Pegram

The town of Pegram was started when the Oregon Shortline Railroad came to Idaho. Originally, the town was named Nuphur after a railroad official named George Nuphur, but the postal services wanted the name changed because it conflicted with other towns with the same name. It was named after another prominent railroad official, Phineas Pegram. His picture once hung in the school hall. The site for the town was first planned to be four miles east of the present community.

Among the earliest settlers were Lon, Henry, and Will Cook, who came in the fall of 1883. Alfred Bateman, Lash Strong, and Jack Flynn were railroaders who settled along the river. Chris Beardsley, Byron Nelson, and William Roberts came in the spring of 1887.

The first public building was the railroad depot. It was used as a post office and for the town's social needs, which included church, dances, weddings, parties, and funerals. West of the railroad tracks, there was a wooden water tank, two bunk houses, and a section house for the foreman's family. In the 1950s, you could still see where the Indians who worked on the section had built sweat lodges.

Byron Nelson developed a dairy and made ice cream, cheese, and butter, which he sold to train passengers. Mr. Nelson also got ice from the river and covered it with sawdust and dirt so it would keep during the summer.

Levi Aland built the first store in Pegram in 1916. The post office was located in the store. It changed hands several times until it burned in 1945. In 1946, Weldon and Iola Dunn built a new one that they operated until 1955. Ruth Esterholdt ran it until 1957 when it closed.

Joseph Esterholdt built a hotel in 1901 it was often filled to capacity when miners were working at the St. Julian Mines just over the hill and across the river. This hotel featured a cafe and soda fountain. It was located across the tracks behind the railroad depot. There have been many fires in Pegram. The hotel burned in 1914, and the store owned by Weldon and Iola Dunn burned in 1945. Eight family ranch homes have burned down.

Pegram is in a remote spot which made it hard to travel anywhere. To get to Montpelier, people had to either go over the hills and through Indian Creek Canyon near the Hot Springs on the lake then through Dingle to Montpelier, or go north through the hills to Webb Hill and follow the Old Oregon Trail. The people preferred to ride the train to Montpelier until the river route road was built in 1918. Joe Esterholdt with his wife Ive was the first person to drive a car over the new road. Today people can easily drive to other towns on a paved road.

The first school was held at the Cook ranch for the Cook, Bateman and Langford children when the area was called Nuphur. In 1886 there were 13 children in a one room log school which served until 1901. The first frame school in Pegram was located west of the railroad tracks. It was built on Nov. 2, 1909 where Miss Ellson taught 23 students. In 1916 a new brick school was built for all grades including the Pegram High School. Margaret Esterholdt was the school teacher for 2 years when the students from Pegram went to school in Alton. In the 1950s the Pegram School reopened for grades 1-6 until the 1960s. Part of the Pegram High School still stands, and it is being used by the LDS Church. Today the children are bussed to Montpelier for school.

The first post office at Nuphur opened in 1883 with Alice Ryan as the first post mistress. Between 1892 and 1900 there was no post office in Pegram. The mail was picked up at the Border station supervised by Joseph W. Cook. In 1901 the post office returned to with the name Pegram not Nuphur. George Murphy was the first postmaster. In 1955 the mail became a delivery route.

The George Murphy family, comprised of Milford, Alta, Eva, Ross, Ella, and Jennie, had the best orchestra in the valley for many years. People came from miles around for the big dances. Couples often brought their babies with them. There were baskets along one wall to hold them while their parents danced.

March 1918 the first LDS Church Branch was organized with visiting elders from Montpelier. Before this time the members traveled to Raymond and Alton for church. Eldon W. Cook was the first presiding elder. In 1943 the branch was dissolved. In 1951 it was re-organized again. Dale Maughn was the presiding elder. Church was held in the school until 1960s, when they built the new church and kept part of the school for a gym. Abraham Hill was a wealthy sheep man and had a sizable fortune. He came from Wyoming probably near Cokeville or Opal. In about 1910 he started purchasing land in Pegram. He purchased many of the original homesteads of the 1880s. He left the church and started drinking. A church leader asked him if he didn't believe in it anymore and he said yes he did believe, but he was too weak to stop drinking. One day, he left his animals, went to Opal, and went on a 10-day drunk. The bartender in Opal found him in the street nearly frozen to death. His wife Carrie went for him in a buggy. They had a car, (one of the first in Pegram), but she couldn't drive it. He died later that year of consumption. After his death Carrie sold his land to many locals. Abraham had donated 1.5 acres to form the Pegram School District.

Boyd Miller was a notorious bootlegger during prohibition. He had two stills and also smuggled the drink in from Wyoming. He was a railroad worker in Pegram.

Resources:

1. This history was written by Jo Ann Farnsworth for the Nursing Home walls in March 2008.
2. Treasured Tidbits of the Past, by J. Patrick Wilde, pages 46-50
3. Pegram the Early Years, compiled by Merla N. Rigby.