Island Park Idaho Historical Society

3 Responses to “Add your history stories to our Website”

1. Anonymous Says:
   October 3rd, 2006 at 4:46 pm

   Island Park earthquake
   The magnitude 7.1 earthquake at Hebgen Lake, Montana, on August 17, 1959, which killed 28 people, formed “Quake Lake,” and did $11 million damage to roads and timber, also caused some damage in Idaho. Intensity VII was experienced in the Henry’s Lake, Big Springs, and Island Park areas. Big Springs increased its flow 15 percent and became rusty red colored. A man was knocked down at Edward’s Lodge. There was considerable damage to building in the Henry’s Lake area. Trees swayed violently, breaking some roots, and cars jumped up and down. Chimneys fell and a 7-foot-thick rock-and-concrete dock cracked.

   In the Island Park area chimneys were toppled and wells remained muddy for weeks. At Mack’s Inn, a small girl was thrown from bed and hysteria occurred among some guests. Dishes were broken.

2. Elizabeth Laden Says:
   April 14th, 2009 at 11:54 am

   Island Park Historical Society turns 17 next month
   ISLAND PARK — The Island Park Historical Society (IPHS) will celebrate its 17th anniversary on May 11, 2009. That’s the date the state of Idaho certified IPHS as an Idaho nonprofit public benefit corporation.
   The IPHS was formed to educate area residents and all other interested people about Island Park’s history, and to preserve historical records and artifacts.
   The society’s first directors were Dean Green, Sherri Owens, Mary McBroom, Della Smith, Jane Daniels, and Elizabeth Laden. Dean, Mary, and Della are deceased. Mary McBroom was the first president.
   IPHS’s current Board officers and members are Nancy Stratford, President; Pam Nelson, Vice President; Kari Dalton, Secretary, Paul Price, Treasurer; and Bart Krawetz, Dick Nelson, Diane Sielinsky, BJ Hultz, and Elizabeth Laden.
   Mary McBroom and Sherri Owens, who was also the city of Island Park’s mayor at the time, obtained Certified Local Government funds for the city to pay for a survey of old buildings in Island Park. The survey took three years and produced a binder filled with photos and descriptions of historic properties and ranches.
   The IPHS also helped document the historical importance of the Johnny Sack Cabin, the Fire Tower on Bishop Mountain, Big Falls Inn at Mesa Falls, and the Harriman State Park ranch buildings, all which are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
   For several years the Historical Society sponsored a “Ride the Rails” bike trip on the railroad bed through Island Park to call attention to the important role the railroad played in Island Park’s early history.
   With grant money from the Idaho Heritage Trust, IPHS commissioned a local carpenter, Harry Barker, to build a wood display case to house traveling educational displays. Display topics included Island Park at the Turn of the 19th Century; The Trude Legacy in Island Park; The Wheels of Change: Early Transportation in Island Park, and the Nez Perce and the Flight of 1877.
   IPHS established an archives that contain a collection of photographs, books, periodicals, and artifacts. Jane Daniels, now Ashton’s archivist, was the first archivist, followed by Don Lindsey and then Joyce Farrar. IPHS is now looking for a new archivist.
   IPHS is in the process of establishing an office and archives in the Henry’s Fork Landing Building, thanks to the generosity of the building’s owner, Chad Bauer.
   The archives was first stored in Mary McBroom’s home and then at Harriman State Park, followed by the Island Park Library. When the library needed room for expansion the archives were moved to the City Offices and then the Ambulance Building in Last Chance. The archives are presently in a private home, where there is a computer, printer, scanner and software for turning the files into electronic archives. The IPHS Board will be happy when they are moved and more available to the public.
   This Island Park Archives and Virtual Museum Project is partially funded with a grant from the Idaho Community Foundation. Many items in the archives are being scanned and stored electronically. Eventually, the scanned items will be turned into “exhibits” that can be viewed on a computer on line of from a CD or DVD.
   Through the years of Nancy Stratford’s presidency many educational things have been accomplished. Two historical tourism publications have been printed. The first brochure is the Historical Driving Tour of Island Park by Don Lindsey, now available on line in the archives section of www.HenrysForkCountry.com, a site supported by the Island park News.
