George L. Shoup, Governor, U.S. Senator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_L._Shoup

George Laird Shoup (June 15, 1836 – December 21, 1904) was the first Governor of Idaho, serving a short time after statehood in 1890 before becoming one of the state's first United States Senators.

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. During the Civil War he enlisted with the independent scouts working in New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. He was commissioned colonel when the Third Colorado Cavalry was formed and took part in the Battle of Apache Canyon during the Civil War and the Sand Creek massacre during the Colorado War.

After the war Shoup moved to Virginia City, Montana Territory, and then settled in Salmon, Idaho Territory, a city that he helped found. 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.

In April 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Shoup governor of Idaho Territory. Shoup remained in the position until July 1890, when Idaho became a state and Idaho Territory ceased to exist. Shoup was elected the state's first governor in October.

Shoup served as governor of the new state for only a few weeks. In November 1890 the Idaho Legislature elected him to the United States Senate. Shoup resigned as governor in December to take his Senate seat. He was succeeded as governor by Lieutenant Governor N. B. Willey.

In the Senate 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. Shoup was reelected to a full six-year term in the Senate by the Idaho Legislature in 1894, but in 1900 he was defeated by Democrat Fred Dubois.

In 1910, the state of Idaho donated a marble statue of Shoup to the National Statuary Hall Collection.

Birth 15 Jun 1836 Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA Death 21 Dec 1904 (aged 68) Boise, Ada County, Idaho, USA Burial Pioneer Cemetery Boise, Ada County, Idaho, USA Memorial ID 6654316 · View Source Civil War Union Army Officer, 1st Idaho Governor, Idaho Senator. Born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, after attending school in Pennsylvania he moved to Illinois, where he engaged in farming. In 1859 he moved to the Colorado Territory, where he became involved in the mining industry. When the Civil War began he first became part of an independent company of scouts, operating in Colorado and the New Mexico Territory. In December 1862 he was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the 1st Colorado Volunteer Cavalry, commanded by Colonel John M. Chivington. He served with his regiment until September 20, 1864, when he was commissioned Colonel and commander of the 3rd Colorado Volunteer Cavalry. He was in command of his men on November 29, 1864 when they participated with Colonel Chivington’s 1st Colorado Cavalry in what became known as the Sand Creek Massacre. There, under Colonel Chivington overall command, United States volunteer forces attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans, killing an estimated 100 to 500 people including unarmed women and children. A month after the massacre David L. Shoup was honorably mustered out of service on December 31, 1864. After the war he moved to the Montana Territory, then to the Idaho Territory where he was elected to the territorial legislature. He was appointed as Idaho Territorial Governor in 1889 by President Benjamin Harrison, and when it became a state in July 1890, he was elected as Idaho’s first Governor. Taking office on October 1, 1890, he served only two months, having been elected as a Republican Senator from Idaho to the United States Senate. He served until 1901, serving during his time as Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, and as Chairman of the Congressional Committee on Territories. He was defeated in this attempt in 1900 to be elected to a third Senatorial term by Democrat Fred Thomas DuBois. He made an unsuccessful attempt again three years later, and then passed away at age sixty-eight in December 1904. A statue of him stands for Idaho in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

Bio by: Russ Dodge