UCon Mainstreet Early Postmasters of Eagle Rock and Idaho Falls, for Snake River Echoes 21 March 2003 A surprising discovery in studying the early postmasters: their history reveals the story of the town itself. The first postal service was the stage line and the first post office was not an office, but the stage station. The first postmasters had their own work to do–minding the store or the ranch; delivering letters was a side-line. The first postal delivery was simply to the stage station, where the recipient had to come to pick up his mail. It wasn’t until later that postal carriers actually delivered to businesses or residences. Monte A. Mason, Idaho Falls postmaster from Nov. 1969 till April 1984, delivered the local postal service history for Idaho Falls, City of Destiny (by Mary Jane Fritzen for Bonneville County Historical Society, 1991). His concise article has been expanded through use of Captain Bonneville’s County (by Edith Lovell, Idaho Falls, 1963), hereafter noted as CBC, and other sources included in the end notes. “The mail had been carried by courtesy or by hire by travelers.... Mail moved through the valley during the summer of 1862 “(CBC 111), but the first postmaster was appointed when the stage station was doing business in 1866. Sources Used: Monte Mason, “U. S. Post Office and Postal Service,” in Mary Jane Fritzen, Idaho Falls City of Destiny. Idaho Falls: Bonneville County Historical Society, 1991, pp. 82-84 Edith Haroldsen Lovell, Captain Bonneville’s County. Idaho Falls: The Bonneville County Centennial and Historical Commission, 1963. The Idaho Register 1891-1916; Post-Register, 10 Sept., 1934; 18 February 1935. Idaho Falls City Directories 1912-1916. An Illustrated History of the State of Idaho. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1899, pp. 488-489. Barzilla Clark, Bonneville County in the Making. Idaho Falls, 1941, p. 52 (Photo of Robert Anderson) We acknowledge the services of The Post Register; Reading and Reference room of Bonneville County Historical Society; Idaho Falls Public Library; Idaho Falls Post Office, Zip Print of Idaho Falls, and The Print Shop of Idaho Falls. To read about the different postmasters click on the links below.
Robert Anderson, postmaster, December 1866 to May 1867. A significant founder and citizen of Eagle Rock, Robert Anderson “first located here in 1865, when the store of Anderson Brothers was the only building within many miles, and that was nothing but a small log shack” (Idaho Register 22 July 1904, which reported his death). When he was officially named post master of Eagle Rock, 4 Dec. 1866, the town had become a three-building town. That month Ben Holladay sold his coach franchise to Wells Fargo, which serviced Snake River Valley for two years, then Gilmer and Salisbury got the mail contract (CBC 144). Robert Anderson returned east for a few years, then again made his home in Eagle Rock in 1882. In 1904 he died in Missouri. William F. Bartlett, postmaster May 1867 to February 1868, had been a partner with J. M. “Matt” Taylor and Edgar M. Morgan in the Oneida Road, Bridge and Ferry Company, which had on June 1, 1864, bought the Eagle Rock Ferry (CBC 136) and selected a spot for a bridge over the Snake River at Black Rock Canyon. When the ice was so thick they could work on it, they constructed the bridge in late December 1864 and January 1865. By April 12, 1865, they advertised in the Salt Lake City “Daily Telegraph” that Eagle Rock Ferry crossing was the “Best and Shortest Route to the Gold Fields of Montana.” They stated: “We are now constructing a good and SUBSTANTIAL BRIDGE ACROSS SNAKE RIVER in the vicinity of the ferry, which will be opened for the passage of teams about the end of May next”(CBC 137-140). In October 1865 Robert Anderson joined his brother-in-law Matt Taylor in the company, buying Edgar M. Morgan’s one-third interest. Although he was postmaster for only nine months, he played a significant role in building the Taylor Bridge. Bartlett, an engineer, secured the necessary long bolts and other iron for the bridge from a wrecked steamboat near Fort Benton, Montana. He and partners also salvaged iron from old Fort Hall. Bad weather caused problems: during June 1867 the bridge snapped under pressure and the ferry was badly damaged, but was repaired and used. Bartlett sold his one-third interest in the Oneida Road, Bridge and Ferry company to Anderson and Taylor in November 1867 (CBC ). Thomas Lauder, postmaster Feb. 1868 to April 1868, was clearly qualified to receive the mail because he was the Wells Fargo agent in Eagle Rock. He had come west with the Adams brothers, John and William, freighters who supplied wood and hay to Market Lake Stage Relief Station, where they had homesteaded. For nine years he had driven the stage for Ben Holladay out from Council Bluffs. For a year beginning in August 1864 he operated the Fort Hall to Virginia City mail stage.