Edwin Buckwalter Rice was born on December 20, 1861, and learned early in life to look after himself, as he had three older brothers, three younger sisters, and a father (Leonard Gurley Rice) who was gone much of the time settling Indian troubles and serving a mission. He learned to read and write in the Farmington School and attended church with his mother, Margaret Buckwalter Rice, in a stone chapel that was still in use in 1960. In 1875, Ed became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These pioneer boys did not lack for fun. Ed was a fleet runner, strong wrestler (scuffling they called it), and on horseback, he stuck like a wood tick. He learned to dance at ward parties, and he loved to entertain his friends by singing or telling stories.
Willard, Box Elder County, Utah always remained dear to him, for there he found his wife, Sylvia Lovina Drake, and married her on her seventeenth birthday (March 3, 1884). They lived in many places, but none more primitive than the tent he pitched in Corrine, Utah – their first home. From there Ed freighted goods to Montana for miners or merchants. He drove as many as twelve mules pulling two or three prairie schooners through Indian infested territories.
Three children were born to Ed and Sylvia while they lived in Conant, Cassia County, Idaho. After four years in Conant, the family was ready to move. In 1888, Egin and Parker, Idaho, became beacons of hope for many people and attracted couples from Farmington, Utah, including some of Ed’s brothers. He left off freighting and its dangers to try farming and cattle raising in the Parker area. His time there was short, and he soon began preparing to take his family to the Teton Valley, east of Parker.
The Teton Valley was a remote and primitive place, inhabited by wild animals, Indians and horse thieves. Rexburg, Idaho, was the nearest Post Office, and Market Lake was the closest railroad stop. Undaunted by all this, he and his family joined a group of equally restless and adventurous families bound for Teton Valley in 1889.
The elements smiled on them the first season. Cattle grazed out all winter. Ed and his family lived in a log cabin with a roof made of poles covered by willows and sod. Ed’s first son was born under a tent in that cabin.
However, the second winter was a nightmare of hardships, poverty, and heavy losses. Snow was six feet deep on the level. Ed had to dig a tunnel from the cabin to the cowshed, but that didn’t allow access to the woodpile and haystacks. The fun didn’t stop there – an early thaw followed by rain threatened the valley with flooding. This was avoided by severe freezing weather, which left a sheet of ice all over the valley. Cattle and horses died of starvation before it thawed again.
There was little commerce in those days. A pound of butter could be purchased for ten cents or exchanged for produce. When Victor was laid out, Ed helped to build the schoolhouse. Ed and Sylvia owned a dance hall, livery stable, hotel, and was interested in the store. He was also a member of the first Bishopric.
Ed later moved to Texas, where he lived for four years before moving his family back to Idaho, near St. Anthony. Ed died there in St. Anthony, Idaho on October 6, 1939, having spent a lifetime helping others and being a faithful Latter-day Saint.
