He’s one of Idaho’s only elected officials to be assassinated, and it happened four years after he left office
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IDAHO FALLS – Eight inches of freshly fallen snow covered the ground as Frank Steunenberg arrived home a little after 6 p.m. A bomb exploded as he opened the gate leading to the side door of his house, which sent him flying 10 feet in the air.
It was Dec. 30, 1905, and the 44-year-old Caldwell man had left office four years earlier. At age 36, he became the state’s youngest man to serve as governor when he was first elected in 1896. It was the biggest landslide victory in Idaho history, according to voting records, and he was the first Democrat to hold the office. Voting records show Steunenberg had 76.79% of the popular vote over his Republican opponent, David Budlong.
Steunenberg was a fusion candidate, meaning he was nominated by both political parties, a fact the Idaho State Historical Society attributes to his election sweep.
“Politics were in disarray in Idaho in 1896. The Idaho Republican Party was split between those loyal to the national ticket headed by William McKinley, a champion of keeping the gold standard, and Silver Republicans, who favored a move to a silver standard that would greatly benefit Idaho’s many silver mines. Steunenberg won the Democratic nomination by endorsing ‘fusion’ with the Populist ticket, then went on to win the governorship by the biggest landslide in Idaho’s history,” University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law reports.
He served two terms from 1897 to 1901 (governors served two-year terms at the time).
Labor unrest in the mining industry was a major part of his administration and when violence broke out in a northern Idaho community during his second term, Steunenberg responded by declaring martial law, which dragged on for months.
Four years later, Steunenberg now lay unconscious after the bomb exploded at his Caldwell home at 1602 Dearborn Street. An hour later, he was dead.
The former governor had been assassinated.
Years later, Harry Orchard, a former miner, was convicted of the crime following “one of the most remarkable trials in American history.”
Steunenberg’s early life
Steunenberg was born in Keokuk, Iowa on Aug. 8, 1861. He was raised in Knoxville about 137 miles northwest of Keokuk, according to his bio on Wikipedia.
He became a printer’s apprentice after attending Iowa State College and got his first job with the Des Moines Register in 1881. Steunenberg moved to Idaho in 1886. He came to join his brother, who had taken over the Caldwell Tribune years earlier.
“Steunenberg began writing stories on topics of local interest, especially the town’s dire shortage of unmarried females,” one article reports.
Three years later, his partnership in the Tribune had made him enough of a civic leader that he became one of the youngest members of Idaho’s Constitutional Convention, according to the historical society. He was 28.
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After a brief stint in the Idaho Legislature, he served two terms on the Caldwell City Council.
In the book “Idaho’s Governors,” Merle Wells with the Idaho State Historical Society describes Steunenberg as an unconventional politician for his time.
“His strong Dutch reformed heritage gave him more sensitivity to social needs than might have been expected from a traditional 19th century businessman (and was known for) his association with interesting doctrines,” Wells writes.
Leading Idaho through a mine labor war
Silver and lead mining operations were a profitable venture in Idaho during the 1890s. Many of the miners belonged to labor unions. In April 1892, a group of them working for The Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mines in Shoshone County went on strike. They were protesting wage reductions and increased hours, according to the Library of Congress.
In response, the mine owners hired non-union workers.
“In order to continue as a non-union operation, (the company) felt that military protection was essential,” writes Wells. “Their non-union miners were organized as a National Guard unit maintained by company funds.”
Funding a private army was against state law.
Riots broke out several months later between union workers and company guards. Several men were killed, and the non-union workers surrendered, a timeline on the Library of Congress website shows. Steunenberg’s predecessor, Gov. William McConnell, implemented martial law and deployed the National Guard to restore law and order.
On July 15, union officers, members and sympathizers were arrested. Non-union workers returned to the mines and were given military protection.
That same year, union miners throughout the Rocky Mountain states came together to form the Western Federation of Miners.
When Steunenberg came into office, he wanted to work with people on both sides of the conflict and tried to establish himself as a neutral party. But he took a hard line stance against the violence and hostilities between them.
The strength of the WFM continued to increase, as did its demands for recognition and wage increases.
“The Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining companies conceded the wage issue, but refused to deal with or retain miners … which violated an Idaho statute approved by Gov. McConnell,” Wells writes.
Everything came to a head on April 29, 1899 when about 1,000 unionized miners detonated more than 50 boxes of dynamite at the mine and destroyed the company’s mill.
All of Idaho’s National Guard had been sent to the Philippines to fight in the Spanish-American War, so federal troops were sent in. Steunenberg again placed the area under martial law.
“We have taken the monster by the throat and we are going to choke the life out of it. No halfway measures will be adopted. It is a plain case of the state or the union winning, and we do not propose that the state shall be defeated,” Steunenberg is reported to have said.
Martial law remained in effect for the rest of Steunenberg’s term, according to the Idaho State Historical Society. The state controlled the mine and no one was allowed to work there without a permit.
Though hundreds of miners were arrested — many of whom escaped — ultimately, only one union official was convicted.
Steunenberg was not re-elected and an experienced miner, Frank Hunt, replaced him as governor in 1901.
The fate of Steunenberg’s assassin
Harry Orchard was among those who escaped confinement in northern Idaho. He is the one who planted the bomb at Steunenberg’s Caldwell home four years later in retaliation for his actions against union miners.
Orchard apparently believed the former governor had been given a wad of cash by Idaho mine owners after leaving office.
“Within an hour of the explosion, the sheriff had deputized 100 townspeople, and stationed them at all roads and paths leading out of town. Orchard made no effort to escape, and slept in his hotel room that night in Caldwell,” his Wikipedia page says.
He’d been in the area for several days and checked into a hotel under the name Thomas Hogan. Evidence related to the murder was later discovered in Orchard’s hotel room. He was arrested on New Years Day, two days after the assassination.
During a trial, Orchard initially testified that he was acting under orders from William Dudley Haywood, Charles Moyer and George Pettibone, all of whom were leaders of the Western Federation of Miners. The City of Boise reports Haywood and Pettibone were later acquitted and Moyer’s charges were dropped.
Orchard ultimately confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to hang by Judge Fremont Wood on March 18, 1908, as reported in the Spokane Daily Chronicle. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
A monument of Steunenberg now sits in front of the Idaho State Capitol Building on West Jefferson and North Capitol in Boise. It was dedicated in 1927.
The monument contains an inscription, which reads, “When in 1899 organized lawlessness challenged the power of Idaho, he (Steunenberg) upheld the dignity of the state, enforced its authority and restored law and order within its boundaries, for which he was assassinated in 1905 … In grateful memory of his courageous devotion to public duty, the people of Idaho have erected this monument.”
