Show THE BANNOCK STAKE OF ZION BY ANDREW JENSON IONA WARD james E steele bishop aaron W beach first counselor cadwalader owens second counselor lona iona ward formerly sand band creek embraces a tract of excellent farming land lying east of eagle rook bock and skirting the low hills bills on the east side aide of snake river valley its boundaries are described as follows commencing at the foot hills and running thence west ou the township line between townships 1 ani an 1 2 to the southwest corner of section 88 93 thence north along the section line to willow creek thence along willow creek to the bridge on the county road thence due east to 10 the foot hills bills thence along the base of the foot hills to the place of beginning the ward to is about nine miles long from north to south and five miles wide from east to west it took its first name from a stream of water called sand creek which flows from willowcreek Willow Creek and takes a southwesterly course to what is known as the sand hills where it partly sinks in its uncultivated state stale the land Is mostly covered with sagebrush except along the creek where the water has killed off the sage anda and a thick growth of blue grass has taken its place in the spring aprin 9 of the year the water in sand creek to is g generally ene rally very high which is caused by y snow now melting on the low hills on the east the lona iona townsite te consisting of acres of land is the sout southeast beast quarter of section 1 towal hip 2 north range 88 east it to is seven miles southeast of eagle rook rock the nearest catl railway way point and thirty five miles by way of the big buttes ferry southwest of rex burg As a ent part of the lona iona ward there is a bran branch organization called south lona iona embracing the south end or three alers of sections at this place meetings and sunday schools are held regularly in private houses bouses steps are now being taken toward the erection of a meeting house the farming land in south lona iona is flat and fertile HISTORY that part of the country now embraced in the tona lona ward was uninhabited until the year 1888 1883 when a few latter day saints from utah settled at different differ eat points along sand creek among the first settlers were joseph S rufus W norton cadwalader and C J owens goo geo P ward wrol C and ole olsen henry dahlstrom james C J reynolds joseph and george longhurst and others these early settlers at once began to build houses fence their lands and make water ditches and when the eagle rock and willow creek canal company was organized most of them subscribed for stock with sald said company and went to work in earnest constructing a canal to convey the water from snake river into the natural channel of willow creek this canal which was surveyed by andrew S anderson in june or july 1884 taps the river at a point near the canyon about twenty miles northeast of the loaa iona townsite takes a southwesterly course is seven miles long and thirty feet wide in the bottom botto aa and cost it was wag completed in july 1886 the eagle rock bock and willow creek canal company has been incorporated with a capital stock of afterwards increased to in 1888 it bought the so called anderson andersen company s canal for the sum of both canals will carry inches of water sufficient sum chent to irrigate that many acres of land besides the iona lands many farms in willow creak ward above and taylor ward below are irrigated from the canals june 1884 apostle wilford woodruff and heber J grant and president thomas E ricks visited sand creek and held a meeting in the open air at the ranch of rufus W norton and organized the saints in this locality into a branch of the church with cadwalader owens as presiding priest this was afterwards under the name of sand creek branch attached to the louisville ward june and 1884 a townsite originally called sand creek townsite was surveyed by andrew S anderson but it was subsequently jumped by a certain party after which clithe the present townsite was surveyed at a special ecial meeting held bield at sand creek may 1886 at which apostle ohn john W taylor and president ricks and others were present a ward organization was effected with james E steele as bishop and james 0 reynolds as aa his bis first and cadwalader owens as his second counselor these brethren were all ordained high priests and set apart to their respective offices the ward was named iona aher after a small town in palestine the meaning of which to is beautiful on the same occasion a branch organization called taylor was effected on lower sand creek when john priest was set apart to preside under the direction of the iona ward bishopric this is what is now known as the taylor ward owing to the failure to secure their townsite for some time and other c causes au 08 the people did not have a meeting house for several years while under a branch organization the saints met for public worship in the house bouse of cadwalader owens ane afterwards at the residence of C J owens in the winter of 1887 1886 87 the brethren assisted ole olson olsen in putting up his house a log building teet near the townsite and in this meetings sunday schools and day were held until 1887 when the present meeting house houm a respectable and substantial white sandstone building