Southwestern Idaho

The Rock Creek Station was started in 1864 at the junction of the Oregon Trail and the Kelton Freight Road. The stagecoach station is no more, but the store, seen in the background, is still standing.







The Rock Creek Store was built in 1865. The original sod roof was replaced with shingles in 1880. Local residents bought supplies here, picked up their mail, and voted here until it was closed in 1897. Behind the store are two cellars for storing food.









Shoshone Falls on the Snake River. The falls are said to be higher than Niagara Falls. The attendant who collected our entrance fee said the water flow is low because (1) river flow is being reduced to fill an upstream reservoir and (2) the winter snow melt has not yet started.








The bridge over the Snake River at the city of Shoshone appeared to be a popular place for paragliding. This person has just jumped and his parachute has not yet opened.









The parachute is now almost fully opened. It was ride of only a minute or two to the bottom and then a long, and very steep, walk back up.







Three Island Crossing was a place on the Snake River where emigrants could get down to the river and use three islands as stepping stones to cross over to the north side. The reason for doing so was to get access to better grass for their livestock and wood for cooking. The crossing was still dangerous, especially if the river was high, many wagons were lost here, and some people drowned. Each year in August, the local people do a re-enactment of the crossing and they still lose wagons. Those emigrants who didn't want to chance the river crossing had the option to stay on the south side and follow an altermate route to Oregon.








The state park here as an excellent history and education center focusing on the Oregon Trail. This is one of their prairie schooners, with our more modern "prairie schooner" in the background.







One listing of the supplies the emigrants needed for the journey. In addition to the cost of the supplies, they had to forego any income during their trip, and probably for another year in Oregon until the next year's crops could be harvested. It was not something that you undertook lightly.








The site of the Ward Massacre near Caldwell, ID. It was here in August 1854 that Indians attacked the 20 member Ward Party, which was headed for Oregon. Only two boys survived the attack.







The plaque on the monument listing those who died here. Despite all the publicity given to problems with Indians at that time, and in 20th century movies, relatively few people died from Indian attacks. About 10 percent (about 30,000 people) of those making the journey, died enroute. The most common cause of death was disease, primarily cholera, followed by accidents (drownings, accidental gunshot wounds, crushed under wagon wheels, etc.). Relations with the native Americans were for the most part beneficial; they traded with Indians for fresh vegetables and fish, and often hired them to help with river crossings. Tension between native Americans and Euro-Americans did increase in the 1850s as the number of emigrants increased because of the Californian gold rush and the wild game that Indians depended on for food were either shot or scared away by emigrants. Cultural misunderstandings on both sides were often to blame for the hostilities. I read somewhere that there were only about 360 documented cases of people being killed by Indians.