(CBC 133) In the summer of 1866 he was stationed at Eagle Rock bridge. Across town at what is now Highland Park, he planted a garden and dug a ditch from Willow Creek to irrigate his vegetables. (CBC 144) He married Miss Adams of Market Lake in 1883 (CBC 211). John N. Adams, postmaster 13 April 1868 to November 1869, had fought in the Civil War, then helped build railroad grade across the continent. From Corinne, Utah, he with his brother William Joseph, set out with their families to carry freight to Montana. At Eagle Rock, W. J. remained as station master, while John delivered the goods to Virginia City. Another brother Tom Adams, operated the Cedar Point stage station at the ferry in 1870. In October 1868 the Adams families settled at Market Lake, where they lived for many years. John built a lodging house and store; W. J. furnished wood and hay to the stage lines on contract. (CBC 148) Actually the office was there and mail received the Market Lake postmark during this period (Mason, IFCD). Israel Heald, postmaster 5 Nov. 1869 to11 Nov. 1880, may be best known for the letters he wrote home; his letter of 1868 is one of the earliest records of Eagle Rock. (CBC 149). Heald (whose name is also spelled Heal in some histories) was a bachelor who confessed to loneliness, but women were scarce in Idaho, he wrote, and at 50 he wasn’t first in line. Born in Connecticut, a descendant of Miles Standish, he trapped and ranched in “Heald’s Island” now known as Menan, where he lived. Therefore Matt Taylor assisted with the post at the crossing; later John Jack) Anderson assisted and succeeded Heald as postmaster. In 1873 Heald wrote to his sister Helen and her husband Orville Buck that he had too much land. “I should like to have you and your family here very much. Your boys could grow up with the country and nothing to hinder them from doing well. Our mail is not at all regular this winter, the stage horses have distemper.” The Bucks came and pioneered in Willow Creek, which is present Ucon.(CBC 179-180) Israel Heald died in the late 1890s at the age of about 80. . During Heald’s term, J. M. “Matt” Taylor was postmaster assistant at the station by the bridge which carried his name. He had been born in Waverly, Missouri, and was married to LeGrande Anderson, sister to Robert and John “Jack” Anderson. John C. Anderson, postmaster November 1880 to February 1889, was better known as Jack Anderson. He and his brother Robert (first postmaster) had come by mule-drawn army ambulance from Kansas City in the spring of 1866. Their party included Matt Taylor, other family members and a Negro, Don Brockman. (CBC 140) They were founders of Eagle Rock; their story tells its beginnings. Jack Anderson homesteaded a ranch at Willow Creek, now Milo. John and Robert owned and operated Anderson Brothers Store and Bank. In those days people came to the store to pick up their mail, so it was a prominent social location for the community. William E. Wheeler, editor of Idaho Register, wrote in 1880: “Mr. J. C. Anderson keeps a large general store, well stocked with goods, and has been doing a good business there for a number of years. A good substantial bridge spans the Snake river over which hundreds of emigrant teams have crossed every year.... Mr. Anderson is one of the stirring energetic men with whom it is a pleasure to be acquainted. In company with other men of capital he is constructing an immense canal taking the water from Snake river about 25 miles above and bringing it over a large section of the country.... The canal will be about 25 miles in length and will cost from $25 to 30 thousand.” (CBC 198) Photo Courtesy Post Register
