Post Office Art in Idaho

Post Office Art in Idaho

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The Roundup and The Arrival Celebration 1939 Andrew Standing Soldier Blackfoot, ID

Idaho has a large amount of Post Office art for such a small state. Much of it has to do with the history of The Oregon Trail but it all reflects the state's role in the development of the American West.

The largest collection of murals I have found in Idaho is in Blackfoot in one of the larger Post Office buildings built during this era. The artist, Andrew Standing Soldier was a member of the Lakota Nation and the only Native American  to receive a commission for one of these murals. It is fitting that it is on display her, on the outskirts of the Fort Hall Shoshone Bannock Reservation.

This collection of murals occupies the entire interior of the building's first floor.

I've used these pictures to give an idea of the scale of this work. Some detail will show this is a representation of Native Americans at work cattle ranching.

It's gratifying to know this major work in constantly on view for the public.

A work that shows Native Americans in a different light in displayed in Preston, Idaho. This work, by Edmund J. Fitzgerald, is titled The Battle of Bear River. In other sources, this event is often called "The Bear River Massacre". It represents the final roundup of the Eastern Shoshone Nation from there encampments on Bear River before forcing them onto the Fort Hall Reservation.

The Battle of Bear River Edmund J. Fitzgerald 1941, Preston, ID

Emigrants on The Oregon Trail followed The Snake River from Fort Hall to Fort Boise and two murals along today's route represent that journey. The first is in Burley, ID, an agricultural town in the Upper Snake River Valley. The main crop there is, not surprisingly, potatoes.

Oregon Trail and Snake River  Elizabeth Lochrie, 1938 Burley, ID

Farther on down the trail is the small city of Buhl, which was a popular river crossing. Ferrying emigrants, freight, and the mail was an important source of revenue.

Snake River Ferry Richard Guy Walton, 1941

Buhl Post Office interior

Two more murals, in St. Anthony and Kellog will have to wait until I get back up north again. The Post Offices and murals in Idaho are well maintained. The same is not true in some states I have visited but for now kudos go to the Idahoans for preserving this important part of their history.