A History of Rich County

To Gain The Attention Of Children

"To Gain the Attention of Children" T h e establishment of schools for the education of children was among the most important concerns for early Mormon colonists throughout Utah. Many of the early converts to Mormonism, includ-ing Brigham Young, came from the New England states where com-munity education had been an important feature. These ideas traveled west with the Mormons, first into Ohio, then Missouri, and lastly to Nauvoo, Illinois, before the exodus to Utah.' Even during the exodus from Nauvoo in 1846, educational orga-nizations were put in place. Brigham Young encouraged other leaders to continue providing educational opportunities for children at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Several schools were established and main-tained during the winter of 1846. George A. Smith, a member of the First Presidency, was among those most responsible for maintaining instruction at Winter Quarters. In a eulogy read before the Utah Territorial Assembly, Moses Thatcher said of Smith: He was ever particularly interested in the subject of education, wherein he exhibited a strikingly practical and admirable trait of his character, as an evidence of which, in 1846, when our people were driven from their homes and were journeying towards the setting sun, it was his almost constant endeavor to organize for the young, a system of common school education, in which he suc-ceeded admirably, and nightly around the camp fires of the weary exiles, was heard his cheering voice calling the children to come with their books, and recite what they had learned.' Given the herculean effort required to sustain a school under such conditions, it is no surprise that Mormon settlers continued their efforts after arriving in Utah. Brigham Young promoted the establishment of schools at Salt Lake City and in other communities as Mormon settlement expanded within the Intermountain West. In his general epistle of 15 March 1848 Young reiterated the importance of education and instructed the Latter-day Saints to gather together every valuable treatise on education-every book, map, chart, or diagram that may contain interesting, useful, and attractive mat-ter, to gain the attention of children, and cause them to love to learn to read; and also every historical, mathematical, philosophi-cal, geographical, geological, astronomical, scientific, practical, and all other variety of useful and interesting writings.' It is clear that education in Utah was to embrace much more than religion, although religious training was to be an integral part of education. In early Mormon settlements there was little difference between the sacred and the secular. The same building used for church services on Sunday often was used for school during the week and for a public dance or dramatic presentation on Saturday. Mormon doctrine, along with mathematics and history, was a regular part of most school curriculums during the early settlement period. This was particularly true in outlying communities such as those in Rich County where the population was almost wholly Mormon. "Faithfulness to Latter-day Saint thinking," remarked one historian, "was one of the requirements for school teachers in early Utah school^."^ Some of the first acts passed by the new legislative assembly for the territory concerned education. The University of Deseret was cre-ated to oversee the educational development of Utah's citizenry. The university trained teachers while the university's board of trustees fre- quently visited settlements to advise teachers and local officials on how best to operate their schools. The legislative assembly also pro-vided for schools to be established within the various counties. The counties "were to be divided into districts and each town or city was to have one or more schools supported by local taxation.'" Under the law, counties were to elect school trustees who in turn were given authority to impose and collect taxes for the support of the school^.^ The 1851 law also created the Office of the Superintendent of Common Schools. The law was amended in 1865 to allow for the election of the superintendent by the voters of the territory. The 1865 amendment to the school law also clarified an oversight in the origi-nal law which had not allowed collected tax funds to be used to pay teacher salaries or to purchase textbooks. The territory had over a decade of school experience before the first settlers entered Bear Lake Valley in 1863. The first school at Paris, Idaho, however, opened in February 1865 during one of the worst winters ever recalled by early Bear Lake settlers. Thomas Sleight and Lewis Ricks taught seventy-five students at various grade levels in a "one room log structure with one door, few windows, and a fireplace to provide As settlement expanded in the northern Bear Lake area, settlers established other schools. Likewise, as settlers began moving into Laketown, Meadowville, Round Valley, and later into Bear River Valley and Garden City, they set up schools under the best circum-stances possible. The conditions were not ideal. At Laketown the old town meetinghouse was reported to be "so naturally ventilated" that Laketonians would not even ask "a respectable dog . . . be compelled to spend the chilly winter there for the sake of an ed~cation."S~c hool was nonetheless carried out under the direction of R. S. Spence. "It was marvelous to us," commented one citizen, "that school teaching could be so successfully carried on under such plainly disadvanta-geous circumstance^."^ Historian Earl F. Passey, in his study of Rich County schools, pays tribute to Robert Spence by noting how his "reputation as an excellent schoolmaster" earned him the respect of even those in the older, more established communities: "Young people from these northern settlements were not so fortunate as to be instructed by so able a teacher in their own communities." Some students came to Laketown and "boarded out" with Laketown fami-lies in order to attend school under Spence. As his school grew, an assistant moved about in the crowded class-room to give aid to the anxious students. To have been a student of "Bob" Spence is today treasured as a valued experience. Those of his students who may have received from him a "Card of Approbation" for outstanding work or behavior treasure it as a memento of his great teaching.'' Realizing the tremendous resource which the community had in Robert Spence and the difficult conditions under which he was labor-ing, a citizen's meeting convened on 12 March 1883 "to take into con-sideration the matter of a new school house."" The citizens subscribed $1,0 10 toward the project and later contracted with Charles South of Randolph to build it.12 The building of the new meetinghouse did not pass without inci-dent, however." A disagreement between the contractor and the building committee over money caused construction to stop during the summer of 1884. This prompted one citizen to remark to the Bear Lake Democrat that "if ever the patience of a people [has been] tried, that of the Laketonians has been severely so. Whether it is the devil or some other evil influence we know not, but there is some-thing materially wrong somewhere."14 The residents subscribed an additional $1,690 to finish erecting the new meetinghouse, bringing the total to $2,700, and the disagreement was eventually rectified.15 The new meetinghouse received its final coat of plaster and paint in late November 1884. The new Laketown school