Aug 4th - Massacre Rocks, ID, to Boise

​On the way out of the campground we stopped at the Visitor Center, which was a remarkably rich experience. First, the ranger explained the "massacre", which was really a running two-day battle, in which 10 settlers were killed. There is reason to believe the attack was planned by a couple of white men, who enlisted some rogue Shoshone warriors to help him rob a weathly man who, during a poker game at Fort Hall, had been bragging about the wad of cash he was carrying in his wagon.

The visitor center had a replica of a covered wagon stocked with sacks of flour, sugar and coffee. Displays included copies of emmigrants journals, a typical list of supplies stocked for a party of four on the trail, mastadon bones and taxidermy. Near the park is a monument called "Register Rock", where emmigrants carved their names during their transit. There was a $7 admission to see the rock. Having seen pictures of the graffiti, coupled with the fact that we were pulling the trailer, we decided to skip the park.

We did stop at Shoshone Falls - the "Niagra of the West". It was well worth it. The 900-foot wide falls in the Snake River canyon drop more than 200 feet through the basalt. We got some great pictures

Shortly after leaving the falls, we had some brief rain showers. We had a lot of gusty cross winds as we appraoched Boise.  Our destination was a private driveway up the Boise river canyon from Lucky Peak Dam, which we booked through Boondockers Welcomed as there were no campsites available in Boise. The owners, who own a Class A motorhome they had recently taken to Alaska. We were about 17 miles from downtown Boise, but were pleased to find any spot at all in the area.

Boise has a lively downtown with lots of outdoor cafes. We had a delicious sushi dinner near a central pedestrian courtyard. Then we made our way to a historic brick-walled tavern where a foursome played swing tunes from the 40s and 50s. The "FrimFramFour" band members were dressed in white jackets with black bow ties. The bar was packed and many couples were dancing West Coast Swing. Angie and I represented our East Coast Swing (jitterbug) moves to one song.