Eva Canfield: Intrepid, energetic and educated
No man would take the job of census enumerator in the wild and rugged Salmon River district, also known as the “River of No Return,” so 67-year-old widow Eva Canfield was hired.
Setting off in April 1940 with her pack string of ponies, snow shoes, skis, census books and supplies, this energetic 120-pound redhead would cover an area of 1,000 square miles in 70 days. The district was mainly populated with miners and sheep ranchers living miles apart.
Eva not only needed an intrepid spirit and physical endurance, but she needed knowledge of the trails, the dangers, the wildlife and, most of all, survival skills. This was not her first census, however. She had covered a 2,000-square-mile wilderness along the Salmon River beginning at Whitebird in 1920 and again in 1935.
She slept under the stars unless a ranching family invited her to stay in their cabin. When the snow was too deep for her horses, she left them with a rancher and traveled on skis. She told Jesse Vetter, the supervisor for northern Idaho with an office in Coeur d’Alene, that she had traveled 40 miles on skis.
One time, she walked 14 miles on a sidehill to enumerate persons at a gold camp, but counted only two old prospectors. She delighted in telling reporters about the time she rode in a truck with her feet on top of a 25-pound bag of gold.
Eva was not a stranger to Idaho County, nor to the Salmon River area. She married Sherman Canfield in Lewiston on Nov. 4, 1898, and, together, they homesteaded on the Joseph Plains, northeast of Whitebird, and ranched there until Sherman’s death in 1912. She then moved to Florence, where she acquired mining claims. And from 1924 to 1946, she operated a sheep ranch 10 miles south of Cottonwood. She was also known to have delivered mail on snowshoes.
When she met Sherman Canfield, Eva had been teaching for two years at the pioneer school at John Day, also located along the Salmon River. In 1897, the Idaho County Free Press welcomed her back to the John Day school and referred to her as “a lady of intelligence and refinement.” She had received her education in Moscow, where her parents were pioneers.
Sherman Canfield’s father was Oscar Canfield. Oscar, his wife Cynthia Maple and their children had settled in Coeur d’Alene in 1878 when Ft. Sherman was established. They raised beef to sell to the fort and by 1895 they were ranching in Whitebird and had orchards in Clarkston, Wash.
Eva remarried in 1946 to her hired hand, Jack Martin. They lived at French Creek on the Salmon River, where she died in 1962 at the age of 89.
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Information for this article was taken from newspaper articles and family accounts.
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The Museum of North Idaho is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Memorial Day. In addition to the permanent exhibits highlighting the early history of fur trapping, the Coeur d’Alene Indians, lumbering, mining, education, and farming, the featured exhibit is “Cowboy Joe: The Art of Joe Breckenridge.” After Memorial Day, the featured exhibit will be “At War: North Idaho during WWII.” The museum's annual gala May 20 is 1940s USO Club, with a big band orchestra, a catered dinner and swing dancing. For ticket information, visit museumni.org/gala/.