   The second publication is the Nez Perce Flight from Leadore to West Yellowstone. This is part of a series covering the entire trail. It can be picked up at the library, the Forest Service’s Island Park ranger station, or the city offices.
   Some IPHS programs and projects:
   • A local history Web site, www.islandparkhistory.com
   • Participation in planning and development of the Nez Perce Historic Trail, Fort Henry Historic Byway, Lost Gold Trails Historic Loop, Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, and a new proposed byway project.
   • Participation in planning and development of the Fremont County Courthouse Centennial that will take place this summer.
   • Commitment to propose historic signage at the Stoddard Mill Creek Pond, on the Nez Perce Historic Trail and the Fort Henry Historic Byway.
   • Purchasing free standing, swinging “sidewalk” signs to advertise IPHS events. These signs will also be available to other community organizations for a small fee.
   • Production of an all-weather Island Park banner for businesses and homes. For purchase details, go to www.HenrysForkCountry.com .
   • Historic Getaway Giveaway raffle of lodging and meals at 10 historic places in the Island Park and West Yellowstone area.
   • Community photos at Pond’s Lodge and John Sack Cabin.
   • Nez Perce Trail bus tour.
   • Camas Meadows Nez Perce Memorial at Jacobs Island Park Ranch (now Eagle Ridge) and at the Battleground.
   • Wine tasting fundraisers, including one to highlight the history of Island Park Lodge.
   • Events to honor veterans at Jacobs Ranch and Pond’s Lodge.
   • Hosting a Certified Local Government Program conference.
   • Family Day at Harriman State Park that included step dancing, hikes, tours, wood carving, spinning and weaving, talks and a Dutch oven dinner; including a presentation on Sacajawea by Sho-Ban Tribe member RoseAnn Abrahamson.
   • The annual Island Park Christmas Festival for the benefit of local charitable organizations.
   • Dinners and lunches with speakers on topics including the Trude family, Idaho’s sheep producing legacy, old fashioned Christmases, the history of Andrew Henry, the history of military training camps at Henry’s Lake, and the history of lettuce and hay farming on Henry’s Lake Flat.
   • Nancy Stratford is a regular contributor of history stories published in the Island Park News. Many are archived at www.HenrysForkCountry.com .
   IPHS has also provided framed historical photographs for area lodges to display, and produced a series of historical Island Park photo postcards of Gilman Sawtell, Dick Rock, George Rea, A.S. Trude, John Kooch 1889 Homestead, Silas McMinn’s Targhee Stage Stop, and Peter Enget. An early snow plane in Island Park is the most popular postcard with the yellow touring bus from Yellowstone used at Mack’s Inn, tied with a Union Pacific engine crossing the Henry’s Fork is also very popular.
   IPHS has had many supporters through the years who have donated money, historical items, time, and services. The Island Park Quilt Guild donated quilts twice to raise money for IPHS. Targhee Women’s Club has been very supportive of IPHS, and many businesses and individuals have donated items for raffles, door prizes, and auctions.
   IPHS will hold its annual meeting and membership drive in June. Stay tuned for info about this event. Please contact a board member if you’re interested in volunteering for the IPHS, serving on the board, or have any questions.
   Annual memberships are $15 for one person; $20 for a family, and $35 for a business. To join, send your dues to IPHS, PO Box 224, Island Park, ID. 83429. Please include your address, e-mail address, and phone number.

3. Elizabeth Laden Says:
   April 14th, 2009 at 11:55 am

   The Reyburns of Henry’s Lake Flat

   ISLAND PARK — In 1910, William Bailey Reyburn and Birdie Ruth Perry Reyburn homesteaded 160 acres on Henry’s Lake Flat near Jesse Creek, which is crossed by Meadow Creek Road. They moved to this country from Missouri.

   Their daughter, Hazel Marie Reyburn Dixon, was 6 years old when the family moved to the Flat. She was a Parker area resident in her later years. She died at the age of 99, on January 12, 2009, at Life Care Center in Idaho Falls.

   Her brother, Claude Martin Reyburn, was 3 years old when the family came to Idaho. He spent many years in Island Park, where he helped build the Island Park Dam, was a guard at the Dam, and worked for the Idaho Department of Transportation. He died at age 97, on July 24, 2005, in Hyrum, Utah, after a family party in his honor.

