The History of Island Park Continues …

A few weeks ago I acquired a copy of The Island Park Story; Idaho’s Gateway to Yellowstone by Dean Green and James L. Allison. I was intrigued by the existence of a prequel to History of Island Park by Dean H. Green. It was obvious during my initial examination that the 1990 book currently being sold was a polished version of its 1974 predecessor.

While interviewing Spike Fransen for last week’s article, I inquired about the two versions. He said that James Allison connected with Dean Green at North Fremont High in Ashton, where Dean taught and was the yearbook advisor. James revealed his effort to publish a history of Island Park and Dean offered to help. Mr. Green suggested that the Josten’s Yearbook Company would be a great company to print the book. He also offered the use of his students to layout the book. This collaborative effort is evident by the hand-drawn cover attributed to “Cory Ingram, Art student at North Fremont”.

In 1990, Dean Green published his solo edition. He copyrighted the entire text including all entries written by James Allison. The perceived betrayal reportedly resulted in a physical confrontation between the two authors.

Authors write within a perspective of what they know. It was pointed out to me that the stories of several important residents were not included in the current volume. In the “About the Author” section of Mr. Green’s book (page 224), he states that “The author recognizes the incompleteness and discrepancies, but feels that all history will correct itself with time …”

I would like to offer this column to those who would like to add their families’ histories or stories to the record of Island Park. Please feel free to contact me by mail, email or phone and share your stories. I’ll do my best to add your history to the record.