[71] Cassia Creek is an important western affluent of Raft River, of Cassia County, Idaho. Upon its banks was the earliest settlement in this region, and the valley is still noted for its farms. The first party to take this route to California was that of J. B. Chiles (1843), guided by Joseph Walker. They struck across from the Snake to Humboldt River, down that stream to its sink, and by the Walker Pass into California. In 1844 the Stevens party followed a similar route; crossing the Sierras, however, by Truckee and Bear River road, the line of the present Central Pacific railway.—Ed.
[72] Called by Frémont Swamp Creek, now known as Marsh Creek, a small southern affluent of the Lewis. It forms a circular basin or valley, about six miles in diameter, where there was grass and consequently a good camping place.—Ed.
[73] Goose Creek is a deep, rocky stream rising in Goose Creek range, lying on the border between Idaho and Utah. The creek flows north, receiving several branches before entering the Lewis in Cassia County. Placer mines of considerable value have been found on this creek.—Ed.
[74] Dry Creek is still to be found on the maps of Cassia County. Frémont says of this portion of the trail: "All the day the course of the river has been between walls of black volcanic rock, a dark line of the escarpment on the opposite side pointing out its course, and sweeping along in foam at places where the mountains which border the valley present always on the left two ranges, the lower one a spur of the higher; and on the opposite side, the Salmon River mountains are visible at a great distance." (See op. cit., ante, in note 30, p. 167.)—Ed.
[75] The falls mentioned by Palmer are the Great Shoshone Falls of the Lewis River, where the cañon is over eight hundred feet deep: the first fall has a plunge of thirty feet, and then a sheer descent of a hundred and ninety. These are, in the United States, exceeded in grandeur only by Niagara and the Yosemite. Palmer's failure to appreciate their height and magnificence was probably due to the depth of the cañon from the top of which he viewed them; or he may not have seen the lower falls at all, for the trail wound back from the river in many places.
Rock Creek is a considerable stream, with a swift current, flowing northwest into the Lewis in Cassia County, Idaho.—Ed.
[76] Salmon Falls River is the largest southern affluent of the Lewis that has been crossed since leaving Fort Hall. It rises in many branches on the boundaries of Nevada and flows north through a valley now noted as a hay-and stock-raising section. Salmon Falls (also called Fishing Falls) is a series of cataracts with sharply inclined planes, forming a barrier to the ascent of the salmon, and thus a fishing resort for Indians.—Ed.
[77] For this crossing see our volume xxviii, p. 314, note 193.—Ed.
[78] The emigrants were in Elmore County, Idaho, where a number of small streams come from the north into Lewis River; one is known as Cold Spring Creek, possibly the branch mentioned by Palmer.—Ed.
[79] For these springs see Farnham's Travels in our volume xxviii, p. 314, note 194.—Ed.