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Part 1
- 1811-1840: Early Explorers and Fur Traders
- The Shoshone Falls were first discovered by European explorers in the early 19th century.
- The first recorded visit to the falls was in 1811 by Wilson Price Hunt, who led an expedition for John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company.
- The falls were also visited by other fur traders such as Robert Stuart, who passed by the falls in 1812, and Jedediah Smith in 1826.
- These early explorers and fur traders did not leave detailed accounts of their visits to the falls, but they did provide the first recorded descriptions of the area.
Part 2
- 1841-1845: The Oregon Trail
- The Oregon Trail was a major migration route for settlers heading west in the mid-19th century.
- Many of these settlers passed by the Shoshone Falls on their journey, but most did not leave detailed accounts of their visits.
- Some settlers did leave descriptions of the falls in their journals, describing them as “beautiful” and “picturesque”.
Part 3
- 1846-1862: Emigrants on the Oregon Trail
- The number of immigrants on the Oregon Trail increased in the late 1840s, with thousands of people making their way across the continent in search of new lives and opportunities.
- These immigrants were faced with a shortage of water and forage for their livestock, and many commented on the heat, sagebrush, and scarcity of water along the Snake River.
- One traveler, Bishop A.M.A. Blanchet, made a short side trip from the trail to see the Shoshone Falls in 1846, and documented his visit in his diary.
Part 4
- 1863-1869: Surveyors, Artists and Sightseers
- The discovery of gold in the Boise Basin and the Owyhee Mountains brought change and settlement to the Snake River Country.
- Freighting became a major business for many of the emigrants who owned or could acquire the animals and wagons needed for the enterprise.
- In 1863, Idaho Territory was created from Washington Territory and the federal government solicited bids for a stagecoach service between the railroad in Utah and Walla Walla, Washington via Boise.
- Ben Holladay was the successful bidder and established stage stations, including one on Rock Creek, several miles south of Shoshone Falls.
- Surveyors, artists and sightseers began visiting the falls in the late 1860s, with some describing the falls as “strange and savage” and predicting they would become a famous tourist site.
