Exploring the Hagerman Horse and the Oregon Trail in the Hagerman Fossil Beds
One of the attractions at Hagerman is the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. The Visitor's
Center is in Hagerman, and is normally closed Tuesday and Wednesday so we went Monday, not even thinking about the possible government shutdown. We are glad we did!
The 600 foot high bluffs rising above the Snake River, as shown in this picture, comprise the Hagerman Fossil Beds, revealing the environment at the end of the Pilioene Epoch (a very long time ago!). Mastodons, sabre-tooth cats, beavers, muskrats, otters, antelope, deer, ground sloths, hyena-like dogs, fish, frogs, snakes, waterfowl, and yes, CAMELS lived here! The sediment layers from river level to the tops of the bluffs span some 550,000 years: from 3.7 million years old at river level to 3.15 million years old atop the bluff. Yep! A very, very, very long time ago! We were surprised to learn about the two kinds of camels: the camelops and the camelids. Beale was on to something in the 1850's, introducing camels in the southwest!
Hagerman Fossil Beds have produced 20 complete skeletons of Equus simplicidens, the Hagerman Horse, a zebra-like ancestor of today's horse. The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History excavated 120 horse skulls and the 20 complete skeletons from an area now called the Horse Quarry in the 1930s.
The monument covers 4,281 acres, also including some pristine segments of the Oregon Trail, which we got to see! The wind was really blowing, and trying to zoom in to the marker while leaning over the fence, as you'll notice, proved impossible!
The pictures at the left and below show the marker indicating one of these segments. Our 5th popular post is the Oregon Trail in Nebraska, so now we can add Idaho to this expanding list of "actuals" of the Oregon Trail. At the rest area going eastbound at Emigrant Pass on I-84 in Oregon there are actual ruts of the Oregon Trail.
You'll note that the area does look intimidating--a difficult stretch for emigrants struggling to make their way west. Here the Snake River was accessible, providing water; yet travel was still challenging, especially in the heat of the summer. This day it was chilly, and with the wind--downright cold! Another reason many who were traveling late in the season wintered with the Whitmans in Walla Walla. We shall NOT winter here! We are heading for ARIZONA in our "wagon!"
One last bit of interesting information re: the diverse Hagerman fossil specimens: they represent the last vestiges of species that existed before the Ice Age and the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna. We did not make it far on the trails because of the wind. We have marked this area as a definite "return trip!" And shall stay at Hagerman RV Village when we do!
The Visitor's Center in Hagerman also had a room of artifacts and information on the Minidoka National Historic Site, north and east of this location. In this September 2011 post, we visited the Tule Lake Internment Site and picked up a map showing the other locations in several western states, the Minidoka site one of them. We realize we weren't at that site, but did enjoy the information and exhibits we saw AND picked up a pin for our board of the Minidoka National Historic Site, where just under 400 acres of the Minidoka Relocation Center are preserved. From 1942-1946, over 10,000 Japanese American citizens and legal residents of Japanese ancestry were interned at the Center, also known as Hunt Camp. The Center became Idaho's 7th largest city covering 33,000 acres with 600 structures and extensive agricultural fields. It seems every place we visit adds another place on our list of "to be visited!" Perhaps this year is unusual for weather--but October seems to be a little late to be visiting that part of Idaho! We shall return--earlier in the fall or perhaps in May....?!
Roving Riders, Swirvin On Down the Road!
The 600 foot high bluffs rising above the Snake River, as shown in this picture, comprise the Hagerman Fossil Beds, revealing the environment at the end of the Pilioene Epoch (a very long time ago!). Mastodons, sabre-tooth cats, beavers, muskrats, otters, antelope, deer, ground sloths, hyena-like dogs, fish, frogs, snakes, waterfowl, and yes, CAMELS lived here! The sediment layers from river level to the tops of the bluffs span some 550,000 years: from 3.7 million years old at river level to 3.15 million years old atop the bluff. Yep! A very, very, very long time ago! We were surprised to learn about the two kinds of camels: the camelops and the camelids. Beale was on to something in the 1850's, introducing camels in the southwest!
Hagerman Fossil Beds have produced 20 complete skeletons of Equus simplicidens, the Hagerman Horse, a zebra-like ancestor of today's horse. The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History excavated 120 horse skulls and the 20 complete skeletons from an area now called the Horse Quarry in the 1930s.
The pictures at the left and below show the marker indicating one of these segments. Our 5th popular post is the Oregon Trail in Nebraska, so now we can add Idaho to this expanding list of "actuals" of the Oregon Trail. At the rest area going eastbound at Emigrant Pass on I-84 in Oregon there are actual ruts of the Oregon Trail.
You'll note that the area does look intimidating--a difficult stretch for emigrants struggling to make their way west. Here the Snake River was accessible, providing water; yet travel was still challenging, especially in the heat of the summer. This day it was chilly, and with the wind--downright cold! Another reason many who were traveling late in the season wintered with the Whitmans in Walla Walla. We shall NOT winter here! We are heading for ARIZONA in our "wagon!"
One last bit of interesting information re: the diverse Hagerman fossil specimens: they represent the last vestiges of species that existed before the Ice Age and the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna. We did not make it far on the trails because of the wind. We have marked this area as a definite "return trip!" And shall stay at Hagerman RV Village when we do!
The Visitor's Center in Hagerman also had a room of artifacts and information on the Minidoka National Historic Site, north and east of this location. In this September 2011 post, we visited the Tule Lake Internment Site and picked up a map showing the other locations in several western states, the Minidoka site one of them. We realize we weren't at that site, but did enjoy the information and exhibits we saw AND picked up a pin for our board of the Minidoka National Historic Site, where just under 400 acres of the Minidoka Relocation Center are preserved. From 1942-1946, over 10,000 Japanese American citizens and legal residents of Japanese ancestry were interned at the Center, also known as Hunt Camp. The Center became Idaho's 7th largest city covering 33,000 acres with 600 structures and extensive agricultural fields. It seems every place we visit adds another place on our list of "to be visited!" Perhaps this year is unusual for weather--but October seems to be a little late to be visiting that part of Idaho! We shall return--earlier in the fall or perhaps in May....?!
Roving Riders, Swirvin On Down the Road!
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