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

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

Lost River Stake
Stake boundaries as of about 1930 — see Encyclopedic History..., p.449.


 * Area of the County:Located in Butte and Custer counties, Idaho.
 * Headquarters in (town): Located at Moore.
 * Boundaries of stake:covers Big and Little Lost River valleys, and is about 70 miles northwest of Blackfoot.

History Timeline up to about 1930


 * 1919 -It was deemed wise on the part of the authorities of the Church to divide the Blackfoot Stake by separating the settlements on Big Lost River from said stake and organizing them into a new stake of Zion. This was done at a conference of the Blackfoot Stake held Aug. 18, by taking the wards of Arco and Moore from the Blackfoot Stake and the branches of Leslie, Darlington, Pass Creek (later Ballard Ward) and Chilly, from the Northwestern States Mission and organizing them into the Lost River Stake.
 * 1899 - For a number of years before the Lost River Stake was organized, Lost River Valley was a missionary field in the Northwestern States Mission, and constituted a part of the Idaho Conference, including the branches of Darlington, Pass Creek, Leslie and Mackay. L.D.S. Sunday schools were organized in Bartley and Chilly. L. D. S. missionaries were sent to Lost River Valley from the Bingham Stake of Zion and later from the Northwestern States Mission. On Feb. 28, a branch of the Church called the Lost River Branch was organized. The south and east boundaries of the stake were made co-extensive with the Butte County boundary.
 * 1902 - The number of people who had sometime previously been members of the Church in other places, united with the new converts in building a meeting house in the Lost River Branch, which branch for some time belonged to the Moreland Ward in the Bingham Stake.
 * 1906 - On Sept. 16, the Blackfoot Stake organized the Lost River Branch into a ward.

Obtain the Records

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

Wards and Branches (Butte and Custer County, Idaho)
Arco, Ballard, Darlington, Leslie, Lost River, Mackay, Moore and Chilly Branch.

Arco Ward (Butte County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p.27-28.

Boundaries:


 * Situated in the lower end of the Big Lost River Valley, nine miles southeast of Moore, 26 miles southeast of Mackay, and 60 miles northwest of Blackfoot.

History timeline


 * 1901 - Settlers began to arrive, among whom were several Latter-day Saints. They were visited by missionaries from the Northwestern States Mission, who organized a Sunday school in the valley.
 * 1903 - The saints in Arco and vicinity, who had belonged to the Lost River Branch, were organized into a separate branch.
 * 1912 - Until August11, all the saints in the Big Lost River Valley belonged to the Lost River or Moore Ward, but that ward was divided, and the saints residing in the south part, or lower end of said ward, and they were organized as a separate Ward called Arco.

Obtain the Records


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

Ballard Ward (Butte County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p.40.

Boundaries:


 * Ballard Ward, Lost River Stake, Butte Co., Idaho, consisted of the Latter-day Saints residing in a farming district in the Lost River Valley between the Darlington Ward on the south and the Leslie Ward on the north.

History timeline


 * 1919 - Ballard Ward, Lost River Stake, Butte Co., Idaho, consisted of the Latter-day Saints residing in a farming district in the Lost River Valley between the Darlington Ward on the south and the Leslie Ward on the north.

Obtain the Records


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

Darlington Ward (Butte County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 173.

Boundaries:


 * Located in a farming district lying between Moore Ward on the south and the Leslie Ward on the north. It extends across Lost River Valley from east to west where the valley is seven miles wide. The center of the ward is the little hamlet of Darlington, situated near the junction of Antelope Creek and Lost River, about six miles northwest of Moore, and 73 miles northwest of Blackfoot.

History timeline


 * 1917 - A branch of the Church was organized in the Darlington district June 26.
 * 1919 - When the Lost River Stake of Zion was organized Aug. 18, 1919, the Darlington Branch was organized as a regular bishop’s ward.

Obtain the Records


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

Leslie Ward (Custer County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p.428.

Boundaries:


 * Located in a farming district lying between Darlington on the south and Mackay on the north.

