Ideal Beach at Bear Lake - 110-plus years of "Rich" (County) History

 

                                       Looking west along the Ideal Beach shoreline.

ALMOST 57 years before Sweetwater development company came to Bear Lake Valley, Ideal Beach at Bear Lake began and prospered. As it turns out, Ideal Beach has more than 110 years of "rich" (in Rich County) history. Who knew that the resort is so long-standing!

“The Ideal Beach at Garden City attracts visitors from all points of the compass,” The Logan Journal newspaper of June 29, 1915 declared, in what is the first media reference to the resort.

Getting to the resort – and even Bear Lake—in 1915 was no easy task. In fact, Boy Scouts in the summer of 1915 took a train from Ogden to Logan and then hiked more than 40 miles over the mountains, so they could camp at Ideal Beach, one of the biggest recreational developments on the lake at the time. (Ogden Standard-Examiner, August 10, 1915.)

“Ideal Beach on Bear Lake destined to become leading resort,” a headline in the Logan Republican newspaper of August 19, 1915, boasted. The resort had 21 tents and featured dancing each evening. The resort then, an always, was pretty much in the same location, the southwest corner of Bear Lake.  That’s where there was a sandy beach and wind and weather was as good as it gets along the lakeshore. However, again, getting to Bear Lake was a trial in 1915, as it required 3 ½ hours of auto travel, just from Logan.

“Ideal Beach is the place for summer outings,” the Logan Republican stated on June 26, 1917. The resort back then had 42 cottages and tents, a café, 21 rowboats, two canoes and several motor boats. It even had a shooting galley, tennis court and an ice cream parlor. The Ole Reeves Jazz Orchestra provided the music for evening dancing and entertainment.

In 1925, the Bluebird Orchestra from Logan, was the music provider. That year, the resort offered free use of their campgrounds.

By 1951, Ideal Beach even had roller skating in the summer and ice skating in the winter. Rates were $15 a week for a cabin rental then.

Big changes began at Ideal Beach in 1972, when Sweetwater development purchased the resort. This was the beginning of the timeshare era and the 2-by-4 cabins were razed and the circular skating rink was remodeled into condominiums (and even now still has a circular shape). By 1977, Sweetwater offered four weeks of use for a timeshare with a price tag of $50,000.

By 1982, Sweetwater/Ideal Beach had 4,700 timeshare owners and 106 condos, 90 of which were public.

Five years later, in 1987, the timeshare owners, who had not been satisfied with the management of Ideal Beach, brokered a deal and began ORE company to management their timeshares at not just Bear Lake, but other recreational properties in the Intermountain West., that totaled some 13,000 owners.

                                                  A huge open space of green lawn.

                   The condos as they appear looking south from the beach.

Today it is Bear Lake Timeshare that is one company that offers investments at Ideal Beach, while IdealBeachResort.com manages rentals and also the sale of individual condos. The resort itself is governed by a homeowner association and a board of directors.

 With a huge lawn space, great for all kinds of games, the resort is very family friendly and has a large playground too. It offers mini golf, has two swimming pools and tennis courts. The resort has a general store too, complete with ice cream and some clothing. Seasonally, jet skis and other aquatic rentals are available at the beach, maybe 150 yards from most condo units.

 The Ideal Beach Resort is located at 2176 S. Bear Lake Boulevard, in Garden City, Utah. Rentals ae available year-round.

  The resort’s email is: info@idealbeachresort.net and the telephone number is (435) 946-3364.

  NOTE: The author has been vacationing at Ideal Beach most summers for the past 20 years, as a guest renter. He has no other connection or financial ties to Ideal Beach.

 

 

 

                           The extreme northeast condo unit.

 

 

 

 

At least 6 men were living in the territory when the Mormon Pioneers arrived

The Miles Goodyear Cabin, oldest structure in Utah, in a Utah State Historical photograph.

                                              The Miles Goodyear Cabin today.


MOST HISTORIES of early Utah would have you believe that Miles Goodyear was the lone non-Native America living in Utah territory when the Mormon Pioneers arrived in 1847.
However, there may have been at least FIVE others living in the region before the pioneers, bringing the total to 6.
Details on these 5 men are sketchy, but according to a Deseret News article from Dec. 15, 1906, under the headline of: "Utah Legends, Indians, Trappers and Pioneers," ...

