Three Creek, Owyhee County, Idaho Genealogy

United States &gt; Idaho &gt; Owyhee County &gt; Three Creek

Directories
A directory of the residents and businesses of Three Creek in 1898 is included in A Historical, Descriptive and Commercial Directory of Owyhee County, Idaho. A copy of the directory is in the Idaho State Archives, the Owyhee County Museum, and other Idaho libraries. It is also through the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City and its many FamilySearch centers.

The Gem State Rural's 1918-19 Farm Directory of Owyhee County Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon is available online. It lists landowners by town, including those owning land in these two counties, but residing elsewhere. The amount of acreage owned, the location of the land, and a list of crops raised on each farm is also included. The resident land owners of the Three Creek area are listed on pages 153-155.

History
Three Creek is a ranching area in southeastern Owyhee County, about 50 miles south of the Snake River. The first ranch was established in the 1870s by Joe Scott of Miles City, Montana, who named the area “71,” which was also the brand Scott used to identify his cattle. The principal ranch in the Three Creek area in 1898 was the Sparks, Harrell Co. of Visalia, California.

The town of Three Creek is considered a ghost town today, although the remains of the stone general store still exist.

For census purposes, the Three Creek area was known as Big Flat precinct in the 1890 and 1900 censuses. Its name was changed to Three Creek precinct after the 1900 census was taken, although it bore the name of Three Creek when the 1898 directory of the county was published. Parts of the original Big Flat precinct were taken in 1900 to form parts of Riddle and Wickahoney precincts. Population figures for the Big Flat precinct and Three Creek precinct in the U.S. federal censuses for the following years were as follows:

Big Flat precinct
 * 1890 - 63
 * 1900 - 116

Three Creek precinct
 * 1910 - 191
 * 1920 - 108
 * 1930 - 83
 * 1940 - 84
 * 1950 - 63