Detail View: Wood River Valley Oral Histories: Alta Horton Ellis Oral History

Title: 
Alta Horton Ellis Oral History
Creator: 
Ellis, Alta Horton 1904-1977.
Identifier: 
OH 0003 ELL
Description: 
The Oral History Collection consists of taped interviews of long-time residents. This Oral History is the first oral history in the series maintained by the Regional History Department of the Community Library and was conducted by Marian Breckenridge, who interviewed Alta Horton Ellis in the fall of 1977; the oral history was edited by Miram Breckenridge and Judith G. Johnson, and transcribed by Ginger Piotter and Claudia Walsworth.
Description: 
Alta was born in Carey, Idaho and grew up at Pole Creek Ranger Station (near Galena) where her father was one of the first employees for the Forest Service circa 1910; discussion of Pole Creek Ranger Station's isolation; discussion of sheep grazing in the area and her father's responsibility to trap coyotes and bears which were prone to prey on the sheep; discussion of lifestyle for sheep herding families; discussion of the creation and maintenance of Forset Service trails in the area; discussion of the Billingsley and Horton families at Carey and later in California; discussion of the Vienna Mine and start-up of Sun Valley; Alta worked at the clothing shop (Sak's Fifth Avenue) at Sun Valley the first year Sun Valley was open; discussion of the Ellis home on the Salmon River; discussion of Forest Service land use in the early days (circa 1910 - 1940); discussion of her dad being unwilling to learn to drive an automoble; and discussion of the early dirt roads in the Pole Creek area; mention that Ketchum was the largest sheep shipping point in the United States in 1912; mention that Alice Lake and Imogene Lake are named after the daughters in the Loche Family from Washington, DC. and Mr. Loche was a Forest Service inspector.
Subject, Topical: 
Sheep 1912. Idaho; Ketchum
Subject, Topical: 
Sheep allotments Sawtooth Mountains; Pole Creek.
Subject, Topical: 
Fire trails 1912. Sawtooth Mountains
Subject, Topical: 
Pole Creek Ranger Station 1912-1940. Sawtooth Mountains
Subject, Personal: 
Horton, William H., d.1934
Subject, Organization: 
United States Forest Service.
Contributor: 
Interviewer: Breckenridge, Miriam.
Date Original: 
1977
Publisher: 
The Community Library,
Format: 
audio/mpeg
Type: 
Oral history sound recording Transcription available; Indexed.
Coverage, Spatial: 
Ketchum (Idaho)
Coverage, Spatial: 
Sawtooth National Forest (Idaho and Utah)
Rights: 
No restrictions. Copyright laws and fair use laws apply.