If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 267

 Shoshone Falls, Idaho

We stopped by Shoshone Falls in August and took a few photos as well as picking up this new postcard distributed by Mountain West Prints, Great Mountain West Supply, Salt Lake City, Utah.  Postcard photo credits go to Don Green Photography & James Blank. 

As can be seen from these photos there was not as much water over the falls as in the postcard picture but nevertheless a spectacular sight.

The power house can be seen at the left of the falls

Snake River just below the falls

Often referred to as the Niagara of the West these falls are located on the Snake River in southern Idaho near the city of Twin Falls.  Dropping 212 ft or 65 m, they are 45 ft or 14 m higher than Niagara Falls.  The river water is used for both irrigation and hydroelectric power resulting in unequal flow levels at different times of the year.  Maximum water flows over a nearly 1,000 ft (300 m) rim in the early spring when torrents of water pour over the entire rim not just the sections shown.  When we visited this time and one other previous time the water levels were slightly lower than shown on the card but still amazing and beautiful. 

Fish are unable to go further upstream due to the great height of the falls and instead are found in great numbers at the base of the falls.  In times past these fish served as a major food source for local Native Americans.  The Shoshone Falls are named for the Lemhi Shoshone (Agaidika or Salmon eaters) who fished with willow spears tipped with elk horn.  The area was a central food source and trading center for these people. 

Trivia:  Shoshone Falls was a tourist attraction as early as the mid-19th century and travelers on the Oregon Trail often stopped to visit the falls.  Gold was discovered in the Snake River Canyon in 1869 and by 1872 about 3,000 miners had come in search of riches.   Attempts were made by first in 1876-1883 to make the falls a tourist destination.  The Oregon Short Line Railroad was extended to Shoshone, Idaho in 1883.  Charles Walgamott, a homesteader, had fenced off large tracts surrounding the falls and built a lodge.  He later sold out to a group, who intended to replace the lodge with a larger hotel and a steamship on the river.  Walgamott was granted a license to operate a cable ferry across the Snake River but this proved to be too dangerous and resulted in the deaths of four people who were swept over the falls.  In 1919 a suspension bridge was built across the narrower part about 6 miles upstream. 

For additional interesting information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshone_Falls

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 167

Chimney Rock, Idaho

Tall enough to be seen from Priest Lake, Idaho, Chimney Rock is a 400-foot high granite slab landmark in the panhandle or northern part of Idaho.  It is located in the Selkirk Mountain range that spans the northern portion of Idaho and parts of eastern Washington and southeastern British Columbia, Canada.   The highest point in the Selkirk range is Mount Sir Sandford at 11,545 ft. (3,519 meters). Chimney Rock is classified as a technical climb requiring ropes and special climbing gear as well as experience in mountain and rock climbing.  

The used postcard above does not have a postmark or any other date on it but it appears to be from the late 1950s or 1960s.  The Ross Hall Studio of Sandpoint, Idaho published the card using “genuine natural color” made by Dexter Press, Inc. of West Nyack, New York.  The unsigned message on the reverse reads in part:

“[We] climbed this bugger while I was home.  N-- has climbed it several times before.  The route marked (see the inked lines on the card face) is the one we used.  It is the least precipitous of all the sides.  The trip down is just two long repels.  I was scared spitless when I started but after you get going it isn’t that bad.”

In 1857 gold was discovered in the Selkirks and there is also coal, copper, mercury, marble, silver and zinc.  These mountains were considered formidable obstacles to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway until a pass was discovered in 1881-1882.  The pass is named after A.B. Rogers who discovered it.  The heart of the Selkirks was among the first national parks created in Canada.  The only caribou (reindeer in Scandinavia) in the United States outside of Alaska can be found in this range.  Also found are deer, elk, black bears, cougars, bobcats, red fox, bald eagles, osprey, great blue heron, porcupine, badgers, coyote, martens, bighorn sheep, gray wolves and moose.  Rarely seen but known to roam through the area are grizzly bears.  The Selkirks were named after Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk.  


For an artist's rendition of the beauty of this area there is an 1886 painting by John A. Fraser entitled At Rogers Pass.  Fraser was a Canadian artist born in London, England in 1838 and died in the United States in 1898.  His paintings were praised for realism, the use of color and light. 

For additional information, please see:

http://www.summitpost.org/chimney-rock/151709
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-arthur-fraser/