Who Wrote Down The Idaho Constitution?

By Samantha Wright

Published March 10, 2020 at 1:11 PM MDT

Hettie Cahalan, back row, second from left, was a clerk at the 1889 Idaho Constitutional Convention. She penned the final draft, as well as the letter urging Congress to make Idaho a state that is bound with the constitution.

We know about the delegates back in 1889 who wrote Idaho’s constitution. But who actually wrote it down, putting pen to paper to capture it for posterity?

That’s the question the Idaho State Archives gets the most when it comes to the constitution. But no one knew the answer...until now.

Idaho Public Television decided to solve this mystery. With the help of a detective from Ada County Sheriff’s office, they uncovered the person who wrote it all down.

Philip Stoffle recently retired from the Ada County Sherrif’s office where he investigated identity theft and check fraud using hand-writing samples, and joins Idaho Matters live along with IPTV producer Bill Manny and Collections Archivist for the Idaho State Archives Layce Johnson.

Have a question or comment for the show? Tweet @KBSX915 using #IdahoMatters

Who Wrote Down The Idaho Constitution?

You make stories like this possible.