Editing Snake River (section)

==History==
[[File:Lake bonneville map.svg|thumb|A map of [[List of prehistoric lakes|Pleistocene lakes]] in the Great Basin, showing the path of the [[Bonneville flood]] along the Snake River about 14,500 years ago]]
===Indigenous peoples===
Starting around the end of the last glacial period, the Snake River Plain was inhabited by hunter-gatherers of the ancient [[Clovis culture|Clovis]] (10000–9000 BCE), [[Folsom culture|Folsom]] (9000–8000 BCE) and [[Plano culture|Plano]] (8600–5800 BCE) cultures.<ref name="COTM Ch2">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/crmo/hcs/chap2.htm|title=Native Inhabitants of the Craters of the Moon Region|work=Historic Context Statements: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho|author=Louter, David|year=1995|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> Along the lower Snake River in Washington, the [[Marmes Rockshelter]] – flooded in 1968 after the construction of [[Lower Monumental Dam]] – has yielded archeological evidence of continuous human occupation from about 9000&nbsp;BCE until about 1300&nbsp;CE.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archaeology.wsu.edu/major-archaeological-sites/the-marmes-rockshelter-site-45fr50/site-interpretations/|title=The Marmes Rockshelter Site: Site Interpretations|publisher=Washington State University|date=|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> Starting about 2200&nbsp;BCE, people in the western Snake River basin began to adopt a semi-sedentary lifestyle, with an increased reliance on fish (primarily salmon) and food preservation and storage.<ref name="Fremont">{{cite web
|last=Meatte
|first=Daniel S.
|url=http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/arch/Prehist/Pre_Summ/SW_Snake/SW_Snake.htm
|title=The Fremont Culture
|publisher=Digital Atlas of Idaho
|work=The Prehistory of the Western Snake River Basin
|year=1990
|access-date=October 5, 2009
|archive-date=June 26, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626212056/http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/arch/Prehist/Pre_Summ/SW_Snake/SW_Snake.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref> [[Shoshoni language|Shoshoni]]-speaking peoples arrived in the Snake River Plain between 600 and 1500&nbsp;CE.<ref name="COTM Ch2"/>

By the time of first European contact, the Snake River watershed was populated by several Native American tribes. The territory of the [[Nez Perce]] (Nimiipuu) stretched across what is now north-central Idaho, southeast Washington and northeast Oregon, including much of the lower Snake River below Hells Canyon, most of the Clearwater and Grande Ronde River, and the lower Salmon River.<ref name="Treaty Period">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/the-treaty-era.htm|title=The Treaty Period|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Nez Perce National Historic Park|date=|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> The [[Northern Shoshone]] and the [[Bannock people|Bannock]], a [[Northern Paiute]] group that became culturally associated with the Shoshone, occupied an area stretching from the Snake River Plain east to the Rocky Mountains and south towards the Great Basin, as well as valleys of the upper Salmon River.<ref name="COTM Ch2"/> A Nez Perce name for the river was ''Kimooenim'' or variations thereof,<ref name="Lewis and Clark Journal"/>{{rp|635}} meaning "the stream/place of the hemp weed".<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Trail of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1904: A Story of the Great Exploration Across the Continent in 1804-6; with a Description of the Old Trail, Based Upon Actual Travel Over It, and of the Changes Found a Century Later|author=Wheeler, Olin Dunbar|year=1904|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfIMAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>{{rp|128}} Another Nez Perce name for the Snake River was ''Pikúunen'', specifically referring to the stretch upstream of the Clearwater confluence. The [[Wanapum people|Wanapum]] and [[Walla Walla people]] called the lower Snake River below the Clearwater ''Naxíyam Wána''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Cáw Pawá Láakni, They Are Not Forgotten: Sahaptian Place Names Atlas of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla|author=Hunn, Eugene S. |author2=Morning Owl, E. Thomas |author3=Cash, Phillip E Cash |author4=Engum, Karson Jennifer|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-99026-2}}</ref>{{rp|118–120}} The Shoshone called the river ''Yampapah'', after the ''[[Perideridia|yampah]]'' plant that grew profusely along its banks.<ref>{{cite book|title=Reminiscences of Early Days, A Series of Historical Sketches and Happenings in the Early Days of Snake River Valley.|author=Walgamott, C.S.|year=1927|publisher=Idaho Citizen|volume=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I7sx-W1yhYC}}</ref>{{rp|44}}

