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The small western town of Soda Springs, Idaho sits right in the middle of the old Oregon Trail. In the 1800's settlers, miners, immigrants, gamblers & thrill seekers traveled west to seek their fortune & the chance to own land. The trip took months & when arriving in Soda Springs, called the Oasis of the West because of the many cool, clear springs in the area, they would stay for several days, resting stock, repairing wagons, buying much needed supplies & sampling the whiskey in the local soloons.
Soda Springs was a wild, dangerous town with robbery & killings taking place almost every night. There were several houses of ill repute scattered throughout the town & the many soiled doves never had to get out of bed to go to work.
After a few years many of the town folk had grown tired of the daily shootings & the government sent the army to Soda Springs to build a fort, they also had to deal with many attacks from the indians. This photo is just west of town by the old site where the fort was built.


This is one of the last remaining structures located just outside fort Connor, it was an old livery stable.


On the side of the livery stable was a corral & in the shadows was an old wooden floor with feed boxes mounted on the side of the stable.


This is a sign about 5 miles from town along the Oregon Trail. A wagon load of settlers were camped here for the night & were attacked by a band of indians, several of the settlers were killed & are buried 1/4 mile south of this sign.


The mountain in the background is called Soda Point, it used to be called sheep point, the old trappers & buffalo hunters said there were hundreds of bighorn sheep along the rocky cliffs. They were killed out when domestic sheep were brought into the area from disease.
Some of these old settlers were real craftsmen, even after all these years you can see the fit of the hand fitted logs.


This is my Ruger 327 maggie with a set of my Amboyna Burl stocks.


Some old machinery behind one of the logs homes built along the Oregon Trail, many hopes & dreams were won & lost here, there are many unmarked graves in the area.


More to follow later.

Dick

Interesting post w/ great photos, Wonder why some early settler left such a great looking handgun on the cabin wall? Dr.C

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AT HOME ON THE RANGE-TEXAS PANHANDLE

Great Photos, Lets see more.

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" NO ONE PROVOKES ME WITH IMPUNITY"

MOTTO OF MY SCOTTISH ANCESTORS

These pics & the story are a great way to start my day! Thanks!

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Shoot straight and safe!

" A fine is a tax for doing wrong,
and a tax is a fine for doing
right! "
NRA Instructor
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Great information and pictures! Thanks, and I can't wait to read more.

Nice 327, too!

Rob

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NRA

Thanks for the history lesson, and the pictures. The testiment to the craftsmen and folks of the time, and the work they did is loved.

Thanks for the 'tour'. Enjoyed the local history with pics.

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Sheriff Russell Cottle (ret)
aka 'Crackshot' proud member of the Callshot Fan Club.

There is an awesome feeling, that I can't quite put into words, from standing on the ground where something those before us stood facing trials, hardships, even death. I've stood on Civil War battlefields, on the grounds of great events, and through my mind runs the words of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" concerning hallowed ground.

Thanks for the tour.

Bob Wright

They way they fitted those logs with those compound angles is really something. Especially since they had no chainsaws.

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Cary Chapman

This hole in the ground was an old "root" cellar where they kept fruit, vegtables, sometimes meat, looked like this one was added on later.


This might have been a grain shed, not sure, lots of old buildings were built this way with the "rib" on the outside.


These old combines were in use when I was a kid, the thrashing crews would come around every fall & help each other get their crops in. My mom would cook all day long.


You had to be living pretty fancy to have a "2 holer", we never had one when I grew up, it seemed like it was 100 yds to the outhouse when it was cold or dark, we did have a bed pan but I hated using it.


Fancy house at one time, this one had a front porch.


Some of these settlers starved out & just walked away, many times the whole family died from flu or Typhoid. It was many years before Dr. Kackley came to Soda Springs in the late 1800's & taught the immigrants not to throw their garbage & sewage into the same water they were drinking out of. There is a very good book written by Ellen Carney about, Dr. Kackley, Best Damn Doctor in The West.


More photo's to follow.

Dick

Very interesting pics and stories. I just love this" kinda stuff" !!!! Thanks for posting it. I've only been to Soda Springs once. My son and I have hunted just south of Lava Hot Springs a few times.

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don44
It shall be as it was in the past....Not with dreams, but with strength and with courage....Shall a nation be molded to last
NRA Life Member since 1976
U S Army Veteran

Hey Dick:

Every year when my grand kids were growing up we would travel through Eastern Oregon on the way to WA State and tour the part of the Oregon Trail north of Baker, they still talk about it. So now that I have two Great Grand Kids I guess it's time to continue the tradition and show them that beautiful part of the Country. In addition, one day Ruby and I want to see your part of the Ore. Trail. All of your pics just adds to the excitement of what could be a trip to see you and have some of that good Mexican food.

Arnold

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Arnold Stuart-Hawkeye

Some of the old machinery thats been sitting for years, some was horse drawn & when the early tractors came in like the 8N Fords, etc. if they could afford gasoline they used them.
When I was little we had no plumbing in the house & dad worked for the railroad & worked a small farm using a horse, sometimes he would let me & my brother sit on the work horse, holding onto the hames.
One day I was coming in with the milk cows & I stepped on something in the pasture, I looked around & it was a hen pheasant, I had actually stepped on her! Slowly I walked around behind & eased down & grabbed a handful of tail feathers, she came up flying but wasn't going anywhere, at least for a couple of seconds, then her feathers pulled loose & she flew off, there were 12 eggs in the nest.






This old grain bin was made totally out of 2X4's.


An old hand pump for drawing water, probably still works.





Dick

Awesome pics and stories - thanks!!! I love sharing these with my kids.

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Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
~Robert Brault

I worked in & around Soda Springs, Lava Hot Springs & other areas in Idaho some years ago. Gorgeous country...

And those photos are just stunning! I wish I had been able to spend more time up there exploring the area.

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Best regards, Pete

"When we, the people ordained and established the Constitution, we created the Federal Government. It is our creature. We are the creator. It is the creature. It is not our master." Publius-Huldah

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