Frank R. Gooding: From English Immigrant to Idaho Sheep Baron and Senator

Who was Frank R. Gooding?

Frank Robert Gooding was born September 16, 1859, in Tiverton, Devon, England, and died June 24, 1928, in Gooding, Idaho. He emigrated with his family in 1867, built one of the largest sheep operations in Idaho, served two terms as governor and went to the U.S. Senate in 1921. The Hall of Great Westerners biography lists him in the 1958 class.

One note on dates: the museum's page header gives his death year as 1929, but its biography, the National Governors Association and Wikipedia all give 1928, so this profile uses 1928.

From Michigan to Idaho sheep country

The Gooding family settled on a farm near Paw Paw, Michigan. In 1877 he moved to Mount Shasta, California, where he farmed and mined, and in 1881 he went to the Idaho Territory. The Wikipedia article on Gooding says he became one of the largest sheep owners in Idaho, and the museum agrees that he started in sheep ranching.

He settled in Ketchum, where he worked as a mail carrier and in the firewood and charcoal business, then moved south in 1888 to the area near present-day Gooding. The sources do not give his flock sizes, so we do not state any.

Founding a town and a school

The city of Gooding and Gooding County are named for him. He also donated land for the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind. The school had been founded in Boise in 1906, burned on December 8, 1908, and was re-established in Gooding, accepting students in September 1910.

The sources do not say what he paid for the land or how the town was laid out, so those details are left out.

Governor of Idaho

Gooding rose through Republican politics: Lincoln County party chairman in 1896, a seat in the Idaho Legislature elected in 1898, state Republican Party chairman from 1900 to 1904 and president of the state senate. The National Governors Association profile lists his two terms as governor from January 3, 1905, to January 4, 1909, after election in 1904 and reelection in 1907. The State Capitol in Boise was built during his administration.

His time in office is also remembered for the Steunenberg case. Former governor Frank Steunenberg was killed by a bomb outside his Caldwell home in December 1905. Gooding approved a request for the Pinkerton Agency, and detective James McParland led the investigation. Western Federation of Miners leaders Bill Haywood, Charles Moyer and George Pettibone were arrested. The investigation was financed partly by mine owners, and President Theodore Roosevelt sharply criticized the arrangement as the grossest impropriety. Haywood, Moyer and Pettibone were found not guilty, while Harry Orchard was convicted. Wikipedia describes Gooding's response to the criticism as severely distorted, and says he continued accepting mine-owner money.

U.S. Senator and the Mountain Time bill

Gooding lost the 1918 special election to appointed Democrat John Nugent by 970 votes, then beat Nugent in 1920 with 54.1 percent. He took office on January 15, 1921, about seven weeks early, after Nugent resigned for an appointment to the Federal Trade Commission. He was reelected in 1926.

He sponsored the Senate bill that moved southern Idaho into the Mountain Time Zone, with the dividing line at the Salmon River. He also feuded with fellow Republican William Borah. He had cancer surgery at the Mayo Clinic in May 1928 and died at his daughter's home in Gooding, aged 68. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Gooding.

Learn more

To explore sheep ranching and the people around it, read a farm.FM story about Idaho sheep ranching and see the ranching section of farm.FM. The Idaho State Capitol in Boise and the town of Gooding are the most visible reminders of his career.