served its purpose as school, church, and social hall for at least fifteen years. Around 1900 a ward meeting-house was constructed which alleviated the need for holding church services in the building, and various barns were in use to accommo-date dances and dramatic presentations. By 1914 the Laketown school trustees determined that the building was insufficient for the needs of the community and resolved to construct a new school-house made of brick.16 By 19 17 the building, at least the basement portion of the two-story structure, was ready for occupancy; how-ever, passage of new school laws within the state complicated the completion of the building. A consolidation act of 19 15 created county wide boards of education.17 These district school boards, elected by the citizenry of each county, supplanted the system of indi-vidual school trustees which had been in existence throughout Utah since territorial times. Under the law, the previous school trustees turned over all educational facilities and financial resources to the county school board. This placed a financial burden on the Laketown citizens who had taken it upon themselves to erect the new building through their own financial resourcefulness.18 The consolidation law of 19 15 was certainly not meant to be a hindrance, and in many cases the consolidation of schools worked well. Nevertheless, the geography of Rich County made aspects of consolidation less practical. Schools had been established separately in various communities because of the distance between them. Separate schools operated in the communities of Laketown, Meadowille, and Round Valley. In similar fashion to their Laketown neighbors, the settlers of Round Valley constructed a small public building shortly after the area was resettled in 1869. Some of those who participated in the early settlement of Round Valley also became involved in the educa-tional organization of the community. The area was settled in 1869-70 by the families of James Kearl, John Price, Peter Allen, George Murphy, and George Earley. By 1892 the population of Round Valley had grown-mostly through natural increase-and a separate ward of the Mormon church was started and the old public building was given to the church. In 1906 the school trustees erected a new building, offering education through the eighth grade and employing two teachers. The Round Valley School experienced its highest enrollment prior to about 1907 when as many as fifty students attended. As a result of depressed farm prices and adverse weather conditions, the population of Round Valley gradually decreased to the point that it was no longer practical to maintain the school. After the consolida-tion law passed, the school only operated until 1920 before it closed. Local trustees were transferred to Laketown.19 Similar events took shape in Meadowville. With the customary public building erected in about 1870, Meadowille became first a branch and later a ward within the LDS church. The town was set-tled in 1869 by Josiah Tufts, Bordette Folsom, Charles H. Alley, William Cottrom, brothers Joshua, Elthanan, and Joseph Eldredge, Moses Gibbons, Lewis Polmenteer, George T. Judd, Willam T. Edgar, Manassa Williams, Joseph Moffat, Henry Graw, Hyrum S. Groesbeck, and Moroni Pratt." The extended family of Heber C. Kimball also figured prominently in the settling of Meadowville. The community prospered for a number of years until the irrigation system, cooper-atively completed by the communities of Laketown, Meadowville, and Round Valley, raised the ground water level and fouled the town-site. From this point the community's destiny was reversed. After 1900 most of the population moved to other locations either in or out of Bear Lake Valley, and the school, and later the ward, eventu-ally merged with that of Laketo~n.A~s' population decreased, avail-able land was gradually consolidated within a handful of families, and it became impractical to continue the operation of separate schools in Round Valley and Meadowville. A similar condition came to exist in Bear River Valley where separate schools were maintained at Kennedyville and at Sage Creek. The effort was made at both Woodruff and Randolph to main-tain the Mormon village pattern. The Mormon village was charac-terized by specific dimensions being accorded to streets and blocks, and by the fact that residents maintained homes in the village while farming the land on the outskirts of the village. In other words, farm-ers did not live on the farms but within the illa age.'^ In much of the Bear Lake region, particularly the northern settlements, this pattern was adhered to as Joseph C. Rich surveyed the settlements to comply with the usual Mormon plan. Both Randolph and Woodruff were also surveyed according to this pattern. But in Bear River Valley the early interest in stock raising and the unsuccessful attempts at culti-vating small grains led settlers to move farther and farther from the townsites. As discussed in chapter three, settlers began moving out of Woodruff and settling on their ranches as early as 1874. The widely dispersed population in Bear River Valley and the lack of favorable roads made it increasingly difficult for ranchers to maintain com-munity ties with the larger towns of Woodruff and Randolph. To off-set the need to travel to Randolph for church and school functions, the communities of Sage Creek and Kennedyville were established in Bear River Valley. The early ranchers who moved north of Randolph to establish Sage Creek included the families of Lorenzo Schenck, Melvin Schenck, Arthur McKinnon, William Jones, Deronda Nebeker, Fred Feller, August Johnson, William Hoffman, Leonard Hoffman, and Alma Argyle. School was convened at the homes of settlers them-selves until 1909 when a building was erected specifically for the pur-pose. The problems of geography were not completely overcome by establishing new community centers. For instance, Arthur Dean, the first teacher at the Sage Creek school, had to travel thirteen miles from Woodruff by horseback. Similarly, south of Randolph the area known as Kennedyville "covered many square miles of territory," according to local educator Earl F. Passey, "and, even by establishing a new community center, . . . the people who came there to attend school, or church . . . still faced the necessity of travelling consider-able distance^."'^ Kennedyville was named after John Kennedy, Sr., who settled the area in about 1875. Gradually, LDS Church Historian Andrew Jenson noted, as the area residents "increased in number they . . . obtained permission . . . to hold meetings among them~elves."~T' he small community also initiated a school program in 1885, and at a meet-ing in December of that year voted to change the name of the town to Argyle in honor of the residents' Scottish an~estry.