feet in size was built at a cost of 1600 1500 it is the only rock meetinghouse meeting house in III the bannock stake the first meeting was held in that house in the spring of 1888 the first sunday school at iona was fully organized with john F shelley as superintendent june 20 1886 but a temporary sabbath school had already been in working order for about three months previous A relief society was organized aug 1 1886 with elvira C steele as president in the fall fail of 1886 a tow townsite nette embracing acres acrea was secured at a cost of this sum was paid for the relinquishment of the land which was claimed by hyrum H rum timoth it was entered by the probate judge of bingham county as the iona tow lusito after being surveyed by joseph A bark lark the county surveyor into ten acre blocks divided into eight lots each and with streets six rods wide in february 1887 acting president robert L bybee and stake superintendent edmund paul organized the Y M M 1 I A with job john n P F shelly as president during the winter of 88 the first day school yaa taught by john F shelley counselor Reyn reynolds Ids having ren removed noved from the ward aaron W beach was set apart as first counselor to bishop steele at a district conference held at lona iona july uly 21 and 22 1889 nov 26 1889 the south end of the ward was organized by bishop steele into a temporary branch called south lona iona with arthur M rawson as presiding priest on the same occasion james A owen anis appointed and set apart as superintendent of the south lona iona sunday school LABET LABELLE LE WARD winslow F walker bishop john G U morgan first counselor john B dilts second counselor the labelle waro ward embraces the south end of poole coolers a island which ig 19 separated from the main land on the north by the principal branch of snake river biver and on the south by the dry bed becj I 1 the length of the ward is about twelve miles with RD an average width of about two miles and contains awen ty four square miles the townsite is the southwest south west quarter of section 3 township 4 north range 89 east botha boise meridian it is seven miles southeast of the menan tow ansite a little less than three miles in a straight line northwest of lymar on the opposite side of the main branch of snake river and about eleven miles northwest of rex burg by way of the big buttes ferry it is ib twenty three miles from rexburg Rex burg most of the people of the labelle ward reside as yet on their quarter sections but preparations are being made to build on the townsite towo Bite the farming laud land is level and fertile and the island affords plenty of wood and water there are a number of nou mormon settlers Hift history oRy yearly Vearly Th history of the labelle ward is identical with that of menan to which it originally belonged that part of pooles island now included in the labelle ward was first settled in may 1884 by winslow F walker william R scott john G morgan george A browning and others who hurt built several houses that some fall at a meeting hold held at the residence of william F walker june 14 1885 and at which bishop robert L bybee of menan presided a branch organization was effected embracing the saints residing on the east end of pooles island with william F walker as presiding priest john G morgan and job john u B dilts were called to assist him this branch organization was waa named cleveland in honor bonor of the president of the united states and was a part of the menan ward it existed until mily may 21 1886 when a special meeting was held at cleveland apostle john W taylor being resent sent on which occasion the clevend fand Ke besent branch was organized into a ward with winslow F walker as bishop and john 0 morgan as his first and john B ditto dilts as his second counselor these brethren who still compose the bishopric of the labelle ward were ordained high priests and set apart to their respective positions on the day mentioned all meetings and sunday schools were held in private houses principally in bishop walkers residence until 1887 when the present meeting house bouse was built in 1890 when a postoffice post office was established the name of the place was changed from cleveland to labelle louisville WARD richard F jardine Jard lne bishop orrin myler first counselor william A walker second counselor louisville townsite contains acres of land and is a part of section 8 in township 4 north of range 88 38 east boise meridian it is situated in the midst of a fine farming country and bids fair to become a town of importance in the near future the townsite is near the south bank ot of the dry bed of snake river where there to is a ferry connecting it with pooles pooled island it is fifteen miles north of eagle rock bock and nineteen miles by way of the big buttes ferry southwest south west of rexburg Bex Rex burg market lake would be a much nearer railway station but the river makes direct communication with that place impossible the louisville ward ext extends acids on the north to the dry bed of snake river west to the main river south to the eagle rock bock ward an i east cast to the rigby bigby and willow creek wards in other words the boundaries are described as follows commencing at the northwest corner of section 2 township 4 north of range 88 east