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Peter E. Johnson, Idaho has been and remains a veritable mine of opportunity; but like the mine, her treasures are inaccessible save to those of stout heart and mind who are willing to labor energetically to wrest from her her store. Peter E. Johnson, a Westerner by birth and rearing, came to Idaho about 1900, a young man determined to succeed, and having the will he has found the way.
Born December 25, 1883, at Park City, Utah, he is the fourth of twelve children born to John O. Johnson and Margaret Edfors Johnson. Both parents were born in Sweden, the father in 1856, and they were married in Heber City in 1877. They were successively located at Heber City, Park City and Santaquin, Utah, and during this time the elder Mr. Johnson followed merchandising quite successfully. In 1900 he removed to Payette, Idaho, where for three years he operated a racket store; then he removed to Fruitland and was among the first to engage in the merchandise business there, establishing the business of which his son, our subject, is now the proprietor. He is now retired and continues to reside in Fruitland.
Peter E. Johnson was educated in the schools of Santaquin, Utah, to the age of sixteen, and after leaving school he followed mining and prospecting in Montana and Idaho for several years with fair success. In 1907 he became the owner and operator of a pool hall at Payette, Idaho, but in 1908 gave up this business to become associated with his father in the management of the latter's mercantile establishment at Fruitland. Peter E. had had several years of clerical experience previous to this and was therefore not unfamiliar with the principles of success in this line of endeavor. On April 23, 1911, the co-partnership was dissolved when Mr. Johnson purchased his father's entire interest in the concern and since then he has conducted the business alone. It is the largest retail store in Fruitland, with a complete stock in all its lines of general merchandise, and in 1911 its business amounted to approximately $50,000. Thus far the year of 1912 has shown an increase of business of at least twenty-five per cent over that of the previous year. Besides this business, Mr. Johnson owns mining interests in Idaho, a pleasant residence in Fruitland and has a number of other valuable realty holdings. Idaho provided him a splendid business opportunity and he has had the foresight, the acumen and business ability to seize it and improve it. He is a member of the Fruitland Commercial Club and one of its energetic workers in pushing the development and progress of this section. Fraternally he is a member of the Royal Highlanders at Payette, Idaho, and politically his tenets are those of the Republican party.
At Payette, Idaho, he was married on July 26, 1909, to Miss Edna Ayers, a native of Oregon and a daughter of W. A. Ayers. Mr. Ayers is one of the well known sheep raisers of Idaho and is one of Payette's wealthy and honored citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have one daughter, Mildred Irene, born November 8, 1910, at Payette, Idaho.