History timeline


 * 1919 - A branch of the Church called Leslie Branch was raised up by the Elders of the Northwestern States Mission, and when the Lost River Stake of Zion was organized Aug. 18, the Leslie Branch was organized as a ward.

Obtain the Records


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

Lost River Ward (Butte County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 449-450.

Boundaries:


 * Located in a farming district lying between Arco on the south and Moore on the north.

History timeline


 * 1920 - The original Lost River Branch comprised all the saints residing in Lost River Valley, preceding the organization of the Moore Ward, but on March 27, a new ward called the Lost River Ward was organized by taking certain families of saints from the Moore Ward on the north and other families from the Arco Ward on the south and organizing them as a separate ward named Lost River Ward.

Obtain the Records


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

Mackay Ward (Custer County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 458.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the towns of Mackay and Chilly and vicinity, or all the saints residing in the upper end of Lost River Valley.

History timeline


 * 1921 - The first families of saints originally belonged to the Leslie Ward, but on March 22, the saints at Mackay and vicinity were organized as an independent branch of the Church.
 * 1925 - Oct. 18, when the Mackay and Chilly branches were joined together and organized as the Mackay Ward.

Obtain the Records


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

Moore Ward (Butte County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p. 530-531.

Boundaries:


 * Located in a somewhat scattered condition in Lost River Valley.

History timeline


 * 1899 - The first L. D. S. settlers in the valley who located about a mile west of the present site of Moore. L. D. S. missionaries were sent to Lost River Valley from the Bingham Stake of Zion and later from the Northwestern States Mission. The Moore Ward was a ward in 1899, do not have the dates it became one.
 * 1912 - Until 1912, when the Arco Ward was organized, the Moore Ward included all the saints in the Big Lost River and Little Lost River valleys.
 * 1916 - A further division of the Moore ward was made in 1916 when the north part of the ward, including the saints in Darlington, Pass Creek, Leslie, Mackay, Barton, Chilly and Dicky were transferred to the Northwestern States Mission.
 * 1918 - The north part of the Moore ward, including the saints in Darlington, Pass Creek, Leslie, Mackay, Barton, Chilly and Dicky were transferred to the Northwestern States Mission. This reduced the membership in the Moore Ward to about 270, but in 1918, after several families of saints had made homes in the Lost River country, the membership increased to 400.

Obtain the Records


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

Chilly Branch (Custer County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p.135-136.

Boundaries:


 * Chilly Branch, Lost River Stake, Custer Co., Idaho, consisted of a few Latter-day Saint families residing in a farming district lying north of the Mackay Reservoir, in the upper end of Lost River Valley.

History timeline


 * 1919 - The Chilly Branch, which was organized April 27, 1919.

Obtain the Records


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

Ballard Branch (Butte County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p.40.

Boundaries:


 * Located in the Lost River Valley between the Darlington Ward on the south and the Leslie Ward on the north.

History timeline


 * 1919 - The first Latter-day Saints who resided in that part of Lost River Valley, which later was included in the Ballard Ward, originally belonged to the Northwestern States Mission, and were known as the Pass Creek Branch, which branch was organized as a ward August 18. The ward was named Ballard in honor of Mission President.
 * 1927 - The ward organization was discontinued and some of the saints, who still resided in the neighborhood, were transferred to the Darlington Ward on the south and others to the Leslie Ward on the north. Continued drouth and the moving away of most of the members was the cause of the disorganization.

Obtain the Records


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

Pass Creek Branch (Ballard Ward, Butte County, Idaho)
See Encyclopedic History..., p.40.

Boundaries:


 * Located in in the Lost River Valley between the Darlington Ward on the south and the Leslie Ward on the north.

History timeline


 * 1919 - The first Latter-day Saints who resided in that part of Lost River Valley, which later was included in the Ballard Ward, originally belonged to the Northwestern States Mission, and were known as the Pass Creek Branch, which branch was organized as the Ballard Ward, Aug. 18, 1919.

Obtain the Records


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