Homesteading the Northside
Room A-7 • 2pm
Homesteading the Northside of Minidoka County was the last homesteading project in the contiguous United States. The attraction of free land in the early 1900s brought many farmers to homestead the land along both sides of the Union Pacific Railroad in Blaine, Minidoka, and Lincoln counties and some northeast of Minidoka and southwest of Kimama. After years of trying, lack of water and hordes of jack rabbits led to failure and many left broke. Then in the late 1940s a businessman, Julion Clawson, from Salt Lake City discovered water 200 feet down on the dry northside of Minidoka County. In 1954, drawings for homesteads began. These drawings were open to military veterans. Soon an influx of farmers and their families began moving to the northside, on land that was covered with sagebrush. They cleared the land, built homes, planted trees, planted crops and learned to irrigate with siphon tubes. They tolerated many inconveniences and hardships to establish this place as “home.” Many of the people living in Minidoka and Cassia counties can trace their roots to these hardy ancestors. This presentation shares their photos and their stories.
