Gibson Ferry Burial Ground

Bingham County, Idaho, USA – *Estimated location

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  • Cemetery ID: 2714274

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Approximate site location is north of Pocatello, about 5 miles east of Pingree, and 8-9 miles southwest of Blackfoot, Idaho. The Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series, No. 749 1982, locates the ferry site as being in "T3S, R34E, Section 29" Bingham County, Idaho.

John P. Gibson and Jacob Meeks were granted a franchise to operate a ferry across the Snake River at any point within two miles below the mouth of the Blackfoot River by the Idaho Territorial Legislature in January of 1864. Referred to as Gibson's Ferry in newspapers of the day, it was also known as the Meeks and Gibson Ferry, or, Ferry Butte Ferry, and it was in existence for several years. On a stage and freight route from Salt Lake City to points north in the new territories of Idaho and Montana, it became the burial site for four victims of a stagecoach robbery that had occurred some forty miles south in Portneuf Canyon in July, 1865. The bodies were brought back to the ferry location, coffins made, and the remains were buried on the hill about two hundred yards above Mr. Gibson's house. Three of the bodies were "subsequently exhumed and reinterred at their respective homes, but, that of (M. L.) Mers being unknown, his remains still repose in the Snake river valley." As of Sept. 2020, it isn't known if there were other burials made here.
Approximate site location is north of Pocatello, about 5 miles east of Pingree, and 8-9 miles southwest of Blackfoot, Idaho. The Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series, No. 749 1982, locates the ferry site as being in "T3S, R34E, Section 29" Bingham County, Idaho.

John P. Gibson and Jacob Meeks were granted a franchise to operate a ferry across the Snake River at any point within two miles below the mouth of the Blackfoot River by the Idaho Territorial Legislature in January of 1864. Referred to as Gibson's Ferry in newspapers of the day, it was also known as the Meeks and Gibson Ferry, or, Ferry Butte Ferry, and it was in existence for several years. On a stage and freight route from Salt Lake City to points north in the new territories of Idaho and Montana, it became the burial site for four victims of a stagecoach robbery that had occurred some forty miles south in Portneuf Canyon in July, 1865. The bodies were brought back to the ferry location, coffins made, and the remains were buried on the hill about two hundred yards above Mr. Gibson's house. Three of the bodies were "subsequently exhumed and reinterred at their respective homes, but, that of (M. L.) Mers being unknown, his remains still repose in the Snake river valley." As of Sept. 2020, it isn't known if there were other burials made here.

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  • Added: 7 Sep 2020
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2714274