~T'h e first school sessions at Argyle were held in private homes, but in the late 1890s the community erected a one-room brick schoolhouse. By 1900 Argyle had a population of 11 1 inhabitants. As transportation gradually improved, both Argyle and Sage Creek fell victim to progress. Although an education through the eighth grade could be obtained in both communities, the quality of that education compared to that available at Randolph was ques-tionable. Furthermore, the communities had no available goods or services. Residents made the trip to Randolph to purchase necessary items, and as the frequency of the trips increased especially with the advent of the automobile, ties between the communities became closer. In 19 15 the Argyle school closed and merged with the school at Randolph. The Sage Creek school continued into the early 1920s, but, like the school at Argyle, was also eventually consolidated with the Randolph school.26 The development of education in Randolph proceeded similarly to that in the other Rich County settlements. A public building was erected within a year of the original settlers' arrival. A. B. Strickland was employed as the first teacher in Rand~lphI.n~ 1~8 75 the commu-nity constructed a new church building, and in 1888 a two-story brick courthouse. The original public building was used only for school after 1875. After the construction of the county courthouse in 1888, the upper floor of the building was converted into school facilities which housed the Randolph Academy, an educational institution sponsored by the Mormon church. Mormon academies had been established at selected sites throughout Utah during the 1870s. At the behest of Apostle Wilford Woodruff, stake presidents were instructed to put into place a church board of education which would in turn begin to operate church schools.28T he push for church-sanctioned education came about as non-Mormons within Utah began challenging Mormon domination of the common schools. As discussed earlier, the schools established in early Utah communities were imbued with Mormon theology. Following passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887, however, the public schools throughout Utah were forced to refrain from teaching the tenets of Mormonism. Wilford Woodruff explained the church's position on the public schools in his letter to stake presidents in 1888: Religious training is practically excluded from the District Schools. The perusal of books that we value as divine records is forbidden. Our children, if left to the training they receive in these schools, will grow up entirely ignorant of those principles of salvation for which the Latter-day Saints have made so many sacrifices." It is fitting that one of the first settlements to found a church academy after Woodruff's letter was Randolph, a community in which the apostle had been intimately involved since 1871. Separation of church and state in educational matters did not seem to be an issue of great importance in Randolph, symbolized by the fact that the church school occupied the top floor of the center for public government in Rich County-the county courthouse. The Randolph Academy opened in December 1888 with Oluf Larson as principal. Larson was assisted between the years 1888 and 1903 by Harriet Cornia, Mary A. Thomas, and Agnes South." In 1903 the Randolph Academy closed, and what few students were attending the church school transferred to the Fielding Academy at Paris, Idaho. The Fielding Academy, named in honor of Mary Fielding Smith, mother of newly installed Mormon church president Joseph F. Smith, opened in 190 1. The academy at Randolph could hardly compete with the sixty-five thousand dollar building constructed at Paris. The imposing structure, which within three years included two additional stories and "magnificent stairways [leading] from the central halls," had an enrollment of nearly three hundred students. The Fielding Academy was one of the more successful schools operated by the church. It operated under church sponsorship until 1922 when it was absorbed by the state of Idaho and opened as a public high school. Virtually all the church academies remaining in operation were sold or absorbed by their respective states during the 1920s." Most of the more rural church academies did not meet the expectations of church leaders. The anticipated exodus from the pub-lic schools into the church schools never materialized. The public schools in rural Utah posed far less of a problem for the church than did those in the Salt Lake Valley. This was a fact evidentally over-looked by the church's leadership. Writes historian John D. Monnett, Jr., "Rural Utah . . . presented a much different educational picture than the Salt Lake City environment that was so familiar to church officials."" Monnett notes that in counties such as Rich where "ami-cable relations exist [ed] between church and district school and [where there were] a preponderance of Mormon teachers in the dis-trict schools, rural Mormons felt justified in sending their children to public schools."33A lthough public school teachers in rural Utah refrained from openly teaching Mormon doctrine, sprinklings of the-ology no doubt flavored their instruction to students. Another hindrance to the success of the church system was the initiation in 1890 of a free school system within Utah. The church academies were not expensive by most standards, but neither were they free. Wilford Woodruff had urged that the schools "be made so cheap that [they] will be within the reach of the humblest in the land." But Mormon bishop Christian A. Madsen noted in 1892 that "the poor families of this Ward [are unable] to obtain books and req-uisits [sic] and pay for their tuition fees."34 The idea of a free educa-tion was 'attractive to both Mormons and non-Mormons, and in areas such as Rich County with its homogeneous population, it made little difference to most residents whether children received their edu-cation at a church institution or a public institution. Perhaps the greatest animosity over the school issue existed in Woodruff, where, as discussed in the previous chapter, a squabble developed between church officials and school trustees over owner-ship of the public meetinghouse. For seven years following the district court's decision in favor of the Woodruff school trustees, the Mormon settlers at Woodruff were without an official church house, although the school building con-tinued to be used for that purpose. Between 1893 and 1897 both a new church and a school were completed. The school became the showpiece of the community for many years. It was built of brick and contained two stories. Construction was done under the direction of Joseph F. Ne~ille.~' During the first fifteen years of the twentieth century, the school system in Woodruff was also the showpiece of education in Rich County. In 19 15, after passage of the consolidation act which created countywide school districts, the Woodruff precinct was the only for-mer school district which issued a favorable report. Chairperson Sarah Cornia of the Woodruff School District reported the district to have one thousand dollars cash on hand. Salaries in the district were the highest paid in the county: $125 per month for the principal and $100 per month for teachers. The Woodruff School employed four teachers plus the principal who also taught, and the school had recently added the ninth grade to its curriculum. In Cornia's estima-tion, the Woodruff School would require a property tax levy of 5 mills for operating expense^.'