t
Fort Hall, a post established earlier in 1834 by Nathaniel J. Wyeth.
Wyeth's venture proved a failure, and the fort soon passed to his rival,
the Hudson's Bay Company. Thus for the time being the British had rule
of the whole of that vast region known as the Inland Empire, then the
Oregon Country.

Some relics of the old fort at Boise were secured. Arrangements were
made for planting a doubly inscribed stone to mark the trail and the
site of the fort, and afterwards, through the liberality of the
citizens of Boise City, a stone was ordered and put in place.

[Illustration: _Brown Bros._

Sheep ready for shipment at Caldwell, Idaho.]

At Boise, the capital of Idaho, there were nearly twelve hundred
contributions to the monument fund by the pupils of the public schools.
The monument stands on the State House grounds and is inscribed as the
children's offering to the memory of the pioneers. More than three
thousand people attended the dedication service.

The spirit of cooperation and good will towards the enterprise that was
manifested at the capital city prevailed all through Idaho. From Parma,
the first town we came to on the western edge, to Montpelier, near the
eastern boundary, the people of Idaho seemed anxious to do their part in
marking the old trail. Besides the places already named, Twin Falls,
American Falls, Pocatello, and Soda Springs all responded to the appeal
by erecting monuments to mark the Old Trail.

One rather exciting incident happened near Montpelier. A vicious bull
attacked my ox team, first from one side and then the other. Then he
got in between the oxen and caused them nearly to upset the wagon. I was
thrown down in the mix-up, but fortunately escaped unharmed.

[Illustration: The monument to the trail at Boise, Idaho.]

This incident reminded me of a scrape one of our neighboring trains got
into on the Platte in 1852, with a wounded buffalo. The train had
encountered a large herd of these animals, feeding and traveling at
right angles to the road. The older heads of the party, fearing a
stampede of their teams, had ordered the men not to molest the
buffaloes, but to give their whole attention to the care of the teams.
One impulsive young fellow would not be restrained; he fired into the
herd and wounded a large bull. The maddened bull charged upon a wagon
filled with women and children and drawn by a team of mules. He became
entangled in the harness and was caught on the wagon-tongue