   The family worked together to build their cabin and a smoke house, cut hay by hand, and raise cattle, including milk cows. In winter, they delivered butter and cream from their farm by dogsled to area residents, whom they enjoyed visiting along the way.

   Hazel moved to Ashton to attend school, and graduated from Ashton High School. She then worked for the telephone company as an operator.

   Hazel married Walter Alfred Dixon on December 1, 1928, in Idaho Falls. She and Walt lived the first five years in Sarilda, northeast of Ashton, before moving to Parker, where they resided until Walt died in 2002. Hazel worked in the local potato warehouses and at the Parker School lunch program. She and Walt enjoyed raising a big garden as well as camping with the family.

   In her life history, “Our Yesteryears,” she wrote that her father dug a well a good distance from their house, to make sure he had clean water. Since he did not have a pump, he used a windlass — a horizontal cylinder rotated by the turn of a crank — with a pulley a few feet above the well. A long rope ran through the pulley and had a bucket on each end.

   When one bucket came up, the other went down.

   “Later, when Dad and Uncle John used a plow or ditcher to divert Jesse Creek, it was a relief to not have to pull up water any more,” she said.

   She also wrote that helping neighbors was part of every day life on the Flat.

   “Once when Dad and Uncle John were coming home on their skis after helping Jack Kinney put a roof on a shed on the other side of the lake (Henry’s Lake, at where the present day Moedl property is located), they ran into a storm that made traveling hard and cold. William had two bottles. One had whiskey, and the other oil used in the cream separator. Realizing he had the wrong bottle. William poured his oil back, but Uncle John took a big swallow. After a good laugh, both men had their drink. After several trips to the outhouse during the cold night, Uncle John didn’t think it was so funny. The oil worked like castor oil.”

   When the temperature hit 65 degrees below 0 F, her daughter, Pearl, remembers that her folks built up the fire during the night and then went outside to drive the cattle around and around the haystack to keep them from huddling together and freezing to death.

   Hazel also recalled that Claude would be upset when he entered the Ashton Dog Derby and didn’t win. His dogs were not trained to race. Their job was to pull a sled with hundreds of gallons of cream to Henry’s Lake.

   On July Fourth, the Reyburn children presented a patriotic program at the school.

   Dances gave the family a chance to visit neighbors. One year, the Reyburns traveled by dog sled and skis west across the Flat and then around Henry’s Lake to a dance hosted by Ed Staley of Staley Springs. “Lunch” was served at midnight, followed by more dancing.

   Staley insisted that the family eat breakfast before the long ride home. His hired hand, Earl Gillian, Earl’s wife, and an elderly Native American lived with Ed. Mrs. Gillian prepared oatmeal. Hazel recalled that the Native American said her name was Pocahontas, and her nickname was “Pokey.’ Pokey claimed she found Ed when he was very small, after an Indian raid, and she raised him. Hazel said Ed cared for Pokey until she died. She recalled that Pokey was quite wrinkled and her hands were deformed by arthritis. She was also surprised to see Pokey eat her oatmeal with bacon grease.

   According to Dixon’s memoirs, Ed had a girlfriend, Grace Wainwright, whom Pokey disliked. Grace was therefore not allowed on the place.

   Pokey died in June, 1920, and Ed and Grace moved to California.

   Pokey was Elma Winnemucca, daughter of Chief Winnemucca, a Paiute tribal leader, and sister of the well known Indian rights advocate, Sarah Winnemucca. The family was from Nevada. In the 1880’s, Pokey and her husband, B. Smith of Virginia City, MT, moved to Henry’s Lake, where Smith died in 1889. Pokey served as a midwife to several ladies in the community, including Roy Sawtell’s mother. She is buried near the lake.

   According to Hazel’s memoirs, the Sherwood family at Henry’s Lake also hosted all night parties, and the children were put to bed upstairs. The midnight “lunch” might include chicken salad, sandwiches, and cake. Music was provided by a violin, harmonica, Jew’s harp, or any other available instrument.

   Surviving life on the Flat took enormous hard work and commitment, but the settlers also knew how to join together to have fun as a community.

   Sources: “Life Wasn’t all Work,” by Jane Daniels, Island Park News, August 15, 2003; Standard Journal obituaries, January, 2009: Hazel Dixon; History of Island Park, Dean H. Green, 1990; RootsWeb: Claude Martin Reyburn.

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