Idan-ha Soda Water

	The picture to the left is of the early Soda Springs townsite. But, before the white men discovered this valley, these springs were on the great highway trail of the Indians and the buffalo as they migrated from East to West.
The Lewis and Clark expedition is said to have passed through this valley and discovered and named some of the numerous mineral springs.
	The Indians had long before discovered the wonderful medicinal properties of the springs and came here with their sick to worship the great spirit of the healing waters -- I-DAN-HA.
Described by poet Blanche Whitman, as 'Lakes of Sulfur', 'Caves, and Craters of Volcanoes', some were 'Springs as clear as dew from Heaven', and some were 'as black as night in Hades.' 'Some that whistle like a steamboat', 'Some that cure the rheumatism.'
	These early travelers found cones formed by mineral deposits in colors of white, grey, buff, chrome and red, described in diaries & journals as being from three to forty feet in height. The variety of springs was spectacular:
Hot, Warm and Cold; clear or colored by the minerals they contained; barely bubbling or spouting several feet into the air; fresh water, metallic tasting, possessing effervscent qualities which made the water taste like soda water and one group of springs the early trappers likened the taste of to beer.
	Steamboat Spring, now covered by the waters of Alexander Reservoir, regularly gave off the sound of a steamboat's engines as it gurgled and then exploded from its cone in a steaming geyser three feet high. Others, no longer in existence, spouted forth from the water of the Bear River.

History on Natural Mineral Water Company

The Ninety- Percent spring was said to be discovered in 1864 by a group of Morrisite youth. After the word about the quality of the spring, Ogden business man Fred J. Kiesel, a wholesale dealer in liquors, and operated a distillery in Ogden had a contract to freight government supplies from Utah to Fort Connor’s. Carbonated water, such as this and other springs found in the Soda Springs area was needed in his business. He was able to interest W.J. Clark, of Butte, Montana, in his scheme to commercialize the mineral water. The two men set up a bottling plant at the site of Ninety- Percent spring west of Soda Springs, in the Ninety- Percent area. It can still be seen at the end of Cedar View Road by the school bus turnaround.

A warehouse was built and machinery freighted in. But before any bottling could take place, a tremendous amount of work needed to be done. They had to build a pipeline from Mammoth springs and trap the carbon dioxide gas, then pipe it over the mountain to bottling plant. Here the bottles were filled with soda water from Ninety- Percent spring and the contents charged with gas from mammoth springs.

The Natural Mineral Water Company was incorporated on May 17, 1887. Labels on the bottles had in large colored letters the word, "Idan-Ha," trade name used by the company to identify its product. There is a legend that "I-Dan-Ha" was the Indian name given to the Spirit of the Healing Waters-the "Soda Springs" of "Tosoiba" country. But whatever the meaning the word "Idan-ha" is a name associated with Soda Springs to this day.

Bottles were shipped in carload lots to the home office in Salt Lake City, to eastern markets, and foreign countries. In 1904, announcement in Salt Lake news paper that "The natural Mineral Water Company made a shipment of Idan-ha water to Colon, Republic of Panama." Idan-ha water took first prize at the Chicago World’s fair in 1893 and again in 1905 at the Worlds fair in Paris France.

Fred J. Kiesel hired Joseph T. Torgesens of Ogden, Utah to come to Soda Springs and take charge of the clerical work and payrolls for the company. Theodore Enders was resident manager for many years. T.J. Hopkins hand tied the caps on the bottles for 17 years. Harry Horsley and William G. Skinner hauled the booted product from the warehouse to the railroad for shipment. The company also employed John Corrigan and Jim Chester for many years.

The Natural Mineral Water Company built a large resort hotel in 1887, on the southeast corner of what are now Hooper Avenue and Main Street. They called it the Idan-ha Hotel. It later burned to the ground on June 7, 1921.

With the ratification of the 18^th Amendment the bottling works began to decline and eventually was permanently abandoned. The warehouse was demolished in October of 1956 by the City of Soda Springs.

"Old George" Doull tried to revive the business by bottling the water and selling it, meeting each passenger train dressed in western attire. With the failure of the venture the commercializing of the waters of the "Soda Springs" became history.

Labels courtesy of

Bernice Leavitt and her boys MiShael S, Morgan D, and Renny J Leavitt.