In the Middle and On the Edge
The Twin Falls Region of Idaho

Foreward  |  Preface  | Acknowledgments

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Foreword

       In the early years of this century, photographer Clarence Bisbee documented the people, places, and events involved with the founding of the Twin Falls community. One of his photos, taken nearly 100 years ago, is a view from a sagebrush-covered hillside in Jerome County looking south toward what would someday become the city of Twin Falls. The primary subject matter in this particular photo is two rows of newly planted poplar saplings. Otherwise, the foreground is markedly dry, sterile, and without features of note. To Bisbee, this photo recorded something of significance though it does stand in contrast to many of his other photos of downtown Twin Falls, public celebrations, important citizens, and visiting dignitaries. Regardless of his motive in capturing this stark image, it is striking to viewers today because it symbolizes the challenges that were to lie ahead for the developing community.

       The sagebrush and grasses in the foreground of the photo have since been replaced by a new cloverleaf intersection of US 93 and Interstate I-84. Today, this exact location sees almost as many vehicles per day as any intersection in the state of Idaho. Bisbee would probably not have been surprised to see that Twin Falls has since grown into an intensive agricultural community with a population of over 35,000, retail base of over 170,000, more than 50 churches, 43 manufacturing plants, 41 food processing plants, 14 public schools and many more private schools, a nearby regional airport, and the Idaho’s fastest growing institution of higher education. His photos, however, continue to remind us of the changes brought about within a single century.

       This book is not unlike the Bisbee photo. The following pages provide a unique and profound look toward a community through the wide-angle lens of the historian. Whereas the photographer was documenting progress with an eye toward future changes and development, this book is a look back—a unique historical view from the inside the community with a focus on the landscapes, people, and events that would come to define Twin Falls.

       This monumental history of the city of Twin Falls required the review of many varieties of historical records, including census data, photographs, newspaper archives, public records, diaries, museum archives, and many others. So much of this material exists that the Twin Falls Public Library has an entire room dedicated to local history, and much more can be found in public archives, local museums, and private collections. This quantity and variety of information would require years to peruse if not done using the methodology and techniques of the scholar-historian. Organization of the material into this seminal publication required organized planning, careful reading, extensive annotation, collection of oral histories, travel to distant archives, and—most important—the ability to synthesize this information into a work that accurately represents the history and spirit of the community. This sort of scholarship requires an academic insistence on accuracy and a clear and concise focus on the end product. It is also a labor of love undertaken by someone with a heartfelt interest in sharing the vision of a community history that developed following the investment of hours with computer monitors, tape recorders, microfiche viewers, and open books.

       The author, Jim Gentry, is uniquely qualified to write this history of the Twin Falls community. He moved to Twin Falls in 1969, the year he accepted a position in the social science department at the College of Southern Idaho. When he arrived in Twin Falls, he was looking for a place to call home. He and his wife, Barbara, were seeking a place to raise a family and engender a career. Not long after moving to this community, he set himself a goal to someday publish a comprehensive history of the community, so during the ensuing years he collected information and refined his ideas for this undertaking. The approaching centennial year 2004 afforded the timely opportunity to complete this goal.

       Jim Gentry is currently chair of the department of social sciences and education at CSI and has served on numerous educational and administrative committees. He has been married to Barbara for 34 years, and together they have raised two children, both of whom graduated from CSI. Dr. Gentry has also been very involved in community activities. Since 1969 he has been an active member of the First Baptist Church of Twin Falls. In 1987, he helped organize the Twin Falls County Historic Preservation Commission, which oversees a variety of historic-preservation projects in the county, and has been a member since that time.

       Dr. Gentry has an associate of arts degree from Citrus College in Azusa, California. His bachelor of science is from California State College, Pomona, and his master of arts degree is from California State University, Los Angeles. While teaching at CSI he completed his Ph.D. in history from the University of Utah in 1985.

       Before venturing into the pages of this book, a more personal introduction to the author is in order. I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Gentry for more than 25 years. In that time, I have had many opportunities to visit with him about professional business and community issues as well as personal and family matters. Not only does he have the classic demeanor of a scholar and administrator, he also possesses a compassionate interest and perspective on life outside of academics. He cares for each and every colleague and student, and his office door is always open for anyone. He will nearly always invite one into his office to just “sit and chat.” Over the years he has shown a genuine interest in me and my family and a curiosity about my perspective of the community. This authentic interest in others is perhaps the single most valuable trait that enabled him to write this insightful and humane look at our community.