William E. Wheeler, postmaster about February 1889 to about February 1894, editor of Idaho Register, forerunner of the Post Register, had come first to start his newspaper in Blackfoot, then had chosen to relocate in Eagle Rock Born in Vermont in 1843, he traveled west with the developing railroads. In 1871 he published a newspaper at Evanston, Wyoming, which he moved on 1 July 1880 to Blackfoot. He was a bachelor until he married Elizabeth Doughtery in Denver on 19 Dec. 1883 and brought her to Idaho for Christmas. (She was an eastern girl who had come to Colorado to teach school; she had met Wheeler on a news-gathering jaunt and they had corresponded.) (CBC 212). He covered Eagle Rock news (CBC 196-199), and decided to relocate there and use his enthusiasm to promote Eagle Rock. In 1884 he moved his presses to the front of a residence at the corner of Capital Avenue and Cliff Street. (CBC 220) It was at this office that the mail was picked up when he became postmaster in 1889. This was handy because he could list names of unclaimed mail in the Register. Wheeler was an energetic promoter of Idaho Falls. On October 9, 1890 the post office name was changed from Eagle Rock to Idaho Falls. The purpose was better to promote the availability of water and agricultural opportunities in the area. The next August the town voted in favor of the name change. Among his leadership roles during this period (1891-94), he was a trustee and secretary of the Bingham County Agricultural Association, president of Idaho Falls office of National Loan and Savings Union of Helena, Montana; president of local Republican Club, and on the 4th of July committee. In 1894 he was a trustee for the school district. He wrote weekly editorials for civic improvements. His civic service for students included awarding pocket dictionaries for good writing, and giving away free trees to plant on Arbor Day. He died in 1919. Edward Phillip “E. P.” Coltman, was postmaster February 1894 to April 1897. Born in Pennsylvania in 1869, he had worked as a telegraph operator and railroad agent before transferring to Eagle Rock, where he established the Coltman Lumber Company and was active in politics and lodges. A rural school district was named Coltman in honor of the postmaster in 1896. He was elected mayor 1904-07 and 1909-1910, and died in office 1 Sep. 1910. His family home was 387 No. water Ave. During his term the post office was located on a muddy road beside the Burgess House Hotel on South Capital Ave. By spring 1895 the crossing was improved. Ruel “Rocky” Rounds, postmaster 19 April 1897 to 25 April 1901, called attention to the business advantage of locating near the post office, and so the office was offered to the lowest bidder. It was next located on Broadway, just east of the New Porter Hotel. Then it was housed in the Hasbrouck Building on 346 Park Avenue. “Rocky” seems to have been more interested in personal gain than in long-term civic growth, judging from his associations. He was a U. S. Marshall and associate in law enforcement work with Senator Fred Dubois. He was appointed by Governor McConnell to be a commissioner for Bingham County for two years. Then he was elected state senator. (See An Illustrated History of the State of Idaho. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1899, pp. 488-489.) According to editor Wm. E. Wheeler, also a staunch Republican, Rounds was to blame for Idaho Falls’s losing what seemed to be a sure bid for the state agricultural college, which was instead awarded to Moscow, in a surprise compromise deal in order to seat George L. Shoup in the U. S. Senate (See Register March 1895) Rounds was born in Rutland, Vermont in 1841, and served in the Civil War, then was engaged in the marble business. He came to Virginia City, Montana in the fall of 1866 as a mining prospector. He worked as a guard on the Wells-Fargo Express Co. stage line. While the Union Pacific railroad was being constructed in Wyoming, he merchandised along the line of construction, then returned to mining, then worked for the railroad in Texas and Mexico, then sold real estate in Kansas. In 1889 he moved back to Colorado, then in 1890 came to Idaho Falls where he bought land and set about promoting it for a profit. While postmaster he owned 720 acres of farm land and a fruit farm near Idaho Falls. (See Illustrated History of Idaho.) Ed Francis Winn, postmaster 25 April 1901 to 7 November 1908, was a long term resident, prominent in business and politics. Born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania 29 Oct 1857, he came in 1880 on the railroad from Omaha as a carpenter (Eldora Keefer in CBC 230 and Post-Register, 18 Feb 1935). He married Katie Freeman of Cheyenne, Wyoming and homesteaded 25 acres near the town site, known as Winn’s Addition. In 1885 he was chosen the first chief of the volunteer fire department and was one of the first sheriffs. He remembered celebrating