Twin Falls County ID Archives Obituaries.....Parker, James A. January 1, 1912 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/id/idfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Storey chrissy@magiclink.com November 5, 2005, 4:16 pm Twin Falls Newspaper Jan 2 1912 and Hollister Hearald Jan 5 1912 Twin Falls News Jan 2 Tuesday 1912--- James A. Parker,aged 62 Years,died at his home in this city,Monday evening,Jan 1 1912,after a lingering illness.Mr Parker leaves to mourn him his wife,Mrs Hannah M.Parker and two sons.The remains are being held at Walker's undertaking parlors.The notice of the funeral will be given later. Hollister Herald Jan 5 Friday 1912 As Pioneers and Scout,Mr Parker was participant and Witness of many thrilling Experiences-Narrowly Escaped Custer massacre. ____________ Veteran of wars,30 years a scout and frontiersman in the west,ranchman and student,James A. Parker,aged 62 years,died at midnight Monday in Twin Falls,succumbing,after several weeks illness,to cancer of the stomach. Mr. Parker was probley the most notable personage of this section.Educated for the ministry and later studying law,at an early age he enlisted and saw service in the Civil War.Some thirty years ago he came west to Idaho,then the frontier,a veritable wilderness infested with red men. As a guide and scout in the service of the government,he was engaged for a number of years fighting the indians.He was one of the Texas Rangers. He was with Custer the day before the memorable massacre,and had only escaped the common fate of that troop by a mere chance.It happened that sometime before he had become acquainted with the country through which they were passing having been,he said,with a band of indians stealing horses through that section,and he alone of the scouts was familiar with the pass through which the troop must advance.A detachment under Reno was sent ahead the day before the massacre,and Mr.Parker,who was one of Custer's staff,was sent ahead to lead the way.He returned a little later to the scene of the holocaust and helped to bury Custer's body. In the pursuit of peace on the frontier,Mr.Parker was scarcely less distinguished than in warfare.He was fond of relating how on one occasion he was summoned to plead a case involving a land title before a federal court.He was at the time helping to build a chimney.Not stopping to change his attire,Mr.Parker appeared before the court,plead his case and won it.A photographer in the assemblage snapped him as he stood,statute book in hand,in jumper and overalls,laying down the law before the judge.The photograph was widely circulated among members of the bar,not a little to their amusement. Mr.Parker was a personal witness to the transformation of the sage brush covered waste of Idaho,which,he said,when he first saw it,could never be of any use for anything,into their present development,and he was ever enthusiastic regarding its future which he considered of almost limitless possibility.For the past three years he resided on his ranch at Alta,Idaho.In the foothills south of Hollister.When a post office was recently established there,Mr.Parker was appointed post master. Mr.Parker is the author of several books descriptive of the events of the pioneering days of which he was a witness and in which he was a participant. Arrangements have been made for the publication of several of them. The widow and two sons survive Mr.Parker's demise,Interment was made at Mr.Parker's request at his ranch at Alta today. Additional Comments: Jame's Parker's ranch at Alta is near the Parker Springs in Shoshone Basin.The settlement of Alta no longer exsists.His grave has no headstone at his request. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/id/twinfalls/obits/p/parker4ob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/idfiles/ File size: 4.1 Kb