Happy New Year....
Thanks goes out to 4bows for hosting MV Holiday Get Together II. Since I was the lucky one to win the community cache I was able to place this cache on new years day while doing some winter camping at Three Island State Park.
The park is located just off Interstate 84 at the Glenn’s Ferry exit.
There is a vehicle fee of $4.00 to enter this state park year round. The visitor center and admission-free interpretive center is open from May to October so please take time to enjoy this area. You can take the self-guided tour, see the replica wagons and dangle your feet in the Snake River where emigrants made their historic crossings.
History:
Native Americans used the site as a place to fish for salmon and as safe passage to the other side of the river. They knew the river well and used this knowledge to help emigrants cross the Snake. They also took advantage of their fishing abilities and bartered fresh salmon for items brought West by pioneers tired of bacon, beans and hard bread.
After some 1400 miles of walking and wagon wheels grinding the trail westward, more than 200,000 settlers that passed through southern Idaho became apprehensive as they approached the Snake River and it’s three island crossing. Emigrants had two options: cross the river for an easier, shorter route with water and food for their stock or stay on the south side of the river and continue along an extended drier and dustier course.
For some the Snake River was an awesome and fearful barrier. Swift dangerous currents and hidden made the crossing treacherous. Sandbars beneath the swirling waters of the fast moving river served as bridges between the islands. A successful crossing meant reward. A failed attempt meant losing everything – sometimes the lives of their stock and loved ones. Most emigrants could not swim. But the majority of pioneers, many times with the help of the Native American guides, did make it across successfully and continued on to Fort Boise and eventually to Oregon City.