Pioneer Story: Frederick Thomas was an Early Settler of the Malad Valley

By L.D. Jones

In a 1922 edition of The Idaho Enterprise Fred Jones [Thomas], one of Malad's early law enforcement officers, was characterized as "a splendid specimen of the pioneers of this country, one of those rugged and fearles, strong characters." Following is a reprint of that biography, written by one of his good friends:

Born in Lime Hill, South Wales, in 1844, to William H. and Ann Williams Thomas, Fred Thomas was proud of his birth.

Fred's father started him in school, which was much against his wishes, and he feigned lameness in order to remain at home. His father made him a proposition that if he could beat him in a foot race to a certain point he would be allowed to remain at home. The race was run and the father was badly beaten but the boy had to go to school anyway.

Fred had seven brothers and seven sisters, but only four of his brothers accompanied them to America. They came in 1853, crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel. They were six weeks on the waters and encountered much rough weather.

They landed at New Orleans and made their way to St. Louis by steamer. From that city the journey was made by team to Montrose, where they camped for a season. While stopping there his father visited Nauvoo, Illinois, and visited Lucy Smith, the mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith. She urged him to go to Utah and settle with the Mormon people and had great faith in Brigham Young, their leader.

Mr. Thomas and his folks came across the plains to Utah with ox teams under command of Joseph Young. He remembered on one occasion of being surrounded by Indians who demanded tribute before allowing them to proceed. Captain Young advised complying with their demands, and they were then allowed to proceed on their way, arriving in Salt Lake in October, 1853. The family remained in Salt Lake City that winter.

In February, 1854, his father came to Brigham City where he located a home and took up a farm. Al the houses in Brigham at that time were located inside a fort in what is now the northwestern part of the city. He proceeded to build himself a house inside of the fort, constructing it of willows, making two walls, plastering them with mud and filling up the space between the two walls with earth, and roofing the house over with a covering of thatched straw. This earned for him the sobriquet of Wm. Thomas the Willows (Willow House), which served to distinguish the family from the other William Thomases, of which there were several. The nickname clung to them for many years, even after arriving in Malad, where they came in the early sixties.

While residing in Brigham, the family had some hard experiences with grasshoppers, that took their crops until the food supply was exhaused. The people resorted to digging sego lillies. Fred remembers they came upon large numbers of them, as large as small onions, and of a very good quality. The people were able to subsist on them. He never saw them in such abundance afterward.

A very wonderful circumstance happened at this time, related by Mr. Thomas. He and his father were going to the field one morning to see what could be done to fight the grasshoppers, when they observed the sea gulls coming in large numbers, and they seemed to be destroying the grasshoppers. His father remarked that he believed that the Lord was going to take a hand in the war, and that they would return home.

The gulls came in great numbers and gorged themselves with grasshoppers, then would throw them up in heaps, gorge themselves again and repeat the process until the enemies were all destroyed and the crops saved and the grasshopper war was over.

When Fred became a young man he took to teaming and saw much of the intermountain country. First to Camp Floyd and Carson Valley, then driving seven yokes of cattle at Fort Bridger in 1861 with his friend David Thomas (Cotton Thomas). In 1863 we find him teaming in Montana at the time of the discovery of gold. William H. Jones and he built the first house in Virginia City. In 1864 he hauled freight to Boise. Flour was the staple freight at that time. He recalls some of the prices of those days. Flour was $100 per 100 lbs., eggs $2 a dozen, salt $1 per pound, etc.

Freighting was rough work in those days. Roads were new, bridges were crude, the toll master was in the land, and the assumption of many of them was a wonder. Fred relates, on one occasion he came to a toll bridge that had just been burned so that the only way to cross was to ford the stream, which they proceeded to do. But the toll man demanded his $1.00 per wagon. The demurred and a controversy arose, upon which the toll man brought out his double barrel. Mr. Thomas was in the lead and the boys said they would leave it up to him. They handed him a revolver, the only one in the crowd.

He proceeded to ford the stream, ordering the man with the shotgun not to venture too close. They got through without paying toll. When they returned, the bridge was replaced.

Another time, while crossing with his outfit from Boise, along with his brother, Henry, a man on horseback overtook them and inquired if he was a Mormon, to which he answered that he was. The man then said he would like to fight him. The man rode away, but soon returned, accompanied by another man. He stated that he was ready to fight. He and Fred Thomas jumped from their horses and came together. It turned out that the stranger was armed with a knife with which he cut Mr. Thomas just below the breast bone. Mr. Thomas then grasped the wrist of the hand that held the knife with his left hand, and with his right hand he showered blows into his antagonist. And as he felt his blood running down his body from the cut, it added force and fury to his blows. Finally, his brother persuaded him to let the man go.

Fred Thomas became a resident of Malad in 1865, building his first home on Main Street, near where the old home of the Evans' brothers' mother now stands.

That winter he married Ruth Price, daughter of John Price, one of the earliest settlers of Samaria. She is a sister of Daniel E. Price of that place. They had eleven children, five boys and six girls. They resided in a number of different places in Malad and one time in Elkhorn.

Mr. Thomas served the public in many positions, from a constable to deputy sheriff under Sheriff Homer. He acted as chief of police for years. He also ventured into the business world, engaging in the furniture business, first alone and then in partnership, the last being with Joseph W. Dudley and T.M. Thomas.

Fred Thomas was good company and enjoyed a joke. He had a robust constitution and enjoyed a long life. He had a deep religious conviction and was always ready to defend it.

One year after his beloved wife died, Fred followed her. He had been ill two weeks and died of old age on June 12, 1926, at his home.