Friday October 4th. Oregon Trail. Leg Five

[ianfisher 101]

Our tour continues this week from the Western park of Idaho crossing into Oregon. The Snake River's depth and fast water meant that there were few places to safely cross. Two of these fords were near Fort Hall, where travellers on the Oregon Trail North Side Alternate (established about 1852) and Goodale's Cutoff (established 1862) crossed the Snake to travel on the north side. Nathaniel Wyeth wrote in his diary that his party found a ford across the Snake River 4 miles southwest of where he founded Fort Hall. Another possible crossing was a few miles upstream of Salmon Falls where some intrepid travellers floated their wagons and swam their stock across to join the north side trail. Some lost their wagons and teams over the falls. The trails on the north side joined the trail from Three Island Crossing about 17 miles west of Glenns Ferry on the north side of the Snake River.

Goodale's Cutoff, established in 1862 on the north side of the Snake River, formed a spur of the Oregon Trail. This cutoff had been used as a pack trail by Native Americans and fur traders, and emigrant wagons traversed parts of the eastern section as early as 1852. After crossing the Snake River the 230-mile cutoff headed north from Fort Hall toward Big Southern Butte following the Lost River part of the way. It passed near the present-day town of Arco, Idaho, and wound through the northern part of what is now Craters of the Moon National Monument. From there it went southwest to Camas Prairie and ended at Old Fort Boise on the Boise River. This journey typically took two to three weeks and was noted for its rough lava terrain and extremely dry climate, which tended to dry the ward on the wagons, causing the iron rims to fall off the wheels. The loss of wheels caused many wagons to be abandoned along the route. It re-joined the main trail east of Boise. Goodale's Cutoff is visible at many points along U.S. Routes 20, 26, and 93 between Craters of the Moon National Monument and Carey.

From the present site of Pocatello, the trail proceeded west on the south side of the Snake River for about 180 miles. This route passed Cauldron Linn rapids, Shoshone Falls, two falls near the present city of Twin Falls, and Upper Salmon Falls on the Snake River. At Salmon Falls there were often a hundred or more Native Americans fishing who would trade for their salmon. The trail continued west to Three Island Crossing (near present-day Glenns Ferry. Here most emigrants used the divisions of the river caused by three islands to cross the difficult and swift Snake River by ferry, or by driving or sometimes floating their wagons and swimming their teams across. Hidden holes in the river bottom could overturn the wagon or entangle the team, and several drownings occurred nearly every year before ferries were established.

The north side of the Snake had better water and grass than the south. The trail from Three Island Crossing to Old Fort Boise was about 130 miles long. The next and final crossing of the Snake River was near Old Fort Boise, and could be done on bullboats while swimming the stock across. Others would chain a large string of wagons and teams together, hoping that the front teams, usually oxen, would get out of the water first and with good footing help pull the whole string of wagons and teams across. Often, Native American boys who could swim were hired to drive and ride the stock across the river. In present-day Idaho, Interstate 84 roughly follows the Oregon Trail from the Idaho-Oregon State border at the Snake River. Approximately seven miles east of Declo in present-day rural Cassia County, Interstate 84 meets the western terminus of the western section of Interstate 86. Interstate 86 heads east, then northeast to American Falls and Pocatello following the Oregon Trail, while Interstate 84 heads southeast to the State border with Utah. U.S. Route 30 roughly follows the path of the Oregon Trail from Pocatello to Montpelier. In 1869, the Central Pacific established Kelton, Utah as a railhead and the terminus of the western mail was moved from Salt Lake City. The Kelton Road became important as a communication and transportation road to the Boise Basin. Boise has 21 monuments in the shape of obelisks along its portion of the Oregon Trail.

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Aircraft A2A C-182
Meet 1830z
Departure 1900z
Local time 0900
Local Date June 4th 2024
Weather Historical
Network Joinfs
Server Digital ThemePark
Comms A2A Discord