Camas County
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Histories

In the early 1850’s Goodale’s Cutoff was a heavily used emigrant route that ran the length of Camas Prairie. During those years the Bannock Indians would gather in the area during the summer and hunt wild life and gather Camas (wild onion) and Yampas (wild carrot) roots to store for winter use. Camas county is full of history, stories, dreams and beauty.

Epidemics

Diptheria - During the winter of 1892 and spring of 1893, people could not get out to the doctor due to weather conditions and did the best they could for their families. Some of the children who died from diphtheria:

Doris (Dora) and Willis (Willy) Gardner, children of Walter and Hannah Gardner
Flossie Alfonsa Finch, daughter of John and Ellen (Hardy) Finch
Josephine Ethel Ballard, daughter of Philip and Nancy Permelia Ballard
Alice Loretta Wardroup, daughter of John Owen and Lydia Adeline (Ballard) Wardroup.

Small Pox - The town of Soldier was quarantined the winter of 1900 because of a Small Pox Epidemic.

Contributed by Christine Storey

Post Offices

Blaine PO established 18 Aug 1908, postmaster Mary E. Cunningham, Closed
Chrichton PO established 13 Jun 1884, postmaster Elisha Hammer, discontinued 01 Sep 1913
Corral PO established 27 Apr 1881, postmaster Joseph B. Jones
Fairfield PO established 13 May 1912, postmaster William E. Anderson
Hill City fka Prairie City PO established 17 Apr 1912, postmaster Will Kendall
Manard PO established 07 Jun 1907, postmaster Antone Poulson, discontinued 15 Jun 1915
Soldier PO established 20 Dec 1882, postmaster James S. Peck, discontinued 15 Jun 1922
Taft PO established 10 Aug 1907 (before Cook and Hill City served the west end), postmaster Charles A. Alexander, discontinued 15 Sep 1913

Contributed by Chris Storey

Schools

Biswell School ? – ?
Camp Creek School 1920 – 1944
Chimney Creek School 1885 – 1920
Corral Creek School 1884 – 1944
County Line School ? – ?
Cow Creek School 1904 – 1928
Crichton School 01 Sep 1884 – 1929
Daniels School 1915 – 1925
Davis Flat School 1916 – 1919
Elk Creek School 1916 – 1920
Fairfield School 1913 – still open in 1990
Fir Grove School ? – ?
Hill City School 1914 – 1952
Lincoln Avenue (aka Krahn) School 1912 – 1926

Magic (Blaine) School 1917 – 1921
Manard School 1904 – 1948
Monument Gulch School 1883 – 1890 (located near headwaters of Clover Creek in Gooding County)
Old Corral School 1908 – 1953
Pleasant View (aka Punkin Center) School 1904 – 1941
Ruby School ? – 1925
Soldier Creek School 1884 – 1948
Soldier School 10 Oct 1884 – 1928
Springdale School 1926 – 1926
Star School ? – 1948
Warm Springs School 1913 – 1930
Washington Avenue School 1911 – ?
Willow Creek School ? – ?

Fairfield High School Administrators 1959-1962

1959
School Board: Bill Stewart, Gwinn Rice, Everett Coates, LeRoy Packham, Chairman Walt Rowland
Superintendent: Max F. Artinger
Faculty: Mrs. Patricia Blue, Mrs. Fern Stokes, Elwyn (Yogi) Behrens, Harry A. Durall, Arlin C. Dennis, Arsenio A. Rodrequez
Custodian: Carl Renfrow

1960
School Board: Gwinn Rice, Bill Stewart, Walt Rowland, Chairman; Everett Coates, LeRoy Packham
Superintendent: Harry A. Durall
Faculty: Elwyn (Yogi) Behrens, James Berry, Phil Brackenbury, Miss Margaret Coffman, Allan Olson, Mrs. Shirley Olson, Miss Eileen Taney
Custodian: Carl Renfrow

1961
School Board: Everett Coates, Gwinn Rice, Chairman Bill Stewart, LeRoy Packham, Walt Rowland
Superintendent: Harry A. Durall
Faculty: Elwyn Behrens, William Simon, Phil Brackenbury, Mrs. Margaret Brackenbury, Miss Doris Killian, Allan Olson
Custodian: Carl Renfrow

1962
School Board: Gwinn Rice, Everett Coates, Chairman Bill Stewart, Clarice Frostenson, Arlin Ashmead
Superintendent: Harry A. Durall
Faculty: Elwyn Behrens, Phill Brackenbury, Allan Olson, Mrs. Marian Hitchcock, William Simon, Mrs. Margaret Brackenbury
Custodian: Carl Renfrow

Fairfield High School - Surnames in the 1959-1962 Musher Yearbooks

Armstrong, Baldwin, Ballard, Barron, Bartholomew, Bauscher, Brooks, Carman, Carpenter, Chess, Cluer, Coates, Coleman, Collins, Cooke, Cortez, Costella, Cox, Dammen, Daniel, Denny, Eskridge, Floyd, Frostenson, Funkhouser, Gaskell, Gill, Gormley, Hansen, Harper, Harrison, Hollenback, Howard, Hutcheson, Jewett, Johnson, Jones, Keever, Kerns, Kevan, Knowlton, Koonce, Krahn, Lee, Lewin, Liab, Mabe, Malcomson, McDonald, Mellin, Miller, Muffley, Noel, O'Neil, Packham, Perkins, Perry, Planansky, Prince, Prock, Rice, Robinson, Robison, Rowe, Rowland, Scoggin, Spackman, Stein, Stevens, Stockton, Stokes, Storey, Strong, Sutton, Thornton, Tracy, Tucker, Vanskike, Waterbury, Williams, Wilson, Wolf, Wolfe, Young

Contributed by Chris Storey

Sheriffs

Camas County is a back country, and the Sheriffs participate in Search and Rescue. Their duties are very time consuming and can be quite harrowing at times. The country they travel is rough and desolate. The Following List of Sheriffs came from the Sheriff's Office and the Wood River Newspaper.

1917-1919 C.L.Back
1919-1920 Harry Lamson
1920-1931 Sig Merrel
1931-1932 Oscar Perkins
1932-1938 Allec C. Osborne
1938-1940 R.T.Baldwin
1940-1953 John Hersch
1953-1955 Russell Hollenback
1955-1963 Al Lawson
1963-1963 Jerry Moon
1963-1975 Paul Cox
1975-2001 Harold P. Lee
2001-2003 Keith Rast
2003-___ Dave Sanders

Contributed by Chris Storey


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This page was last updated 08/09/2024