Looking Back: Island Park resident shoots grizzly bear cub; and two people miraculously survive after car plunges 150 feet
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of September 14 to September 20 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
AMERICAN FALLS — Two people were lucky to be alive after the car they were traveling in plunged 150 feet down an embankment, the American Falls Press reported on Sept. 17, 1914.
John Kauffman, of the Leader Hardware company, and Mr. Wright, an employee of the company, ran off the dugway just across the Snake River bridge in American Falls. The accident happened around 9:30 p.m. while returning home from a “trip to the country.”
The accident was due to the headlights on the car going out. Kauffman was driving and when they were going down the grade, he thought he was running into the bank at the side of the dugway, so he steered the wheels to the left.
Instead of being against the bank, the left side of the car was over the edge of the dugway, and the turn to the left sent the car rolling downhill.
Once the car came to a stop, Kauffman was partially under the car. He was wedged in between the steering gear and the seat and badly bruised around the chest. A local doctor did not believe his injuries were life-threatening.
Wright had been thrown out of the car but had hardly any scratches.
“That either escaped with his life approaches the miraculous, as the car turned over five times and landed about 150 feet below its starting point,” the article reads.
1926-1950
REXBURG — A prisoner escaped the Madison County Jail in the middle of the night, The Pocatello Tribune reported on Sept. 20, 1935.
Del Ray Huff, a former convict at the state prison in Boise, was being held at the Madison County Jail for Fremont County authorities pending trial on a charge of staging a holdup in Fremont. The paper said it was felt that the jail in St. Anthony was not “sufficient to hold him.”
However, Huff had reportedly been suffering from appendicitis attacks, and a doctor told him, as well as the sheriff’s office, that if he had any more attacks, he would undergo surgery immediately.
Around 2 a.m. on September 20, Huff told Deputy Belknap that he had an attack. Belknap opened the jail door so he could step outside and get some air.
As the deputy opened the door, Huff rushed past him and escaped into the night.
No further details about the escape were mentioned.
1951-1975
POCATELLO — A carpenter suffered extensive injuries after falling 20 feet at the Bannock County Fairgrounds, the Idaho State Journal reported on Sept. 14, 1960.
Ed Diehl, 47, was working on a new National Guard maintenance shop on the fairgrounds when the accident happened.
Deputy Sheriff Leon Pratt said Diehl was stepping from the roof of the building to a ladder when a gust of wind apparently knocked him off balance.
Pratt, who investigated and took Diehl to the hospital, said the victim suffered a cut on his head and head and back injuries.
1976-2000
ISLAND PARK — A grizzly bear cub was shot by an Island Park resident, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Sept. 18, 1977.
The incident happened early Friday morning after a grizzly sow and her two cubs knocked over garbage cans at a residence near Mack’s Inn.
The man who shot the cub was cited for killing an endangered species animal, according to Idaho Fish and Game. The name of the resident had not been released at the time the article was published.
Fish and game was notified about the incident around 12:30 a.m. after hearing rifle shots.
An arraignment on the misdemeanor charge was scheduled for Tuesday in St. Anthony. It wasn’t clear at the time if federal charges would be filed.
“I contacted the man alleged to have killed the male cub,” Steve Judd of the Grizzly Bear Interagency Team said. “I was told the first riffle shot was aimed at the sow, which ran away. The second shot killed the cub.”
Judd said it was thought the sow may have also been shot but no sign of blood had been found.
Art Franson, owner of a sawmill in Island Park, said the grizzly sow had been seen in the area before.
“The incident on Friday caused quite a commotion near the Otto Seafort residence,” Franson noted. “This is the third time that the sow had been seen near the Seafort home. Officials have known grizzlies were in the area tearing things up.”
Franson said he believed grizzlies were coming in from the high country as the weather gets colder.
“Unless that sow is dead, she is still dangerous,” he stated.