George L. Shoup

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder George Laird Shoup (June 15, 1836Template:Spaced ndashDecember 21, 1904) was an American politician who served as the first governor of Idaho, in addition to its last territorial governor. He served several months after statehood in 1890 and then became one of the state's first United States Senators.<ref name=glshpaw>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=uidlib/><ref name=goewst>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh, Shoup was educated in the public school system.<ref name=glshpaw/> He moved to Galesburg, Illinois, in 1852 and farmed. He married Magdelena "Lena" Darnutzer of Iowa on June 15, 1868, and they had three sons and three daughters, Lena, Laura and Margaret.<ref name=glshpaw/><ref name=uidlib/>

Career

After being devastated financially in the Panic of 1857, Shoup moved to Colorado Territory in 1859 to engage in mining and merchandising near Pikes Peak and later in Denver.<ref name="aoc">Template:Cite web</ref>

During the Civil War, he enlisted with the independent scouts working in New Mexico Territory, Colorado Territory, and Texas. Shoup was commissioned as a second lieutenant when the 3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment was formed in 1861 and was mustered out as a colonel in December 1864.<ref name=uidlib/> He took part in the Battle of Apache Canyon in New Mexico Territory during the Civil War and the Sand Creek massacre during the Colorado War.<ref>Page 148 and pages 162 and 163, Life of George Bent: Written From His Letters, by George E. Hyde, edited by Savoie Lottinville, University of Oklahoma Press (1968), hardcover, 390 pages; trade paperback, 280 pages (March 1983) Template:ISBN Template:ISBN</ref>

After the war, Shoup moved to Virginia City, Montana Territory, and then settled across the continental divide in Salmon,<ref name=mttbpres>Template:Cite news</ref> a city in Idaho Territory that he helped found.<ref name=goewst/> He owned general merchandise stores in both locations. Shoup was appointed commissioner to organize Lemhi County, and in 1874 he was elected to the territorial legislature. With few interruptions, he served on the Republican National Committee for Idaho from 1880 to 1904.<ref name=glshpaw/>

In April 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Shoup governor of Idaho Territory, a position he held until July 1890, when Idaho became a state and Idaho Territory ceased to exist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Shoup was elected the state's first governor in October. He served as governor of the new state for only a few weeks. In November 1890 the Idaho Legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate. Shoup resigned as governor in December to take his Senate seat and was succeeded by lieutenant governor N. B. Willey.

In the U.S. Senate for over a decade, from 1890 to 1901,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Shoup had many interests, including pensions, education, and military affairs. He was chairman of the Committee on Territories. In that position he advocated liberal and just treatment of the Native Americans.<ref name="BoiseHist" /> Shoup was reelected to a full six-year term in the Senate by the state legislature in January 1895, but was defeated in January 1901 by Democrat Fred Dubois,<ref name=dblndprz>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=dchonfblt>Template:Cite news</ref> and retired from public life and resided in Boise.<ref name=glshpaw/>

Two years later at age 66, Shoup made a final attempt to return to the U.S. Senate, but bowed out of the four-man race for the Republican nomination in the legislature in January 1903.<ref name=cutnos>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=hbstbsfi>Template:Cite news</ref> He gave his support to fellow Pennsylvania native Weldon Heyburn of the Silver Valley, who defeated Boise attorney William Borah for the nomination and Democrat James Hawley of Boise for the seat.<ref name=elhuss>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=uiwbhybr>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=hhgi>Template:Cite news</ref> Four years later, Borah easily won the other U.S. Senate seat,<ref name=bwlf>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=jsratfb>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ibesttg>Template:Cite news</ref> and served for nearly 33 years.

Death

Shoup died in Boise, Idaho at the age 68 on December 21, 1904, and was given a state funeral in Idaho.<ref name=glshpaw/><ref name=vettri>Template:Cite news</ref> He is interred in the Boise Pioneer Cemetery, alongside his wife Lena, who died in Salmon, Idaho in 1927.<ref name=mglshpdd>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=sdwelt>Template:Cite news</ref>

Legacy

George Shoup (NSHC)

In 1910, the state of Idaho donated a marble statue of Shoup to the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol.<ref name=uidlib/><ref name=goewst/><ref name=plstat>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=idhonpio >Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=itrtoglsp>Template:Cite news</ref> It was joined by a statue of Senator Borah (1865–1940) in 1947.<ref name=stofborunv>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="aoc" />

The unincorporated community of Shoup, Idaho on the Salmon River, northwest and downstream of Salmon, was named for him in 1882.<ref name=hthno>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ref386su>Template:Cite news</ref> During World War II, a Liberty ship named S.S. George L. Shoup (hull #2004) was launched at the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation in Portland in May 1943.<ref name=newshp>Template:Cite news</ref> A new men's dormitory at the University of Idaho in Moscow was named for him in 1958.<ref name=hnpblw>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=wsonshphl>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=drmtoopn>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=gom59shph>Template:Cite web</ref>

Shoup's papers were donated to the University of Idaho, having been gathered by his son William and presented by his grandson, G. Elmo Shoup.<ref name=uidlib/><ref name=fgpgid58>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=grich>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Cite web

• National Governors Association
• University of Idaho Library
• Idaho State Historical Society, Reference Series #550 (1971) Template:Webarchive
• Template:Find a Grave