<< Feature Articles >> Museums and ancient sites to see in Idaho: Hells Canyon, Snake River, Sun Valley
Submitted by Andy B on Tuesday, 13 November 2018 Page Views: 8179
Pre-ColumbianCountry: United States State: IdahoInternal Links:
Much of the most interesting terrain follows the Snake River southwards, which also forms the boundary with Washington state to the west. The Snake River National Recreation Trail lies within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and along the Idaho side of the Snake River, from near Lamont Springs, downstream, to Pittsburg Landing. Access to the SRNRT can be gained via road to the trailhead at Pittsburg Landing on the north end of the trail, or, by boat access near Hells Canyon Dam to the south end.
Is it just me or does this petroglyph covered rock (left) resemble a giant head?
For a break from the wilds, nearby Sun Valley is best known as a luxurious ski resort, based around Bald Mountain and Dollar Mountain, but there are things to do all year round, including for a Christmas Holiday break. Sun Valley in Idaho has lodging in abundance, and makes a good base for exploration. While here, make sure you visit the Sun Valley Museum (below right) in the historic Forest Service Park in Ketchum. There has been a ski museum here for many years, and this new project has taken on their collection, with enthusiastic community support. The museum has exhibits from the first inhabitants of Sun Valley, to miners and ranchers, skiers, artists, athletes and writers, including Ernest Hemingway, who was based here for a couple of years in the 1930s. In those days he didn't have to worry to arrange an ESTA as you do these days.
Getting back to archaeology, other significant sites are Snake River Archaeological area over theto the west, located in Nez Perce County Idaho, and Asotin County, Washington. The area includes a number of sites inhabited by the Nez Perce people, who used it as a fishing ground and a winter campsite. Settlement in the area stretches from roughly 6000 B.C. to the 20th century. Several hundred pictographs are to be found, usually painted at village sites.
One of the most significant areas is the Hells Canyon Archeological District and National Recreation Area, along the seventy-one-mile segment of the Snake River between Hells Canyon Dam and the Oregon-Washington border. As the name suggests, the ‘must see’ here is Hells Canyon, the deepest canyon in North America at just under 8000 feet from the mountain peaks of the Seven Devils down to the Snake River, and 10 miles rim to rim. The Snake and Imnaha Rivers are popular for boating and rafting, which is one of the main ways to get around - they have limited road access miles of trails. Private plane users can fly into remote landing strips to access otherwise inaccessible areas.
The area’s magnificently rugged landscape is rich in native American and early settler sites, geology, native plants, and fish and wildlife species. Besides the impressive scenery, the area has opportunities for fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities. Be aware that most of the trails Hells Canyon are in rattlesnake and poison ivy country! Also water on the trails is scarce and unsafe to drink if not treated.
This is the place to come if you are up for some really wild trekking. The Snake River Trailhead is the main northern access point to the Hells Canyon Wilderness.
For caves which are safe to visit without specialist equipment, head just to the north of Shoshone for the remarkable, and chilly Ice Caves, which can be a great relief in the heat of the summer
Descending into the cave (picture below left) is a pretty amazing experience - the cave is a collapsed lava tube, with ancient animal bones and there’s an informative tour, and ice pretty much all year round. There’s also a little museum with Native American artifacts, minerals and gems. Nearby there’s also a Mammoth cave you can visit.
Check our page for some really effective effigies of prehistoric people who you go past on your way to the Ice Cave.You can read here about Buhl Woman, whose remains were found in a quarry in 1989, and dated to 10500 years old, Isotope analysis suggests she ate bison and elk (cooked first), with occasional salmon and other fish.
Moving south, approximately 34 miles (55 km) along the Snake River in Canyon, Ada, Owyhee, and Elmore counties in south-west Idaho, the Guffey Butte–Black Butte Archeological District was densely populated in prehistoric times and also offers many petroglyph sites to explore. If you’re not so much into an adventure into the wilderness then visit the 722 acre Celebration Park , which has easier access to Native American rock art dating from anything up to 12,000 years ago right up to historical times.
Pictured Right: a special rock of the Native Americans, carved with petroglyphs.A freshwater spring in the park area made it an ideal camping spot for many generations. Now the park, which recently celebrated 25 years has amenities, self-guided tours and interpretive programs as well as fishing and access to hiking trails and the Snake River with a small daily use fee. There’s also an atlatl (spear throwing) range, popular for local school visits, so you may not get a go, but they do hold an Open state atlatl competition each May!
Sticking by the Snake River, up in Jerome County, is Wilson Butte Cave, which protrudes like a rocky bubble on a vast, level sea of ancient lava. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and excavation has shown that native people lived in and around the cave at least 10,000 years ago, possibly as long ago as 15,000 years. Artifacts found here are among the oldest evidence of human habitation in all of North America. Archeologists are fairly certain that the reason the cave was settled so early is that it was used as a base from which to hunt bison.
Strong connections have been found to the Fremont culture and the Shoshone people, who lived there after the Fremont peoples. Vegetation in the region was very similar to modern times, as well as wolves and bison, giant ground sloth and apparently even camel once roamed the area!
The newly renovated Idaho State Museum in Boise is not to be missed, highlighting the profound relationship between Idaho’s people and its land, with galleries devoted to the geology, landscapes and stories from across the state.
One of the other highlights of prehistoric archaeology in Idaho is known as the Wasden site - it’s out in the desert, west of Idaho Falls, where there are three collapsed lava tubes, known as Dry Cat Cave, Coyote Cave, and Owl Cave. The first two have yet to be significantly investigated, but Owl Cave has been a revelation to archaeologists, first excavating in the late 1960s,they found animal bones dating back 14,000 years, including mammoth. They also found human objects from the same period, apparently including a doll’s head and Folsom points - sharp arrowheads for throwing or attaching to a spear.
What’s most intriguing is that the Folsom points found in the cave contained protein traces from mammoth (or elephant) blood. But according to accepted dates, mammoths went extinct before Folsom points showed up. So possibly the Folsom-era people used ancient mammoth bones to help fashion their arrowheads. It’s a bit of a mystery.
The owners of the land kindly donated their entire collection of 80,000 artifacts to the Museum of Idaho, so research is ongoing, and highlights of the collection will be on public display as part of a new exhibit in 2020.
With many thanks to Bat400, Sun Valley Community Library, Idaho State University, and the Archaeological Society of Idaho for their assistance with this article.
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