Some local historians might consider James Madison “Matt” Taylor to be the founding father of Eagle Rock, now Idaho Falls.
It’s true that the foundation for our community began in 1865, when Matt and a couple of partners built the first bridge to ever span the Snake River, with the intention of charging a toll for its use. Today’s Taylor Crossing and Taylor Bridge, named for the early settler, are well-known names in Idaho Falls. But Matt only lived in the area for an estimated six to nine years until his brothers-in law showed up and turned the river camp into a real village.
Opening the bridge to travelers, Matt lived here alone and put up a shelter nearby. Needing more help, he wrote to his wife’s brother, Robert Anderson, in Missouri. The chance of running a lucrative toll business must have appealed to Robert, a seasoned businessman and entrepreneur. He arrived in the fall of 1865 to become Matt’s partner in the founding of Taylor Crossing. People soon began calling the village “Eagle Rock” after the old ferry which had operated nine miles upriver.
Matt’s wife, LeGrand Anderson Taylor, and her children accompanied her brother Robert, and were collectively the sole occupants of the village. LeGrand later wrote, “Those were long, lonesome days, one seldom seeing a white woman.”
A toll customer described Eagle Rock’s first buildings, situated near present-day Capital and Broadway in this way: “The embryo village boasted four structures: Anderson’s store/bank, Anderson’s home (both adobe structures), the frame barn, and the blacksmith shop (a shack). The wood used was driftwood from the river.”
Just two months after arriving, Robert was appointed Eagle Rock’s first postmaster. The mail came by stagecoach in the early days, forwarded from wherever the railroad ended. The sacks were tossed off the stage and dropped in front of the Anderson Store. Any interested party could sort through the pile and claim his own mail.
For two years, Robert also served as the first Chairman of the Village Board, later known as mayor. During his tenure, the board passed important ordinances defining misdemeanors punishable by fines: riding a horse or mule recklessly through the village, shooting off a firearm from horseback, lying drunk on a public street, fighting and even threatening to start a fight.
Because bridge tolls were often paid with trade items and gold dust, Robert opened a general store and called it the Anderson Trading House, later the Anderson Brothers Store and Bank. The establishment proved profitable, exchanging goods with native tribes, trappers, miners, settlers, and other toll customers. Robert’s bank, the fourth in the state, became known as a secure place to deposit gold dust, furs, hides, and other valuables. Later he bought prospectors’ gold, bought and sold greenbacks, and went on to expand his business to include all banking services.
Robert’s brother, Jack Anderson, moved to Eagle Rock in 1872, but first visited here in 1866 on a journey from St. Louis, Mo., to Virginia City, Mont. Along with his boss Mr. Ayers, they came by wagon train following the Daily Overland Mail road. In his personal diary Jack recorded his early impression of Eagle Rock:
Camp No. 59 [fifty-nine days on the trail from St. Louis], Tuesday, July 24, 1866 at Eagle Rock Bridge, Snake River. Arrived here at about 9 ½ o’clock having travelled 14 miles. Found Grand and Bob both well and the children ditto.
Stayed at Eagle Rock Bridge enjoying myself with the fishing rod. Caught a great many very fine trout, some of them weighing nearly eight pounds. The bridge is very fine property, well built, and will pay well. The site is a natural one. The river (Snake) being compressed into a width of only 76 feet. The water is very deep here of course. The depth is over 100 feet—how much more is not known and is very full of fish, nearly all are trout, some suckers and chub. The river is very swift and so full of rocks and rapids that there is no chance of ever navigating it. This bridge is 221 miles from Salt Lake City and l64 miles from Virginia City.
In 1872, Jack Anderson decided to move to Eagle Rock for good. He bought out Matt Taylor’s shares in the toll bridge, becoming his brother, Robert’s, sole partner in the bridge, bank and store, and other business ventures. Matt Taylor and his family went back to Missouri, leaving the Anderson brothers to continue building up the town. The toll bridge became known as the Anderson Bridge.
Jack Anderson was instrumental in early Idaho irrigation. In 1880 he worked with two partners to form the Anderson Canal Company. At that time the Smith brothers of Ririe were trying to dig a canal diverting water from the Snake River to irrigate their farms.
When their resources ran thin, Jack Anderson and his group, the Snake River Water Company, bought them out and finished the headgates and canal at a cost of $70,000.
Frank Beam, a twenty-year-old man who worked on the digging crew for the Anderson Canal, recalled the engineers had seriously underestimated how large to make the ditch. At the time of construction there were very few farmers in the region, so demand for water was scattered. Initially the Anderson Canal was dug six feet wide and deep enough to carry only three feet of water, but soon had to be enlarged as new settlers began buying up land.
After years of rumors, in 1879 the narrow-gauge railroad finally reached Eagle Rock.
Workers continued to extend the line on toward Butte, Mont., at the average rate of three-quarters of a mile per day. The Andersons’ Oneida Road, Bridge, and Ferry Company granted Utah Northern a right-of-way of one hundred feet on each side of the tracks through the town, and 103 acres of prime downtown property to build engine repair shops and office headquarters. The location of the original track can be seen running through today’s public library parking lot. Evidence suggests the railroad’s roundhouse stood near the corner of today’s Park and D Street, with a spur of tracks running right up Park Avenue.
The newly-constructed railroad bridge spanned the Snake River about one hundred feet downstream from the toll bridge, in the same location where the railroad crosses the river today. The first piece of rolling stock, a steam engine, went over the bridge on June 12, 1879, and Jack Anderson was one of the passengers on board.
In 1887, because of union trouble and a desire to extend the rail line to Boise, railroad officials decided to move the Eagle Rock headquarters to Pocatello. Workers dismantled most of the repair shops and shipped them on flatbeds to the new head office. For a while it looked like Eagle Rock might collapse when three-fourths of the 2,000 residents moved to Pocatello with the railroad.
However, through aggressive planning and advertising, the Anderson brothers and other business leaders helped promote our area as a fertile valley, ripe for agriculture. In 1891 the name of the town was officially changed to Idaho Falls by a vote of the citizens. Promoters, including the Anderson Brothers, thought the new name more appealing to prospective settlers, speaking of a lush, verdant landscape—more their hope for the future than an actual reality.
The Andersons disposed of their mercantile business around 1906, but kept the bank which Jack managed for several years. Both brothers eventually returned to Missouri where they finished out their lives.
Our city’s founding brothers left a business heritage that lives on today. The Anderson Brothers Bank, established in 1865, joined the First Security Corporation system of banks in 1926, but retained the Anderson name. In 1934, the name was officially changed to the First Security Bank of Idaho Falls. Even though forced to shut down in 1933 during the Depression, along with almost every other bank in the country, First Security Bank was one of the first in the state to reopen later that year. The Idaho Falls bank listed assets of over $5 million, with initial deposits exceeding withdrawals. In 2001, Wells Fargo bought out First Security.
Another memorial to the founding Anderson Brothers is an east/west road running across the north end of Idaho Falls. Anderson Street is named for the two brothers who came to this area when it was less than a village, saw it grow to the settlement of Eagle Rock, and played a prominent role in shaping the nature and character of present-day Idaho Falls and Bonneville County.
Editor’s Note: Portions of this story have been excerpted from the author’s book, Unsung Heroes and Settlers of Bonneville County, Idaho. This article is 10th in a series honoring Bonneville County’s 100th anniversary on Feb. 7, 2011. The anniversary celebration will culminate in November with a weekend extravaganza under the direction of Ann Rydalch. For more information, visit www.bonnevilleheritage.org.