Unusual was the fact that Bovill, a raw town in the Idaho backwoods was founded by the son of an Englishman. This one item is the most widely publicized fact about Bovill history. Unusual people too, were Hugh and Charlotte Bovill.

But the beginning concerns a family named Warren. This family settled on a corner of the meadow which was to bear the Warren name. The site where they built their home would lie at the center of the future town

No one could tell me how, nor exactly when, R. F. (Francis) Warren came. By pack animal, one would suspect since it was hardly likely - even though the woods were fairly open that a way was yet ready for wagons. Evidence suggests the year was 1890.

Francis Warren was born in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, on August 13, 1833. After a first marriage the death of his wife left him with a boy named Ellis. He then married a girl named Sylinda Pachel, and to her were born two more children. Mary Emma and Ransom Warren. Mary's birth date was October 9, 1867.

This much was learned from Moscow Cemetery records and from Mrs. Ward Mabel Gano. Mrs. Gano, who lives in Moscow, is a daughter-in4aw of Mary Warren. The Warrens' family of five moved West, locating at Almota, Washington where Warren raised cattle.

Mary Emma Warren married Frank Wesley Gano in Almota in May 1890. Frank was a member of the pioneer Gano family of Almota and of Moscow, Idaho. Because of her marriage, Mary did not actually live at Warren Meadows, soon to be occupied by her father. But she became a frequent visitor of the meadows.

Mabel Gano was the former Mabel Drury of the Drury clan from Texas Ridge, near Troy. Her late husband, Ward Gano, was the son of Mary and Frank Gano and therefore the grandson of Francis and Sylinda Warren. Mabel Gano's brother was John Drury, a pioneer of the Potato Hill area at Deary.

The presence of the Warren family at Almota inspires a story that Francis Warren was related to the famous stage coach driver, Felix Warren. Felix operated a line of Concord coaches out of Lewiston, Colfax and Almota in the 1870 and 80's. Commenting on this possibility, Mabel Gano says "Definitely no relationship."

With an eye on the cattle range, natural hay land and doubtless on the charm of the place, Francis Warren moved to his chosen meadow. His log cabin on this homestead was built with craftsmanship and taste.

Warren kept a good home and fine cattle. A story is confirmed both by Frank Mallory and Floyd Lawrence that he kept in his yard a whooping crane. As sassy as any gander, this magnificent bird raised a great racket of protest ("whoor - whoor") at the approach of a stranger.

The son Ellis Warren was highly thought of by Russ Lawrence, whose son Ellis was named for him.

Rance Warren was a flamboyant man. as remembered by Frank Mallory. There were quite a few lady school teachers within riding distance and Rance liked to call on them. When he went a'courting, he rode a fine horse, wore trousers with bells dangled on the legs and slung a guitar on his back told this story. Mabel Gano was delighted. "Typical" she said. "He was always the lady's man."

Rance a powerful man, once had a fight with M. S. Perry, a bearded homesteader-- also no weakling-- of the Helmer area. Rance grabbed Perry's beard and held on. When his hand finally came away, it held not only a fistful of the beard, but also a good-sized piece of hide from Perry's face.

Francis Warren died in 1899 and was buried in a Hillcrest lot in the Moscow cemetery. A tombstone, two or three hundred feet east of the work house, marks the site. It is assumed that Sylinda Warren, who was buried in 1921, lies in an unmarked grave beside him. Six lots were bought by H. F. Warren (obviously Rance)in two separate purchases in 1899 and 1901.

From this date forward, there is no record of the half-brother, Ellis. However, Gladys MaGee remembers his daughter, Maude. Mrs. MaGee (daughter of Walter Jam and Lela Lamphear Jam) is the granddaughter of Josh Lamphear, a homesteader on Hog Meadows. She says that Maude, a motherless girl lived for a time at the meadow with the family of her grandfather.

Hugh Bovill showed up to buy the Warren homestead in 1899. I have parts of the story from Piccadilly and a Tophat (36) by Gwen Bovill, based on the diary of Charlotte (Hugh's wife), and other parts from land records in Moscow.

Asked by "Lottie" (Charlotte) when Hugh would get the land, he replied. "Not until next year because Mr. Warren has to get his papers from the Government clearing his title to the homestead."

Francis Warren's right to the land was recorded in 1899. but it appears the title was not yet official. The confusion here seems to lie in legal details. In the same year the title passed from Francis to his wife Sylinda, and -again in 1899 - from Sylinda to R. F. (Rance) Warren and then to Hugh Bovill. But it appears all obstacles to the title did not clear nor did Hugh Bovill take possession until 1901.

