Notes:

John Henry Dickson was born November 13, 1853 in American Fork, Utah county, Utah. He was the youngest son of Billa Dickson and Mary Ann Stoddard.
His family moved from American Fork to a little farm on the mountain road near Layton when John was six years old. In 1862 his father bought a farm at Richville in Morgan County, and here John spent his boyhood and early manhood working at the saw mills in Hard Scrabble Canyon.
John usually called Jack, was almost a perfect physical specimen. He was five feet eleven inches tall, and weighed one hundred ninety-five pounds in his prime. He had broad shoulders and a deep chest. The men who knew him well always said the only man that ever threw him down in a wrestle was his brother Will.
The Indians used to match their skill with the young man. Jack could out distance run any of them. It was said "Don't try to follow Jack Dickson unless you out walk a horse. It was literally true.
He married Avilda Diena Hickman, daughter of William Adams Hickman and Martha Diena Case on March 4, 1877. They were sealed in the temple for time and all eternity on the November 15, 1878. They were the parents of twelve children Mary, William, John, Parley, Bartlett , Arvin, Earle, son Dickson, Alvira, Avilda, Elijah, and Owen.
While living in Morgan County John accepted a call from the church to serve a mission in the southern states. He had four children at the time but AviIda provided for the family in his absence. He served for two years without purse or script. Most of his mission was served in Burk and Rutherforn Counties in North Carolina.
The Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, in Utah were in need of more room in which to settle. Many converts to the Church were coming from Europe and the Eastern States. Consequently, the Church leaders were sending colonies of people to various places in the surrounding states to establish homes and build communities. As other desirable locations were being sought, it was learned that large tracts of land were available in the Stinking Water (Shoshone) River Valley in the Big Horn Basin in Northwestern Wyoming. In the winter of 1900 Apostle Abraham Owen Woodruff asked Jack to go with him and others to the Big Horn Country in Wyoming to help colonize the area. Jack accepted the call because he wanted to give his children the chance to develop a new and undeveloped area.
The first company of pioneers arrived in the Shoshone River Valley May 2, and camped on Sage Creek, a short distance north of the Shoshone River. Their camp was in the creek bottom, east of the monument that was erected many years later at the highway junction. This marker is approximately three miles northwest of Lovell.
The first and most important job for the Colonists was the construction of the Sidon Canal. The canal was to be 30.48 miles long and cover 17,715.28 acres. The dimension of the Canal at the headgate was shown in the permit as 25 feet wide at the water line, bottom width 15 feet, depth of water 5 feet, and the grade of the ditch 2 feet per mile.
John and his sons helped construct the Sidon canal. John Henry Dickson was the foreman of those working on the East end of the Canal.
Difficulty was encountered while building the Canal. They found that a tunnel had to be built through a small hill. While blasting they found that it took a long time for the black smoke to clear out of the tunnel. Jack brought in a small wood stove and built its chimney so that it would come to the outside of the hole. Then he lit a fire, and the black dust from the blasting powder was drawn up through the damper, and was disposed of through the chimney.
Jack was chosen to supervise about thirty men. They labored long and hard on the Canal from its beginning in 1900 until its completion in 1904.
At one time Jack considered buying a well-developed farm near Lovell away from the Colony. However, he was cautioned by Apostle Woodruff not to do so. Apostle Woodruff was afraid that other men would follow his example and the efforts at colonizing would fail. Obediently, Jack followed the counsel.
Jack was a stockman and farmer. He worked at times as a blacksmith. He owned half interest in a sawmill in Five Springs Canyon. He was a member of the Big Horn Stake High Council. He was Cowley's first superintendent of the Sunday School. Avilda was the first member of the Shoshone Branch Relief Society Presidency.
It must have been a great disappointment for the pioneers who left Utah and migrated to the Big Horn Basin when the land turned alkaline. The water brought up alkali in the soil and the crops could not grow. The land failed, according to modem engineers because they did not know how to drain it properly. As a result the pioneers had to look elsewhere to earn a living.
In 1911 Jack took his wife and the younger members of the family and started for Canada. He had heard from his former neighbor in Morgan that there was a fertile valley there to be farmed. The family returned to Wyoming when Avilda became ill. In 1912 Earl and Lige returned to Canada, and in 1913 Jack and Avilda with the younger children joined them there. Later in that year September 20, 1913 Avilda died of cancer.
In 1918 Jack left Canada to go back to Wyoming where he lived in Kane and Cowley. In 1921 his son Lige moved to Yakima, Washington and Jack went there for a time to visit him. In 1922-24 Lige and Owen who had joined his brother moved to Aberdeen, Washington and Jack visited them there. Between the years of 1924-31, Jack visited and lived with his sons in Wyoming and Washington and with his daughter in Canada. From 1934 until his death he lived near his sons Bart, Lige and Owen in Tacoma, Washington. He passed away November 3, 1940 and was buried beside his beloved wife in Magrath, Alberta, Canada.
Condensed by Paul B. Dickson from the John Henry Dickson history written by Paul B. Dickson

JOHN married Avilda Diena HICKMAN on 4 Mar 1877 in Cannonville,Garfield,UT. Avilda was born on 20 Jan 1859 in WEST JORDAN,SALT LAKE,UTAH; died on 20 Sep 1913 in Magrath,Alberta,Canada; was buried on 24 Sep 1913 in Magrath,Alberta,Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Edna Seviah DESPAIN on 18 Oct 1905 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. Edna was born on 25 Jan 1879 in Granite, Salt Lake, Utah; died on 23 May 1926 in Cowley, Big Horn, Wyoming; was buried on 26 May 1926 in Cowley, Big Horn, Wyoming. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Geneva ALLPHIN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Living married Living [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]