REXBURG, Idaho — Half a century after the Teton Dam gave way and sent a wall of water crashing through the Upper Snake River Plain, a Rexburg native is working to ensure the stories of those who lived through the catastrophe are not forgotten.
Richard Robison was 13 years old on June 5, 1976, when the earthen dam on the Teton River failed, unleashing a torrent that flowed downstream at roughly one million cubic feet per second. The flood killed 11 people, wiped out the communities of Sugar City and Wilford entirely, and caused approximately $2 billion in damages — one of the costliest dam failures in American history.
Now, through a Substack publication he calls The Teton Letters, Robison is gathering firsthand accounts and family memories from survivors across the region, posting around a dozen stories so far with more in the pipeline.
A Childhood Memory Etched in Stone
For Robison, the disaster is not an abstract chapter in Idaho history. He was a teenager in Rexburg when word spread that the dam was giving way. “My dad got a phone call; he told us the Teton Dam was breaking,” Robison recalled. “We knew there was a wall of water coming, so me and some of the neighborhood kids climbed up on our roof.”
That image — a group of boys perched on a rooftop watching the horizon for floodwaters — captures the scale of fear that swept through the valley that morning. The collapse sent the equivalent of a small ocean surging through communities that had little time to evacuate. Sugar City and Wilford bore the worst of it, their streets, homes, and businesses scoured away by the deluge.
The disaster carried a particular personal weight for the Robison family. Richard’s uncle, Robert Robison, served as the project engineer for the Teton Dam and found himself at the center of a fierce public debate in the disaster’s immediate aftermath. He faced early blame for the failure, a burden that would have been devastating for any professional — let alone a family member of those who had lived through the flood themselves.
Subsequent investigation, however, cleared Robert Robison of responsibility. Investigators determined that the fault lay in the dam’s design phase, not in its construction. Specifically, the design failed to incorporate engineering concepts that were considered standard practice at the time. Robert Robison was ultimately exonerated, but the experience underscored how catastrophic failures rarely have simple explanations — and how quickly blame can fall on individuals before the full picture emerges.
For more historical context on the Teton Dam failure and other significant moments in East Idaho’s past, see our earlier feature: Crashed Trucks, Stolen Safes, and the Teton Dam Collapse: A Week in East Idaho History.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Circumstances
Among the stories Robison has shared on The Teton Letters is an account featuring Elaine Robinson, a Relief Society president who organized care for displaced residents from a Texaco gas station lot in the aftermath of the flooding. Her story reflects a broader pattern that emerges repeatedly in disaster accounts — communities pulling together, neighbors helping strangers, and local leaders stepping into roles no one anticipated.
Robison’s project arrives as East Idaho marks the 50th anniversary of the collapse, a milestone that has brought renewed attention to the 1976 disaster and its lasting imprint on communities throughout Bonneville, Madison, and Fremont counties. The flood reshaped the physical landscape and left a generational memory that residents say still surfaces in family conversations decades later.
The Teton Dam was a Bureau of Reclamation project intended to provide irrigation water and flood control for the Upper Snake River Plain. Its failure prompted national reviews of dam safety standards and influenced federal engineering policy for years afterward.
What Comes Next
Robison has indicated that additional stories are forthcoming on The Teton Letters, with the project continuing to grow as more survivors and their descendants share their recollections. As the 50th anniversary year continues, preservation efforts like his serve as a reminder that major infrastructure disasters leave human legacies long after the floodwaters recede and the rebuilding is complete. Residents and descendants with connections to the 1976 disaster are encouraged to seek out community preservation projects and local historical societies in Bonneville County and the broader East Idaho region to ensure those accounts endure for future generations.