Eight miles east of here, Rattlesnake Station, was an important stop for wagon trains and travelers along the Oregon Trail because of its sure supply of fresh water. Later, a stage station with a post office called "The Mountain Home" was established by Commodore Jackson who had settled on the property.
In 1881, when the Oregon Short Line began building through Southern Idaho Territory, Jackson who had a desert claim t 320 acres of fields along the route, laid out the survey stakes for a town site parallel to the new tracks. The towns first businessman, Mr. Tutwiler, inside his tent set up a whiskey barrel on sawhorses. The thirsty railroad workers cheered, "Hurrah for Tut" and named the town Tutville.
The first train steamed into "Tutville" on July 7, 1883. Postmaster and Stage Agent Jule Haager quickly packed up The Mountain Home Post Office in a soapbox and relocated the mail to the rail, bringing with him the name, Mountain Home.
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