Trapper's Attic Records

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Boise, ID
Trapper's Attic Records

Preserving Idaho history through song. ⛏️

11/17/2025

Little Salmon River, ID – Unknown Year

Pictured here, the Erwin Cabin situated on the mouth of the Little Salmon River.

📷: Idaho State Archives Digital Collections

11/12/2025

Boise, ID – 1885

Pictured here, the Epstein & Logan enterprise located at 742 W. Main Street (roughly the current home of the Egyptian Theater today).

In March of 1873, Fred Eptsein first stepped off the stage in Boise as an accountant for the Schwabacher House out of San Francisco. Their local partner, a Mr. McDonald, had to go on a business trip and Fred was going to fill in for him.

Fred loved Boise. When McDonald moved on, Louis Schwabacher, one of the firm’s partners, came to Boise to run the store, and kept Fred here to help, and in 1879, when the Schwabacher brothers decided to break up the partnership, Louis and Fred became partners in the new Schwabacher & Company. The partnership lasted about six years.

In 1885 Swabacher & Co. closed out its stock and closed its doors, but Fred stayed in Boise and found a new partner in Leonard Logan.

Leonard Logan had grown up in the mercantile business. His father was Tom Logan, who had been active in helping build Boise City since its first days. Epstein & Logan opened in the fall of 1885 after Fred returned from a buying trip back east to supply their new store.

Their partnership lasted until 1890. After they dissolved their partnership, Leonard stayed in business under his own name for about a year, and then sold out to Falks, or as it was known then Falk-Bloch. He then turned around and bought out the Spencer & Lynch shoe store. My guess is they are the fellows standing in the doorway.

📷📝: Bob Hartman/Idaho History 1800 to Present

#1885

11/10/2025

Experimenting with stereo recording in the lab with these two monsters. Thanks again to for letting us borrow their mic for the weekend! 🎙️

11/08/2025

Thunder Mountain Mining Camp, ID – 1902

The 1902 rush to the Thunder Mountain district deep in the heart of Idaho wilderness (east of Yellow Pine) resulted in one of the West’s most dramatic survival tales. Thousands of miners joined the rush just as winter was setting in, and hundreds were stranded at various points throughout the region. Lack of food and severe winter conditions threatened hundreds of men with starvation and death, and desperate measures were taken with dogsled teams to supply the area with food and supplies.

📷📝:

#1902

11/07/2025

📣🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛ MERCH DROP

Introducing a new design from Trapper’s Attic Records. Inspired by the tandem terrors that chew up the studio’s taxidermy and vintage mic cables. Record easy knowing your studio is vermin-free.

🎁 Shoot me a DM or email [email protected] if you want some fresh new duds.

11/05/2025

Lewiston, ID – 1904-1905

Henry Fair arrived in Lewiston in September 1898 to join his wife Annie, who operated an art studio on Main Street. For a decade, Fair took some of the most iconic photographs of Lewiston: its businesses, churches, schools, and homes.

After Annie’s death, Fair moved to Spokane in August 1908 and became a city inspector and curator of the old Spokane Museum. He died in 1927.

No confirmed photograph of Fair has been found, but this image carries clues.

This is the only photograph in his portfolio showing a man in full face, posing for the camera. The photo dates from circa 1904-1905, when Fair would have been 48 or 49.

There is one more subtle clue. Based on his written notations, Fair was left-handed. The man in this photo has his watch in his left vest pocket, which a left-handed man would do.

His work and that of Bruce Burns (who operated a photo studio here from about 1904-1928) would make for a very beautiful coffee table book.

📷📝: Historic Lewiston, Idaho

#1904

11/04/2025

Troy, ID – 1886

Pictured here, Hank Skeel’s sawmill. The sawmill was located on the Chaney place near the Bethel Church on American Ridge about five miles south of Troy on the road to Kendrick.

📷: Clifford M. Ott Collection

#1886

10/30/2025

Gilmore, ID – 1965

Sure, this photo breaks the unofficial “only photos from before 1960” rule at Trapper’s Attic, but shots of Gilmore are hard to come, by so I’m letting it slide.

📸: Skip Myers/Idaho History 1800 to Present

#1965

10/28/2025

Rattlesnake Station, ID – Unknown Year

For those unfamiliar with Rattlesnake Station, this historic stage stop was once an important stopping point and alleged hot springs destination just outside of Mountain Home. (If you’re traveling along Highway 20 from Mountain Home to Fairfield, you’re following this old wagon route).

Rattlesnake Station was founded in August 1864, when Ben Holladay inaugurated his
Overland Stage Line between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Walla Walla, Washington.

📷: John Hiler
📝: Idaho State Historical Society ()

10/22/2025

Welcome to Trapper’s Attic Records, the one-stop roots music laboratory made proudly in Idaho. The Idaho Territory once was — and still is — a geographical desert, often misunderstood and bypassed by the rest of the Western population boom, thus becoming a safe haven for outlaws, entrepreneurial opportunists, and frontier men and women who simply sought a life untethered from the rest of the world, an Idaho tradition that persists to day.

My mission is to put Idaho on the map (musically speaking) with original songs and stories that capture the essence of this rugged state, its people, and the folks who still honor that old-time spirit with their musicianship and songwriting.

▪️𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑜
▪️𝑀𝑖𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔/𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔
▪️𝐴𝘭𝑏𝘶𝑚 𝐴𝘳𝑡𝘸𝑜𝘳𝑘
▪️𝐶𝘰𝑛𝘤𝑒𝘳𝑡 𝑃𝘰𝑠𝘵𝑒𝘳𝑠

10/21/2025

Boise, ID – 1874 to 1893

Pictured here, the Central Hotel on the southeast corner of 7th (Capital Blvd.) and Idaho Streets in Boise.

The building was formerly a hotel called Hart’s Exchange, built by brothers Thomas and William Hart in 1866. It opened to the public on the 24th of November. Boarding was $14 a week, $20 for room and board.

The hotel held the first Territorial Legislative session after the Capital was taken from Lewiston, so I guess it was actually Idaho’s second Capitol Building. It also held sessions in 1876, 1880, and 1882.

The photo of the hotel shows Mrs. Bush on the balcony at the far left. The gentleman in the buggy is her father, Milton Kelly, owner of the Idaho Daily Statesman.

📷📝: Hugh Hartman/Idaho History 1800 to Present

10/20/2025

Arrowrock Hotel – 1912

Pictured here, the Arrowrock Hotel in the village of Arrowrock at the base of the dam, 1912-1915. This photograph is a negative, destroyed after being stored in a shed in Eugene, Oregon, according to sources.

📷:

#1912

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Boise, ID

Website

http://www.trappersattic.com/

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