From the homestead Sylinda and her son Rance Warren moved to Moscow, where for a number of years Rance ran a theater. A dashing man, a great story teller, and still a lady's man. Rance is said to have had quite an eye for the show girls. He married a girl named Mildred Gibson of the Troy area - described as a beautiful woman. A son Ward, born to them, later lived in Seattle. But the marriage ended in divorce. Rance Warren remarried, and after that disappears from the scene.

Hugh Bovill was the son of Sir William Bovill, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. In a large family, he was the youngest of 16 children. English boys of titled families. except the oldest. who inherits. must make their own mark. With this in mind and seeking also adventure, he found what he wished in the American West.

Charlotte Emily Robinson. who became Hugh's wife. was the daughter of a Canon in York Minster, England. Her father served also as Commissioner of Education for Queen Victoria both in England and Wales. Notably. Charlotte was also a direct descendant of King Edward III of England. Her family was granted land in Wales. called Plas Chambre. BV William the Conqueror. Sketching and oil painting figured among her talents and education.

Shortly after finishing his university training. Hugh Bovill made his first trip the United States, where his mind apparently filled with dreams of life on the frontier. When he returned to England, he was assigned to help supervise the family tea plantation in Ceylon. He did not much like it. When he returned to England. it was not long before he packed again to go to America. In doing so. he went to a life much different from the one he knew. In a man educated in England and Germany. acquainted with people such as Franz Litz the pianist and Lily Langtry the actress. accustomed to a gay life. one may expect to find other dominating interests. Hugh Bovill's fascination with the wilderness seems to have been inborn.

Going to Colorado, he started a horse ranch with a fellow countryman. Lord Ogilvie. In true western tradition, he eventually became aware of "too many fences." He then moved to the Sand Hills of Nebraska. where he developed a large stock ranch. Located next to a Sioux reservation. he also learned to live near the Indian.

Charlotte Robinson arrived in the United States in 1884 to visit a sister living in Ouray. Colorado and a brother in Nebraska. In Denver. she took training as a professional nurse. This training was a boon in later years. Later, in Nebraska. she lived 84 miles from the nearest town in a sod shanty - another boon. because it adapted her to the frontier. It was while she was in Nebraska that she met and married Hugh Bovill. Their two daughters were horn there, Dorothy in 1895 and Gwen in 1897.

Hugh joined in drives of cattle and horses, and it was such a drive that brought him first to Montana and Idaho. In 1899 he decided he would find a home in this clean. pure wilderness. Charlotte admonished him only that his baby girls should not live so far from civilization as to lack medical care and schools. This admonishment he did not hear well, it seems. Or more likely. in the early days among people who thought hardly at all of solitude and distance. the meaning of the words was not what it 'would be today.

The train bore him to different places and finally to Moscow. At once the country took his fancy. When he saw Warren Meadow, he thought he had found paradise. Then came a preliminary negotiation for the land, and Bovill went to bring his wife and children.

After affairs were settled in Nebraska roughly a year later, the family appeared in Idaho, The winter of the years 1900-1901 was already at hand, and it was too late to occupy the Warren homestead. So they stayed in Moscow until the weather was fit and a title for the land was secure, "Francis and Sylinda Warren were granted the meadows on January 2. 1901." says the Daily Idahonian (March 25, 1954). "The document was signed by President Grover Cleveland. Less than a month later, January 19. the property was purchased by Hugh and Charlotte Bovill." The date cited seems to be well over a year after the actual purchase, but is coincident with legal ownership.

First was a move into the comfortable Warren cabin. Next was construction of a new cabin, and the beginning of a ranch. The ranch was started with cattle and horses brought from Nebraska. Things went tranquilly along this course for perhaps two or three years before Hugh was faced with a subtle but significant change.

One thing was a demand by sportsmen for facilities that would give them access to the great hunting and fishing. The second was a sudden, increased demand for homesteads, amid a growing awareness of value in the timber, The arrival of timber cruisers, noted in 1903. was the thing that foretold the future.

Bovill met a growing need by providing lodge and way house, which would be known as the Bovill Hotel. The hotel grew with time, as did the demand. Until the railway engineers came, most of the people who could afford these services were from educated and social-minded families. To accommodate the homesteaders. Hugh opened a store. In 1907, he was appointed postmaster.

"During the summer months a few years after he established his resort, he enlarged his hotel and catered to 50 or 75 people during the summer season," reports the Moscow News Review after a 1934 interview. 'The stream that runs through Bovill now was then full of the finest fish in the world, Mr. Bovill claims. Many of the vacationers at Bovill would hire a guide and pack train and go back into the woods for several days.