Alton/Sheep Creek

Alton today consists of a few ranch houses along the river, going toward Cokeville, Wyoming from Montpelier on Highway 30, near the Alton Road.

Alton once had a service station, a store, a post office, and a bid out for a brick school in 1929. As more people moved into the area, they claimed the land so there was no longer free range. People moved out due to the depression. Ranches became bigger and the population became smaller.

Sheep Creek Valley was used as a cattle range by Grandison Raymond, Henry Evans from Thomas Fork and others in 1878. In 1900, 12 families lived there. Some of them were Lucius Bingham, Arnold Zumbrennan, Jakob Hirschi, John Wuthrich, John Moni, Marion and Jess Perkins, Martin Phelps, and Albert Kunz. In 1902 the John Eschler family arrived.

The people discussed a plan for cooperative living. They started a community dairy that made American and Swiss cheese. John Wuthrich was the cheese maker and Gottfried Eschler was his aid. The community dairy did not last long, so private farmers established their own. After fording the river, they loaded their products at a platform by the railroad tracks. There were four major dairy operations. Kunz and Phelps were located at the south end of the valley by the river. John Wuthrich and Gottfried Eschler developed boarding dairies. They boarded cows from other towns in the summer and returned them in the winter with payment in cheese. Alfred J. Hirschi wrote that men and boys herded the animals and women and girls ages 14 to 18 were the milkmaids. The girls milked as many as 20 cows twice a day. There was a V trough where the milkers could pour the milk. It ran through a series of strainers, was then cooled by spring water, and from the cooling vat into copper kettles. Wuthrich oversaw the vats. In the 1920s, the people built a reservoir for irrigating crops with most of the water coming from Sheep Creek. This allowed farms to became bigger.

Schools were first held in private homes in the 1880s, and in 1892, a single-room school was built from logs. The school stood on the corner as you turn left on Alton Road, driving on Highway 30. In 1901, the town's school teacher, Orson F. Alton, became ill with an incurable sickness. When he had to leave, the people honored him by naming the town after him at his farewell party. The name Sheep Creek was no longer used. The school’s enrollment peaked at 33 in 1906. By 1911 it had dropped to 11. By 1940, there were only enough students for one school for both Pegram and Alton. Margaret Esterholdt was the teacher when the schools were combined. They used the newer Alton school, but it closed in the 1950s, and the building was torn down. The steps were used for a loading ramp for many years after that.

Marion G. Perkins was the first postmaster. The mail came to Alton by snowshoes and horseback. Normally it came from Raymond, but it came from Montpelier once every two weeks. Alma Eschler was an early mail carrier. It was dropped off at the John Eschler Ranch. In 1902 there were enough people for a post office to be located near the school. In 1903, the LDS Church had a branch in Alton. In 1904 the school and the church used the same building. John Eschler was the first presiding elder.

Resource:

J. Pat Wilde "Treasured Tidbits of Time" vol. 1 page 3