Looking back: Missing man found alive, school year delayed due to tremor and man escapes police car

Because of a law passed in 1929, it was already illegal to sell alcohol in Cassia County when national prohibition went into effect in the 1920s. Law enforcement officers are shown here with some of the moonshine and whiskey stills they confiscated. The contents were poured out. Then they had the problem of disposing of all the equipment. | Courtesy photo
IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Aug. 22 to Aug. 28 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
IDAHO FALLS — A man with the Idaho Falls militia who “mysteriously disappeared” was found, The Rigby Star announced on Aug. 27, 1908.
John Cotes disappeared from the Boise Encampment, according to the local paper. It was reported he “wandered away and in all probability was delirious with fever at the time he did so.”
“It is a peculiar proposition that an individual could deliberately walk away from a community of several thousand people and no trace of him could be found,” The Rigby Star said.
On Aug. 26, 1908, Cotes was found asleep in a tent he previously slept in on a ranch south of Idaho Falls.
“The young man still has a high fever and it is evident his mind is somewhat unbalanced, either from sickness or other derangement, as he does not tell a very coherent story and does not remember many things,” the article reads. “Cotes states that it seems as though he had been away for a year or more and doesn’t seem to remember much about the encampment.”
Cotes explained “the green trees and appearance of the hills beckoned him” and he left camp “following his inclination as his head ached terribly and he was anxious to get to where it was cool.”
“Beyond that, his story is somewhat clouded,” the paper mentioned.
The article said he slept for a couple of nights in a “region of rattlesnakes and it is evident went without food.” He then found a cabin and the owner fed him “for a time.”
Cotes eventually walked to Mountain Home and took a train to Shoshone, then Pocatello. He stayed in Pocatello “several days” before going home and being found.
“His friends and comrades will be pleased to learn that he is alive, and is to be hoped that he will speedily recover from his recent illness that worked on him so hard,” the article said.
1926-1950
SALMON — A fisherman found the body of a man who drowned six weeks earlier on a Salmon River fishing trip with friends, the Idaho State Journal reported on Aug. 22, 1950.
The search for H. Grant Williams had been underway since July 17, 1950.
Williams was a Pocatello businessman who graduated from Pocatello High School in 1937 and from Idaho State College in 1940. He was married to Helen Archibald.
During World War II, Williams — whose rank was first lieutenant — served as a pilot in the United States Air Force.
He left behind his wife and two children, ages 8 and 3.
1951-1975
ROBERTS — The start of a new school year for students at Roberts Elementary was delayed due to an earthquake.
The Rigby Star said on Aug. 27, 1959, there was an earthquake tremor on Aug. 17, 1959, that triggered breaks in the building “to the extent the building has been designated as unsafe.” An architect was called in to “study the problem at hand.”
“For some time past, the elementary school at Roberts has been of shaky concern due to its structural condition,” the local paper said. “The building poses a number of problems relative to safety, being one of the few early day schools remaining in use.”
The article continued, “For the time being, teachers and pupils at Roberts continue on ‘vacation.’”
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A 20-year-old suspect escaped from a Pocatello police car during an investigation of an alleged statutory rape, according to the Idaho State Journal.
The paper explained on Aug. 24, 1976, police arrested the suspect for “allegedly trespassing and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after the father of a 15-year-old girl allegedly found the man in bed with his daughter.”
When police arrived, the girl’s father had the man in custody, the paper mentioned. Officers said they moved the suspect to a police car when he “appeared to be afraid of something.” He asked an officer to get his shoes and jacket from the house, police said.
“The man was gone when the officer returned,” the article reads.
Police said escaping from the police vehicle would not be possible without help and someone “hiding in the dark” must have helped the escapee.
The 15-year-old Pocatello girl was placed in juvenile detention on orders of her probation officer.
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Source: eastidahonews.com