Huckleberries: Iconic chapter in Wallace history a real page-turner

You won’t find “The Rossi Murder and the Unwritten Law in 1916’s Wallace, Idaho” on the New York Times Bestseller List.

But Ron Roizen’s book should be on the must-read list of every North Idaho history buff.

The 366-page work details the 1916 killing of a younger rival by former Wallace mayor Herman Rossi. By March 4, the first anniversary of the publication date, Wallace outlets had sold 300 copies, not a big number but one that pleases author Roizen. After all, his adopted town has a population of only 800.

“Far from being disappointing,” Ron said, “this outcome, so far, is actually very gratifying.”

In November 1997, Ron moved to Wallace from Berkeley, Calif., with his wife, Maggie, and daughter, Alexis. The dedication to his book shows that he has fit in: “For Wallace, my adopted town.”

Ron’s interest in Rossi began casually with a visit to Nine Mile Cemetery, north of Wallace, where he spotted Rossi’s grave near the entrance. Later, he heard the rumor that Rossi’s prominent resting place was separated from the main cemetery because he was viewed as a murderer by some.

His interest in Rossi ignited while helping a friend research the history of the old Samuels Hotel, the site of the infamous shooting.

Herman Rossi was a prominent Wallace businessman who would serve five terms as mayor. In 1906, after the death of his first wife, he married Mabel Price in a ceremony at Coeur d’Alene’s St. Thomas Church. He was 36. She was 21. The marriage would hamstring Rossi’s political ambitions.

Mabel was an alcoholic. Rossi considered her condition to be a disease and sought treatment for her. But on June 30, 1916, he returned home from Boise to discover his wife had spent a boozy weekend in bed with a young lover, Clarence “Gabe” Dahlquist.

Enraged, Rossi tromped to the Samuels Hotel, confronted Dahlquist and shot him as he tried to flee.

Everyone knew that Rossi had pulled the trigger. But the circumstances – Rossi’s standing in Wallace and his wife’s drinking and adultery – prompted a jury to render a verdict after convening only 70 minutes following a weeklong trial. Such was the notoriety of the case that a front-page banner headline in the Spokane Chronicle on Oct. 14, 1916, shouted “ROSSI IS NOT GUILTY OF MURDER.”

Author Roizen ranks “The Rossi Murder” among the “iconic chapters etched into Wallace’s historic past” – including the mining wars of the 1890s, the Great Fire of 1910, and the 1991 federal raid “that shut down the town’s tradition of prostitution and gambling.”

And, for $18 at a half dozen Wallace locations, including Harvest Foods, you can read all about it.

Long, long ago

It’s possible that Bruce English still loves pizza and sunflower seeds. And that his pet peeve remains “people who are afraid to do things because of what other people might say.” Sixty years ago, the then future director of English Funeral Home was asked to name a few of his favorite things in a profile interview by the Coeur d’Alene High student paper, The White Pine. Bruce, then 17, cited math as his favorite course and Chubby Checker as his favorite singer. Also, he listed his interests as “working on his car, drag racing, girls, swimming and water skiing.” He had his future lined out. After graduation, he planned to attend the University of Idaho. And then? It was off to Minnesota to study the funeral biz.

Huckleberries

• Poet’s Corner: If gasoline/keeps going up,/I’ll have to buy/it by the cup — The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“One Grand of Regular, Please.”)

• Bumpersnicker (on red Suzuki with bobblehead clown on dash, parked on Bolivar Lane): “I break for interesting cloud formations.” Now, here’s someone who stops and smells the roses.

• Did you hear how Kootenai County Rs cheered when senator Joe McCarthy was called “a great patriot” for exposing Commies Under Every Bush? We’re talking about the local Republicans of 1952 here. But our wacky batch today probably are big fans of “Tail Gunner Joe,” too.

• We don’t use the terms “hobo,” “tramp,” or “bum” much today. But there’s a difference among them. So says a historic sign along the Centennial Trail, north of the UI center on the Spokane River. In a quote from a bygone hobo named “Oklahoma Slim,” the sign explains: “A hobo is a migratory worker; a tramp is a migratory non-worker; a bum is a non-migratory non-worker.”

• Bumpersnicker (on a pickup with a topper on Ramsey Road near UPS Friday): “The welfare of humanity has always been the alibi of tyrants.” (See: Putin, Valdimir)

Parting Shot

On this day, 35 years ago, the Press announced the formation of what would become Jobs Plus. The movers and shakers of the area had banded together to raise $1 million over four years to spur job creation, headed by Duane Hagadone, Dennis Wheeler, Tom Richards, and Charlie Nipp. Wheeler predicted: “It’ll take three or four years to show some results.” Five years later, the success of Jobs Plus was touted in Reader’s Digest. Syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak wrote: “If California is ‘paradise lost,’ then ‘paradise found’ may be North Idaho.” The article goes on to say that the “town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho … has succeeded in recruiting 26 businesses from California, resulting in 650 new jobs and an investment of $33 million.” We owe much to the visionaries of the past.

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D.F. Oliveria can be contacted at dfo@cdapress.com.