Downriver of Shoshone Falls, salmon and their cousins such as [[steelhead trout]] – anadromous fish which spend their adult lives in the ocean, returning to fresh water to spawn – were a key food source for indigenous peoples, and were of great cultural importance. Rituals such as the first salmon ceremony were widely observed along the Columbia, Snake and other Northwest rivers, and so were strict catch limits, such that a healthy number of salmon would survive to reach their natal streams.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr451.pdf|title=Characterization and Assessment of Economic Systems in the Interior Columbia Basin: Fisheries|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|author=Fluharty, David L.|date=April 2000|accessdate=February 3, 2024}}</ref> The Nez Perce had more than seventy permanent villages among their fishing grounds on the Snake, Clearwater and Salmon Rivers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5369277.pdf|title=
The Southern Nez Perce Trail, Wise'isskit|author=Schacher, Cindy L.|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|year=2004|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> Clans gathered at communal fishing sites starting about May or June. Fishing moved from the lower rivers to higher elevation streams throughout the summer, while fall-run fish were preserved for winter use.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/nature/fish.htm|title=Fish|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Nez Perce National Historical Park|date=|accessdate=February 5, 2024}}</ref>
[[Image:RemingtonBannockIndiansFordingSnake.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bannock people|Bannock]] hunting party fording the Snake River southwest of the Tetons, illustration by [[Frederic Remington]] c. 1895|alt=A drawing shows a group of about 10 people on horseback, fording a river]]
Shoshones in the western part of the Snake River Plain also depended heavily on the salmon run. At Shoshone Falls and the smaller cataracts downstream, fishing platforms, temporary brush weirs, spears, baskets and fish traps were employed at large scale. Captain [[Benjamin Bonneville]] in 1832 observed that "Indians at Salmon Falls on the Snake River took several thousand salmon in one afternoon by means of spears."<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Shoshone-Bannock: An Anthropological Reassessment|journal=Northwest Anthropological Research Notes|author=Walker, Deward E. Jr.|year=1993|volume=27|number=2|pages=230–237|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pMa4DwAAQBAJ|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> To the east and upriver of the falls, many Shoshone and Bannock lived in more nomadic groups, traveling to the falls during the spring salmon run then gathering [[Camassia|camas]] bulbs and hunting bison through the summer and autumn months.<ref>{{cite report|title=Southwestern Idaho Class I Cultural Resources Overview, Boise and Shoshone Districts, Part 5: Cultural Resources Narrative|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Land Management|author=Gehr, Elliott A. |author2=Lee, Evelyn |author3=Johnson, Gretchen |author4=Merritt, J. Donald |author5=Nelson, Steven|date=December 1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWH-VKscau4C|accessdate=February 2, 2024|pages=39–44}}</ref>

The Snake River at Hells Canyon formed a natural dividing line between the Nez Perce and Shoshone, who considered each other enemies. The Nez Perce allied with the [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]] against the Shoshone, Bannock and Northern Paiute, and stopped the latter from expanding their territory towards the Columbia Plateau.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Skeletal evidence of pre-contact conflict among native groups in the Columbia Plateau of the Pacific Northwest|author=Harrod, Ryan P. |author2=Tyler, Donald E.|journal=Journal of Northwest Anthropology|volume=50|number=2|pages=228–264|year=2016|isbn=978-1-5391-2889-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dcRVDwAAQBAJ|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> Both the Nez Perce and Shoshone acquired horses in the late 1600s or early 1700s, enabling far-reaching trade and hunting expeditions.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.americanheritage.com/how-indian-got-horse|title=How the Indian Got The Horse|author=Haines, Francis|date=February 1964|journal=American Heritage|volume=15|issue=2|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> With horses, the Nez Perce were able to travel east of the [[Bitterroot Mountains]] to hunt bison, via the trail over [[Lolo Pass (Idaho–Montana)|Lolo Pass]], which the Lewis and Clark expedition would later follow in order to reach the Snake and Columbia Rivers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/lolo-trail-and-pass-history.htm|title=Lolo Trail and Pass History|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Nez Perce National Historical Park|date=|accessdate=February 4, 2024}}</ref>

====Origin of name====
The river's modern name comes from a misunderstanding of the Shoshone Tribal Sign in [[Plains_Indian_Sign_Language|PISL]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/shoshonissentine0000tren/page/4/mode/2up | isbn=978-0-8061-0628-1 | title=The Shoshonis : Sentinels of the Rockies | date=1969 | last1=Trenholm | first1=Virginia Cole | last2=Carley | first2=Maurine | publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref> The [[Plains Indians]] referred to the Shoshone people as "Snake People", while the Shoshone are believed to have referred to themselves as "People of the River of Many Fish". However, the Shoshone sign for "salmon" was the same or similar to the Plains Indian common sign for "snake."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.na.105 | title=Encyclopedia of the Great Plains &#124; SHOSHONES }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/indiansignlangua0000clar/page/8/mode/2up | title=The Indian sign language | date=1982 }}</ref> The English name for the river was likely derived from this interpretation of the hand gesture, although it is uncertain when the name was first used.<ref name="Snake NWSR">{{cite web|url=https://www.rivers.gov/river/snake|title=Snake River|publisher=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=February 1964 |title=Snake River |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/0038.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |volume=38 |issue= |pages=2 |access-date=December 15, 2022}}</ref>