       The following pages are not simply a recitation of important events in the building of Twin Falls. Rather, the reader will soon learn of the personalities that built this community, and learn of their successes and failures that contributed to what makes this community unique. In the ensuing chapters, you will find a historically sound look at Twin Falls as seen through the eyes of a scholar, and at the same time you will find the humanness behind this century-old story of a community built in a most surprising location.

James C. Woods, Director
Herrett Center for Arts and Sciences
College of Southern Idaho
July 2003

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       The Twin Falls region received a Euro-American population rather late. The first documented white contact in 1811 was a disappointment as Wilson Price Hunt’s party of Astorians was forced to abandon its canoes and walk overland to the Pacific Coast. During the next several years the area became a neutral zone between American fur traders to the east and British trappers in the west. Meanwhile people moved through the area in search of well-watered farmland in Oregon and good mining in southwestern Idaho. Until 1848, the Mexican border was less than fifty miles away to the south.

       Indian conflicts after the Civil War and completion of the transcontinental railroad forced Indians to relocate to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and improved transportation to the area. A short-term gold rush in 1870 brought the first permanent white population; when the gold rush ended, some remained to raise cattle and later sheep. The arrival in the early 1880s of the Oregon Short Line (a division of the Union Pacific) only twenty-six miles to the north in the new town of Shoshone provided other opportunities—such as tourism around Shoshone Falls, the best known area landmark.

       In 1885 I. B. Perrine came to the canyon as a tireless promoter who could see new possibilities that few could imagine. He wanted to raise fruit and animals; provide a stagecoach line, a hotel, and an attraction for tourists; develop mines; and ultimately establish a town and an irrigation system. After a recession that lasted from 1893 to1897, Perrine pounced on the opportunity to develop an “irrigated paradise” under the aegis of the Carey Act of 1894. He successfully sold his vision to Salt Lake City and Pennsylvania investors, and by 1903 the Twin Falls Land and Water Company was prepared to irrigate the valley. After initial weak land sales in July 1903, the company constructed the city of Twin Falls, demonstrating its commitment to the region. By late October 1904, the new city had a dynamic population with general stores, livery stables, restaurants, saloons, a lumberyard, a brickyard, a meat market, a blacksmith shop, a rooming house, a real estate office, and a newspaper—the Twin Falls News. By the end of that year the city had about seventy-five buildings. In the hundred years since, it has grown into a bustling commercial center between Boise to the west and Pocatello to the east.

       Many are not aware that the Twin Falls region has always been in the middle and on the edge. As the area developed geologically, it was centered between the mountains to the north and the Great Basin in the south; it was located in the middle of the better watered Portneuf Valley to the east and the Boise Valley to the west. It was the dividing point between different deposits of lava. The city of Twin Falls was build between two canyons: the Snake River Canyon to the north and the Rock Creek Canyon to the southwest.

       As Native Americans came to the area, they used the region as a center and as an edge. During the summer and fall they utilized the Camas Prairie to the north and the South Hills to the south for hunting and gathering. They wintered in the Snake River Canyon. Native Americans traveled from the Portneuf Valley (modern Pocatello) to the Boise Valley (modern Boise) for trade and cultural exchange. After a time the region was also in the middle between the Americans who built Fort Hall in the Portneuf Valley and the British who constructed Fort Boise on the Snake River to the west. This was later a dangerous area for Oregon Trail emigrants because it was in the center between Forts Hall and Boise and jurisdiction was less clear here. With the development of Salt Lake City in 1847 and the opening of southwestern Idaho mines in 1862, the Twin Falls region was in the middle of trade between the two areas. A stage service shortly thereafter developed two stage stops in the area. As Mormon people settled in southeastern Idaho, the Twin Falls area was on the western edge of their area of influence. Religious tensions exacerbated other conflicts; the “Diamondfield Jack” story of cowboys killing sheepherders who crossed Deadline Ridge in the South Hills was made more dramatic because Mormon sheepherders were east of the ridge and non-Mormon ranchers were to the west.

