John C. Anderson journal, 1866-1879

John C. Anderson was born August 1835 in Woodford County, Kentucky. During the Civil War, Anderson served as a major in the Confederate Army. After the war in 1866, Anderson traveled from St. Louis, Missouri to Virginia City, Montana, both to scout the area for possible business venture and to visit his brother Robert Anderson, who was operating a ferry on the Snake River at Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls, Idaho). Later that same year, John returned to the East and opened a bagging and cotton tie firm in St. Louis and shortly thereafter opened a business entitled John C. Anderson & Company in New York City. However, with the economic depression of the early 1870s, Anderson returned to Eagle Rock and opened a general store with his brother which later grew to become the Anderson Brothers Banking Company, reportedly the first bank established in Idaho. Although the Anderson brothers' bank offered financial services, it was not officially chartered until 1898. With the death of John's brother Robert in 1906, John retired from the banking business and returned to the eastern states. John C. Anderson died in August 1913.