Joseph C. Rich

Who was Joseph C. Rich?

Joseph Coulson Rich was a Mormon settler of Idaho Territory and an Idaho state politician and judge.

Rich was born in Nauvoo, Illinois as the oldest son of Latter Day Saint converts Charles C. Rich and Sarah DeArmon Pea. In 1847, Joseph Rich traveled with his parents and the Mormon pioneers from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. In 1849, Charles Rich became an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1860, Joseph Rich traveled to England and Wales, where he was a missionary for the LDS Church until 1863. During this time, Charles Rich was the president the LDS Church's European Mission, which was based in England. Upon returning to Salt Lake City, Charles and Joseph Rich were recruited by Brigham Young to participate in the settlement of the Bear River Valley in Idaho Territory. Under the leadership of Charles Rich, the settlers founded Paris, Idaho. On January 25, 1867, Joseph Rich became a member of the Council of Fifty.

In 1868, Rich wrote a famous article in the Deseret News in which he claimed that a group of settlers had seen "monsters" swimming in the waters of Bear Lake.