       Twin Falls continues to be in the middle and on the edge. The region is on the southern edge of the Ketchum-Sun Valley tourist center begun in 1936; it is on the northern edge of the area encompassing Nevada towns such as Jackpot, Wells, and Elko. The region continues to be in the middle between Pocatello and Boise, whose television stations, universities, and other businesses vie for the central market, and on the edge from the perspectives of the outlying cities. As Twin Falls people anticipate the community’s second hundred years, it is vital to understand that the region is in the middle—and on the edge.

Jim Gentry
Twin Falls, Idaho
July 2003

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Acknowledgments

       The development of local history as a field of study in this country during the 1970s contributed many new insights into historical research. Among other things, it was rooted in a geographical context. This focus, this approach appealed to me as both scholar and citizen. In 1983 and 1984 I joined area people in interpreting local history in Bliss and Hansen and the Czech culture in the Buhl–Castleford area. Shortly thereafter I wrote a short history of the College of Southern Idaho. At the same time, I was writing my doctoral dissertation at the University of Utah on English writers who interpreted individual shires in the late seventeenth century. By the late 1980s I was ready to begin the long-time project of writing a Twin Falls history.

       A faculty member at the College of Southern Idaho since 1969, I discussed my interest in writing a history of Twin Falls with CSI president Jerry Meyerhoeffer. As the dedication of this book indicates, he has been a constant source of encouragement and support.

       Others helped make this book possible as well. Judy Austin has been a great advisor. Having served as an historian with the Idaho State Historical Society from 1967 to 2002 and editor of its journal, Idaho Yesterdays, from 1975 to 2002, Judy supplied priceless experience and perspective. I appreciate her editing a manuscript, pictures, maps, and other material into this book. Judy provided valuable friendship throughout this project; I called her frequently! Edith Stacey has been a wonderful next-door neighbor since 1972; for our children she was “Granny Edith.” As a former elementary-school teacher, she furnished valuable criticism and enjoyed “spreading the red ink.” CSI colleague Jim Woods, director of the Herrett Center, provided this historian with invaluable insights into archeological developments in the Twin Falls region. Jim helped with pictures, maps, and other issues; most important, Jim is a friend. Barbara Gentry, my wife, supported this project from the beginning, and she read chapters and discussed general issues related to the text with me. Most important, she accepted the loss of family time.

       Several CSI colleagues—Joel Bate, Bill Beale, Jerry Beck, Jeff Fox, Crystal Hays, Jim Irons, Julie Looney, Doug Maughan, Barbara Perkins, Jan Stubbs, and Lauri Watkins—read and provided feedback on some portion of the manuscript; Jim Irons was particularly helpful with conceptualization. Howard Allen, Tom Blanchard, Chuck Brockway, Scott Bybee, Arlan Call, Allan Frost, Kent Just, David Mead, Marty Mead, Leon Smith, and Paul T. Smith made comments as well. Thanks are due Linda Roberts of the CSI Instructional Technology Center for designing the book cover and creating the maps from the originals donated by Dan Meatte, and to the center itself for its support. Scott Gipson, of Caxton Press in Caldwell, Idaho, was of great help with the logistics of creating a book.

       Numerous local resources exist in the Twin Falls region. The Twin Falls Public Library’s Idaho Room houses a collection of helpful primary sources; the library also provides microfilm copies of regional newspapers and, after 1904, the Twin Falls papers. The College of Southern Idaho, the Twin Falls County Museum, and the Twin Falls County Courthouse possess relevant documents as well. In Boise the Idaho State Archives and Historical Society library provide reports of state and federal agencies along with archives and other key documents for local history. The Idaho State Law Library also possesses many federal reports. Boise State University’s Albertson Library contributed some sources. Other materials were obtained at Idaho State University at Pocatello and at the University of Utah at Salt Lake City.

Jim Gentry
Twin Falls, Idaho
July 2003

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Foreward  |  Preface  | Acknowledgments

 Back to Main Page  |   Contact Jim Gentry  |  Purchase "In the Middle and on the Edge" by mail for $14.95 US!