Category: Gold Road History Tour
Gold Road History Tour
Travel the Idaho Gold Road Tour and learn about gold prospectors, the railroad, fur trappers and the Oregon Trail emigrants. The gold road through eastern Idaho was born during the Civil War years when John White and his party discovered gold on Grasshopper Creek in Montana in 1862. Soon a boom-town of 500 persons were running short of supplies. They sent Mr. Woodmanse on a difficult journey of 400 miles to Salt Lake City for winter supplies. Then in 1883 gold was discovered in Virginia City and thousand of persons came and the need for supplies exploded. The Gold Road from Montana to Utah through 200 miles of eastern Idaho became a lifeline for the mines-gold on one end and food and supplies on the other.
Use the map below to find all of the stops listed below it.
Fort Hall Replica and Commemorative Trading Post & Pocatello Junction, A Frontier Town Replica The Fort Hall Replica and Commemorative Trading Post is a replica of the historic facility that served pioneer travelers along the Oregon Trail. Enter the massive wooden gates and wander through the Company Hall, Frontier Room,…
View morePart of Massacre Rocks State Park, was an emigrant campground where travelers inscribed their names on basalt boulders. As travelers on the Oregon Trail paused at Register Rock, they succumbed to the all too human desire to leave word of their passage. They inscribed their names and often the date…
View moreA Shoshone Indian Chief who gained national notoriety during the struggle between white emigrants and Native Americans. When he died in 1884, he was buried in a deep spring in Idaho along with his clothing, guns, knives and hunting equipment. The city of Pocatello is named in his honor and erected his statue at the Pocatello Visitor's Center.
View moreOlive Osmond, born Olive May Davis, who died in 2004, was born in the cabin in 1925. Olive Osmond was the mother of Marie and Donny Osmond and the Osmond Brothers. The cabin was rebuilt Luke Waldron.
View moreOpen year round. Visitors will discover dinosaurs, ice-age mammals, how to live off the land, and more. They can also experience science hands-on in the Discovery Room! See fossils of animals that used to live right here in Idaho, including whorl tooth sharks and dinosaurs! Children will get excited about…
View moreThe first department store in Idaho, the Evans Co-op, which was part of the Mormon cooperative movement, ZCMI, of the 1860s, in which local production and purchasing was encouraged through cooperatives. The co-op is now a True Value Hardware Store, carrying house wares and appliances, sporting goods and hardware.
View moreThis Building was built in 1914 by R.B. Davis and used as a Drug Store for many years. Miles Slater was the pharmacist. The original pressed-tin ceiling and the original safe are still in good condition and are interesting features of the Oneida Pioneer Museum.
View moreOpen year round. Step into the past with a visit to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum. This museum is dedicated to those kind and generous people in our community who see a real need to tell our story from our point of view. With old photographs, displays and exhibits you will…
View moreIn 1878, Ben Waldron lost his leg in a threshing accident. The leg was buried on the east side of the cemetery and was given a headstone with a leg carved on it, along with the initials “B.W.” and the date. Ben himself did not die until 1914, and he was buried on the west side of the cemetery, far from his lost leg
View moreMassacre Rocks State Park is one of the Historical Areas operated by the State of Idaho to remind visitors of the march of history through the state. Ten miles west of American Falls on I-86, take exit 28 and follow the signs. The park has stories to tell which date…
View moreBuilt in 1892 by Isaac Evans, the Blue Goose was originally a furniture store and Post Office. Clarence Hughes runs this charming store, which was moved to the town park in Samaria to keep it from being torn down. He sells local crafts, cookbooks, candy and sodas, and has video rentals.
View moreCelebrate Welsh Culture and History in Samaria Idaho. Malad Valley Heritage Square is a wonderful collection of Pioneer era cabins, an old fashioned Ice Cream store, covered wagons and farm machinery. It includes the Osmond Family Homestead. Visit their Facebook page for news and events. View a poster of Malad Valley…
View moreThis district is architecturally and historically significant and is one of the regions most diverse and well-preserved urban street scapes. A variety of architectural styles are represented in the district, including Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, Sullivanesque and Art Deco, as well as many adaptations of early 20th-century commercial styles with…
View moreThis cabin, one of the first built on the Nine Mile Creek in Marsh Valley, was erected by William Jason and Cyrus Coffin before 1866. Later it was purchased by Abigail Coffin, who with her sons, Nathan, Cyrus, and William were among the first settlers. They used the cabin for the first school and store.
View moreOpen year round. The Bannock County Historical Museum houses exhibits, objects, and records relating to Bannock County and Pocatello's history. Exhibit themes include railroad history, early medical practices, general store, the military, Victorian era parlor and Shoshone-Bannock Indian artifacts. It sits adjacent to the Fort Hall Replica and the zoo in…
View moreStop in at this visitor center after entering Idaho from Utah to discover all there is to see and do in Idaho.
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