^ The school continued to lead in edu-cation for the next several years. In 19 16 a tenth grade was established at the school, and by 1919 the county board of education had reno-vated and partitioned the top floor of the school in order to provide North Rich High School Band. (Courtesy Clayton Robinson.) training in the eleventh grade. In 1922 the Woodruff School became both a grammar school and a high school, offering instruction in grades one through twelve. Between the years 1922 and 1928 the Woodruff School grew to be the largest in Rich County. However, during the years of this ascendancy, the population of Woodruff began to decline. At the same time more modern school facilities were being constructed in Randolph. By 1927 the Rich County Board of Education began toy-ing with the idea of consolidating the high school portion of the Woodruff School with the separate high school at Randolph. Board member Frank Frazier of Woodruff proposed in June 1927 that the two schools be joined.37A lthough public criticism caused the motion to be tabled, a year later the proposition was again brought before the board. This time the measure passed and grades nine through twelve at the Woodruff School were transferred to Randolph. In addition to the motion to consolidate the schools at Woodruff and Randolph, there was a motion to also consolidate the high school at Garden City with that at Laketown. The creation in 1915 of countywide boards of education with the power to consolidate district schools was the end result of over thirty years of debate. The early examples of consolidation in Rich County-Round Valley and Meadowville with Laketown, and Sage Creek and Argyle with Randolph-were more a matter of conve-nience than of force. Other consolidation of the schools in Rich County did not pass so peaceably. Although the high-school portion of the Woodruff School merged with its counterpart at Randolph with relatively little pain, the merger between the high schools at Garden City and Laketown created a rift between the two communi-ties which would persist for over twenty years. Following the vote to consolidate the various high schools at Randolph and Laketown, Joseph N. Cook, board member from Garden City, organized a pub-lic meeting to coincide with the next regular meeting of the board of education. The county courthouse in Randolph was packed with Garden City residents who opposed consolidation, and the afternoon was spent in several hours of "somewhat heated discu~sion."'A~s a result of the public outcry from Garden City, the board voted unan-imously to rescind the order to consolidate. During the next session of the board, however, the identical motion was entertained and passed. In the view of the Garden City community, the vote to con-solidate the high schools was somewhat prejudiced. Those in the southern part of Rich County had favored consolidation; the citizens of Woodruff were not opposed to the merger with Randolph. The high school at Randolph was completed between 19 15 and 19 18 and was constructed specifically for the purpose. It did not include any grades below the seventh. Randolph maintained a separate grade school. The high school facilities at Randolph were far superior to those at Woodruff. The latter community was using the renovated top floor of the Woodruff School for high-school classes, and it did not compare to the new high school in Randolph. In contrast to the differences between the school facilities at Woodruff and Randolph, there was little difference between the two schools in Bear Lake Valley. Both schools were constructed between 191 5 and 19 18. If anything, the school at Garden City was superior to that at Laketown, and it was considered to be one of the best in the district. By 1917 students at the Garden City School were receiving instruction through the eleventh grade. The Laketown School, more- over, had some serious drawbacks in its construction. After survey-ing the school, officials at the state Department of Public Instruction remarked: The Laketown School . . . has a poorly planned and constructed entrance. . . . The main floor is heated by a hot-air furnace whereas the basement has heatrolas. The installation of the heating plant is not entirely satisfactory, in that it involves heat losses and does not lend itself to temperature control. . . . There is no provision for fire protection, artificial lighting, or satisfactory ~entilation.'~ Furthermore, the Laketown School had difficulty attracting enough students to make the high school practical. "As the school term of 19 16-1 7 approached," noted Earl F. Passey, "arrangements were made to offer instruction to students of the tenth grade if as many as eight students desired such instruction." As late as 1923 the board of edu-cation tabled a motion to add the eleventh grade at Laketown until it could "ascertain the probable number who would attend."40 But the cards were stacked against Garden City residents in their bid to have the high school established there. After the inauguration of the board of education in 19 15, the county had been divided into five precincts with one board member from each precinct. Woodruff and the surrounding area constituted one precinct while Randolph literally was divided (the dividing line extended through the middle of the county courthouse) into two precincts: the north which included part of Randolph and the Sage Creek area, and the south which included the other part of Randolph, extending south to include the settlement at Argyle. The remaining two precincts were at Garden City and Laketown. The motions to consolidate the high schools in the county, made in 1927 and passed in 1928, were not separate motions. On both occasions, the main motion to consolidate Woodruff High School with Randolph was substituted with an alternative motion by Laketown board member George H. Robinson to also include the consolidation of the two high schools in Bear Lake Valley. The vote on the substitute motion was the same in both instances: the precincts in Bear River Valley, because they favored the merger of their two schools, voted in favor of the motion. Laketown precinct also voted in favor of the motion; only Garden City precinct opposed the motion. Even though Garden City opposed consolidation, the merger occurred in 1928, and students from Garden City were transported to the Laketown School. The name of the school was then changed to North Rich High School. Similarly, after the merger of the Woodruff and Randolph schools, the name of the school was changed to South Rich High School. From 1928 through the years of the Great Depression each of the four communities in Rich County maintained a school for grades one through eight, while grades nine through twelve were taught at either South Rich or North Rich high school. While South Rich High School had its own separate facility, the building designated North Rich High School also housed the Laketown students in grades one through eight. At the beginning of the 1930s the board of education began con-sidering ways to upgrade the school facilities in the county. Priorities were North Rich High School and Randolph Elementary School. Several building bond issues were presented to the voters during the early 1930s, but the price tag of over sixty-five thousand dollars was evidentally too high in the midst of the depression, and the voters turned them down. In 1934 the county board of education reduced the bond to ten thousand dollars to be used only in the construction of the new Randolph elementary school. The school board further sought the aid of the federal government and obtained a grant from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration for approximately $10,000. This time the bond issue passed by a wide margin and con-struction began on the Randolph school within the year. Between 1944 and 1948 the issue of new school facilities became even more urgent-in February 1944 LaVon Sprouse of Garden City awoke in the early morning to find the Garden City school engulfed in flames. The fire completely destroyed the building." After the Garden City fire, the county was scoured for desks, books, and extra supplies, and the school moved into the local LDS ward chapel. The destruction of