It's finally starting to feel a little like spring in Southern Idaho, so we did a bit of exploring during a free weekend. We had friends from Boise come over and visit us and we all went to see Shoshone Falls. It's not at its peak flow yet, but it is still impressive at 212 feet tall. It's called the "Niagara of the West".
Our friends headed back to Boise, and we decided to take a drive to give the kids a chance to sleep in the car. I decided we should go try and find a place known as Caldron Linn.
In 1811, the race was on for a man named John Jacob Astor to try and beat the British to the Pacific Northwest and tap its vast fur resources. He had financed an expedition to establish what is today the town of Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. One group sailed around Cape Horn, and another group cut across the North American Continent. This Overland Party, as they became known as, took their sweet time getting across the Great Plains. Their original plan was to follow the footsteps of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, but as fall progressed they decided to try their luck on a different path. They heard stories from Indians about a "Mad River" (Today known as the Snake River). When they arrived near the headwaters the expedition chose to try and travel the Snake via canoes. They had mild success for a while, although it was rough going. The Snake certainly lived up to its name of "Mad" as they had numerous close calls.
When they arrived at this particular location, the rough water conditions caused a canoe to be wrecked, supplies lost, and one man drowned. From this point on they abandoned their canoes and hiked across Southern Idaho on foot. The water swirls around and during periods of higher water it creates a "vortex". Linn is a Scottish word for vortex (Some of the expedition members were Scottish) and thus the name Caldron Linn stuck.
(Looking down stream from Caldron Linn) (Series of waterfalls named Caldron Linn)
Today this is one of the few areas of the Snake River that still appears intact as it hasn't been affected by dam construction. You can access this area via a rough and steep dirt road that drops into the Snake River Canyon. After parking your car and hiking over rocky terrain one finally finds themselves peering over the edge of this smaller gorge and into the Caldron below.
It's pretty fascinating to know that this event, that was part of the expedition to found Astoria, is directly responsible for the settlement of the Pacific Northwest and gave us the life we know today. There are multiple great books to read detailing the events. However, this decision to not follow in Lewis & Clark's footsteps, and then later on the return of some expedition members across Southern Wyoming was essentially the American's discovery of the route that would become the Oregon Trail & South Pass.
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