James Henry Hawley was the ninth Governor of Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

 from 1911 until 1913. Hawley also served as mayor of Boise from 1903 to 1905.

Biography

He was born on January 17, 1847 in Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

. In 1893, James Hawley suggested to Coeur d'Alene area miners that they should form a federation for protection from the mine owners. More than a decade later he would be on the other side, seeking to destroy that very federation.

In 1907, Hawley joined William Borah

William Edgar Borah

William Edgar Borah was a prominent Republican attorney and longtime United States Senator from Idaho noted for his oratorical skills and isolationist views. One of his nicknames later in life was "The Lion of Idaho."...

 as prosecution attorneys in a trial of leaders of the Western Federation of Miners

Western Federation of Miners

The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...

, charged with conspiracy in the 1905 assassination of Frank Steunenberg

Frank Steunenberg

Frank Steunenberg was the fourth Governor of the State of Idaho, serving from 1897 until 1901. He is perhaps best known for his 1905 assassination by one-time union member Harry Orchard, who was also a paid informant for the Cripple Creek Mine Owners' Association...

, the former governor of Idaho. Harry Orchard

Albert Horsley

Albert Edward Horsley , best known by the pseudonym Harry Orchard, was a miner convicted of the 1905 political assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg...

 had been detained for the crime, and Pinkerton Agent James McParland

James McParland

James McParland,There are various spellings of James McParland's name. His stenographer, Morris Friedman, wrote a book about him — as "McParland." The Pinkerton Labor Spy, New York, Wilshire Book Co., 1907). also known as James McParlan,The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor...

 handled the investigation and arrests of the union leaders. All were acquitted or had charges dropped; Orchard, however, was convicted and sentenced to hang. His sentence was commuted to life in an Idaho prison.

In 1920 Hawley published the four-volume History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains, an expansive history and collection of biographical sketches.

James Hawley died on August 3, 1929 in Boise, Idaho

Boise, Idaho

Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...

, aged 82.