Idaho History: Swiss pioneers helped settle Gem State

The first United States Census of Idaho Territory, taken in 1870, tells us much of interest about the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of our pioneers. I am especially interested in Idaho’s Swiss heritage because my wife’s grandmother, Karolina Scheiben, came to America from Switzerland when she was 15.

I don’t think Karolina was ever in Idaho except in crossing its Northern Panhandle after her marriage on her way to Puget Sound country, where she spent the rest of her long life as Mrs. Christopher Coates. She never went back to her birthplace, the tiny Alpine village of Oberwil-im-Simmental in the Bernese Alps, where her father had been the burgomaster (principal town magistrate), but we have been able to visit there several times, tracing family history for our own children and grandchildren.

When the 1870 census of Idaho was taken, 21 people were listed as born in Switzerland. Six of the men were miners, ranging in age from 28 to 45, but only two had the blessing of a wife in Idaho. It is likely that some of the others had wives back in Europe.

Switzerland is a country with four language regions, and the names of these miners suggest the part of Switzerland where they were born. George Bazzini was probably from the Italian-speaking part of the country, and A. Gashet was probably from the French part of the country. The rest, such as Silver City’s Chris Studer, who was killed at South Mountain in the Bannock War, were German speakers. It is the dominant language in Canton Bern, where most Swiss live today.

Saloon keeper John Brodbeck, of Boise, was 37 in 1870; his wife, Sarah, was 32. Blacksmith John Stideroc was 52. Adam Gasser, drayman, was 40; his wife, Fanny, was 26. It was not unusual on the Idaho frontier for husbands to be 10 or more years older than their wives, as the census reveals.

Simon G. Rosenbaum, 41, is listed as “retired Merchant” in Idaho City in 1870, but his real claim to fame, we learn from Elliott’s 1884 History of Idaho Territory, is this — “First Theaters: Early in 1864, Simon G. Rosenbaum erected a large and commodious theater building, just north of Bear Run, on Bannock Bar, which he called the Jenny Lind Theater. It was handsomely painted and frescoed by a Dr. Elliott, and about the 1st of July, 1864, Mr. Rosenbaum arrived at Idaho City from San Francisco, with a theatrical troupe, which continued to give almost nightly theatrical exhibitions until early in November.”

Jenny Lind, the “Swedish nightingale,” was the most noted soprano of her generation. She created a sensation in London and Vienna when she sang there in 1847, and after being brought to America by P.T. Barnum in 1850, she thrilled American audiences as well. New York had a Jenny Lind Theater in 1850, and although she never performed in the West, San Francisco had three Jenny Lind theaters, the first of which was also built in 1850, all because of the “Lind mania” that was sweeping the country. This was due in no small measure to master showman Barnum’s skill with publicity.

Idaho towns Bern and Geneva owe their names to Swiss converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. John Kunz II was born in Bern in 1823. In July 1870, he and his wife, Rosina, and eight of their 10 children came to America. Brigham Young sent Kunz on a mission to Bear Lake Valley, Idaho, where he founded the town of Bern in 1875 and began to manufacture Swiss cheese. Nearby Geneva was the home of other Swiss-born Mormon pioneers who also raised dairy cattle and made cheese.

The gold rush to California in 1849 began after gold was discovered near Sutter’s Mill on Jan. 24, 1848. Johann August Sutter was born in Switzerland on Feb. 15, 1803. His son, Johann August Jr., born in 1826, was the founder of Sacramento.

Noted Americans with Swiss ancestry include President Herbert Hoover (originally Huber), J. Edgar Hoover, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and actresses Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer and Renee Zellweger.

Although the 2000 U.S. Census ranked Idaho third in the nation in the percentage of its residents having Swiss ancestry, that number was only .87 percent, clearly making the Swiss a minority among minorities.

Arthur Hart writes this column on Idaho history for the Idaho Statesman each Sunday. Email histnart@gmail.com.

This story was originally published May 10, 2015 at 12:00 AM.