Courthouse Arrowhead Collection

John Carlyle Smith was born in 1922 in Beaver, Utah. When he was very young his parents homesteaded 640 acres northwest of town. Like most country boys he and his brother spent a lot of time playing outdoors. One day he and his brother found a beautiful rock that they took to their mother. She exclaimed “Why that is a beautiful arrowhead.” and from that day forward the boys were extremely interested in arrowheads and anything Indian or of Indian origin. They actively hunted for arrowheads around the homestead. Young John Carlyle or J.C. as he is more commonly called probably didn’t realize it at the time, but that early find sparked a lifetime obsession. 

In 1948 JC moved his cattle operation to Gray’s Lake north of Soda Springs. He farmed land adjacent to the big marsh and still being interested in artifacts he kept a sharp eye out when he plowed the land to plant new grass, finding many interesting artifacts over the years. He uncovered many ancient campsites discovering some artifacts from the Paleo period probably dating over 7000 years old. 

In the early 1960’s JC acquired a winter range in Box Elder County. Utah. The property was located between the Great Basin and the Snake River drainage, which was a well-known traveling route of the early Native Americans. He found many artifacts on this property. He also talked to neighboring farmers, ranchers, and sheepmen and got their permission to look for artifacts on their property and so assuming his first find was in about 1927 acquiring this awesome collection was a project that spanned over 80 years.  

The collection isn’t just made up of arrowheads and spearpoints as when JC discovered campsites, he also found tools like hammers, grinding stones, and rasps to make arrow shafts. But one of the finds I found most inspiring was a clay bowl that was found in pieces. JC gathered up all that he could find and then spent the winter cleaning and fitting them back together like an intricate 3D jig saw puzzle. The results are both beautiful and impressive. 

JC loved to show visitors his collection, and after spending a lifetime collecting and assembling the collection he wanted to make sure that it could be viewed and enjoyed after he was gone. After two attempts to donate the collection to nearby universities, but not being able to come to a satisfactory agreement on how it would be displayed he talked to his son in law, Caribou County Commissioner Earl Somsen about donating it to the county if they would display it in the halls of Caribou County Courthouse. With Earl’s encouragement JC got on the agenda for the next Commissioner’s meeting and officially made his proposal. The rest of the Commission enthusiastically agreed to the offer, resulting in seven large custom made protective cases being purchased by the county to house all the framed displays and random pieces JC and family had collected over the years.  Family members helped arrange and hang the framed arrangements of like arrowheads and spearpoints inside the large glass covered cases, and then they were sealed in. 

I’m sure many people have glanced at the displays when they come to the courthouse offices, but I encourage you to take a few minutes next time you are there on business or even make a special trip to look them over a little closer, maybe even try and count them if you want to spend the whole morning. JC’s grandson and current county commissioner Bryce Somsen guesses there are about 6,000 pieces, but admits he’s never counted them. And after you check out the arrowhead collection take a minute or two to look over the small DUP display case at the top of the stairs. It is filled to overflowing with interesting artifacts of the first settlers of Soda Springs and the surrounding area.