Clark County's First Settlement
(Photo from Page 26, "Memories of Market Lake," Vol. 3 by W. Stibal-Pettite)
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NEW KIOSK at Birch Creek! The Nez Perce Trail Foundation has funded a new kiosk at the Birch Creek 'Massacre' Site. Five freighters were slain there in the days before the Camas Meadows Battle in 1877. We are preparing a story about this event. Photo by Volunteer Jeff Stoddard. |
History of Clark County, Idaho
Clark County, Idaho was established February 1, 1919 with its county seat at Dubois. Named for Sam K. Clark,
early settler on Medicine Lodge Creek who became the first state senator from Clark County. The city of Dubois
was named for U.S. Senator Fred Dubois, a prominent Idaho political figure in early history.
Dubois lies on I-15 and is the county seat of Clark County. Congressman Fred Thomas Dubois was one of the early
settlers in the area, which boomed in the period before the formation of the county in 1919. Much of the
population later moved away. Though originally known as Beaver Creek for the creek that flows through the
town, it was later named for Dubois through the efforts of William Pyke, one of the organizers of the Dubois
Mercantile Company.
Click here to read about the 1877 Camas Meadows Battle Site
Dubois, village (1990 pop. 420), Clark co., E Idaho, 35 mi/56 km NW of Rexburg; 44 degrees 10'N 112
degrees 14'W. Elev. 5,145 ft/1,568 m. Sheep, cattle, horses; potatoes; wheat; alfalfa, hay. U.S. Sheep
Experimental Station to N. Parts of Targhee Natl. Forest to W and N; Camas Natl. Wildlife Refuge to S;
Lidy Hot Springs to W.
The Thomas Brothers are legendary in Clark County. They raised thousands of horses for the US Government.
