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Show Rexburg and Ricks College named after the same man By QUIG NIELSEN Idaho has a city and a nationally-recognized nationally-recognized two-year college named after the same pioneer, but both have different names. Rexburg, settled in 1883 by a group of young Mormons out of Utah's Cache Valley, was named for Thomas E. Ricks, an original pioneer. Ricks chose the name "Rex" because that was the original German name from which Ricks is derived." Five years later a college was established and named "Ricks College." Mormons, mainly an agricultural people and adept at developing irrigation, ir-rigation, looked with favor on the fertile soil of the Snake River Valley. Among the early towns established es-tablished were St. Anthony, Sugar City, Rigby, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls and Rexburg. Anti-Mormons first called Rexburg Rex-burg "Kaintuck." In fact, the first post office was named Kaintuck, ignoring the name of Rexburg. Even the early maps listed Kaintuck. Kain-tuck. It was in 1893 that Rexburg citizens requested the Post Office department to appoint Thomas E. B assert postmaster of the officially named Rexburg Post Office. In her book This Side of the Mountainst Janet Thomas wrote, ' 'There were three main forces that determined many of southeastern Idaho town names. They were the railroad, the United States Post Office, Of-fice, and the Mormon Church." Thomas also pointed out that the name "Idaho" is a word without meaning. Noted Idaho historian, Merle W. Wells, after sifting through many and sundry "explanations of where 'Idaho' originated, (concluded that) 'Idaho is a word coined by a group of miners in what is known today as Colorado." Rexburg, like many other Mormon Mor-mon Idaho settlements, has preserved preserv-ed excellent examples of distinctive Mormon Church architecture. The booklet "Idaho, An Illustrated History, " by the Idaho State Historical Society, states, "This Italian ate Rexburg tabernacle is an imposing example of Mormon building using local basaltic material." mate-rial." Mormon building projects produced pro-duced community pride buildings which have had a strong impact on the architectural heritage of Idaho. Source: Scott, "The Hub of Eastern Idaho"; Thomas, "This Side of the Mountains" ; Caxton, "Idaho, A Guide in Word and Pictures." Pic-tures." (Quig Nielsen is an information officer for the Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City.) |