First settled by Mormon homesteaders in the 1880s, the town of Rexburg (pop. 17,257) still has a pronounced Mormon feel, but it is best known for the near-disaster of 1976, when the huge Teton Dam collapsed and unleashed eight billion gallons of floodwater onto the valley below. Fortunately, engineers noticed the warning signs and were able to evacuate the area beforehand; though damage was extensive, fatalities were few. Housed in the basement of the old Mormon tabernacle, the Teton Flood Museum (closed Sun.; $2; 208/359-3063), at 51 W. Center Street across from city hall, has the usual displays of quilts and cattle brands tracing the history of the region, plus a large section devoted to the great flood of 1976. A short film shows the actual collapse of the dam. There’s also an exhibit on the terrible forest fires that burned much of Yellowstone National Park in 1988.
From Rexburg, US-20 runs northeast through the Targhee National Forest, climbing from the Snake River plain along Henry’s Fork River—one of the country’s top fishing streams, loaded with cutthroat trout as big as 10 pounds—into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. On the Idaho–Montana border, 7,072-foot Targhee Pass marks the Continental Divide.
