Mike and Roxanne travel east

Hagerman Fossil Beds Nov 5, 2007

Nov 5 53742 7:45

We are headed north out of Brigham City, Utah. The Bear River Range is on our right and the prehistoric Lake Bonneville is on our left. The Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats are what is left of this great lake.

We are running at around 5000' but there is not a tree in sight for miles and miles on either side.

Our stop for today is the Hagerman Fossil Beds in Hagerman, Idaho. This was the site of another of those great lakes of long ago, but this site is only 3.5 million years old.

At that time Hagerman was a lush green area populated with trees, saber-tooth cats, camels, ground sloths, mastodons, and hoses. None of this is here now except for the fossil remains. This are contains the highest concentration o Pliocene fossils found anywhere in the world.

The main area has only two overlooks, one of the Snake River gorge and the other of the Oregon Trail.

We have followed bits and pieces of the Oregon Trail since we left Independence, Missouri last week. What we did in only six days took the pioneer's months. Where modern highways now speed the traveler across plains and mountains, and bridges cross-rivers, the pioneers struggled to cross passes, plains and swollen rivers. If they were lucky there was a ferry to take them across, for a price, if not it might mean extra miles to find a shallow spot to cross.

A new National Monument in this area is the Minodoka Internment National Monument. The monument is located between the towns of Twin Falls and Jerome, Idaho. It commemorates the sacrifices made by Japanese Americans during WWII when they were removed from their homes, their businesses confiscated and they were "imprisoned" in camps because they were thought to be a "threat" to the safety of America.

Many of the internees were actually American citizens, born here of Japanese parents who remained loyal to the U.S. even while interned.

Conditions within the camps were harsh. Barracks were hastily built wooden frames covered with tarpaper and heated by pot-bellied stoves. Winter temperatures plunged to -21 and summer temperatures were in the 100's. Despite this the Japanese were resourceful. Beauty was created in an otherwise dismal landscape by lining paths with decorative rocks. Gardens were planted in flowers and vegetables.

Internees cleared and cultivated 950 acres of lands and constructed ditches and canals for irrigation. When the camps were cleared after the war the internees were not allowed to enter the lottery for the buildings and farms. Their business and homes were not returned to them and they were forced to start over again.

It was not until 1988 that a formal apologize was issued by the U.S. Government and restitution was made.