History Corner

Even though the cabin that John Welch built in 1862 had been a popular camping spot for local folks, by 1879 it was described as “a ruin.” Even so, it was in good enough shape that Tom Clay moved his family into it in 1880.

Tom Clay had married a widow, Elizabeth Osborn, whose husband, William Osborn, had been killed by Indians at the outbreak of the Nez Perce War in 1877. She moved to Warren with her four Osborn children (Edward, William, Caroline and Annie) where she met and married Tom Clay in 1879. The next year the family moved to Meadows Valley and spent the winter in Packer John’s cabin.

I suspect it was the Clays who added a fireplace to the cabin. When it was built as an unoccupied storage place, there would have been no need for one.

Annie Osborn Krigbaum (married Ross Krigbaum) recalled a family of squirrels that lived in one of the top logs. She said, “We children spent hours watching these lively little fellows as they frolicked in and through the walls of our home.” She also remembered reading the names of the Territorial Convention delegates, which had been written on the window casing. Tom Clay carried mail between Warren and Indian Valley and was gone more than he was home. Annie said they were very lonely and often cried and begged to go back to Warren where they would have other children to play with. In the summer of 1882 the family moved to the Meadows Valley ranch that the family owned for many years.

Tom and Elizabeth Clay had four more children. The children in that mixed household went on to establish or join some of the best known families in Meadows Valley: Clays, Osborns, Campbells, Drydens, Freemans, and Krigbaums.

By 1909 the cabin was in shambles. The Women’s Club of Meadows started advocating for preservation of the structure. The land was owned by John Irick, and the Idaho State Historical Society leased two acres on which the cabin sat until the next year (1910) they were able to purchase 10 acres at the site.

The Historical Society undertook restoration of the cabin, replacing all the rotting parts, rebuilding the fireplace, installing a new shake roof, and more. The Society said about the rebuilt cabin, “The cabin was in good shape, although in the process of reconstruction it emerged with a new design quite different from the original.”

Information is sketchy, but in 1920 the cabin was badly damaged by a fire.

In 1936 the concrete, Idaho-shaped monument to the cabin was erected on Highway 55 by the Sons and Daughters of Idaho Pioneers. Also that year, American Legion Post 111 and the Ladies Club of Meadows Valley gave a bronze plaque to be placed on the cabin. It isn’t known what happened to that plaque. It is apparently in private hands, but it doesn’t seem to belong to anyone local.

By 1940 the combination of the 1920 fire and the ravages of time had left the cabin in very poor shape. It seems it was completely replaced that year by a replica of the original cabin, using new material. A celebration was held at the site, with a number of notable pioneers and politicians giving speeches.

On March 6, 1951, Packer John’s Cabin and the land around it became a state park by legislative designation. After Ponderosa State Park was created, Packer John’s Cabin site was attached to that larger operation in 1965. In 1992 it became an Adams County park, which it remains today.

In 2016 the replica of the cabin, built in 1940, had become so dilapidated that the county deemed it unsafe. Ideas were explored to replace it with another replica, but no concrete plan proved successful. What was left of the cabin was torn down that year.

Nothing is left of the cabin today, except the fireplace and chimney, which were almost certainly not part of the original cabin. Thanks to the efforts of several local people, the park has a number of camping spots and associated facilities that are enjoyed by people from near and far.