Iona is a city in Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Idaho Falls, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,803 at the 2010 census.Iona was homesteaded by Mormon pioneers in 1884. Sagebrush, as tall as a man sitting on a horse, covered the now famous potato fields. The short growing season made it difficult to grow crops and the early settlers were discouraged and many wanted to go back south to Utah. However, when Mormon apostle Wilford Woodruff spoke to a small congregation in the Iona area on June 17, 1884, he said:The settlers were persuaded to stay in the valley and one, Thomas E. Ricks, went on to found the city of Rexburg and Ricks College which later became Brigham Young University-Idaho.