Going on my 5^th year as Museum Curator for the Eagle Historical Museum, I have heard of some amazing tales in my time; all told by well-meaning folks. But over the years, I have heard rumors and have had people straight out tell me that Wyatt Earp had a saloon here in Eagle. I had never heard that before, but in history, nothing is out of the realm of possibility, so I did some research. Here is what I found.
Wyatt Earp and his brother, Jim did indeed open a tent saloon in a city that had the word “eagle” in its name; Eagle City was a mining camp that sprung up in 1881 along the Coeur D’Alene river, in Idaho’s panhandle.
The well-known gunfighter had come to Idaho just three years after the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral. Earp arrived in Eagle City in January of 1884, but left a short 8 months later in September, headed for Colorado. During that time, he did indeed set up a tent saloon and served liquor to the gold miners. A more permanent town developed at a better location just up the river from Eagle City, a small town called Murray. 
Wyatt Earp's short stay in Idaho left no legacy, except that Eagle City was once the home of a Wild West legend. With that small tent city long gone, it’s easy to imagine that our community could have actually been home to Wyatt and his saloon, but unfortunately, we are about 407 miles too far south to claim that honor.

Inversions, cold weather, and snowy days are a thing of the past and flowers and sunshine are in our future. Two of my favorite seasons in Idaho are spring and autumn and when spring hits everyone has the same reaction, they stumble out of their homes letting the warm sun hit their skin, lifting the corners of their mouths up to their eyes. People can’t help but smile as they walk to their favorite coffee shop or ride their bikes down the Greenbelt.
One of my favorite spring memories is when my mom and I would go to the local library and pick out a book. If anyone knows me I have a tendency to be indecisive. The task of what book to choose would take at least an hour. Then we might head to the local deli to pick up lunch. This task might take me only thirty minutes to decide which veggies will adorn my egg salad sandwich (I have a very patient mother). With our books in hand and our meals in our bag we would head to the park. I would sit nibbling on my sandwich, flipping through the pages, and soaking up the adventure contained in those pages. Taking breaks to watch the squirrels chase each other up and down the old, large, weathered trees. To this day whenever I get a chance I grab my book and head to the park. How can you have a bad day at the park? Children are playing, squirrels are chattering and at every moment people around you are creating memories. We at the City of Eagle, in the Parks & Recreation Department, are busy preparing events for families. We love giving these families the opportunities to create memories. I love my job because I get a chance to create a space where our community can come together and thrive.
A couple of these events are the Eagle Saturday Market and the Gazebo Concert Series. The Eagle Saturday Market has begun and we would love to greet you from 9:30AM-2PM. The Gazebo Concert Series will begin May 26^th and will continue through September. We will be bringing you live music on these last Thursdays of the month, 6:30PM-9:00PM. In conjunction with the Gazebo Concert Series we will have Night Market 4:00PM-9:00PM where we hope you can fill your bellies.
As spring turns into summer it is my hope and intention that your family can enjoy sitting with your friends at Heritage Park on Thursday evenings, allowing the tunes to dance in your ears and through your bones. That you can enjoy walking through your market on Saturday mornings conversing with neighbors and old friends. To have an opportunity to breathe in the spring air and make some memories.

Spring is here, and at the Eagle Public Library that means one thing -- the Library’s Summer Reading Program is fast approaching. It’s a great opportunity to help your school age children maintain or improve their current reading levels and avoid the “summer slide”, the decline of reading skills that occurs during the summer months. This summer, your elementary school aged children can contract with the Library to read an agreed upon number of books. If they meet their reading contract, they’ll be invited to a special program in early August to recognize their accomplishment with prizes and treats. Registration for this fun and easy way to keep reading throughout the Summer begins this month. For middle school and high school readers, there’s a separate program in which participants are entered into drawings for prizes – the more someone reads, the greater their chance of winning. In addition to the reading program, there are many special programs during the Summer, including elementary school aged themed programs such as Masterpiece for Kids, storytellers, sled dogs, jellyfish in a jar, and tie-dye fun. For teens, there’s Instagram art, henna tattoos, board games, and more. The Library’s digital collections continue to grow, and with mobile devices, you’re able to take the library with you. The Library’s ebook collection is always expanding. To borrow an ebook, start at eaglepubliclibrary.org then click on the E-Books button. There are thousands of ebooks to borrow. Ebooks are never overdue and there are never fines.
The Library’s subscription to Zinio offers digital downloads of your favorite magazines. To use the collection of over 160 magazine titles, start at eaglepubliclibrary.org then click on the E-Magazines button. Once checked-out, the magazine never has to be returned – it’s yours forever. 
Freegal, the Library’s music download service, now offers the ability to stream commercial-free music collection of over 9 million songs. With your Eagle Public Library card, you can stream music for three hours per day per card AND download three songs a week. To stream or download music from Freegal, visit the library’s webpage (eaglepubliclibrary.org) and click on the Music link. Freegal is also available on mobile devices.
Programming highlights for May include:

These are just a few of the events occurring at your Eagle Public Library during May. For a complete listing, see the Library's calendar and eaglepubliclibrary.org.