Church & schools

It is extremely hard to imagine Mesquite Flats in its early stages of settlement. The wagon trails into the valley were primitive and seldom traveled. The Virgin River, today nearly chocked with salt cedar brush, was bare of brush and trees. The river itself was dependent upon the rain eastward in the Utah mountains. Springs in the Virgin River Gorge and in the banks of the river at Littlefield, Arizona produced enough water to irrigate the crops throughout the year, however the water was rather salty, but drinkable. When the snow and rain produced floods down the river, the water was rolling brownish red mud. But, when left to settle out, the water tasted fresh, but with a slightly muddy tinge.

But this was what the settlers desired. A place to live and farm and be left alone. In order of importance to the settlers were, 1. Family. 2. Church. 3. Education for their children. The first two are available to everyone no matter where they live. The third, education, was a choice.

The state of Nevada and the Territory of Arizona provided no protections or financial helps for any of the three most important desires of the settlers. If they wanted a church meeting place it was up to them to provide it. If they wanted a school for their children, it was up to them to provide it. This was not unusual for the settlers. They had lived their lives under these conditions.

In all three settlements, the first church buildings were brush covered bowery’s. The same bowery served as the school meeting place. But all a bowery provided was shade. The wind and dust blew freely through the shade and school was difficult. So, the settlers constructed lumber rooms for the school and then the school was used as the church meeting hall on Sundays.

All the buildings and supplies and cost of teachers was provided by the settlers. They were too poor to provide much more than barely adequate. As time went by, the settlers constructed more permanent buildings for church use and separate and much better buildings for school. Mesquite had a lumber church house and a tent for school. Bunkerville had a church house made of native rock and a school made of lumber with cement plastered walls.

By 1915, a fire had destroyed the rock church in Bunkerville and the tent school in Mesquite was not acceptable. The people bonded themselves. Bunkerville constructed an official and licensed school building where students K – 12 grades were taught. They couldn’t afford a new church, so they used the school building for their church house until 1952.

In 1918, the people of Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley formed Nevada Educational District # 1. Now, being an official school district, they received some financial help from the State of Nevada. In Bunkerville, a second building was built which included classrooms, restrooms, a stage, and auditorium, which were then used as not only school use, but the Church rented it from the School District to be used as their church meeting house. In Mesquite, they constructed a new elementary school building, and it was used both for school and also church.

Littlefield, Az had constructed a one room rock/cement building for their school. However, their students for grades seven through twelve were sent to Bunkerville for high school.

All three valley communities began using the auditoriums and classrooms for their church services. This practice continued until the State of Nevada began using the auditoriums and classrooms for their church services. This practice continued until the State of Nevada began demanding a separation between church and school. So, between 1950 and 1954, the communities of Educational District #1 constructed chapels for their church services. Littlefield, Arizona continued to use their church and school together.