Looking back: Man dies after allegedly eating pork and beans, and local schools being searched for two missing Colorado children

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of April 7 to April 13 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

BLACKFOOT — A 31-year-old man died after allegedly eating pork and beans, which poisoned him, The Blackfoot Optimist reported on April 13, 1916.

Arthur Steffins, a native of Sweden and son-in-law of Mrs. Sarah E. Williams, who had a small farm about a mile and a half southeast of Blackfoot, was the deceased.

His relatives insisted that his death was caused by his eating pork and beans, which not only poisoned him, but also his wife and their 6-month-old baby who was being nursed. His wife and child both recovered.

“After eating the alleged fatal mess of pork and beans about two weeks ago, deceased was never able to eat anything or leave his bed until death relieved him of his suffering,” the article states.

Dr. Hoover, who attended to Steffins, said his death was caused by something he had eaten.

1926-1950

SOUTHEAST IDAHO — All schools in southern Idaho were being searched for two Colorado children who were missing, The Rigby Star reported on April 11, 1929.

The paper said the parents “lost trace” of their children — Griffith Payton, 7, and Grace “Tiny” Payton, 5 — the fall before while they were on their way to Idaho from Colorado Springs.

The searching of schools was officially launched April 1, 1929, by the state superintendent of public instruction. Request that the search by instituted was made by Ellas S. Woodruff, president of the Western States Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Colorado Springs.

In his letter asking for help, Woodruff said the children left their parents in Colorado Springs to travel with friends to Laramie, Wyoming. They were to wait for their parents to pick them up and continue their journey.

“The parents found it impossible to make the trip, and when they sent to get the children, they had disappeared,” the article reads. “They were later heard of in a Wyoming lumber camp and are now believed to be attending school in Southern Idaho, cared for by some family.”

1951-1975

RIGBY — A local man was honored for working 35 years with the same company without ever taking a single sick day, The Rigby Star reported on April 10, 1958.

James L. Brown was a local Conoco oil distributor who joined the Conoco Company on April 10, 1923.

During his career, he drove a truck thousands of miles without a single accident, which the paper noted as being “quite a record” as well.

Brown was up for retirement two years earlier but did not retire. At that time, he received the company’s service plaque.

He was an active member of the Lion’s Club and American Legion and had served on the Jefferson County Selective Service board for the past 17 years.

1976-2000

POCATELLO — A 32-year-old Rexburg man plead guilty to stealing radio equipment from national forests, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on April 13, 1977.

Louis Leon Reynolds told a federal judge he didn’t want an attorney and then pleaded guilty to an eight-count grand jury indictment.

Reynolds, a former Forest Service employee but a farm laborer at the time he was facing the charges, confessed to stealing the equipment from three national forests over four and a half years.

The paper explained the usual procedure for a person wishing to plead guilty is to have his attorney bargain with the U.S. attorney for dismissal of some counts in return for a guilty plea.

Judge Marion Callister said it might not be fair to sentence Reynolds to all eight counts, considering the usual practice.

He accepted the plea but instructed Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Montgomery to confer with Reynolds about possible dismissal of some counts.

A sentencing was set for April 26, 1977. Reynolds, who was released on bond, faced a maximum possible sentence of $10,000 fine or 10 years in prison on each count.