the Garden City school opened up the possibility of further consolidation, and district superintendent Earl F. Passey implored the communities to consider a merger of their elementary schools." The Garden City residents preferred to have the Students in front of entrance to old South Rich High School, Randolph. (Courtesy Nathell Hoffman.) lower grades remain within the community rather than joining with the students at Laketown even though it meant moving into the old, long vacant Garden City school building. As discussions began taking place concerning the fate of the Garden City students, the proposal was made to construct a new school at Garden City which would be large enough to accommodate all the students within northern Rich County. Why, asked Clarence Cook of Garden City, build only a small elementary school at Garden City when both a high school and elementary school could be built more practically? This proposition would have eliminated the school at Laketown. Once again the matter of consolidation created sub-stantial tension within the two communities. The Laketown community was not about to relinquish the school to Garden City. The Laketown precinct which included all of the Round Valley area contained many more acres of taxable land than did the Garden City area. The Garden City precinct did not include more than 2,500 acres of farm ground. By the 1940s there were individual ranchers within the Laketown area who owned in excess of that figure. If Laketown precinct was paying the lion's share of the school taxes for North Rich High School, the reasoning went, the school should naturally be located at Laketown. The prospect of building both a high school and elementary school at Garden City or a building large enough to house all grades was complicated by World War 11. The United States had entered World War I1 in December 1941, and by February 1944 the military was preparing for the invasion of Europe which would follow in June. War preparations and demands required that citizens throughout the United States exercise restraint. Rationing of building supplies, gaso-line, rubber products, and staple foods such as sugar and flour, was initiated. These restrictions placed a moratorium on building the new, larger school at Garden City and retarded the construction of even the smaller elementary school. In hopes of expediting the situation, board member Cook pro-posed in March 1945 that a smaller elementary school be constructed at Garden City. In order to obtain community support for the smaller school, Cook also proposed that a large gymnasium be erected in conjunction with the school. Consensus was reached between Garden City and Laketown on the issue, and a bond issue was voted on in March 1945. The bond called for thirty thousand dollars to be used for "purchasing school sites, for building or purchasing one or more school houses and supplying the same with furniture. . . .''43 County voters turned the bond down by a two-to-one margin. The schoolhouse that was eventually constructed in Garden City did not meet with the approval of the Garden City community. The building cost an estimated ten thousand dollars less than was origi-nally planned, and although the school provided sufficient space for the students, the large gymnasium was scratched from the plans. This was done without bringing the issue again before the voters. The school board opted instead to work through Zions Bank of Salt Lake City which "offered to buy tax anticipation notes to be issued by the Rich district, to defray the construction costs of a school . . . at Garden City."44 The school board anticipated that the new Garden City school would be used for grades one through six. Since 1943 the district had adopted a policy of placing seventh and eighth grade students at one of the two high schools. The population throughout Rich County had declined during the difficult times of the depression and war years. In order to compensate, the school board voted to consolidate the seventh and eighth grades at Woodruff and Garden City with stu-dents at South and North Rich high schools. The move was first attempted at Woodruff where the board's decision was met with a "sit-down strike" in the Woodruff community. Seventh and eighth grade students simply stayed at home for two weeks. Gradually a rec-onciliation took place between the two communities and the Woodruff students returned to school at Rand~lph.~~ The transporting of Garden City seventh and eighth grade stu-dents to Laketown was not settled within three weeks, however. Following the board's decision, many of the seventh and eighth grade Garden City students began attending school at Paris, Idaho. This placed the school board in an awkward position: with half of the area's seventh and eighth grade students attending school at Paris, the number of students in North Rich High School was insufficient to warrant the current teaching staff. The Garden City community was still smarting from past school board decisions which they perceived to be unjust. With the move to Paris, Idaho, Garden City residents had finally found a way to reverse the impotency of their position with the school board. Garden City board member Parley N. Hodges offered an ultimatum in March 1943: Hodges reported that the Garden City community had met in mass meeting and decided that they "would send all of their children to Paris the next school year unless the high school [was] made in Garden City."46 A year after Hodge's ultimatum, an interesting yet unrelated set of events transpired: the Garden City school burned down in 1944; the proposal to construct a larger school at Garden City with a gym-nasium was turned down by the voters of the county; Parley Hodges was voted off the school board in 1944 and replaced by Albert Hodges, who resigned after a year; Clarence Cook, who was appointed to fill the position in January 1945, died in office the fol-lowing May. Everett Sims then assumed the vacant seat on the school board in June 1945. It would fall to Sims to try to unravel the tangle of ill will which had developed between the two communities over the school issue. The board proposed in 1946 to consolidate all the elementary grades in northern Rich County at Garden City and the upper grades at Laketown. Sims noted that regardless of the concessions some mem-bers of the community would still send their children to the Idaho school unless the board rescinded its decision to remove the seventh and eighth grade students from Garden Citye4' Board member Sims was reminded by the board that a similar controversy had developed at Woodruff and that if they allowed the Garden City school to regroup with all eight grades they would be obliged to allow Woodruff the same concession. The Garden City res-idents were serious about their boycott, however. During the first week of school in September 1946, only one Garden City student reg-istered for classes at North Rich High School. Furthermore, Laketown school board member Vernon Robinson reported that the superintendent had informed him that two officials from the State Department of Health had appeared at the Laketown school . . . at the request of Board member Everett Sims, they had made the trip to Rich County for the purpose of finding some cause for condemning and closing the Laketown scho01.'