Intermountain students took part in the popular Peach Days celebration in Brigham City with parade floats.

The initial reaction of both the Navajo and the residents of Brigham City to hosting Intermountain Indian School in the town was caution and suspicion. The Navajo were concerned it was a scheme to turn all of their children into Mormons. The residents were worried the Navajo youth would bring increased crime. Though both groups moved past these initial fears to go forward with the school, the relationship between the town and the school remained distant.

Intermountain athletes in the Peach Days parade.

The students spent most of their time on campus, which functioned as a self-contained city, and many felt like outsiders when they went on rare visits to town. They did participate in some community events, such as both watching and riding in floats in the annual Peach Days parade. The students also sometimes played pranks that riled their neighbors, such as taking watermelons from farmers’ fields and floating them down the river (the school paid the farmers back when they complained).

The nexus between the school and the community were the employees of Intermountain. Intermountain employed a large staff and in this way had a major impact on Brigham City’s economy. Administrators, teachers, coaches, staff, doctors, and many other adults—both Native and non-Native—helped the school function. Most of these people lived in Brigham City and were part of the town community as well as part of the Intermountain community. Though they and their families resided in and interacted with Intermountain and Brigham City alike, a gap still remained between the two communities.