Your kids may have heard about the Oregon Trail, but have you taken them to stand in those wagon wheel tracks in Wyoming (photo at right)?
So many wagons traversed West that the tracks are deep enough for an adult person to stand in. Even as an adult I was awe stuck by this fact; it was hard to conceive of the thousands of wagon trains it took to make tracks five feet deep.
Or, how about the Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Montana? From 1870 to 1920, the ranch had cattle grazing over 10 million acres in the Northern Rockies. Today it is a National Historic Site with several intact structures and park rangers to tell you the story.
Last time I was there the ranger had a pot of coffee brewing over an open fire by the chuckwagon. Seeing a ranch like this firsthand certainly beats anything you will see in a movie.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of a history trip is teaching our children to understand where we came from, the hardships our ancestors faced [Click to read more]
Francis Parkman, an upper class Bostonian, who is known for his classic book, The Oregon Trail, was born on September 16, 1823. Parkman attended Harvard, where he decided to dedicate himself to writing a history of the French, British and Indians in America. In all, he wrote eight volumes of this history.
In 1845, he traveled among the Pawnee and Sioux, and recorded his impressions, although it is widely felt that his snobbishness kept him from fully appreciating the culture he was studying. In The Conspiracy of Pontiac, he wrote: [Click to read more]
On August 19, 1852, Oregon Trail traveler Parthenia Blank wrote
“Today came to Fort Hall on Snake River and passed it at one in the afternoon. It is made of unburnt bricks and is little larger than a good sized barn. It is not now occupied by the soldiers, but is used for a trading station.
Some 50 or 100 wagons, marked “U.S.” in large letters stand there rotting. Encamped about 2 miles from the fort on Pannock Creek and had a very good feed. Made 14 miles.” (Photo credit: National Archives)
Hall was a 19th century outpost in the eastern Oregon Country, part of the present-day United States, and is located in Fort Hall, Idaho. It was considered the “most significant of all pioneer institutions in the West” by noted historian Merrill D. Beal. Fort Hall was constructed as a commercial venture, situated on the Snake River north of present-day Pocatello, Idaho. It became an important stop in the 1840s and 1850s for an estimated 270,000 emigrants along the Oregon Trail and California Trail, which diverged west of the fort. (Source: Wikipedia)
Visiting Fort Hall
Exit off I-15 north of Pocatello at Fort Hall, Idaho. Obtain detailed directions and permission at tribal offices.
