In late 1860, the new colony's first school operated in the home of teacher Hannah Comish, the first white school taught in the State of Idaho. Her home stood on the east side of the fort, where she taught about 20 pupils during a three-month term in the first year. Later that fall, logs were cut and hauled from Deep Creek Canyon for a schoolhouse completed in late spring 1861. The building was a single large room with a dirt floor, a large fireplace of soft white sandstone at the east end, and a sod roof over the log structure. It faced west, with a door on the end, one window on each side, and a small window near the door; the split-log door and 8 by 10 inch glass panes had materials brought from Salt Lake City. Benches were made of pine slabs with maple or birch legs. The schoolhouse also served as a meeting house and amusement hall, and each Saturday straw was removed from the floor and replaced with fresh straw for Sunday. During rainstorms, children were excused because the roof was not waterproof. When the school opened in the fall of 1861, G. Alvin Davy taught about 70 students. Some slates and pencils came from slate rock found in the mountains east of Franklin. The school had only one reader for each class and one speller for the entire school, so students took turns. Tuition was paid in produce, cloth, molasses, or meat. In 1863-64, William Woodward taught there for $40.00 a month, collecting about .40 cents from each pupil.