Carrey shot only one bighorn sheep, but had accrued somewhere between 75 and 110 skulls by the time he was in his 70s. He found many on hunts that he guided, and others were gifted to him.

Carrey would carve some horns into belt buckles or spurs for friends and family. Boggan’s late wife, Sharon, received the last buckle he fashioned before his 2002 death. Boggan keeps the small, horseshoe-decorated treasure safe wrapped in a handkerchief, now.

On the horns he kept whole, Carrey wrote the date, location and name of the person who brought it to him.

In the O’Connor center, one skull bears the name of Buckskin Bill, who was often called “one of the last mountain men” of the American West. He was born Sylvan Ambrose Hart and moved to the Five Mile Bar of the Salmon River in 1932 where he lived in central Idaho isolation until his death in 1980.

Keeping collection information tied to specimens has unique implications for research today, allowing scientists to take a glimpse into a past population’s genetics and distribution. Though it is unclear if Carrey recorded such details for science, personal recollection or another reason, Boggan touts the action as evidence for Carrey being “ahead of his time.”

After Boggan’s initial meeting with Carrey in 1988, Boggan’s boss, New Hampshire businessman Robert “Bob” Senter approached Carrey about buying his ranch. Senter would later want the horns too, which Carrey had kept in his attic.

The two struck a deal. Carrey agreed to sell him about 40 of the bighorn skulls from the collection for $10,000. There had been thieves breaking into Carrey’s ranch and making off with some of the skulls, Boggan said. A plaque in the O’Connor center also attributes the sale to Carrey lacking the space to keep them.

Senter, who owned and operated a ranch in Riggins, promptly had the horns hauled, illegally, to Las Vegas, where they were boxed and shipped, also illegally, to his home in Plaistow, N.H. Senter was an avid, worldwide hunter and had a trophy room on the East Coast, but the collection stayed sealed in those shipping boxes over the decades.

“I used to be a guide,” Boggan said. “So I’d have long horseback rides, and they’d never left my mind — getting them back.

“Horns do not belong on the East Coast. They’re Idaho horns.”

In 2014, Boggan approached an aging Senter about the collection that had weighed heavy on his heart for decades. He knew that once Senter died, the heads would never return to Idaho.

“They’d get split up, you know,” he said. “Nobody else would ever take care of these things.”

Senter had already given away a couple from the collection he had, but after a bit of haggling, he agreed to sell Boggan the remaining 38 for around $2,000. Senter died in 2017.

SOUTH BOISE, Idaho — A house fire in South Boise left one family without a home early Saturday morning.

Boise Fire responded just after 1:30 a.m. to the 2300 block of Three Mile Creek Way for a report of a structure fire. Crews arrived to find a heavily involved house fire extending to other structures, with power lines down and arcing. Boise Fire then upgraded the response to a second alarm.

Neighborhood Reporter Brady Caskey spoke with the family, who said everyone was okay, including their dogs. They told Idaho News 6 that they were camping outside Idaho City when the fire broke out on Saturday, June 13.

Neighbors described flames shooting out of the windows of the home, along with loud booms and crackles, until Boise Fire arrived.

One additional house sustained minor damage. A nearby shed and fence were also damaged.

Meridian Fire Department, Ada County Paramedics, Boise Police Department, Intermountain Gas, and Idaho Power also responded to the scene.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

If a pathogen is found (such as blight in onions or potatoes), the center has to go through a variety of reporting layers to contain what could be an outbreak, as far as the Idaho State Department of Agriculture or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wood said.

Despite the integral role the the center has played in advancing the agricultural sector from its inception, its future wasn’t always certain. At the height of the Great Recession in 2009, Leslie Edgar, the endowed dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said the center was at one point slated for closure.

Idaho Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke underscored that, given the return the center brings to Idaho’s agricultural industry, it should “never (be) on the chopping block again.” With investment in the center continuing today, Bedke said the center remains the envy of the state and the cutting edge research conducted in the area remains integral to the success of agriculture in Idaho both at home and abroad.

The return on investment for the state can be seen through the nematology program, which plays a key role in diagnosing parasites in the region that bring issues in potatoes, sugar beets, onion, mint and other crops. According to the university, for every dollar spent on the nematodes program in “development, transfer and maintenance,” it brings a return of $52.17 to the state’s agriculture industry.

As an example of the international ramifications the station’s work has for Idaho, Bedke recalled a trade mission he led in Asia last year. That trip included introductions to Idaho hops and a reinforcement of existing crop trades like white peaches, which are particularly popular in Taiwan, Bedke noted. While UI’s research contributions help push crops outward, its prominence also brings added attention to the state as a leader in the field.

“Everybody’s looking over the fence into Idaho, because we have very efficient farmers here, very efficient farming techniques, and they want to replicate that,” Bedke said. “Idaho stands for quality out there, and I think that all of that quality stuff starts in places like these extensions.”

Emphasis on the cutting edge in the field — including efficiency and broad improvements to crop yields — are of particular concern for producers as the margins within the industry have tightened for an extended period. During a December agricultural summit hosted by Gov. Brad Little, agriculture leaders noted farm expenses have exceeded the prices received for most crops grown over the last five years.

Given these conditions, “it’s even more important that we’re able to help producers understand what challenges may be facing their crop systems and how they can adjust to them,” Edgar said.

McCandless covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Idaho Press of Nampa and Coeur d’Alene Press. He may be contacted at rmccandless@idahopress.com.