What happened to El? Valley in the Clouds Sanitarium is a ‘place of joy,’ not sinister, says family
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ISLAND PARK — Family members are providing insight into their Island Park property, which was at the center of a mystery involving an enigmatic girl.
EastIdahoNews.com shared a story last week about a Fremont County Sheriff’s Office police log dated Aug. 6, 2019. A teenage girl wandered into the Island Park Scout Camp with cuts and bruises, and a woman who was a volunteer at the camp helped her get back to a place called the Valley in the Clouds Sanitarium.
Little was known about what this place was and what happened to the girl until Jessica Gagich reached out to EastIdahoNews.com after the article was published. Her mother is Susan Stimson Gagich (1946-1990). Terry Stimson, who is listed as the manager of the property, is Jessica’s first cousin.
What is the Valley in the Clouds Sanitarium?
In a written statement by Terry Stimson to EastIdahoNews.com — and we have reached out and confirmed the statement came from him — he said Valley in the Clouds Sanitarium is “just a sign at the gate to our family property in Island Park.” He said there is no actual sanitarium, hospital, facility or “psych ward in the woods.”
“The words on the sign are representative of how our family views the wonderful area of Island Park as a place that restores one’s body, mind and soul,” he said. “Sanitarium was just the word kind of indicating we are the patient and the ‘doctor’ is this beautiful area.”
Terry said the sign was the idea of his father, J.C. Stimson, “reflecting his love of our place and his sense of humor.” He mentioned it also served as a way to let family or friends coming to visit know they had found the right place.
“The sign was there years before the dirt roads in our area were named,” Terry said.
Jessica, whose 92-year-old uncle is J.C., said he was eventually told there needed to be street names and a number on the property so the post office could find them, even though for years they used the post office at Elk Creek for mail.
“Not liking that they had to put names on things … that was his tongue-in-cheek way of naming the place,” Jessica told EastIdahoNews.com. “The property and stuff up there — there’s nothing going on, so why should people be poking into his business?”
She added, “I guarantee you he never expected anybody to have that big of reaction (to the name).”
More details shared about the property
Terry said his family started buying land in Island Park back in the 1940s, and they acquired more in the decades since.
“We come here for the beauty of the forests, streams, wildlife and nature, going on five generations now,” he said. “Various family members have cabins here where we vacation, as a base for hiking, fishing, kayaking, wild strawberry and huckleberry picking and sharing this with family and friends, just like so many others who come to their favorite place on earth known as Island Park.”
Jessica said her grandfather John T. Stimson and his best friend bought the initial plot of property in the 1940s, and the first cabin was built in 1946. This cabin became Jessica’s mother’s after her grandpa Stimson stopped being able to make the 11-and-a-half-hour drive from Las Vegas.
“After mother passed, the cabin was a reminder of some of our happiest days, a memento of the woman who was such a large presence in so many lives,” Jessica said.
She shared that the buildings seen from the gate are a saw mill complex with a log saw, a planer and several storage buildings where lumber can dry and season before use.
“When I was younger, the lumber yard produced firewood and materials sold outside of the property,” she stated. “These days, most of the lumber is used for new projects on property.”
The buildings not seen from the gate are cabins used by the Stimson family, including her grandfather’s, her uncle’s, two cousins’ and a new one being built for more cousins.
“We’ve got a portion of what we call ‘the big flat’ (on the property), and we post cattle for grazing and stuff out there,” Jessica added.
If a person doesn’t turn right onto Big Sky Road to their property and keeps going straight, there is another gate, which Jessica said leads to the portion of the land that is used by the family who first bought the land with her grandpa.
What happened to El?
Terry recalls getting a phone call from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office asking about a girl found lost — referred to as “El” in the original East Idaho News article — at the Scout camp who was returned to the gate of their property. He said they were “inquiring as to her welfare.”
“I was eventually able to ascertain it was a girl with a group of friends visiting one of our relative’s cabins,” Terry said. “I gave the sheriff’s office contact information and was able to verify she got home safe.”
Terry said he found out there were “emotional health issues” involved but he knows she is doing better and “has people in her life who love and watch out for her.”
“I saw her up visiting again a couple years ago, and she seemed to be doing quite well,” he said. “So the counselor, Taylor B, referenced in the story, can hopefully put her mind at ease that she was helpful in getting her back to loved ones safely.”
Jessica said her brother’s daughter is El, making El her niece. Terry is not directly related to El, which is why in his statement he referred to El as “a girl with a group of friends visiting one of our relative’s cabins.”
While EastIdahoNews.com was unable to directly verify the identity of the girl, as the family wants to protect her privacy, Jessica said El suffers from “extreme anxiety, as well as depression, and is still being treated by therapists and psychiatrists.”
“When presented with a stressful situation, she tends to freeze (instead of fight or flight), and during those years was practicing self-harm,” Jessica explained. “But she is so loved and supported, and is coming into her own as a young adult these years later, better able to cope when stressed.”
On the day El wandered into the Scout camp, she was “having a rough time mentally” and “during her meltdown” ended up there.
“Yes, some of the cuts seen were self-inflicted, and because of her anxiety she froze when confronted by staff at the camp,” Jessica said. “Her comments about repercussions for her adventure were natural reactions to normal parental frustration and worry, not abuse. And while it can look like something sinister is happening in the woods, we honestly just don’t want to invite too many people into our little corner of refuge in the forest.”
Jessica wants to make it clear that El is doing well now.
“El is growing into a smart and capable young woman, exploring opportunities, having adventures, with a robust support system that starts with her loving parents,” Jessica said.
The property is a ‘place of joy’
Jessica has fond memories about her family’s property and the time she’s spent there. She recalls trying to sleep outside in the hammocks with her sister when they were kids and hearing something large move through the trees and into the creek, so they ran inside the cabin. Jessica said that’s “the most sinister thing that’s ever happened at the cabin” because they didn’t know if it was a moose or a bear.
She remembers playing laser tag there and the time her sister almost got hypothermia from swimming in the creek too long.
“Myself and my family certainly don’t want our name or beloved property to be associated with some kind of ‘horror story in the woods.’ It is just the opposite,” Terry stated. “We know our little corner of eastern Idaho here in Island Park is a place of joy, great memories and truly a soothing and healing place for our family now for 80-plus years.”
