Wards and Branches of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Raft River Stake, Idaho

This page includes the boundaries of wards and branches around 1930's, a timeline history, and how to obtain the records.

Source for this page: p. 689.

Raft River Stake
Stake boundaries as of about 1930 — see Encyclopedic History..., p.689.


 * Area of the County:Located in the south part of Cassia County, Idaho, and a small part of Box Elder County, Utah.
 * Headquarters in (town):Malta.
 * Boundaries of stake:Located in the south part of Cassia County, Idaho, and a small part of Box Elder County, Utah.

History Timeline up to about 1930


 * 1915 - At a special conference held at Almo April 27, the Cassia Stake Was divided and that part lying east of the Goose Creek Mountains was organized as the Raft River Stake.
 * 1916 - Sublett Ward was organized from a part of Malta Ward and Moulton Ward from part of Almo Ward.
 * 1919 - Naf Ward was discontinued in 1919
 * 1928 - Grouse Creek Ward was transferred to the North Weber Stake.

Obtain the Records

 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Wards and Branches (Box Elder County, Utah)
Albion, Almo, Elba, Grouse Creek, Malta, Moulton, Naf, Sublett, and Yost.

Alamo Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 12-13.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the upper Raft River Valley. In the vicinity is Mount Independence 10,500 feet above sea level, one of the loftiest peaks in Idaho. The saints in the Almo Ward live in a very scattered condition along Grape Creek, Edwards Creek, Alamo Creek, George Creek and Raft River.

History timeline


 * 1882 - In 1882 there were fifteen families of saints in the district who were organized that year as a branch of the Church.
 * 1887 - Nov. 25, the Almo Branch was organized as the Almo Ward.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Albion Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.10-11.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the Marsh Basin, constitutes an opening in the Goose Creek Mountains and measures about six miles from northeast to southwest with an average width of four miles.

History timeline:


 * 1882 - In September about half a dozen families of saints located in and near the settlement, when a presiding Priest was appointed to hold meetings and preside over them.
 * 1887 - On Nov. 23, after quite a number of Latter-day Saints had settled in the basin a ward was organized, called the Albion Ward.
 * 1916 - As early as 1886 the saints at Albion had erected a log meeting house that served until 1916, when a more modern building was erected, which has an auditorium with a seating capacity of 500 persons.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Elba Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.216-217.

Boundaries:


 * Located on the headwaters of Cassia Creek. The ward is strung out for nearly ten miles east and west and about four miles from north to south, but there is a cluster of houses near the school house forming the village of Elba, which is located 18 miles east of Oakley, 12 miles north of Almo, 18 miles south of Albion and 12 miles southwest of Malta.

History timeline:


 * 1881 - There were not many L. D. S. settlers in the district until 1880 and these were organized as a branch of the Church in 1881.
 * 1887 - On Nov. 24, the Elba Ward was organized.
 * 1888 - A substantial rock meeting house, with an amusement hall, was constructed, which is still used by the ward.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Grouse Creek Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.305-306.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the south part of Cassia County, Idaho, and a small part of Box Elder County, Utah.

History timeline:


 * 1876 - Grouse Creek as a settlement dates back to 1876 and belonged originally to the Box Elder Stake.
 * 1877 - The saints in Grouse Creek Valley were organized as a ward.
 * 1895 - Grouse Creek became part of the Cassia Stake.
 * 1915 - April 27, Grouse Creek was a part of the Raft River Stake.
 * 1916 - Grouse Creek was transferred to the Raft River Stake.
 * 1928 - In January, Grouse Creek Ward was transferred to the North Weber Stake.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Malta Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 466-467.

Boundaries:


 * It is located on the west side of Raft River eight miles south of Idahome, the nearest railroad station on the Oregon Short Line Railroad, 12 miles northeast of Elba and 30 miles northeast of Oakley.

History timeline:


 * 1910 - On Nov. 13, 1910, the saints in the Malta district were organized as a ward.
 * 1915 - Malta Ward belonged to the Cassia Stake of Zion until 1915 when it became a part of the Raft River Stake.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Moulton Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 541-542.

Boundaries:


 * Located in Junction Valley (formerly Meadow Valley) in Cassia County, Idaho, and Box Elder County, Utah. This valley has an elevation of 6,000 feet and extends from north to south about 20 miles with an average width of three miles. The south half of this valley is in Utah and the northern part in Idaho.

History timeline:


 * 1914 - On Aug. 9, a branch of the Church was organized and meetings were commenced in the Woodrow school house.
 * 1916 - On April 23, 1916, the Moulton Ward was organized.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Naf Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.558.

Boundaries:


 * Residing east of Raft River, near the south end of Raft River Valley in Cassia County, Idaho, and Box Elder County, Utah. The ward extended north to the Malta Ward, south over the boundary line into Box Elder County, Utah, east to the Black Pine Mountain, and west to the Emery Ranch in Raft River Valley.

History timeline:


 * 1912 - There were two Sunday schools running, one in the Naf school house on Clear Creek, Box Elder Co., Utah, and another in the Naf school house over the state line in Cassia County, Idaho. Regular branch meetings were held in the Naf school house in Idaho.
 * 1913 - On Aug. 17, the Naf Ward was organized by the presidency of the Cassia Stake. At this time the ward included a large area of country and became for a time one of the largest wards in the Cassia Stake. It had seven Sunday schools, namely, at Naf, Clear Creek, Standrod, Strevell, Gunnell, Bridge and Rafton.
 * 1915 - Naf Ward belonged to the Cassia Stake until 1915, when it became part of the Raft River Stake.
 * 1918 - Naf was the center of a large dry farming district, and a number of the people moved out of the district owing to continued drought.
 * 1929 - Because of the drought, Naf Ward was disorganized in Feb. 3, and the remaining members annexed to the Malta Ward.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Sublett Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.840-841.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the east part of Raft River Valley. The center of the ward is about 50 rods north of Sublett Creek, and 12 miles east of Raft River, 12 miles east of Malta, also 35 miles southeast of Albion, and 50 miles southeast of Burley. Northward the ward extends to Snake River and east to the mountains.

History timeline:


 * 1885 - L. D. S. settlers came into the valley, and all were affiliated with the Elba Ward, although a log school house was erected, in which local meetings were held occasionally.
 * 1914 - In 1914 there were about 20 families of saints at Sublett, under the direction of the bishopric of the Malta Ward.
 * 1916 - On April 21, the Malta Ward was divided, and the Sublett Ward was organized. Sublett Ward received its name from Sublett Creek, so named on account of the Sublett Cut-off, which trail or road passed through the locality.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Yost Ward
See Encyclopedic History..., p.967 968.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the extreme south part of Upper Raft River Valley, in Cassia County, Idaho, and Box Elder County, Utah.

History timeline:


 * 1880 - Soon members of the Church arrived, who were attached to the Almo Ward of the Cassia Stake. A school house was erected soon afterwards in which Sunday school and some meetings were conducted. Yost constituted a part of the Park Valley Ward of the Box Elder stake, but was later transferred back to Almo Ward.
 * 1903 - On July 26, the saints residing on Clear Creek, George Creek, One Mile Creek and in Junction Valley were separated from the Almo Ward and organized as the Yost Ward.
 * 1915 - Yost Ward became part of Raft River Stake in 1915, when that stake was organized from part of the Cassia Stake.

Obtain the Records


 * List of church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
 * For additional resources, see Church History Library.