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Oregon Trail - Day 9 - Pocatello Idaho to Burley Idaho
Dateline - Burley, Idaho
Our first stop on day 9 was a site named Massacre Rocks. It was the place on the Oregon Trail where the Emigrants most feared attacks by Indians. At Massacre Rocks, the wagon trains were hemmed in a narrow passage that made them especially vulnerable to ambushes.
As I got out of the car to hike up a trail to an overlook that runs alongside the Snake River, my wife hollered "Watch out for snakes!" A couple from Europe was standing nearby when she hollered, and just as I was thinking that I hoped they didn't understand English and think I was scared of snakes, I saw a snake. I think it was a small rattlesnake whose momma had just told it "Watch out for humans!" Before I even had a chance to check for rattles, the snake hustled into the brush beside the trail and I moved on down the trail rather quickly myself.
Guess they don't call it the Snake River for nothing.
Our next stop was Register Rock where we met a couple from near North Platte, Nebraska. He was a cattle rancher and when I told him what a lousy steak we had gotten in Rawlins, Wyoming, he said to stop by Arnold, Nebraska on our way home and he would show us what a real steak tastes like.
In 1866, when he was 7 years old, J. J. Hansen passed by Register Rock with his family on their way to Oregon. J. J. drew a picture of an Indian Chief on a large rock and signed his name. Both the picture and J. J.'s name have endured all these years. J. J. survived the trip and grew up to be a Sculptor. In 1907, he came back to Register Rock to review his work. 142 years later, it still looks like the Indian Chief on the Big Chief writing tablets used by Baby Boomers everywhere.
Rolling into Burley, Idaho, we decided to find a place to stay early. We have learned that in both Wyoming and Idaho, there are 2 types of miles - Miles on the Interstate where when driving the 75 mph speed limit you cover 1 mile in 48 seconds and miles on dirt roads which our guidebook describe as "high adventure", like the stretch we were about to begin. Guidebook example: "This road covers an angry lava-walled box canyon. It is marked 'Dead End'. Take it anyway." It pays to allow plenty of time for those type of miles.
To end our Fourth of July, we got a great room at a Fairfield Inn in Burley. As it turned out, both the Rodeo and the Northwest Regional Snake River Open Bowling Tournament were in progress. Raelene, the extremely nice Front Desk person, checked one computer that said they were full and another that said they still had a room. After calling her manager for guidance, we found that there actually was a place for us at the Inn.
So it was that we had our best room of the trip for less than the cost of a below average room in Rawlins, Wyoming. We slept great and woke up ready for more miles down dead-end roads.
There was one little incident the next morning where I over-filled the waffle iron at the "do-it-yourself" breakfast when I failed to see the "fill-line" on the waffle batter cup. Noticing that I had created a type of "winged-waffle" as a result of the batter running down the sides of the waffle iron, the lady in charge of the breakfast area helped clean up the mess.
"That's OK" she said. "Guys like you are job security for me".
email: aboomer@embarqmail.com
-- A. Boomer (July 8, 2008)
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