Back When

Case in point: I planned this story to be a straightforward retrospective of the Tetonia Club through the decades, highlighting its various proprietors, patrons, and parties. But then I stumbled across something as fascinating as it was unexpected.

In the Victor Fourth of July parade last summer, Nancy Beard Jardine sat proudly in the Teton County Farm Bureau float, waving and tossing candy to the kids jostling in the crowd. She had earned her spot in the public eye as the 2021
Farm Woman of the Year.    

The massive cottonwood trees lining the Teton River canyon bottom appeared stark and lifeless; the canyon edge above was blanketed with drifted snow.

The ingenious contraption known as the snowplane whirred into existence some eighty years ago on the Canadian prairies, land of long and windy winters.

Valley Pioneers Leave A Legacy Of Winter Fun. This article was originally published in the Winter 2000/2001 issue.

Could This Be The Man Whose Misspelled Name Has Become Synonymous With Southeastern Idaho?

The story goes that when “the Chambermaids” went before the county commissioners to propose that a county library be created, they were told that it was impossible and they should go home and do their dishes.

It’s not uncommon these days to hear residents joking about the town of “Drictor” running the length of the highway corridor between the valley’s two primary centers of residence and enterprise.

In the fields southwest of Driggs, a timeworn cabin sits off the Bates Road about a half mile east on 125 South and a hundred yards north. Few today realize this simple structure is steeped in western lore.

It all started with an enigmatic headline in the November 23, 1925 Teton Valley News: “There will be a meeting of Pea Growers at the Court House on Saturday, Nov. 25.” Pea growers? No one grew peas in Teton Valley in 1925.