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Show Franklin, Id. was once part of Utah By QUI; NIELSEN Did you know the oldest town in the state of Idaho was once a part of Utah? Franklin, Idaho, in the northern part of Cache Valley, was settled in 1860 and was named after early Mormon Apostle Franklin D. Richards. It was also one of the original eight settlements in Cache Valley. When the boundary line was established es-tablished between Utah and Idaho in 1872, Franklin was "found to be in Idaho. ' ' The community of Franklin is one mile north of the Utah border and 20 miles north of Logan, the Cache County seat. Andrew Jenson, in his Encyclopedic En-cyclopedic History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wrote "Franklin is situated on a bench between Cub River, Maple Creek and Spring Creek, which streams encircle the town so com pletely that it almost becomes an island surrounded by meadow land." The first settlers came into the area early in April, and camped for a short time in Camp Cove while explorations were made to determine deter-mine the most suitable place to settle. They moved to the present site of Franklin on April 14, 1860. Indians in the vicinity were friendly and welcomed the pioneers to the land, water and timber. In the summer of 1860 the first homes were wagon boxes placed close together on the ground. The wagon running gears were used to haul logs from the canyon. Relics and pictures of pioneer life in Franklin can now be seen in Relic Hall built in 1937. Source: Andrew Jenson, "History of the Church"; Tullidges of Utah; Franklin City records. (Quig Nielsen is an information officer for the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City.) |