thence running south to willow creek thence west to snake river biver thence along fald bald river up to the mouth of dry bed thence up dry bed to the point of commencement thus it will be seen that the ward embraces a scope of country about twelve by six miles quite a number of the people live on the townsite town sito and the remainder on their farms water for irrigating purposes ishad is had from fronk the dry bedaf bed of snake river biver through a canal which taps tape that branch of the river about eight miles above the settlement about a dozen familee residing within the limits of the ward are non mormons cormons the post office name of louisville is taylor the country in its uncultivated state is covered with a heavy growth of sagebrush history Hi STOBY richard bichard franklin jardine brigham henry ellsworth and john willard ellsworth first arrived on the present site of louisville july 8 1882 and selected their quarter sections of land after camping there th three ree days they went tack back on the alth of july but returned in september following and built two houses bouses into which brothers jardine and brigham H ellsworth Ella worth moved their families oct 4 1882 oct 10 1882 president thomas E ricks bicks and surveyor andrew S anderson andersen selected and determined the location of the water ditch it was sur keyed on the following day work commenced on it march 21 1883 and completed june 8 1888 1883 the water failed the follow following ing month march 22 and 23 1888 the townsite town eite was surveyed by andrew 8 anderson andersen in the spring of 1883 charles shurtliff luman taylor albert taylor henry boyce arthur boyce and david ld lowder arrived others came later in the season the first meeting was held in richard F jardines house may and at a priesthood meeting held at rex burg june richard F jardine was appointed to preside over the settle ment james myler was appointed to act as a home missionary on that side of the river and brigham H ells worth was nominated as a justice of the pence peace for the new settlement then a branch of the menan ward aug 12 1883 the first sabbath school was organized with orrin myler as superintendent in the house of richard F jardine sept 6 1883 austin 0 green and richard F jardine located a county road from cedar buta Butt eslo eagle rock lyman market lake and rex rexburg burg october 25 1883 at a meeting g be head j at the house of richard F jardine he was accepted by the people as president of the settlement and was also appointed a home missionary to visit and preach in louisville loui eville cedar buttes buttee eagle rock and willow creek at this meeting which was attended by william B preston and bishop thomas E ricks brother preston named the settlement louisville after louisville kentucky the branch was called the louisville branch of the bannock ward of the cache stake of zion september 10 1883 it was decided in public ablie meeting to build a meeting bouee house and brigham H ellsworth was appointed superintendent of construction tion work was commenced on the building dec 3 1883 I 1 and it was completed comi jan 8 1884 the first meeting was hold held in it jan 13 1884 this building was finally burned down in the spring of 1890 at a quarterly conference held at rexburg Rex burg aug 17 1884 richard etchard F jardine was ordained a high priest and a bishop to preside over the louisville ward then organized on the same game day orrin myler was ordained a high priest and set apart to act as his first counselor subsequently william A walker was ordained a high priest and set apart to act as as second counselor this bishopric still stands intact at a special meeting held at louisville october 24 1887 it was decided to build a new meetinghouse meeting house boube feet the erection of the same was commenced in the summer of 1888 by burning the brick on the ground which was the first lot of brick burned in that region of country the house hoube was so 80 far finished that the first meeting could be held in it in february 1890 the first dance in louisville was given in the house of richard F jar dane dec 25 1883 the first dance in the new meeting house jan 23 1884 the first fast meeting in the settlement was held beld feb 7 1884 the first Y M M 1 I A was organized feb 10 1884 with brigham H ellsworth as president the first regular meeting of the association was held february 13 18 1884 at a business meeting held at louisville charles Shur diff martin harmon and henry boyce were appointed trustees for the establishment of the first day school in louisville the first relief belief 8 clety was organized may 13 1884 with alzina goodey as president october 1 8 3 1884 the first death occurred in the settlement in the demise of sister geo hill her funeral gave occasion for the selection of a piece of land for a grave yard which was dedicated october 20 1884 the first primary association was organized november 30 1884 with louisa walker as president the first deacons quorum was organized december 1 1884 LYMAN WARD samuel A wilcox bishop john castle first counselor thomas atkinson second Coune counselor elor lyman ward waid lies south of rexburg Rex burg and embraces mostly land but some of the best in the country the town of lyman is situated on the north bank of the south or main fork of |