~ The Paris, Idaho, schools appeared to have little problem accom-modating the Garden City students. After meeting with the Rich County School Board in August 1946, the Idaho representatives advised Rich County that under the laws of the state of Utah the county could count the Garden City students as part of their "class-room unit" and could request reimbursement for those students from the Utah State Department of Public Instruction. According to the Paris officials, "Part of the money could be used to pay the tuitions at Paris and part could remain to increase the finances of Rich Di~trict."~~ This, however, did not rectify the problem of diminishing enroll-ment at North Rich High School. Without the Garden City students, the studentbody at Laketown was too small to constitute a separate high school. At a meeting of the board in October 1946, the issue of the future of the Laketown school and the possibility of merging it with Randolph was discussed. Mr. Robinson (board member from Laketown) stated that about three families in Laketown would permit their children to be trans-ported to Randolph, but that the remaining families would strongly resist any present attempt at high school consolidation. Mr. Sims expressed the belief that if the Board would allow out-of-state tuition payments for the Garden City people until the road was completed over the hill and a new high school constructed in Randolph, many of the Garden City people would not object to supporting the high school at Randolph?' Through the year 1951 the Garden City community continued to agitate for out-of-state tuition. In the interests of insulating the school at Laketown and of perpetuating the schools of Rich County in general, the school board voted in May 1951 "never to give time and consideration to the problem again, that the matter of out-of-state tuition payment was closed, and no further requests would be entertained."" The students from Garden City eventually returned to Laketown and North Rich High School. The issue of consolidation was far from over, however. As the debate was taking place between Laketown and Garden City and between Garden City and the school board over out-of-state tuition, fire engulfed the South Rich High School on the evening of 21 January 1948. The destruction of the high school set immediately into motion a plan to erect a new building at Randolph. Bond elections for the purpose of constructing the new high school were held in the district as early as 1947, but the school board post-poned the construction of the building in order to await a more favorable market for building materials. The district was also in the middle of a debate over the future of North Rich High School and the probable secession of Garden City students. Nonetheless, the destruction by fire of South Rich High School made all other issues secondary. Financial difficulties continued to hamper the project, but by 1951 the new South Rich High School opened for business.52 As discussed by the county board of education in 1946, the most sensible course for the county to have taken would have been high-school consolidation at the new building in Randolph. The North Rich High School was old and in need of extensive repairs. Although this fact was certainly known prior to March 1953, the school board sought and received a state appropriation to remodel and improve the Laketown building. Board member Thelma McKinnon urged her fellow board members to entertain the idea of consolidation and to reconsider expending any more money at North Rich when the money could more profitably be used to improve the Randolph school. But with the district just beginning to recover from the Garden City incident, the other school board members were reluc-tant to engage in another consolidation fight. McKinnon's motion was voted down, and the board retained architect Karl C. Schaub to draw plans for the new North Rich addition.53T he new high school opened in February 1955.5' With declining school enrollments, Rich County was soon forced to make some decisions concerning consolidation. In September 1960 school board members discussed the likelihood of Laketown Elementary School having insufficient enrollment to justify the employment of three teachers. On the other hand, the new Woodruff elementary school constructed in 1957 and opened in the fall of 1958, had an enrollment in excess of the normal workload of the two teachers currently employed there.55 Faced with a difficult decision, the school board considered several options, including taking three grades from Woodruff and placing them at Randolph and consoli-dating the Garden City elementary classes with those of Laketown. The latter proposition met with some opposition in Garden City. A majority of eligible voters in the precinct signed a petition asking the school board to allow at least three grades to remain at Garden City. After considerable debate the school board decided to stay with their original plan, and the Garden City school was closed. The school dis-trict sold the building to the LDS church for two thousand dollars. Some board members felt that the price was too low; nonetheless the majority of the board felt that the building would best serve the needs of the community if placed in the hands of the local bishop.56 With the two Bear Lake communities consolidated at Laketown, it once again became evident that facilities countywide were not equal. A review team from the Utah State Board of Education visited the county in March 1966. They reported that while "the elementary school program tends to met basic requirements, the secondary school program appears to be woefully inadeq~ate."~T'h e review team made three main recommendations: consolidating the Woodruff school with the Randolph elementary, renovating North Rich High School for elementary purposes, and consolidating the county's two high schools at Randolph. The consolidation of elementary schools was one thing, but high school consolidation was quite another. Few things typify the geo-graphic peculiarities of Rich County more than its educational devel-opment. Garden City residents opposed high school consolidation for more than twenty years, even going so far as to send their chil-dren to the high school at Paris, Idaho. In many respects, Garden City retained closer ties with the communities of Fish Haven, Paris, and St. Charles, Idaho, than they did with Laketown. Laketown, on the other hand, maintained little affiliation with Randolph and Woodruff. Few things had changed over the years. In 1946 Laketown school board member Vernon Robinson stated that only about three families would be willing to send their children to Randolph for high school. The feeling remained about the same in 1966. It appeared that these issues had to be approached with great sensitivity. South and North Rich high schools constituted a large part of the community identity in Laketown and Randolph; their geographic separation made them natural rivals. Rather than mov-ing immediately to implement the recommendations of the state board of education, the Rich County School Board opted to try to improve the separate schools over a five-year period and then seek accreditation with the state board.5RM ajor improvements were made, but accreditation was not achieved within the five-year period. Further renovations made in the late 1970s still did not meet state requirements. Finally, in 1984 the district moved to consolidate the two high schools at Randolph, and North and South Rich became Rich High School. This did not happen without significant public unrest. Superintendent Giles E. Parker largely bore the brunt of pub-lic dissatisfaction with the consolidation which contributed to his later resignation. School consolidation