Sent by Clifton Hiatt. They came by to visit us in Pocatello, we went to a family reuion in Vale and met many of the Hiatt families that are very interested and helpful in genealogy. Larry Anderson
On Sept. 21, 1998, Cliff and his wife, Donna, took a long awaited trip to visit the Yellowstone Park. His wife wanted to do a little Genealogy on the was through Idaho, and Cliff wasn't hard to convince.
The 1st stop was at The Gooding State School for the Deaf & Blind. Donna wanted to get a picture of the school as it looked when Cliff's older brother, Clifford went to school there. At first, the secretary said he didn't go to school there, but in Boise. Donna argued that point. They finally found their file on Clifford Hiatt and there was Donna's letter. They had copied it and put it inhis file, 15 years ago, after they had sent the originals to Donna. The principal found their old history book and copied the pictures of the old school (before the old dormitories were abandoned.) They even copied some of the history for her.
Then, they drove on to Blackfoot, Idaho, the Bingham County seat, and Donna spent 2 hours in their archives, searching for birth, death, marriage and land records. She checked the 4 volumes of the land records and only found 1 record. As luck would have it, it was for J.W. Hiatt. The County Assessor copied a plat map and showed her where it was located. (Only 1/4 mile from the freeway!) Cliff & Donna drove out to see it, and sure enough, it was backed up against the lava fields. Cliff had nevr been back to see where he was born, and it was thrilling.
On the way back from the Yellowstone Park, they took a different way and stopped at Darlington, and looked up Lynn Keele's daughter, Kathy Bell & her husband, Preston. They had a delightful visit and she phoned David Keele's wife, to lead us out to their place. Donna wanted to see the monument that Randall & Patsy Keele's children had erected for their parents. (Lynn's brother) It was perched up on a high bluff above the original ranch house. There was no way that Cliff or Donna could have hiked up to it. So, David gave them a slow ride up in his 4 wheel drive pickup. The sun was just setting and it made a memorable picture. The pictures turned out beautifully!
Donna had recently found some of Cliff's school mates from the days he went to school at Aberdeen, Idaho. Since she didn't bring the directions on this trip with her, she looked in the motel phone book and found Weston Wadsworth's name at Monteview. Cliffs super-duper atlas didn't show it. They stopped at a service station the next day and the attendant gave them a state map and showed them where the town was located. They backtracked 60 miles and found Weston, sitting in the shade of his house, watching his daughter mow the lawn. The guys had a wonderful visit and Donna took another picture!
Now, what can they do to top that vacation?
Donna Hiatt
3963 Birch Rd.
Vale, Oregon 97918Phone number:
541-473-2342(6648.) CLIFTON KEELE HIATT (5117.) (2933.) (1158.) (402.) (81.) (11.) (2.) (1.):
b. 30-12mo-1918, Blackfoot, Bingham Co., Idaho; m. at Weiser, Idaho, 10-2mo-1942, to ELIZABETH FAYE PRESTO, d/o louie and Eileen (Cooper). Presto; b. 9-4mo-1922, Synarop, Washington; address: Route 2, Box 37, Vale, Oregon.CH: (7922.) Roger Keele; (7923.) Lynn Dale. (R152).