Teton City Settlers

Teton City Settlers. . A group of pioneer men, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, left Mendon, Cache, Utah, April 1883 and traveled to Idaho in search of new homes for their families. The company consisted of Henry Sorenson, John and Niles Peter Anderson, Fred and John Gardner, James and Joseph Graham, Charles and Freeman Bird, and John and Tom Gittens. They stopped near the Teton River and laid out the town site May 1, 1883. They had a fine view of the Teton peaks so they named their town Teton. , The town was divided into 10-acre blocks. Each family was allowed one 2 1/2-acre lot. A 10-acre center block became the public square. They also received 80 acres to farm. Log cabins were built with windows covered with greased paper or mosquito netting. The men made furniture and hauled iron stoves from Utah. Irrigation canals were dug and crops planted. , Heber J. Grant, Wilford Woodruff, and Thomas E. Ricks organized the Teton LDS Ward on Sunday, June 8, 1884. John Donaldson became the first bishop. Logs for the first LDS meetinghouse were cut and floated down the Teton River by James Briggs and James Graham. The building was finished and dedicated December 1884. It was used as a schoolhouse and for community dances. , The settlers suffered greatly the first summer because of mosquitoes. For six months they used sagebrush smudge fires to fight the clouds of insects. The population had grown to 98 people by the summer of 1884. James and Hannah Gubbins Gardner and 4 children, survivors of the Willie Handcart Company, were one of these early families. Jane Graham, wife of James, became the first community midwife. , The Teton Cemetery was created September of 1884 when the first death occurred. Victims of a diphtheria epidemic were buried in the new cemetery.