This Idaho town was founded 56 years ago, and one of its citizens became a renowned author

4 months ago

ARTICLE AD BOX

Published astatine 6:01 pm, May 19, 2024

Editor’s note: This is nan ninth successful a bid highlighting nan stories down section depository artifacts.

MUD LAKE – Trish Petersen gets misty-eyed erstwhile she talks astir nan history of her organization and nan group who unrecorded there.

The 51-year-old Mud Lake female moved to nan municipality of conscionable complete 400 group 28 years ago. Petersen grew up successful Teton Valley and swore she’d ne'er unrecorded successful what she erstwhile described arsenic a “forsaken godforsaken of sagebrush and jackrabbits.” Today, it’s a spot she’s proud to telephone home, mostly because of really tight-knit nan organization is.

She cites a caller individual calamity arsenic an example.

Her son-in-law, Wyatt Billman, was killed successful December aft colliding pinch a semi connected Idaho Highway 33. Billman and his woman had a 15-month-old boy astatine nan time, which Petersen’s girl is now raising connected her own.

RELATED | Coroner identifies man who died successful Jefferson County crash

Petersen is grateful for nan measurement nan organization rallied astir her and her family during that difficult time. Being surrounded by group who emotion and attraction abouther is what makes surviving astatine “the extremity of nan earth” worthy it to Petersen.

Many of nan town’s early settlers besides felt a reluctance to unrecorded successful specified a distant spot successful eastbound Idaho.

Historical highlights

Mud Lake is astir 40 miles northwest of Idaho Falls. It sits betwixt Rexburg and Howe disconnected Highway 33. A 1978 newspaper clipping refers to it arsenic nan past “Last Frontier.” Though nan first achromatic settlers arrived successful nan early 1900s, it didn’t officially go a metropolis until 1968.

Osborne Russell was nan first trapper to travel done nan area successful 1835. In 1 of his diary entries Petersen shared pinch Idaho Magazine earlier this year, Osborne describes a scenery filled pinch fat buffalo and hundreds of friends Bannock tribal members.

Mud Lake’s first imperishable achromatic settler was Horace Jackett successful 1901. Before then, it was a spot wherever equine thieves and outlaws came to hide from nan law.

A mini ammunition of a location purchased by Andy and Mary Nelson successful 1921, which they filled successful pinch mud and writer bricks they made connected their own, is still standing.

The remoteness and consciousness of loneliness immoderate group knowledgeable successful Mud Lake is illustrated successful a communicative told astir nan mates successful 1926. In a depository display, nan mates says they “were enthralled and delighted” erstwhile they went to a neighbor’s location and listened to a power for nan first time.

But it was nan publication of Pete Kuharski and his wife, 2 immigrants from Poland, that allowed Mud Lake to go a thriving, burgeoning village. The mates are credited pinch building nan Mud Lake Mercantile, which is now occupied by nan Mud Lake Museum. The Oasis Bar and Cafe conscionable westbound of nan store, which nan Khuarskis besides owned, was destroyed successful a occurrence successful 2016. The depository was adjacent doorway was affected.

RELATED | Historic Mud Lake saloon burning

Petersen, nan museum’s programme director, tells EastIdahoNews.com nan depository is nan activity halfway of nan organization and attracts visitors from each over.

One of nan museum’s astir celebrated exhibits talks astir nan bunny bash of 1981. At that time, location was specified an overabundance of jackrabbits successful Mud Lake. In aged news reports connected display, locals picture seeing fields crawling pinch rabbits and crops being destroyed because of it.

In effort to power nan population, organization members caught them successful cages and clubbed them complete nan head. The crushed was later covered pinch thousands of dormant bunnies and media outlets passim nan state reported connected it. Petersen says nan media spun it negatively and it attracted outrage from animal authorities groups nationwide.

Another significant, though not arsenic wide reported, portion of Mud Lake history is astir a section farmer’s relationship to a celebrated author.

Renowned writer gets his commencement successful Mud Lake

Jimmy Stewart, a sheep rancher from Monteview who played a domiciled successful Mud Lake’s founding and passed distant successful March astatine property 95, often hired group to travel and activity for him.

Wilson Rawls, nan early writer of “Where nan Red Fern Grows,” had travel to Idaho seeking activity for what was past nan Atomic Energy Commission connected nan Arco desert. He lived successful Idaho Falls and would commute to Arco by bus. He yet tired of nan agelong autobus thrust and recovered activity bailing hay for nan Stewarts.

Jimmy’s daughter, Karen Stoddart, shares her memories of Rawls and nan clip he spent connected their Monteview farm.

“He came successful nan summers pinch nan threshing crew,” Stoddart says. “He lived and worked successful Arizona portion of nan twelvemonth He was a carpenter by trade. He (helped harvest) our 2nd hay harvest and atom and built galore of our woody caput gates.”

Rawls worked astatine nan Stewart workplace each summertime for astir six years. The location he lived successful during that clip still exists.

After respective summers, Stoddart’s mom introduced Rawls to Sophie Styczinski, a family friend and AEC fund analyst.

RELATED | Former kid character pinch ties to eastbound Idaho has nary regrets surviving retired of nan spotlight

Rawls already had a manuscript he’d written for what became “Where nan Red Fern Grows.” It had been Rawls’ dream to beryllium a writer since reference “Call of nan Wild” arsenic a kid. But Rawls had a constricted acquisition and during nan Depression was forced to time off location astatine 16 to find activity to support his family.

Rawls would return location “each autumn to hunt and activity pinch his family,” a written history astir Rawls says. “He took nan stories he had written and locked them successful an aged trunk.”

As Rawls worked connected nan Stewart farm, Stoddart’s mom heard of his manuscript, which had galore grammatical and different errors. Stoddart recalls her mom reference it and providing corrections.

Rawls and Styczinski were yet married. They had their wedding astatine nan First Presbyterian Church successful Idaho Falls and Jimmy was his champion man, according to Stoddart. The mates lived successful Idaho Falls for a short clip earlier moving to Wisconsin.

Embarassed by his deficiency of education, Rawls had burned his manuscript days earlier and fixed up connected his dream. When he confided successful Sophie astir it, she helped him rewrite it, edit it and get it published.

Rawls’ 2nd and past book, “Summer of nan Monkeys,” was besides written successful Idaho Falls.

The Mud Lake Museum doesn’t presently person an grounds astir Rawls, which Petersen is hoping to remedy successful nan adjacent future.

Despite Mud Lake’s distant location, Petersen is an awe of those who came earlier her to carve retired a life and make thing retired of a forsaken sagebrush landscape.

She’s enjoyed being a unpaid astatine nan depository for nan past decade and says nan humanities knowledge she’s gained is “priceless.”

“Only nan group who person knowledgeable life successful Mud Lake … understand (why we emotion it),” she says. “I’ve learned that nan organization I erstwhile thought had thing to connection is filled pinch nan emotion and sacrifices of those who came earlier us.”