-1. A mountain man, Peg Leg Smith was living in the Bear Lake Valley before the pioneers arrived there. He told the settlers many Native American tales about Bear Lake and also operated a trading post at Dingle (Idaho), on the north end of the valley.

-2-3. Two brothers, by the last name of Goodall operated a horse and goat ranch in the Ogden "Flats" area and had to be bought out too, like Goodyear did.
William H. Kimball, Heber C. Kimball's oldest son, was sent by Brigham Young in 1848 to buy out the Goodall's. They apparently had 750 horses grazing on 10 square miles. Kimball moved the horses to Antelope Island ("Church Island"). Although no purchase price to the Goodall's was recorded, they told Kimball that they had secured the land from Mexicans, who had started a mission there.

-4. Barney Ward was also mentioned as another mountaineer who was living in the Ogden area when the pioneers arrived. He dealt in tobacco and liquor sales, products not much in demand by Mormon settlers.

(-In addition, Ogden Canyon supposedly originally contained a dugout and a cabin that was reputed to have been built by Peter Skene Ogden.)

-5. Finally, "Daddy Stump," another non-Indian, was living on Antelope Island when the Mormon Pioneers started exploring the Isle in 1848. That’s also the first mention of the man. Stump, believed to be a mountain man and perhaps also known as a bear killer, had built a small cabin and had a small orchard of peaches on Antelope Island. (from the LDS Improvement Era Magazine of 1907.) 

Daddy Stump has other historical references, as does Peg Leg Smith, but the other three men remain mysterious, with the single mention in history. Sadly, the 1906 Deseret News article did not list its source or sources on the men's existence. But assuming there is some accuracy to the account, then the area was certainly not deserted when the pioneers arrived, as is so often envisioned.

(-Previously published in the Deseret News on July 21, 2018.)

When Bear Lake became popular

When did Bear Lake first catch on a summer destination for Ogden area residents?

It was less than two decades after the advent of the automobile in Utah.

“Distance to Bear Lake only 76 miles” was a Sept. 1, 1917 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Manager C.H. Wilson of the Utah-Idaho Motor Company made the drive in a six-cylinder, seven-passenger Mitchell automobile.

He drove from Ogden at 9 a.m., by way Beaver Creek and Blacksmith Fork/Hardware Ranch, considered the “Standard” route in that day.( I believe the “Beaver Creek” Canyon  mentioned is the one off today’s U-39, near the South Fork of the Ogden River.  It was 21 miles long.)

 The detailed story also mentioned “the great blue waters of the lake.” His actual destination was “Ideal Beach,” as it was called even back then, at evening time – an all-day journey.

Wilson returned by Logan Canyon, Logan and Brigham City and advocated that state roads should be made to access the lake. Almost all the driving was done on good dirt roads.

“Thrilling dugways and sharp turns” was how Wilson described going through Logan Canyon almost a century ago. In fact, it was reported that passing vehicles at many spots along the narrow canyon roadway was just not feasible.

Almost a year later, Aug. 24, 1918, the Standard published another detailed auto trip report to Bear Lake and back. This trip went through Ogden Canyon, mentioning now vanished key milestones there, like “Watson Flygare Camp,” “Bristol Camp,” “Wildwood” and “Becker Bridge.”

The route then went by way of “The Liberty Dugway” to Paradise, Logan and Logan Canyon.

Ironically, both the Beaver Creek Canyon ("Piss Ant Flat") and the Liberty Dugway routes never got fully paved, or became modern corridors.

MORE HISTORICAL ITEMS:
-When did Ogden City have its first public tennis courts?

It was the summer of 1922, when the parks of Lester, Liberty and Lorin Farr all received tennis courts, according to a May 10, 1922 Standard report. It was the tennis committee of the Ogden Kiwanis Club that was behind the construction. Ogden had one private tennis club and a few private and school courts previously.

-Lorin Farr Park wasn’t always known by that name. The Standard of July 12, 1918 stated the park was previously called Glenwood Park.

It was a recommendation by the Daughters of the Pioneers for the new name, to honor one of Ogden’s most prominent pioneers.

And, Lester Park wasn’t always identified by that title either. According to a June 14, 1881 Standard report, “Liberty Square” was the original name of that park.

-The greater Ogden area received some of its first location signs in 1927. According to a Sept. 7 Standard report that year, Weber Canyon’s Devil’s Slide, Devil’s Gate and other such touristy spots were finally identified for all travelers to locate and enjoy.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on July 11, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net