Fort Ovid
Knowing the terms of the Fort Bridger treaty, Charles C Rich met with the Shoshone Chief Washakie and the Bannock Chief, Tygee prior to the 1863 settlements and sought permission from them to settle the Bear Lake Valley. Surprised that the white man was asking the two Indian chiefs agreed not to stop any settlement in the valley if the south end of the lake would be left to them to continue the gatherings that had occurred for centuries and if the white man would provide the Indians with food when they were in the valley.
The promise was made and the promise was broken by a group of settlers who cam into the valley and went against the recommendations of Charles C Rich. That violation resulted in Washakie sending out his braves to tear down the fences, trample the crops and scatter the animals. With the possibility of war on their hands, Charles C Rich prudently recalled the far scattering settlements from eleven to the four main ones in Bloomington, Paris, St Charles and Montpelier.
The people of Ovid gathered their personal belongings and moved to Paris. Charles C Rich, with the help of three mediators was able to placate the Indians and avoid what is not called the Shoshone War scare of 1865-66. The Ovid settlers were once again able to return to their land and homes. A fort was then built in the center of town as a safe place for the members of the community in the lot where the school house now stands.
In 1895 laws had been passed in Idaho primarily against illegal hunting actions of white settlers. The Indians of Fort Hall Indian Reservation felt their treaty rights gave them the right of hunting and fishing on all open lands. White men objected against the Indians being allowed to do something they could not do and efforts were made to arrest the Indians.
The Kunz family of Bear Lake were collecting cow herds from the valley and trailing the animals to the isolated area of Caribou County and grazing them on the rich meadows there. Then each fall they would bring them back, return them to the owners, and give them a share of the cheese they made.
Rob Schmid recorded an incident that led to another scare for the people of Ovid. "The whole incident was brought about by the killing of some Indians in the Jackson Hole area unnecessarily by white men. At the time many Bear Lake people, primarily from Bern, were in the area around Williamsburg making cheese and herding cattle. Lanes Creek, where they maintained their dairy, was in the direct route of where the Indians would travel. People quickly left the area. When work was received of the Indian outbreak, Eugene Weaver of Bennington played the part of a modern day Paul Revere and rode night and day to warn those people."
Schmid says the entire return trip of 70 miles back to Fort Ovid was made with only two short stops for the horses to rest. During this scare, Fort Ovid served as a gathering place for people of the whole area and where people felt safe. Nothing ever came of the Indian Scare of 1895 and the incident which was eventually settled peacefully; but for a short time, Fort Ovid was indeed a major part of the Bear Lake defense system. It was torn down about 1905.
Fort Ovid was a log structure and stockade which encircled the location where the last Ovid School still stands. It was the Bear Lake headquarters of their contingent of the Utah Armed Militia which was under the leadership of Acing Colonel, Joseph C Rich. Ovid, Paris, Bloomington and St Charles each had a company of men. Collectively they formed a unit known as the Bear Lake Company of the Utah State Militia, more commonly known as the Army of the State of Deseret.