Fred Dubois - Senator

Senator

Idaho Territory became the State of Idaho in July 1890. In November of that year Dubois helped engineer a plan for the Idaho Legislature to effectively elect three people to the United States Senate: Governor George L. Shoup to the Class 2 seat up for election in 1894, state constitutional convention member William J. McConnell to serve for the remainder of the Fifty-first United States Congress ending in March 1891, and Dubois himself to succeed McConnell and serve a full six-year term in the Class 3 seat beginning in March 1891.

During his first term in the Senate, Dubois concentrated on domestic politics, advocating for positions that he thought would benefit Idaho. He was a strong supporter of tariffs, particularly on wool and lead which Idaho produced much of. He also helped to negotiate a treaty with the Nez Perce Native Americans in 1894. In 1895, commenting on the exemption of the Bannocks from hunting limits, he said, "the extermination of the whole lazy, shiftless non-supporting tribe of Bannocks would not be any great loss."

Dubois' most prominent position, however, was in support of bimetallism. In 1896, he was among those who left the Republican Party to join the Silver Republican faction. He considered having the Idaho Republicans fuse with the Democrats and Populists, but his allies were ousted from the Idaho Republican Party. This disorganization gave control of the Idaho Legislature to the Democrats and Populists. In 1896 Dubois was defeated for reelection in the Idaho Legislature by Populist Henry Heitfeld. After leaving the Senate in 1897, Dubois returned to his ranch in Blackfoot, where he grew alfalfa.