Hugh Barker was the son of Evangeline Hatfield and Ira Clinton Barker. Born 19 April 1897, he was the first grandchild of Henry Hatfield and Mary Rittenhouse.
From “The History of Gooding”:
The first airplane to land in Gooding was piloted by Hugh Barker, a Gooding man, who served in the Air Force in World War I. The plane belonged to Barker and the Gooding county fairgrounds were used for the landing strip in 1920 when Goodingites got their first view of an airplane. Practically everyone in the Gooding area was on hand and many of them took rides including Mrs. Julia Levy, Frank Gooding, John Gooding, Fred Tyler and many others.
From Mackays Flying History:
Though this may have been the first aircraft seen by many in the valley, more would follow. Nearly every 4th of July celebration or fair program from then on included some sort of air show. According to the Mackay Miner, the Lost River Fair of 1920 featured a barnstorming stunt flyer, from Idaho, in a military plane from W.W.I. Hugh Barker thrilled the crowds of valley spectators, many of whom had never seen a plane, on the ground or in the air, and even gave rides to a lot of lucky fair goers.
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