Traditional Independence Day Celebrations Still Flourish
The Independence Day holiday is once again upon us. With that in mind I thought it might be fun to revisit an authentic 4th of July celebration as depicted in the July 9, 1911 issue of The Cambridge News. It might surprise you to learn which holiday venue in our area was the most popular.
“Where did you go on the Fourth? This was a common question on the streets Wednesday morning. The people of Cambridge were pretty well scattered on this day. Some went to the picnic on Rush Creek; some to Pine Creek, and some to Goodrich, but the majority of the businessmen and their families went to Indian Valley. We went there because we had been there before and knew that the people of this valley were there with the goods when it comes to showing people a good time.” —Thomas Nelson, editor.
The good editor presented a detailed description of the venue being properly arranged for a good time by the Indian Valley Boosters at “Lindsay’s Grove.” There may to this day be some folks in the valley who know just where that grove is, but I’m suspecting it was somewhere along a shady stretch of the Little Weiser River, perhaps in the vicinity of the current day Yantis Ranch.
Arriving at 11:00 a.m. the editor noted that “the grove had been nicely prepared, a platform erected and seats arranged; lemonade stands and ‘something baby racks’ were running full blast and everything gave evidence of a good time all day.” I have no idea what the editor was referencing with the baby rack thing, but the term used in it’s label is at least nowadays deemed highly inappropriate in any setting.
“The literary program was good. In fact a little better than usual on such occasions. The singing was patriotic and well rendered; the band furnished much better music than one would expect to hear from a band in a town the size of Indian Valley. The recitations and music seemed to have been arranged in such a manner as to be finished just as the orator, Col. Heigho, arrived from Cottonwood by automobile, he having come down from New Meadows on the regular train.” Col. Heigho was the president of the Pacific & Idaho Northern Railway headquartered at New Meadows.
“By this time, however, the small boy had become restless and got busy with his firecrackers and other noise-making machines and it was impossible for those on the outside to hear what was going on. Judging from the roar of applause at intervals though, the oration must have been well received and highly appreciated by the auditors.”
It was standard procedure at these celebrations to host a guest speaker (Orator) to share a patriotic or community-centered promotional address, usually designed to excite the locals into believing new prosperity was just around the corner. There was a delicate balance between that objective and keeping folks awake. It was always a good idea to have this presentation before the crowd got too comfortable with a warm afternoon and a full belly.
“After this came the dinner. Some were worrying at first through fear that they had not anticipated the large crowd and that there would not be sufficient to feed the multitude, but when the people began bringing in and unloading more boxes, all such forebodings vanished like dew before the morning sun. Everybody ate his or her fill and then there were many baskets of fragments left. Of course the dinner would probably have run short had not some friend kindly invited Editor Hackney over to his private table after he had spent about three quarters of an hour at the table where the big spread was.” I’m assuming that Editor Hackney was from a competing newspaper at the time. Constant, harmless ribbing between these guys was normal and amusing to the readers.
“After dinner came the different sports. Those had been so well arranged that the crowd was not kept on the go all the time. When the day’s program was ended, the people did not have that utterly worn out feeling which usually follows a Fourth of July celebration. Altogether, we believe it was the most satisfactory celebration we have ever attended.”
“Indian Valley has exceptionally good crops this year, and her people are contented, prosperous and happy. What they most need now is transportation. We should all be more active on that railroad proposition. We can accomplish it if we only think so and keep at it.” The editor’s closing line was in reference to the P&IN exploring the possibility of adding a spur line into Indian Valley, a prospect perhaps encouraged by Col Heigho’s remarks in his celebration, the transcript of which has been lost to time. In spite of the “thinking so and keeping at it” the dream was never realized.
This article from Editor Nelson offers a pretty clear depiction of what those celebrations were like over 100 years ago. Amazingly, many of the elements of those events still exist today and can be found in various places around Washington and Adams Counties.
For the past few years, several of our family members, friends and ourselves have enjoyed the warm hospitality of the nice folks up at Cuprum where there’s a patriotic parade, a great barbecue, silent auction, raffle, and some yard games to fill a good portion of the holiday in a cool, refreshing mountain environment.
Our task is trying to decide each year between so many wonderful venues that include New Meadows, Council, Cambridge, and Midvale. It’s too bad the holiday isn’t spread out over multiple days so that we could go to all of them.
Check with your local communities about what each has to offer, and good luck finding a favorite.
Happy Independence Day everyone!
