In the summer of 1915 the valley news in the American Falls Press followed Arbon Valley through three holidays: Decoration Day at the end of May, a Fourth of July celebration at the Central school on Saturday, July 3, and the 24th of July, the Latter-day Saints' Pioneer Day, at Pauline. The north and central valley, where these holidays were kept, had been in Power County, with its seat at American Falls, since 1913; before that it was in Oneida County, where the Summit and Buist end of the valley remained.
Decoration Day
Decoration Day, the older name for Memorial Day, fell on Sunday, May 30, that year. The Arbon column of June 3 gave it two sentences: "Decoration Day was observed here Sunday. Several went to the cemetery during the day to decorate the graves." It does not say which cemetery. The valley's burial grounds then included the Arbon Valley Cemetery, whose oldest dated grave is from 1908, and the new cemetery near the Pauline post office, where "Grandma" Horton had been buried on May 9. Some spent the day away: the same column noted that Mrs. Dave Daniels and her family went to Malad, and one man went to Pocatello.
Planning the Fourth
The Fourth of July fell on a Sunday in 1915. On Sunday, June 20, a meeting at the Central hall took up the arrangements and voted to celebrate on Saturday, July 3, at the Central school. This was the District 12 schoolhouse on the north Arbon floor, on land given by T. B. Evans, and later known as Green Top.
The North and Central Arbon news of June 24 printed the names of those in charge of the arrangements, apparently the committee, though the digitized text is garbled here and at least one name is lost. For Pauline it lists John Noble, Wm. Dawson and Mr. Flatter. For Central it lists J. E. Keeler and Add Affleck among others, and it also names Emmett Lee and, apparently, Kate Lee. John Noble had built the first store at Pauline. Keeler had been one of the first directors of the valley's telephone company in 1913, and Add Affleck was Tom Evans's son-in-law, whose homestead lay beside the land of the Evans family.
The committees were "busy last week soliciting," the Arbon column reported on July 8, and a dance had been given on a Saturday evening as a benefit. The rest of that sentence is lost in the digitized text, and the date it prints for the dance does not fall on a Saturday. The column went on: "The celebration this year was held at the Central school grounds."
The big picnic
Townspeople came out from American Falls. The Press's own local page reported that Mr. and Mrs. O. F. Crowley, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Davis, Miss Madge Whistler and D. W. Davis "went to Arbon Saturday to attend the big picnic there." Madge Whistler's name appeared in the same paper that month as Power County's superintendent of schools. A second item in the same issue listed the Crowleys, D. W. Davis and Miss Whistler with three more couples, among them a Mr. and Mrs. Davis, as having "motored to Arbon Sunday the Fourth." Whether that was a second trip, or the same one reported with a different day, the paper does not make clear. American Falls held its own celebration, a barbecue and sports, on Monday, July 5.
The fuller account came in the valley news on the front page of July 15. "The celebration held here the 4th of July was largely attended," the correspondent wrote. The day was fine, except for a strong wind that came up in the afternoon and stirred up the dust. The correspondent went on:
A fine program was rendered. Various refreshments and good things for the children were sold at the stands. A social dance was enjoyed in the evening. A number of people from Crystal came over to attend the celebration.
That paragraph does not name the place, and it calls the day "the 4th of July" although the celebration had been set for the 3rd. The column headings are garbled in the digitized text: the paragraph follows items from the south end of the valley and is followed by news of central-valley families such as the Bullocks and Ellises. The report of the week before had placed the celebration at the Central school, so it is probably the same event. Not everyone stayed for it: the same page reported people who had gone to Rockland, and to Logan, Utah, to spend the Fourth.
The 24th at Pauline
Three weeks later came the 24th of July, Pioneer Day, which marks the arrival of the first Latter-day Saint pioneer company in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. In 1915 it fell on a Saturday. The Arbon column of July 29 reported:
The 24th of July was celebrated here by a large crowd at the Pauline L. D. S. grounds. Racing of various kinds and other amusements featured the day. A fine program was given in the morning.
A crowd of people went up to Knox canyon Sunday July 25, to enjoy themselves in the shade and have a picnic.
The grounds were probably those of the meeting house of the Meadow Ward, the ward at Pauline. In May the ward had held an entertainment there to raise money "toward fencing the church grounds." On the evening of the 24th, the Valley View Sunday school gave a social at its schoolhouse that was "largely attended." That Sunday school had recently been organized by Robert W. Sturges, the seminary student who served the valley's Congregational churches that summer. The same front page also carried a separate report on the day at Pauline, but it is too damaged in the digitized text to be read.
The reports name the planners and some of the visitors. The readable reports do not say who spoke on the programs, who ran the stands or who won the races; the damaged Pauline report mentions winners, but their names cannot be read. The Evans family history on this site remembers Ren Evans as an organizer of the valley's Fourth and Twenty-fourth of July boweries, but the 1915 reports do not name him.
The article as printed
American Falls Press, July 15, 1915, page 1. Transcribed from the Library of Congress's digitized text of the page, with the celebration paragraph checked against the page scan. The heading over these Arbon items cannot be read in the digitized text, and the items run on from the South Arbon news, so the transcription begins with the first item that belongs to the Arbon column and ends with its last before the South Arbon items resume.
Miss Lavina Pellum of Arbon and Mr. Charles J. Palmer were united in marriage June 8, at Blackfoot, Idaho. Mr. Palmer resides at Blackfoot. Their many friends wish them much joy.
Miss [illegible] Arbon has returned to her home here after visiting for several months in Pocatello.
Mr. and Mrs. Pellum were Pocatello visitors last week.
The celebration held here the 4th of July was largely attended. The day was fine except a strong wind which came in the afternoon, made the dust quite bad. A fine program was rendered. Various refreshments and good things for the children were sold at the stands. A social dance was enjoyed in the evening. A number of people from Crystal came over to attend the celebration.
Sherman Randall spent a day or two in Pocatello last week.
Mrs. Muriel Johnson and children sister-in-law of Mrs. John Butler and Morris Johnson recently arrived from Kansas to join her husband there where they expect to reside.
Mr. and Mrs. Logan were called to Blackfoot last Thursday to attend a trial in the district court. In the habeas corpus proceedings Wm. M. Denning petitioners and Jacob [illegible] et al, defendants, both residents of Crystal.
Miss Ellis of Blackfoot and Nathan Bullock of Arbon were wedded a few days ago at Blackfoot, which was a great surprise to their many friends here. Miss Ellis is a sister of Jess Ellis of this place and Mr. Bullock is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. John Bullock. We wish them joy in their journey through life.
Mr. and Mrs. John Bullock were in Blackfoot last week to visit their daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. Jess Ellis and baby have returned home after spending a few weeks at Moreland, Idaho.
Mrs. Melvin Bailey and mother went to Rockland and landing to spend the 4th.
Mr. J. R. Bailey and Parley Bailey went to Malad last week on business.
The past week has been very warm and dry and we would be glad to see a good rain although crops are not suffering yet in this section. Most of the fall grain is headed out and looks fine but spring grain will not be very tall unless we have rain.
On this site: the Arbon and Pauline and West Fork area histories, Crystal, and the Evans family, on whose land the Central school stood.
Sources
- American Falls Press, May 20, 1915, page 8
- American Falls Press, June 3, 1915, page 4
- American Falls Press, June 24, 1915, page 8
- American Falls Press, July 8, 1915, page 1
- American Falls Press, July 8, 1915, page 2
- American Falls Press, July 8, 1915, page 3
- American Falls Press, July 15, 1915, page 1
- American Falls Press, July 29, 1915, page 1