inflated prices asked by land speculators—and built at Huntington, Oregon at the western edge of the Snake River valley. Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson played semi-pro baseball for the Weiser Kids as a young man in 1906–1907. After high school in Fullerton, California, the "Big Train" was lured to Weiser to play baseball and work for the local telephone company. While in Weiser, he once pitched 84 consecutive scoreless innings. His skills drew the attention of the Washington Nationals, who sent scout Cliff Blankenship to offer Johnson a contract, and in July 1907 he departed Idaho for the major leagues at age nineteen. U.S. Route 95 runs through the city, connecting to Oregon and British Columbia. Culture Weiser bills itself as the "Fiddling Capital of the World" and the National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest has been held each year since 1953. Fiddling contests have been held in Weiser since 1914, but the present festival was the idea of Blaine Stubblefield, a fiddler and folk music collector, and the head of the city's chamber of commerce. The festival is held at the beginning of summer, during the third full week in June, the only exception occurring during leap years when it is held on the 4th week of the month. It draws national media coverage and over 7,000 people to the Weiser area. The city has been consistently served by the Weiser Signal-American, the local weekly newspaper. For many years Weiser's location as the last city upriver from Hells Canyon made it the jump-off point for wilderness tours by powered rubber raft down the gorge. Enormous sturgeon and plentiful salmon were a draw for anglers. The salmon runs ended not long after the float tours with the blocking of the river by three hydro-power dams built by Idaho Power Company starting in the 1950s. Geography Weiser is located at (44.249712, -116.967799), at an elevation of above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. Unincorporated Annex, Oregon, sits across the Snake River. Climate Weiser experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with cold winters and hot, dry summers. Demographics 2020 census Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race. As of the 2020 United States census,