with his friends the dismantling of the railroad shops in 1887. He was a deputy sheriff, and appointed U. S. deputy Marshall by Fred Dubois. He had a cattle business and two ranches, from which the Register reported in 1891, he sold hay to C. W. and M. (Cooperative Wagon and Machine) Co. He retired in 1915, and died at his home, 350 So. Capital Ave., 17 Feb 1935. Funeral services were held at the McHan funeral chapel. During the time he was postmaster, the post office was in a large building, erected by Mr. Wheeler on the corner of Broadway and Capital, where the city hall was afterwards located. Alvin T. “A. T.” Shane, was postmaster 7 Nov. 1908 to about 1914. (There is a discrepancy yet to be resolved as to the date of appointment of W. J. Coltman, his successor. See Mason, IFCD; see also Idaho Falls City Directories for 1914-15, 1916-17, and Post Register, 10 September 1934. Also a March 1916 news story establishes that Coltman was postmaster then.) A native of Wisconsin, Shane helped develop Idaho Falls business. He built and managed Shane apartments on Memorial Drive, and Shane building downtown. He was an officer of Farmers and Merchants Bank, director of Club of Commerce, president of the School Board. He was elected mayor 1903-1904, and later helped develop Osgood area. He died in San Diego, California in 1950. The city directory of 1911-1912 lists “Postoffice 360 A, Postmaster Alvin T. Shane.” It reports he has an office staff of seven, and two letter carriers and five rural carriers. Patrons could rent combination locks for their postal boxes. He was postmaster when construction was begun on the large Federal Building on the northwest quarter of Park Ave. and C Street. In 1913 Congress appropriated $100,000 for the building, which was begun and dedicated in cornerstone ceremonies in 1914, William G. McAdoo, Secretary of the Treasury officiating; it was not completed until 1916. W. J. Coltman, postmaster about 1914 to 1 Feb. 1922 (There is a discrepancy between Mason’s dates and those of the contemporary city directories and newspapers.) The Directory of 1914-1915 lists “Postoffice, W. J. Coltman postmaster, 360 A.” The 1916-17 directory lists: “Post Office, W. J. Coltman postmaster, Park Ave. Corner C.” In 1916 “The city has free mail delivery and 6 rural free mail delivery routes.” The Idaho Register of 10 March 1916 headlined the opening of the new federal building at the corner of C street and Park Avenue. “Postmaster Coltman and the twenty-six employes of the office have all worked hard to make the move and change of location.... It is doubtful if there is as handsome or well-equipped post office in the state of Idaho as the one in Idaho Falls....Entering the lobby, one is impressed with the general effect, the massiveness of the whole affair, the air of permanency and stability, none of which, however, detracts in any way from the beauty.... The lobby is handsomely finished in marble from Tennessee, Georgia and Minnesota... The lobby is well lighted with handsome electric chandeliers, the semi-indirect system of lighting being used. Over the radiators will be located the desks for the use of those having occasion to write letters. “The lobby will be kept open all night, provided the general public observes the rules governing loitering in the lobby and does not abuse the privilege granted by marring the building or walls in any way.... To the extreme right is the private office of the postmaster. It is the handsomest and best-equipped private office of any building in the city, furnished throughout in mahogany, with handsome carpets and with handsome desks and furniture.... The work room is well lighted, ventilated and warmed.... Postmaster Coltman and the employees are naturally very proud of the new building, as are the citizens of the community. In the early days mailmen pushed two-wheeled carts for deliveries. Airmail service began with big ceremonies 1 September 1934, when Barzilla W. Clark was mayor. In 1958 a second post office, the Eagle Rock branch, was opened on 605-4th Street. Zip coding began in 1963. In 1971 the U. S. Postal Service was changed from a cabinet position to semi-government operation. When the Federal Building on Park Ave. was closed in 1986, another downtown post office was set up on 875 No. Capital.
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This sections contains a brief history of each of the Postmasters for Idaho Falla
Click on the links below to read about these interesting histories.
