July 2012 Idaho Songs of the Month

It's a Long Way from Bonners Ferry (unknown songwriter, 1915).  This wonderful local take off on the popular 1910s song It’s a Long Way to Tipperary appeared in the Jan. 29, 1915 issue of the Bonners Herald newspaper.   The song was composed and  performed at a noisy public street event in Bonners Ferry celebrating the signing by Governor Alexander of legislation establishing Boundary County on January 23, 1915.  With their own county and closer county seat, citizen’s of the “Idaho chimney” would no longer have to travel to Sandpoint to perform official business.

Idaho Foxtrot (1922, Charlie and Harry Tobias and George Bennett). Sheet music for this instrumental are in the collection of the Bonner County Historical Museum in Sandpoint. The songwriters were prominent Tin Pan Alley writers and it is a strong possibility that the song was part of a theater production. The sheet music was published by Fred Fisher, Inc. of New York City. Orchestration in the score was by Lee Terry.