The Raft River Valley was one of the first areas to get attention from white settlers in Cassia County. In its earliest days, wild grass was reported from four to six-feet high throughout the area. Seeing a great opportunity, cattlemen from California and Texas drove enormous herds of cattle to the area to feed on its range, after which they were driven to slaughterhouses in the east. Herds ranged as high as 5,000 to 10,000 head summered in the area. But, after the grasslands were over-grazed, feed became scarce and after a devastating winter, when as high as 90% starved or were frozen to death. sag4ebrush, which had been scarce in the valley, migrated from the foothills, and the large cattle operations moved on to greener pastures. But, the impact of those cattle barons lives on, with features such as Sweetzer Pass and others bearing the names of those early operators.
Before its streams were diverted by reservoirs including Sublett and Oakley’s Goose Creek, the Raft River was a treacherous stream, whose mouth emptied into the Snake River east of Declo. Raft River was reported as at least a mile wide. Though the stream was shallow, its banks were marshy and difficult to traverse, and was for many years a significant water source in the Raft River Valley.
Between 1909 and 1912, many local newspaper articles were published, telling of a railroad bed that was to be laid from Declo through Idahome and Strevell. It was designed to continue to Salina on the Great Salt Lake, where it would cross the lake on a trestle. Materials to construct the railroad arrived in Burley and grading was begun between Declo and Malta. Strevell was planned as a regional center, intended to rival Burley in size and importance. In fact, an airport was established at Strevell, equipped with guidance systems and aeronautic equipment, and a first-class hotel was built there. Anticipating a huge irrigation project on Raft River and the proposed direct rail line to Utah, many communities in southeastern Cassia County saw a huge influx of people relocating to the area. The Raft River Reclamation Project was heralded to rival the Minidoka Irrigation Project in size and importance, delivering irrigation water through gravity-fed canals throughout the Raft River Valley from the Snake River south nearly to the Utah border. The railroad planned to build a track from their terminus at Minidoka through the Raft River area, connecting with Salina, Utah on the Great Salt Lake. As an inducement for rail construction, the federal government awarded one-square mile sections to the railroad, adjacent to the completed rail on alternating sections of land. Seeing an opportunity for quick money, the irrigation district informed the railroad that they would be responsible for paying water rights on all lands it was awarded. However, the railroad refused paying for water shares, since the railroad never planned to irrigate the land. They refused to pay for water shares they never intended to use. The issue was finally settled by the US Supreme Court in 1914 in the railroad’s favor, but by that time, conditions had changed, the plan was abandoned and the project was never completed. Numerous settlers went broke, leaving behind what they had built, as they moved from their homes to start anew. Communities such as Strevell and Idahome, which were planned to provide needed services dwindled, leaving many to lose their life savings, moving on to build a new life with a fresh start. The fertile land was left dormant until deep water wells brought water to the area, nearly fifty years later.