C. A. Bottolfsen

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C. A. Bottolfsen (October 10, 1891 – July 18, 1964) was an American newspaper publisher and Idaho Republican politician who served as Idaho’s 17th and 19th governor, from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1943 to 1945. Born in Superior, Wisconsin, he moved with his family to North Dakota, then in 1910 to Arco, Idaho, where he ran and later owned the Arco Advertiser until 1949. He married Elizabeth Hanna in 1912.

Bottolfsen served in the U.S. Army from 1918 to 1919 and helped organize the American Legion, serving as State Commander in 1934. He began his political career in the Idaho House of Representatives in 1921, serving until 1931, including a term as Speaker in 1931 and as House chief clerk from 1925 to 1927. He was the Republican state party chairman from 1936 to 1938.

As governor, Bottolfsen signed the bill creating the Idaho State Police early in his first term. He governed 1939–1941 and 1943–1945. In 1944 he was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate but lost to Democrat Glen Taylor. He sought another term as governor in 1946 but was defeated in the Republican primary by C. A. Robins.

Later, he served again as chief clerk of the Idaho House and worked on U.S. Senator Herman Welker’s staff, and he was elected to the Idaho State Senate in 1958 and 1960 but did not seek reelection in 1962 due to illness. Bottolfsen was active in Freemasonry (master of Arco Lodge No. 48), the El Korah Shrine, Rotary, and the Arco Chamber of Commerce. He died in Boise in 1964 from emphysema. Bottolfsen Park in Arco honors him; his papers are at the University of Idaho Library, and he is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery, Arco.