NAMPA — Inquisition inspired a Nampa native’s new self-published book that details an old counterfeiting ring that started in 1896 “deep in the shadows of Idaho’s Seven Devils Mountains” and also encompassed areas of Washington state and Oregon.
Dennis L. Howard, 69, of Nampa, wrote “The Rapid River Gang: Idaho’s Most Notorious Counterfeiters,” which is about the Eddys and the Splawns, two “respected ranching families” who “engineered one of the boldest counterfeiting operations in the history of the American West,” according to the back of Howard’s book. The book published in early August.
“It’s one of the most surprising and overlooked stories of Idaho’s early days,” Howard told the Idaho Press…