Rathdrum’s Culp Family — Part 1: Pioneer Parents

This is the first installment of a multi-part story about the Culp family of Rathdrum and their historic stewardship of the town’s newspaper — the Rathdrum Tribune.

A few weeks ago, I presented the first lecture in a series celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Kootenai County Courthouse. My lecture focused on the origins of Kootenai County and the contentious 1908 battle between Rathdrum and Coeur d’Alene over the county seat.

At the center of the conflict between the two towns was a war of words that erupted between the editors of their two newspapers, Joseph T. Scott of the Coeur d’Alene Press and Joseph R.M. Culp of the Rathdrum Tribune, who engaged in a verbal duel, passionately defending their respective towns.

I knew a lot about Joseph T. Scott, but not much about J.R.M. Culp and the Tribune. I researched J.R.M. and found that the Rathdrum Tribune’s management was more of a family affair than a solo effort. Hence, the focus of the story has shifted to learning about the family.

The patriarch of the family, David Wundelich Culp, was born in Shippensburg, Pa., in October 1830, where he apprenticed as a tailor. In 1852, he joined a wagon train to California, drawn by the Gold Rush, settled in Iowa Hill, near Sacramento, and placer-mined for 10 years.

In 1861, David traveled from San Francisco to New York by steamship through the Isthmus of Panama. After a year at home, he headed west again by ox cart, but his oxen were stolen, so he stopped in Idaho for a while, settling in the Boise basin, where he mined.

In 1863, David moved north to Florence, Idaho, near Riggins, and then to Lewiston, the territorial capital. He stayed for two years and was elected district court clerk. In 1865, gold fever drew him east to Abe Lincoln Gulch, Mont., where he partnered with Thomas Patterson to open a mine and founded the town of Lincoln. The mine reportedly contributed $10 million in gold to the nation’s wealth, but after a few years, David sold his share of the mine and made his last visit to Pennsylvania. Upon returning to Lincoln, he opened a mercantile and also became the town’s postmaster. Mary Jane Muffly, also born in Pennsylvania, joined her brother in Virginia City, Mont., in 1872. An educator, she became one of the state's pioneering school teachers. The circumstances of her meeting and marriage to David in Helena in November 1876 aren’t fully documented.

David relocated his young family in 1879 to farm in Helmville, about 23 miles from Lincoln. That same year, he and Mary welcomed their first child, Charles.

In August 1889, David sold the Helmville farm and bought a quarter section near Thompson Falls, bringing his children closer to a school. By then, four more Culp children had been born: Joseph in 1880, Thomas in 1881, Jennie in 1883, and Elizabeth in 1889.

David and Mary resumed farming and raised their children there for 13 years. However, a tragic event in 1899 forced the family to move to Rathdrum. Part II of our story will focus on this move.