Looking Back: Sharp-shooting momma defends kids from rattler in 1911, and more crazy local history!

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Sept. 15 to Sept. 21 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

BLACKFOOT — A woman shot a rattlesnake inside a home where children were also present, The Bingham County News reported on Sept. 21, 1911.

“Mrs. Fred Bennett, wife of the champion roper of this part of the country, is her husband’s equal in accomplishments,” the paper wrote.

Bennett was at their home in Blackfoot one evening when her husband was gone. She heard a rattling noise and looked around only to find a huge diamond rattler on the rafters of the cabin trying to slither its way down.

“The lady’s first thought was to run out and call her brother but decided that it would be dangerous to leave the children in the house with the mammoth reptile,” the article reads.

Instead, Bennett grabbed a gun that was hanging on the wall. As she did so, the snake struck twice at one of the children and then drew itself back onto the rafters.

Bennett quickly aimed the gun at the snake and shot it. It fell to the floor where it was discovered the bullet had gone through the snake’s body three times. The snake measured five feet and eight inches long.

“This is the longest snake heard of in the country for many years,” the paper stated. “In fact, it was about the first that had been seen for some time.”

1976-2000

POCATELLO — A first-degree murder charge was filed against a 33-year-old Pocatello man also accused of attacking a Pocatello policeman with an ice pick, the Idaho State Journal reported on Sept. 15, 1977.

Khalil Kelly Thomas was accused of killing his 62-year-old mother, Mabel Thomas, with who Thomas was reported to have been living with.

Before police discovered the woman’s body lying in the hallway of their home, police arrested Thomas earlier in the day on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. This was in connection with him allegedly attacking an approaching officer.

Police had shown up at Thomas’s house after tracing the registration of a car that had struck a nearby house.

He was taken to Bannock Memorial Hospital where he was recovering from what “may have been” a self-inflicted stab wound in the chest.

Thomas was reported to be under police guard at the hospital. Bannock County Prosecutor Garth Pincock left open the possibility of an arraignment at Thomas’ hospital bedside if he was not released within a few days.

Police Chief John Perkins said Thomas had been treated for mental problems at State Hospital South in Blackfoot in recent years.

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