Intermountain Indian School

The Intermountain Indian School (1949–1984) was an Indian boarding school in Brigham City, Utah.

History

The Intermountain Indian School, which is in Brigham City, Utah, was originally the Bushnell Army Hospital, which was open from 1942 to 1947 serving wounded soldiers of World War II. The land was donated by the city to the Federal government so Brigham could get the hospital. Doctors, nurses, military personnel, wounded patients and their families arrived in Brigham City to work at Bushnell. After the hospital's closure, the buildings sat empty for a short period while the city decided what should be done with the land.

In 1948, Brigham City got a proposal for an Indian school. The estimate for remodeling, new construction and equipment was $3.75 million. President Harry Truman signed the bill allocating the money in May 1949. The superintendent and a few assistants began working On June 4, 1948, and by January 1950, 542 students were accepted at the federally run Intermountain Indian School. Since that time, the school was authorized to enroll 2,150 students. It was for Navajo children who were bused from Arizona and were taught from elementary to high school, and it had its own medical facility and printing press.

In 1954, 24 students graduated from the school. In 1955, that number jumped to 188. By 1981, 5,319 students had graduated.

It was successful as a Navajo boarding school. But enrollment was down in the late 70s, so the school was changed to the Intermountain Inter-Tribal School. It grew to having students from nearly 100 tribes.

The school closed in 1984, after which city officials submitted a master plan in Washington, D.C. to get the 17 acres along U.S. Route 91 back from the federal government. The agreement reached was that the land would remain open space and not be used for anything other than recreation, and it was deeded back to the city.

The School Today

Brigham City turned the open land into a golf course and sold the rest to fund the golf course. Objects from the buildings were sold for $100,000, and property was sold for $2.5 million. Currently, some of the buildings remain vacant and some have been torn down, but the dormitories have been turned into townhouses called, "Eagle Village". A furniture store, a consulting firm, a martial arts company and various churches all house their businesses on the former home of the Intermountain Indian School.

Sources

* Kara Campbell & Katrina Brainard, [http://media.www.utahstatesman.com/media/storage/paper243/news/2003/02/26/Features/What-Is.That.i-379628.shtml "What Is That 'I'?"] "The Utah Statesman"