It is worthy of note that a majority of the pioneers of Idaho Falls were young, or comparatively young, men. They did not come to mold a new community in accordance with antiquated precedents which had been worn out elsewhere. They came open-eyed, susceptible to conviction, ready to take conditions as they existed and shape them according to the logic of the time and the place. How they succeeded, every one knows who knows anything of the history of the town. One of the most far-sighted of these pioneers was the man whose name appears above; and it is the purpose of the writer to give a brief account of his antecedents, his life and his successes to the present time.
Carlyle L. Pelot descended from French ancestry. His grandparents in the paternal line came to America at an early day and located at Savannah, Georgia. There Frank L. Pelot, father of Carlyle, our subject, was born. He married Miss Bettie Carlyle, a native of Kentucky. In 1856 they removed to Missouri and settled near Blackburn, in Salem County, where Mr. Pelot became a successful farmer. He is yet living, aged seventy. His wife died in her sixtieth year.
Their son, Carlyle L., was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, May 18, 1854. He was two years old when his parents located in Missouri, and there he was educated in the public schools and brought up to the life of a farmer and stockbreeder, and also was taught all the arts of horse-taming, etc. Twenty years ago a change of climate was prescribed for him, and he sought a broader field of enterprise than the one in which he had been working. He got together a good “bunch” of horses and drove them to Omaha and shipped them to Laramie, Wyoming, and from there drove them to Idaho Falls, where he arrived July 3, 1879. There were fifteen men in his party, and a large portion of them became permanent citizens of Idaho. Mr. Pelot engaged in the livery business, opening the first livery stable in the town. In three years he sold it to Mr. Taylor, and during the succeeding three years followed farming on Mr. Taylor’s ranch. Returning to Idaho Falls, he resumed the management of the livery business, under an arrangement with Mr. Taylor, which was in force four years, when he bought the business which, in the spring of 1899, he sold to S. F. Taylor. He is now dealing in coal, and in his new venture is meeting with success.
Mr. Pelot’s experience in the Snake River valley has been a comprehensive one. When he arrived, there were only seven ranches in the valley. Gradually he has seen it dotted with bustling towns and villages and everywhere with homes and ranches; he has seen a band of brave and industrious pioneers, of whom he was one make a wilderness literally bloom like a rose; he has seen the old order of things pass away, and witnessed the dawn and advancement of civilization in a land, strange, rich and beautiful.
In 1884 Mr. Pelot married Miss Alice Buck, a native of Maine, and they have five children, two sons and three daughters, all born in Idaho Falls: Bettie C, Carlyle L., Jr., Helen H. Ellis S. and Alice J.
Mr. Pelot is a member of the woodmen of the World, and is identified with other secret and social organizations. The upbuilding of the interests of Idaho Falls has always had his helpful support, for he is as public-spirited as he is enterprising and progressive. Politically he is a Democrat, and, while he is not an active politician as the term is usually applied, he exerts a recognized influence upon the affairs of his party.