remained unpopular with adult residents within the county; students, however, generally had a positive experience. Overall, school consolidation was beneficial for the county. As former Rich County teacher Annie S. Wamsley has mentioned: "Although it has been painful to many, it has been for the good of the students."59 Rich County consistently expends more funds per student than the state average. In 1982 the county ranked fifth in overall expendi-tures, spending $3,035 per student. By 1987, although expenditures remained about the same, the county's ranking had dropped to num-ber eight. In 1993 Rich County schools consisted of two elementary schools-one in Laketown and one in Randolph; one junior high school in Laketown; and one high school in Randolph. There were 283 elementary age students in Rich County in 1993; 99 students attended the junior high school in Laketown, and 167 students attended Rich High School in Randolph. The district employed thirty-two full-time teachers?' Maintaining educational opportuni-ties is just one responsibility of administrators and officials within Rich County. As the school board oversaw educational matters, the Rich County Commission oversaw other aspects of county govern-ment. Among other matters, the county commission managed the maintenance of roads, the collection and disbursement of taxes, health and sanitation issues, and business regulations, as we shall see in the following pages. 1. John Clifton Moffitt, The History of Public Education in Utah (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1946), 2-8. 2. Ibid., 9. 3. The Latter-day Saints' Millennia1 Star 10 (Liverpool, 1848): 85. 4. Ray L. DeBoer, "A Historical Study of Mormon Education and the Influence of Its Philosophy on Public Education in Utah," (Ph.D. diss., University of Denver, 195 I), 67. Furthermore, by 1854 the territorial assem-bly, "whether acting in civil or religious capacity, determined to use the schools as the agency in establishing the Deseret Alphabet." See Moffitt, The History of Public Education in Utah, 55. Samuel C. Monson explained the circumstances surrounding the ori-gin and adoption of the Deseret Alphabet before the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters in 1953. Explaining how most alphabets use Roman letters, Monson noted that a "notable exception is the Deseret Alphabet, proposed for use in Utah by Brigham Young." According to Monson, Brigham Young considered written English absurd and requested the Board of Regents of the newly created University of Deseret "to devise a better system." The system would be based upon phonetics. "Literacy was an ideal among the Mormons, and, if spelling were directly related to pro-nunciation, it would be much easier to teach English to foreigners, as well as to illiterate Americans." Monson also pointed out that the adoption of the Deseret Alphabet held the possibility of further isolating the Mormons-something which Brigham Young desired. "Although many writers disclaim the notion," he states, "isolationism . . . seems to have been a factor. When books in the alphabet finally appeared, an editorial in the Deseret News. . . suggested that if children were taught only the Deseret Alphabet they would be saved from contamination by a prurient and dan-gerous literature, which corrupts and distorts the minds and judgements of men" The major force behind the creation of the new alphabet was George Watt, an English convert to Mormonism who, prior to emigration in 1842, had had considerable experience with "phonography" and shorthand. Monson describes the alphabet created by Watt as consisting of "thirty-eight characters . . . correspond[ing] in value to symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet, with minor variations." Furthermore, "There was no distinction, other than in size, between capitals and lowercase letters. No cursive script was provided for handwriting. When the characters were used, they were disjunct." See Samuel C. Monson, "The Deseret Alphabet," Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters Proceedings 10 (Salt Lake City: Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, 1953): 23-29. 5. DeBoer, A Historical Study of Mormon Education, 6 1-2. 6. Ibid., 62-63. 7. Kate B. Carter, "Latter Day Saint Schools," in Lessons for December 1949 (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1949), 127. 8. Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, man-uscript, Department of Special Collections and Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University, Logan, Utah (hereafter referred to as JH), 17 September 1883,9. 9. JH, 29 May 1883,6. 10. Earl F. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education in Rich County, Utah," (MS thesis, University of Utah, 195 l), 33. 11. JH, 17 March 1883, 5. 12. JH, 5 April 1883, 5. 13. Bear Lake Democrat, Montpelier, Idaho, 21 November 1884. Quoted in JH, 19 November 1884,lO. 14. JH, 17 September 9. 15. JH, 22 February 1884,3. 16. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 102. The school trustees in Laketown were John H. Weston, Manassah Kearl, and Joseph Moffatt. 17. See Laws of the State of Utah: Passed at the Eleventh Regular Session of the Legislature of the State of Utah (Salt Lake City: Century Printing Co., 1915), 98-101. 18. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 102-03. 19. Ibid., 59-63. 20. Mildred N. Thomson, comp., Rich Memories: Some of the Happenings in Rich Country from 1863 to 1960 (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1962), 125. 21. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 22-26. 22. Sociologist Lowry Nelson devoted a lifetime of study to the charac-teristics of the Mormon village, and he more than anyone, popularized the idea. Nelson defined the Mormon village's structure as containing "first, wide streets intersecting each other at right angles, running in north-south and east-west directions; second, the square blocks thus formed are the loca-tion of the residence establishments of the farmers who cultivate the farm lands adjacent to the village proper." See Lowry Nelson, "The Mormon Village: A Study in Social Origins," reprint of article (n.p, n.d) 11, Special Collections and Archives, Utah State University, Logan. See also the larger work, Lowry Nelson, The Mormon Village: A Pattern and Technique of Land Settlement (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1952). 23. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 56. 24. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 54. See also Manuscript History of Woodruff Ward, Bear Lake Stake, Rich County, Utah, 1900 Church Historian's Office, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City (hereafter cited as WMH). 25. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 55. 26. Ibid., 54-58. 27. Ibid., 37. 