Many other residents of Pocatello whose names make a list too long to repeat here, have rendered valuable public service to both the city and county. Among them may be mentioned Judge T. A. Johnston, who for a period of twelve years, beginning in 1900, served the county as probate judge; Oscar B. Sonnenkalb, who has been county surveyor since 1896; the late D. Worth Clark, Lorenzo Brown, Andrew B. Stevenson, and John Hull, who have served in the state senate; W. A. Staley, W. J. Ingling, Col. H. V. A. Ferguson, and W. A. Hyde, former members of the state house of representatives; Alfred Budge, who, after long and faithful service as district judge, has just been elevated to the supreme bench of the state; Daniel C. McDougal, attorney general of the state of Idaho in 1908, and Hon. Drew W. Standrod.
Judge Standrod was elected district attorney in 1886, while he was still a resident of Malad, where his father practiced medicine for many years, and in 1890 he ran successfully for election as judge of the Fifth Judicial District of the state of Idaho. He moved to Pocatello in 1895, since which time he has been actively identified with the legal and financial activities of the city. In addition to his interest in the First National Bank of Pocatello, of which he is president, Judge Standrod is interested in ten other banks in the inter-mountain country. He is a leading figure in the Republican party, and has recently resigned a six year appointment on Idaho’s first Public Utilities Commission, after serving nearly two years.
Of Senator Brady, who is not only one of the most distinguished citizens of Pocatello, nor yet of Idaho, having been governor of the state, but also of the United States, he being a member of the nation’s highest legislative body, we will speak in the next chapter.
Men who left Pocatello ten or fifteen years ago would hardly recognize the city today. Recently a man returned from Ohio, who had owned a large number of lots near Center and Main streets in the late nineties, and who sold them for a modest sum after having held them for some years on speculation. He learned to his surprise and chagrin that the property he had sold for fifteen hundred dollars is worth more than twenty thousand today. Another old-timer who grew tired of the west and returned to his eastern home, in acknowledging the receipt of a picture of Pocatello, wrote that the picture was very nice but that he knew it was not a picture of Pocatello because Pocatello had no trees!
Not only is the city well supplied with trees, but it is equipped with the full complement of an up-to-date city. Commercially it is one of the most active and prosperous in the west. It has an ample supply of water, of electric power, a street car service, and is gradually installing new improvements in its street and sewerage system. It is a common thing in the west for growing cities to outstrip themselves in their zeal for improvements, and an unwise enthusiasm and optimism has plunged many municipalities into embarrassment and debt. Pocatello has been wisely governed in this respect, and if she is rather behindhand in some lines of improvement, this is far preferable to being several years ahead, and attempting by a forced growth to meet an unneeded equipment. Several local organizations, notably the Civic Club, have done much for the betterment of civic life in the city, and it is probable that the next five years will see a decided improvement in the appearance of both streets and homes.
The religious needs of the city are well supplied. The Congregational church was organized in 1888, and Trinity parish, of the Episcopal church, was established the following year. Since then the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian denominations have built up strong institutions. The Latter Day Saints and the Roman Catholic church are so strong that they have each two churches, one on the east and one on the west side of the town. No reference to the religious growth of Pocatello would be complete without a sketch of the Rev. Father Cyril Van der Donckt, who came to Idaho as a missionary in 1887 and has resided in Pocatello since 1888.
Father Van der Donckt was born in Belgium in 1865 and was educated in Renaix College, in the Seminary of St. Nicholas, and in the American college in Louvain. By a special dispensation from Pope Leo XIII, he was ordained when twenty months under age, and came directly to Idaho, where he has since labored. During six years he was general missionary for the whole of southern Idaho, his ministrations covering eleven counties, and for some time he was the only secular priest in the whole state. In addition to St. Joseph’s parish, a large and strong institution, Father Van der Donckt has built a parish school, and will soon see a hospital added to his establishment. The prolonged and faithful services of such a man as Father Van der Donckt are invaluable to any community, but especially to a country in its formative stage. The hardships, discouragements and indifference that the latter condition always throws in the way of a missionary call for no ordinary amount of pluck and perseverance, and great credit is due to the man who faces them unflinchingly and who out of nothing builds up a flourishing and useful work.
Among the religious activities of Pocatello, the Railroad Young Men’s Christian Association takes a leading place. This is the second largest institution of its kind in the United States, having a membership of over fifteen hundred members. Its success is due to the ability of its general secretary, A. B. Richardson, and his associate, Eric A. Krussman.
During recent years Christian Science has become firmly established in Pocatello.
Other among the city’s public institutions are the Carnegie Public Library and the Pocatello General Hospital.