One of the most common things I hear guests say on our river trips is, “I never thought Idaho would look like this.”  I don’t know if its because ’Idaho’ sounds a little like ‘Iowa,’ but they seem to think Idaho will have soft, rolling hills and wide open plains. Well, it does have those things in its valleys – 25 billion potatoes need somewhere to grow – but there is much more that meets the eye traveling across the state.

Idaho means, ‘the sun comes down from the mountains,’ originating from the Shoshone Indian phrase ‘Ee’ (coming down), ‘Dah’ sun/mountain, ‘How’ (acts as an exclamation point in the Shoshone language).  If you have spent a fortunate evening sitting riverside on a beach, watching the sun sink down over the dark rocky cliffs, or sipping a cup of coffee on that same beach in the morning as golden light brightens the mountainside, you understand what the Shoshone were trying to capture.

Written by Debbie Hausler

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As I travel down the rivers of Idaho each week, I sometimes feel there are hidden eyes watching us.  I like to believe they are the spirits of the ancient people who lived in these canyons before modern society.  At least, we certainly see evidence of these people on our river trips.

There have been Native Americans in the Snake and Salmon River watersheds for over 10,000 years.  Known as the Nez Perce (who call themselves, “Nimíipuu,” meaning, “The People”) and Shoshone-Bannock (descendents of the Mountain Sheepeaters) tribes, these people lived off the land and took advantage of the fish, game and native, edible plants found in the river corridors.

Written by Debbie Hausler

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There is no mistaking or denying Idaho’s rugged beauty.  It is a place of vast and magnificent wilderness.  It would be a rare thing for someone not to feel the strong call of nature here.  However, Idaho’s wilderness has a history and on-going record of the call of man and his influence on nature’s order.  There are several examples of this issue we continue to follow as we travel down Idaho’s vast waterways, asking ourselves when is it beneficial for man to manipulate the natural world, and when would it be better to let Mother Earth tend to her own? I don’t propose to have the answers, or even venture forth my opinions, but suffice it to say there is no lack of strong, relevant material to motivate our campfire talks here on the rivers of Idaho.

Reintroduction of the Gray Wolf

Wolf reintroduction occurs by repopulating a previously extirpated area with a group of wolves, with the hope that they will reestablish themselves in the area and ecosystem.  Although wolves are the most environmentally adaptable mammals next to man, they had been hunted out of all of the lower 48 states, with the exception of a few small packs in remote northeastern Minnesota.  Wolves were highly prevalent in North America until westward expansion occurred in the 1800’s – settlers hunted the wild bison, deer, elk and moose, forcing the wolves to then hunt domestic livestock (sheep and cattle).  When this occurred, bounties were issued for wolf kills, and continued as late as the 1960’s. 

Written by Debbie Hausler

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