David McConnel,
Pioneer of 1862,
At Trails End
__________

Veteran Indian Scout,
Farmer and Stockman
Dies at Home on Mesa
_________

    One of the earliest settlers of the Boise valley,  David  K. McConnel, who came through Boise in '62 and  back to remain in '63, died in Boise  September 15.   His life was closely associated with that of the development of this valley.    He was born near Dayton, 0hio, August 12, 1838.   His parents were William McConnel and Nancy Graham McConnel, both natives of  Ohio.   In 1849 he moved with his parents to Corydon, Iowa, where he grew to manhood.    A defect in his ankle led to his being refused as a volunteer at the beginning of the Civil war, and being discontented at home he decided to come west.   He left Corydon in May 1861 by ox team, traveling  with one of the largest immigrant trains crossing the plains. Leaving Omaha, the train traveled by way of the old Oregon Trail through Ft. Laramie, Ft. Steele, and Ft. Hall, reaching Boise valley in August, 1862. This train disbanded where   Baker City, Oregon now stands. Mr. McConnel go­ing with that part of the train that went to Walla Walla, where he spent the winter of 1862-63, coming back to Boise valley the following summer, where he and Nathan Samms, another pioneer, formed a partnership, establishing a stock ranch on the north side of the Payette river  near Emmett, which they occupied until 1865. Dur­ing this time Mr. McConnel engaged in stock raising and hauling freight from the Umatilla landing on the Columbia river to Boise basin mines.   In 1866 their interests were   moved   to the Boise valley, the partnership termi­nating soon after.
    A little later he located three miles west of Caldwell where he lived, un­til 1879, when he moved his stock ranch to a point near old Fort Boise, at the mouth of the Boise river, on what is now known as McConnel Island, where he lived until the latter part of 1903, moving from here to his present home on the mesa, near Boise.
                Indian Scout
    Mr. McConnel served in the capac­ity of scout during the Indian out­breaks in the early days in Idaho, al­ways taking an active part in the political and public affairs of the country. He was an inhabitant of Boise valley and vicinity for 61 years, watching the country grow from bar­ren sage brush plains to its present state of civilization.
    In 1871 Mr. McConnel went back to  Iowa where he was married to Mary M. Rogers, September 28, 1871,  with whom he lived for a period of n 52 years, and who survives him.   To this union seven children were born, five of whom survive.   They are Mrs. John L. Isenberg, Fred H., and Mervin G., of Caldwell; Mrs. J. L. Watkins of Parma; and Margaret McConnel of Boise.   Mr. McConnel was a member of a family of 11 brothers and one sister, five of the brothers and the sister surviving.    They are  as fol­lows:  Ben of Twin Falls; Frank of Pu­eblo, Colorado; George of Milton, Oregon; and Sam and Elmer of Boise; and Mrs. Mary Lawson of Los Angeles, California.   The brothers were all identified with the pioneer life of Idaho.
    Mr. McConnel died September 15, 1923, at his home on the Mesa near Boise, at the age of 85 years, and was buried September 18 in the Canyon Hill Cemetery at Caldwell, Idaho.