28. See John D. Monnett, Jr., "The Mormon Church and Its Private School System in Utah: The Emergence of the Academies, 1880-1892," (Ph.D, diss., University of Utah, 1984), 222-23. The letter from Woodruff, sent to all area stake presidents and dated 8 June 1888, read as follows: Dear Brethren: A meeting of the General Board of Education was held to-day, and the subject of the educational interests of the Latter-day Saints was taken into consideration and discussed at some length. It was decided that a Board of Education, consisting of not less than five and not to exceed eight in number, should be selected in each Stake to take charge of and promote the interests of education in the Stake. This communication is addressed to you to inform you of this action, and to have you select energetic men who are friends of education, who understand the needs of the people, and who have influence with the Saints, to carry out any suggestions in this direction that may be deemed proper. In the decision which was made by our Board it was made the duty of these Boards to take into consideration the formation of Church schools and the best method of accomplishing this, and after arriving at proper conclusions, to report them to the General Board. Communications of this character may be addressed to Elder George Reynolds, who is Secretary of the Board. It was felt by the Board that, to begin with, there should be one State Academy established in each State as soon as practicable. We feel that the time has arrived when the proper education of our children should be taken in hand by us as a people. Religious training is practically excluded from the District Schools. The perusal of books that we value as divine records is forbidden. Our children, if left to the training they receive in these schools, will grow up entirely ignorant of those principles of salvation for which the Latter-day Saints have made so many sacrifices. To permit this condition of things to exist among us would be criminal. The desire is universally expressed by all thinking people in the Church that we should have schools where the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants can be used as text books, and where the princi-ples of our religion may form a part of the teaching of the schools. To effect this it will be necessary that funds be collected. The Church will doubtless do its share; but it cannot carry the entire burden. The Saints must be appealed to. There are hundreds of liberal-minded people among us who will be willing to contribute to this worthy object when they find the sub-ject is receiving proper attention, and that definite and permanent arrange-ments are being made to establish academies of this character. The brethren whom you select to form this Board should be men of character and integrity among the people, who will be able to use an influ-ence in the collection of funds, so that academies may be established, good Faculties employed, and education be made so cheap that it will be within the reach of the humblest in the land. After you have made a proper selec-tion for this Board, the names of the brethren composing it should be pre-sented regularly at your Stake conference as other authorities are, so that the people can vote for them. Very respectfully yours, Wilford Woodruff Chairman of the Church Board of Education George Reynolds Secretary 29. Monnett, "The Mormon Church and Its Private School System," 222. 30. Thomson, Rich Memories, 178. 3 1. Carter, "Latter Day Saint Schools," 127-29. 32. Monnett, "The Mormon Church and Its Private School System," 175-76. 33. Ibid., 176. 34. Ibid., 177. 35. Joseph F. Neville was born in England in 1876 and immigrated to Utah in 1880. He is credited with the construction of numerous buildings in Woodruff and elsewhere in Rich County. He was a talented carpenter, brick mason, and iron worker. See Woodruff Centennial Committee, The First Hundred Years in Woodruff (Springville, UT: Art City Publishing Co., 1970), 351. 36. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 70. Compared to the other six school districts which had operated in Rich County before 19 15-Garden City, Round Valley, Sage, Laketown, Argyle, and Meadow-ville- the Woodruff District appeared well managed. For instance, while Woodruff held a surplus of one thousand dollars, the combined debt of the other districts amounted to over eighteen thousand dollars. Most of this debt had been incurred in the North Randolph District (Sage), where a six-teen thousand dollar building bond had been issued. The Randolph District also required the highest mill levy of 13.5 to pay for district expenses. Furthermore, none of the other districts provided training beyond the eighth grade. See Passey, 64-73. 37. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 1 18. 38. Ibid., 79. 39. Ibid., 102. 40. Ibid., 103. 41. Rich County Reaper (Randolph, Utah), 24 February 1944, 1. 42. Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 83. 43. Ibid., 85. 44. Ibid., 86. 45. Ibid., 123. 46. Ibid., 93. 47. Ibid., 95. 48. Ibid., 96. 49. Ibid., 97. 50. Ibid., 98. 5 1. The meeting held on 5 May 195 1 included the following points of view as expressed by Everett Sims, the Garden City member, and Vern Hopkin, the member from Woodruff: "At this time, Mr. Everett Sims and Mr. LaVon Sprouse of Garden City appeared before the Board with the request that the Rich County Board of Education pay the 1950-51 tuition bill for the Garden City students attend-ing Paris, Idaho, schools. The entire arguments were again presented by this committee. 1. Rich County schools would profit financially by applying for state aid and using only part of such aid to pay the Idaho tuition. 2. Rich County schools were too small to be as good as the Paris schools. 3. The Garden City people desired better schools for their children than Rich County offered. 4. It would constitute an act of discrimination against the Garden City community if this tuition were not allowed. A written petition was then presented to the Board, bearing the names of a large segment of the entire Garden City community. Board member Hopkin led the other members of the Board in reply-ing to this request. He pointed out that to receive additional classroom units for the payment of the tuition cost would increase the total tax burden in the state of Utah. Since part of this additional money would be raised in Rich County, it could not benefit this district to tax itself a larger amount in order to have a smaller amount remaining for the particular use of Rich County Schools. Second, if Rich County's schools were too small to be effi-cient, they would be made still smaller as the result of the withdrawal of the Garden City students. Therefore, to allow the payment would be, in effect, working to the detriment of the very schools the Board were elected to man-age, support, and upgrade. Third, evidence was amply available that Rich County school graduates were not handicapped above other students in later college study. In the matter of discrimination, it was pointed out that it was the first duty of Rich County citizens to support and build their own communities and by failing in this duty they were failing in their public trust as school board members. Further, that those citizens who were constantly working against our own school system were wholly to blame for the unhealthy condition existing in the north end of the county. See Passey, "An Historical Study of Public Education," 100-10 1. 52. Steven L. Thomson, Jane D. Digerness, and Mar Jean S. Thomson, Randolph-A Look Back (n.p., 1981), 176. 53. Rich County Board of Education minutes, 2 March 1953, Rich County School District, Randolph, Utah (hereafter referred to as Board of Education minutes). 54. Board of Education Minutes, 7 February 1955. 55. Board of Education Minutes, 12 September 1960. 56. Board of Education Minutes, 20 November 1962. 57. Utah State Board of Education, "Evaluation of the Rich County School District," 29 March 1966, 29. 58. Board of Education Minutes, 15 May 1968. 59. Annie S. Wamsley, "School Through the Years by a devoted Rich County, Utah, Teacher." Typescript. See appendix C. 60. 1993-94 Utah School Directory (Salt Lake City: Utah State Office of Education, 1993), 1 18.