After Garrett Sullivan arrived in Pocatello in the early-1890s in search of gold, he eventually decided to make the bustling town his home. He began building a house in 1893, but it appears Sullivan never occupied it, as he began renting out the property the same year to W. H. Remington, who operated a local brokerage company. Some have speculated Sullivan’s wife had a role in the building’s construction, making it sentimentally associated with her such that her unexpected death just weeks before completion kept Sullivan from enjoying the house. In 1894, Sullivan successfully ran for Bannock County sheriff on the Republican ticket, serving one term until 1898. A few years later, in 1904, Sullivan sold his home to Edward C. Kinney, a local rancher. Sullivan subsequently traveled across the Rocky Mountains as a miner, though he occasionally visited Pocatello between trips. Despite its melancholy beginnings, the Sullivan-Kinney House is an appealing example of Second Empire architecture. It is surprising that Sullivan constructed his intended home in this style because Second Empire’s influence declined in the late-1880s while other architectural styles received more attention by 1893 and 1894, especially in the western United States. The outside is curiously asymmetrical, but the entry tower and bay window balance each other, preventing the exterior from appearing unproportioned. Interestingly, the walls are constructed from locally sourced sandstone, giving it a slightly bulky and rugged appearance. Its rougher edge, however, is softened by the ornamental columns used within the entryway and the elegant mansard roof cut in a pattern having the appearance of fish-scales. Two triangular-topped windows placed in the roof face the street, and three others are present on each side. Mansard roofs, besides standing out visually, also make practical sense, as they allow more living space upstairs, unlike sloping roofs, which form a triangle, providing minimal room. The Sullivan-Kinney House is much smaller than other Second Empire homes, at only 1,283 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Its small size is cleverly masked by the steep mansard roof, elongating the overall structure. The Kinney family lived in the house until the 1940s and did not construct add-ons to the property. However, in the 1970s, the contemporary owner removed part of the ornamented cast-iron fencing topping the roof, called cresting, intending to re-cast the damaged areas. Such a project never materialized, it seems, as current photographs contain no cresting whatsoever. Replacement of some sandstone possibly occurred, as the National Register listing mentions their deterioration and erosion. The most noticeable adjustment is perhaps the alteration of the roof shingles, which changed from the fish-scale pattern to square for several years before reverting to their original design in the 2010s. The Sullivan-Kinney House is one of twelve Second Empire homes extant in Idaho and the only one constructed with stone, making it significant in Idaho’s architectural history. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 by its owner and is not open to the public for visitors.

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After the Native Americans were forced onto reservations, the U.S. Congress was concerned that most tribes had not discontinued collective living. In response, the Dawes Act was passed in 1887 to “allot” reservation lands to individual owners. This meant that the reservations would be divided among the tribe members so that necessity would require them to adopt agriculture. Each reservation was thus partitioned, including Fort Hall.

In 1868, Fort Hall was comprised of 1.8 million acres for approximately 4,500 residents. Between 1888 and 1902, the Shoshone-Bannock were pressured to cede away nearly a third of the reservation to the growing town of Pocatello. With the remaining land, each tribe member would receive a certain share. Married couples received 160 acres, single adults 80 acres, and children 40 acres. All of the “excess” was sold by the government. Before any of this could happen, the Shoshone-Bannock requested that all properties have access to irrigation. The first of the irrigation projects was completed in 1911. Between 1911 and 1913, half a million acres were allotted to Shoshone-Bannock tribe members. The remaining 600,000 acres were subsequently sold to non-Natives for a fraction of their worth.

Land allotment was divisive in its implementation, but the controversy surrounding the policy has not disappeared in the intervening century. For some, division of tribal lands into individual allotments was an unmitigated economic disaster. Thrown into the turbulence of crop prices and agriculture, many either went hungry or had to sell their land. For another segment of the population, allotment proved an opportunity to successfully experiment with ranching and farming. Local newspapers tended to exaggerate the truth with regards to both the successes and failures of allotment, so it is difficult to reach a historical consensus.

Today, 97 percent of Fort Hall is under the control of the tribe or individual Shoshone-Bannock owners. These lands are farmed individually or rented out to local farmers.

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