The Oregon Trail Journal

June 23 – We boarded the bus and traveled to Soda Springs. I took photographs and coordinates of the first grave (Waymark Code: WM1TR3) in a cemetery. The cemetery was built around the grave.

We watched a geyser erupt which it does regularly for about five minutes every hour on the hour. The extreme pressure caused by carbon dioxide gas mixing with water in a subterranean chamber is now capped and controlled by a timer.

I picked a newspaper called “The Bear Laker” Supplement to “The News-Examiner” June 13, 2007 off a stack of free newspapers lying on the floor of the nearby museum. On page 14 was an article “Geocaching can be an exciting adventure – Let’s Go Geocaching” by Sherrel Burgoyne--alias “the Burgeys.”

We traveled to Pocatello, Idaho. We stopped near Golf Course and Hudspeth Cutoff where there were Oregon Trail ruts and an OCTA (Oregon Trail) sign, flowers called Cowboy Delights and large white pelicans. I took photographs and coordinates. We had group photos taken.

We arrived at Fort Hall Replica, a registered historical landmark. It was established in 1834 as a fur trading post and later became an important resting stop for the emigrants. The Fort Hall Replica was dedicated July 24, 1963. We watched a film on Fort Hall’s history and toured the fort looking at the various exhibits and replicas. I took photographs and got coordinates. We had a picnic lunch under shaded trees.

We stopped at Register Rock State Park, National Register of Historic Places. The land around Register Rock was a major emigrant campground. A shelter and a high fence guard a large basalt boulder on which emigrants signed their names as early as 1849. Many of the signatures are still legible. The emigrants also carved their names and dates on other rocks in the area. Someone in the group pointed out a benchmark so I took photographs and coordinates for RM 52 1934 (Benchmark: NU0885). It was on top of a 12x19 ft. boulder projecting three feet above the surface of the ground.

We traveled to Milner Oregon Trail Ruts. Along the broad, placid waters of the Snake River the emigrants camped in this mild but welcome stop, with its flat land and readily available water. The wagon ruts near there were carved by thousands of their wagon wheels. I took photographs and coordinates. From there we traveled to Twin Falls and the Comfort Inn. We ate dinner at Idaho Joes. There were fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in the lobby.