generally less serious effects of the wind and electrical storm were reported from Burley, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls and sections of southwest Idaho, the latter having as its center Idaho City, 40 miles northeast of here,” the paper wrote.
Reports from Burley said the wind travelled at least 57 miles per hour through Cassia and Minidoka counties. Trees were also uprooted there, out buildings blown over and highways blocked by fallen poles and trees.
Idaho Falls reported the heaviest July rainfall for the first four days of the week of the storm since 1918.
1951-1975
TWIN FALLS — An Idaho Falls woman and her two sets of twins were arrested, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on July 16, 1951.
The arrests happened in Twin Falls after $300 went missing from service station cash registers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Mrs. Gladys Burns was being held in the county jail. Her 16-year-old son and daughter were in the city jail. All three were being held on suspicion of grand larceny. Her twin boys, ages seven, were turned over to the juvenile officer.
The mother and the older twins were charged with taking money from three local service stations. Operators said the trio appeared at service stations and the 16-year-old girl would play a guitar to divert attention while the others went through the cash registers.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — More than 100,000 trees were donated by the McDonald’s restaurant to the state of Idaho, the Idaho State Journal reported on July 18, 1976.
The trees were given to Idaho in commemoration of the bicentennial. It’s not clear where exactly the trees were going to be planted across the state but the Journal said they would be distributed by the Department of Lands.
McDonald’s representatives also presented Idaho Gov. Cecil D. Andrus with a small ponderosa pine tree and a crystal gift to commemorate the donation of the trees.