Sunday, June 29th was a big day for me - we were heading to Idaho City where James Moriarty, our gold miner ancestor, lived in the late 1800s!
 |
| View of Idaho Falls from my room. |
I was up early - packed my things and took a walk across the street to see the Falls. This town is located in the Snake River Plain - as I mentioned before, there has been a drought in this plain for several years - rivers and creeks listed on our maps and the GPS have dried up. But the Falls seem to be alive and well!
The Snake River flows through Idaho City. The Greenbelt is miles of riverside walks and parks along the river. Early this Sunday morning there were plenty of people walking, jogging, having breakfast at picnic tables.
Dan also took some pictures along the river, and then we hit the road.
http://mrmurphysays.blogspot.com/2014_06_01_archive.html.
We took route 20 which is north of the Snake River, and headed toward Arco - we planned to drive to Craters of the Moon National Monument on our way to Idaho City. We would be driving along the northern branch of the Oregon Trail. This is the trail that pioneers blazed on the way to the gold mines in California. It is in the Snake River Plain.
The landscape is flat - arid in places - the drought doesn't help. That is Big Butte - formed from molten rock pushing up through lava. I think it was here that the wind was blowing dust around.
We passed through Arco which was a junction for two stage coach lines in the mid 1850s and later for a railroad line. It was the first city in the United States to be lit by nuclear power. One of my retired military members had told me that he was stationed in Idaho during WWII. He said that there had been plenty of nuclear explosions during that time, and there was buried radioactive material that the government was hiding. This brought out the nurse in me and made me wonder what the rate of cancer is!
We knew we were near Craters of the Moon when the earth turned black - the lava is supposed to be similar to the surface of the moon. I had read that the astronauts had trained here.
The volcanic lava fields in the Snake River Plain were formed
15, 000 years ago when lava pushed up through cracks or fissures in the earth's surface. The National Park Service says that the last eruption occurred only 2000 years ago. Scientists expect future eruptions. I hadn't realized there were so many volcanoes in the United States! Yellowstone National Park sits on a super volcano, and now here are more underground volcanoes.
It reminded me a little of The Burren in Ireland - wild flowers still grow.
Good picture of sagebrush which is everywhere!
We pulled into Craters of the Moon's visitor center. I heard the park ranger telling someone that if they were going into any of the caves they needed a permit. He asked if the person had been into any caves in the last 5 years. They are trying to protect bats from white nose disease - but 5 years ago? Wow!
We decided to skip the 7 mile loop drive through the preserve and keep driving. As much as I wanted to do the loop, my priority was Idaho City.
So we continued on the northern loop of the Oregon Trail. We crossed the Salmon River and followed along route 20 to interstate route 84.
More black cows!
We took the turn off for Idaho City. My heart was thumping. Dan asked if I was getting excited. I was surprised he couldn't hear my heart!!
I think this was near Arrowrock Dam.
As we drove toward Idaho City through mountains, I wonder how the pioneers/miners ever made their way. They followed rough trails made by Native Americans and traders. Did they walk or go on horseback taking supplies on a pack horse or donkey? How long would it take them? James Moriarty was in this Boise Basin by 1864 - remember The History of Idaho, published in 1884, called him a real pioneer of Idaho. How did a person from Cahirdaniel, Co. Kerry ever find his way from Ireland to Australia to British Columbia to this Boise Basin in the 1860s?
There is a nice road here now!
As we drove toward Idaho City, there was a lot of traffic coming at us. I remembered that this was Pioneer Weekend with a rodeo in Idaho city.
I had read that Idaho City was a ghost town. I learned from my family history research that Idaho City was founded about 1862 when gold was found in Boise Basin. It became the largest and most important city in this area and in the Northwest. At one point, there were three dozen saloons and two dozen law offices. When James Moriarty arrived in the area about 1864, the population was 7000.
According to its website, "Almost overnight Idaho City became the largest town in the territory. It was a beehive of commercial activity. In its heyday the city boasted more than 250 businesses, including such amenities as opera and theater houses, music stores, tailors, breweries, bowling alleys, barber shops and bakeries, pool halls and drug stores. And, of course, numerous saloons.
It was a bawdy, lusty town where whiskey was cheaper than water. Life was cheap, too. Men went armed at all times and were quick to defend themselves. Winners in disputes often spent time in the stout log jail. Losers were carted off to Pioneer Cemetery."
As we drove into the city, there were homes and businesses, but these were very spread out. We arrived in the city center - I still don't know how I felt when I saw it - surprised, disappointed, shocked, awed?!?! No, certainly not awed. Where were the rest of the remains of this "bawdy lusty town?"
We drove up Main Street which had a block of stores along a boardwalk including an ice cream parlor and gift shops. Was it Disney-like? Hampton Beachish? Hillbillyish? Honky Tonkish? I had a jumble of feelings - where had all the businesses been located? What were we missing? Where were the remains of gun-slinging cowboys and miners? This was it?
Normally, when I visit an area where a relative lived, I feel some connection to the place or house. But not here. And I was trying hard to feel that connection.
I finally figured out today that I had immersed myself so much into James Moriarty's history and read so much about the gold rush and the place itself, that I expected Idaho City to be some semblance of its former self. Not so much a living town but at least the remains of the many buildings - like I used to see on the westerns on TV when they showed deserted towns. I had read that it was a ghost town - and that is what I had expected - the ruins of the old town! Not an ice cream parlor and a souvenir shop on the boardwalk where James Moriarty used to walk! This is what genealogy can do to you!!! Transport you into another place and time!
Montgomery Street runs parallel to Main Street - the 1880 U.S. Census listed James Moriarty living on Montgomery Street - so Dan took a left off Main Street, and we came to a stop opposite the Museum which is on Montgomery Street. It was about 6 PM. I jumped out and ran into the Museum. A docent, dressed in periodic costume, showed me a postcard of the Wells Fargo building which had been located on Main Street opposite the Court House that we had just passed. The building was torn down about 1972 I think she said. Do you remember that James Moriarty was the Wells Fargo agent? The Museum had many artifacts of the gold mining era - I could have spent a couple of hours poking around in there, but it was closing. Maybe if I had explored the Museum, I would have felt a deeper connection.
Dan was starved so we turned left down Montgomery Street and headed back to the center of town. We passed a couple of single family homes. We decided to eat at the Gold Mine - it seemed appropriate for our visit to the family prospector.
I finally had my Idaho mashed potatoes here. The potatoes arrived with beef gravy. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am not a big beef eater. And, baked, boiled, or mashed, I eat my potatoes plain - no salt, no pepper, no butter, no gravy - except homemade turkey gravy! So I pushed the gravy aside - the potatoes were quite delicious. I was wishing I had ordered two sides of potatoes with no gravy! Dan enjoyed the rest of the potatoes that had the gravy on them.
Dan having huckleberry ice cream on the boardwalk where prospectors, law men, lawyers, gamblers - and James Moriarty - used to walk.
A Sarsaparilla Ice Cream Parlor is not what I had expected on the boardwalk! I guess I was expecting to see a saloon or a gunslinger!
We still had to drive to Boise, and it was after 7 pm. So, quite unsettled, I said goodbye to James Moriarty. We headed back to the highway the way we came - we were staying at a Choice Hotel - the Rodeway. Our rooms were on the 2nd floor right near the side entrance. Like many of these hotels, there was no elevator. We dragged all our bags in to pack for the airport tomorrow.
But I couldn't stop thinking about James Moriarty and Idaho City all night.
And I'm still thinking of him.
No comments:
Post a Comment