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

Idaho Church Records

Custer County Church Records

Lost River Wards and Branches

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: Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1941), p.449-450.

• Online through BYU Books. (Free) In the Text search box, type the town or unit name and click Go. Select page numbers (tiny) at the right to see the page.
• Also available through Ancestry.com ($).
  

Lost River Stake

Stake boundaries as of about 1930 — see Encyclopedic History..., p.449-450

• Area of the County:In both Butte and Custer counties, Idaho.
• Headquarters in (town):Are in Moore.
• Boundaries of stake:It is located in Big and Little Lost River valleys.

History Timeline up to about 1930

• 1919 - 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. The south and east boundaries of the stake were made co-extensive with the Butte County boundary.

Other History Resources
Many wards or branches appointed members to compile a history. Copies may be in the ward library or in homes of members. Some contain biographical sketches of members of the ward at the time of compilation.

Obtain the Records

• List of Lost River Stake church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
• For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Wards and Branches

Arco, Chilly, Darlington, Leslie, Lost River, Mackay, and Moore.

Arco Ward

See Encyclopedic History..., p.27-28.

Boundaries:

• Located in the town of Arco and vicinity.

History timeline:

• 1903 - The saints in Arco and vicinity, who had belonged to the Lost River Branch, were organized into a separate branch.
• 1912 - All the saints in the Big Lost River Valley belonged to the Lost River or Moore Ward, but on Aug. 11, that ward was divided, and the saints residing in the south part, or lower end of said ward, were organized as a separate Ward called Arco

Obtain the Records

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

Darlington Ward

See Encyclopedic History..., p. 173.

Boundaries: Is located between Moore Ward on the south and the Leslie Ward on the north. It extends all the way across Lost River Valley from east to west where the valley is seven miles wide.

History timeline:

• 1917 - When the Big Lost River country was a part of the Northwestern States Mission, the Elders laboring as missionaries in said mission extended their operations into the Darlington district, and a branch of the Church there was organized June 26, 1917.
• 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 Darlington Ward church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
• For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Leslie Ward

See Encyclopedic History..., p.428.

Boundaries: Located 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 Lest River Stake of Zion was organized Aug. 18, 1919, the Leslie Branch was organized as a ward.

Obtain the Records

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

Lost River Ward

See Encyclopedic History..., p. 449-450.

Boundaries: Located 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 Lost River Ward church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
• For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Mackay Ward

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:

• 1928–1929 - The saints at Mackay own a modern meeting house, erected at a cost of about $11,000.
• 1921 - The first families of saints to make permanent homes in Mackay and vicinity, 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, the Mackay and Chilly branches were joined together and organized as the Mackay Ward.

Obtain the Records

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

Moore (Butte CO.) Ward

See Encyclopedic History..., p. 530-531.

Boundaries:

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

History timeline:

• 1899 - On Feb. 28,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. Soon afterwards a branch of the Church called the Lost River Branch was organized.
• 1902 - The number of people who had sometime 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.

Obtain the Records

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

Ballard (Butte CO.) Ward

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 Aug. 18, 1919.
• 1927 - The Pass Creek 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 Ballard Ward church and other records at the FamilySearch Library.
• For additional resources, see Church History Library.

Chilly Branch

See Encyclopedic History..., p.135-136.

Boundaries:

• Located north of the Mackay Reservoir, in the upper end of Lost River Valley.

History timeline:

• 1919 - Among the branches of the Church raised up by the missionaries of the Northwestern States Mission was the Chilly Branch, which was organized April 27, 1919. When the Lost River Stake was organized August 18, 1919, this branch was transferred from the Northwestern States Mission to that stake.
• 1925 - The Chilly Branch was joined to the Mackay Branch and the two branches organized as the Mackay Ward. The few families remaining in the Chilly neighborhood in 1930 belonged to the Mackay Ward.

Obtain the Records

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

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