The autumn of 1896-William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley were firing the opening guns of their presidential campaign--when formal education made its debut in the little town of Jocko--later destined to be known as Dixon, the garden of Eden, just twenty-seven miles from Paradise. The first school house was a small one-room shack made of vertical planks. It was located on railroad property, just north of the tracks--in fact the building had previously been used as a storehouse by the Northern Pacific Railroad.

The name of the first teacher has been lost in antiquity, but she apparently was a resourceful soul, at least according to one legend. Lacking a school bell with which to call her pupils to their classes, she obtained a long, heavy miner’s drill, which she suspended from one corner of the school house. Then came the problem of finding a suitable bar with which to beat upon the improvised bell. Some several hours later, when a freight train made ready to pull out, the engineer was considerably surprised to see his train break in two when he started. Twenty minutes were lost while the crew secured a new coupling pin.

About all that there was in Jocko those days was railroad installations—the pumping station, coal docks, round house, the dormitory, and section houses. So it is probably safe to assume that most of the early pupils were children of railroad employees. No written record of any sort can be found concerning this first school. The old timers of the community seem to be pretty well agreed that there was a considerable period of time after the turn of the century when no school existed in Jocko. Apparently the first little school was closed, and no record or information can be found on any school until about 1909. In that year school was held in a little building near the site of the present school plant. The founders of that little school were original, and the "little red school house" was painted bright blue. There were twenty-three pupils, representing all eight grades, taught by a Miss Cox.

In 1910, the year the reservation was opened, the school was taught by Miss Tillie Sullivan. Miss Sullivan later became Mrs. Hurtt, and is at present serving as postmistress at Trout Creek.

By 1911, Dixon had grown to such proportions that a new school was necessary. Although there were many cries of "waste" and "graft", the new building was built to accommodate just twice as many as the previous one, and this one had two rooms. Perhaps the land boom had sky-rocketed the price of land, or perhaps it was the influence of the sky-scraper era creeping in from some other metropolis--in any event the new two room school also had two stories. It had one room downstairs, one room upstairs, and was as square and severe as a cracker box.

When school opened in the fall of 1911, Miss Lois LeFaye and Miss May Crosby shared honors as teachers. Miss LeFaye stayed a second year, having Miss Florence White for her co-worker. Copies of the teachers contracts during these years are still on file, and show that the salary paid at that time was sixty dollars per month. Apparently this magnificent remuneration was not sufficient, for Miss LeFaye doubled in the dairy business, milking her own cows each night and morning. Her class was rather frequently suspended while the boys ran down two obstreperous calves and returned them to their pen. Vile rumors were circulated to the effect that the school boys may have known something about that mysterious gate catch which came unfastened so frequently. Time has surely disproven that rumor, for in that same class of 1911 were the names of such solid citizens as Art and Ed Cantrell, Nat McTucker, Palmer Howes, Joe Evans, Sonny Landergreen, Fred and Carl Bernatz and Floyd and Dick Sullivan. Some of the girls in the same group were Edith Daniels, Louise Landergreen (now Hebnes) and Violet and Vera Bernatz.

In 1913 Miss White and Miss Clara Kramer were the teachers. With the opening of the 1914 term, pupils from the north side of the river were brought to the Dixon school. (A school house about 8 ˝ miles north of Dixon, on the Godfrey Mattey homestead had been used until this time.) Pupils were transported as far as the river by a horse drawn bus, which was canvas covered much like a sheepherder’s chuck wagon, complete even to the little sheet iron stove. Pupils on the far end of the route left home at 7:00 A.M. in order to reach school on time. They crossed the river by ferry, row boat, or by jumping from one floating ice floe to another.

By 1915 enrollment had increased so much that further expansion was necessary, so the little blue building was called back into service and combined with the somewhat remodeled cracker box. This year was also eventful in that high school classes were offered for the first time. A Mr. Horney taught these higher classes.

Nineteen sixteen saw further consolidation in the Dixon school. Pupils who had been attending the Revais Creek school, (four miles west of Dixon on the place now owned by Mr. Nickols) were now transported to Dixon. This move must have required careful planning, for the old school files show innumerable bills from the local livery stable for "Transporting schoolboard to Revais, $4.50." Hunting in the Revais district was reported to be excellent in those days.

By 1917 the school was again overflowing, and the 7th and 8th grades were moved into the nearby church. This same year, the first high school class was graduated. This class consisted of three graduates, Rebecca Walker, Wm. O’Neal, and Nettie Peterson.

By 1918, under Principal Charles W. Disbrow, considerable agitation for a new building was in progress. A twenty thousand dollar bond issue was voted, and construction of a modern brick building was started. The new building opened wide its doors in October of 1919. There was no furnace—the building was heated by stoves—and when, on December 17th, the mercury dropped to 42 degrees below zero, it became somewhat hard to conduct penmanship classes, since the inkwells were frozen solid, and were not thawed out for several weeks. Mr. Ernest Thelin was first principal in the new building.

The "crackerbox" was moved to another part of town, where it burned in 1922. But the little blue building still stands, although minus its blue paint. It was moved to church property, several rooms were added, and used as a parsonage for many years.

In 1920 the high school received a fully accredited rating by the State department. This meant that graduates were admitted to universities and colleges without entrance examinations.

The building which was completed in 1919, although considered the last word in modern schools at the time, contained a gymnasium about half the standard size. In 1938, partially by bond issue and partly by government grant under the W.P.A., $28,000 was raised to build a gymnasium. This building also houses a fine wood shop, and domestic science department, and is equipped with a stage.

Two small rural schools are still maintained, one at Valley Creek, and one at Big Bend.

During the war years the enrollment dropped considerably, but it is again on the increase. Today there are about 125 pupils enrolled, requiring 10 teachers. The district has been generous in providing equipment for their children. The Dixon schools today may boast of being as well equipped as any similar sized school plant in the state. The present corps of teachers may not keep cows as a side line, and the building is equipped with a "store-bought" bell, but at times a glimpse of pioneer spirit or rugged individualism may be found in them, as in their worthy predecessors.

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