===Exploration and fur trade===
The first Euro-Americans to reach the Snake River watershed were the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who in August 1805 crossed the Continental Divide at [[Lemhi Pass]] and descended to the Salmon River at what is now [[Salmon, Idaho]], naming the stream "Lewis's River". Thwarted by the river's rapids, they were forced to cross the Bitterroot Mountains via the Nez Perce trail at Lolo Pass. After paddling down the ''Kooskooskee'' (Clearwater River), they reached the junction with the Snake and camped there with the Nez Perces on October 10, 1805.<ref name="Lewis and Clark Journal">{{cite book|title=History of the Expedition Under the Command of Lewis and Clark To the Sources of the Missouri River, Thence Across the Rocky Mountains and Down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean, Performed During the Years 1804-5-6, by Order of the Government of the United States · Volume 2|publisher=F.P. Harper|year=1893|editor=Coues, Elliott|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOATAAAAYAAJ}}</ref>{{rp|620–622}} They correctly surmised that the river coming from the south was a continuation of "Lewis's" or Salmon River. The expedition journals note the Nez Perce called it ''Kimooenim'', although William Clark later erased mentions of the name to replace with "Lewis's".<ref name="Lewis and Clark Journal"/>{{rp|635}} Six days later they reached the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, after noting a number of dangerous rapids as well as many native fishing sites on the lower Snake.<ref name="Lewis and Clark Journal"/>{{rp|625–635}} The expedition established friendly relations with the Nez Perces, who they visited again on their return trip in 1806.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nepe/learn/historyculture/lewis-and-clark.htm|title=Lewis and Clark and the Nez Perce|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Nez Perce National Historic Park|date=|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref>

Other explorers quickly followed, many of them fur trappers who began scouting the upper Snake River watershed for beaver. [[John Colter]], a former member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, explored the Jackson Hole area in 1808.<ref name="explorers">{{cite web
|url=http://www.history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0938.pdf
|title=Snake River Explorers
|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society
|work=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series
|date=April 1992
|access-date=June 24, 2013
|archive-date=May 15, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515011912/http://www.history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0938.pdf
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> In 1810, [[Andrew Henry (fur trader)|Andrew Henry]] explored and named the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. He established Fort Henry, the first American fur trading post west of the Rocky Mountains, but abandoned it after that year's harsh winter.<ref name="explorers"/> The 1811 [[Pacific Fur Company]] expedition led by [[Wilson Price Hunt]] attempted to find a route from Henrys Fork to the Columbia River. After suffering a wreck in the falls of the Snake River Canyon, they took an overland route through the Snake River Plain, through what is now the Boise Valley or Treasure Valley, then crossed the Blue Mountains to bypass Hells Canyon and reach the lower Snake River.<ref name="COTM"/> After the hazardous experience, Hunt gave it the name "Mad River".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://truewestmagazine.com/article/trailing-wilson-price-hunts-astorians-west/|title=Trailing Wilson Price Hunt's Astorians West|publisher=True West|author=Moulton, Candy|date=October 1, 2005|accessdate=February 1, 2023}}</ref> A group led by [[Robert Stuart (explorer)|Robert Stuart]], a member of the Hunt expedition, returned eastward across the plain the following year. The route they mapped would eventually become that section of the [[Oregon Trail]].<ref name="COTM">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/crmo/hcs/chap3.htm|title=Close Encounters: The Fur Trade in the Craters of the Moon Region, 1820-1856|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Historic Context Statements: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho|author=Louter, David|year=1995|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref>

[[Image:Twin Falls Snake River Idaho, O.S.L.R.R. C.R. Savage, Salt Lake. (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|280px|The cataracts of the Snake River forced early explorers and settlers to travel overland. This is Twin Falls, upstream of Shoshone Falls, as it appeared c. 1871.|alt=Black and white photograph of two parallel waterfalls, dropping over a dark cliff face into a turbulent pool.]]
In 1818 [[Donald Mackenzie (explorer)|Donald Mackenzie]] and [[Alexander Ross (fur trader)|Alexander Ross]] established [[Fort Nez Percés]] for the [[North West Company]] near the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest|author=Josephy, Alvin M.|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=9780395850114|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D1Ffhzz0UOkC}}</ref>{{rp|53–58}} The following year, Mackenzie traveled up the Snake River and reached Boise Valley by making the first recorded river ascent of Hells Canyon.<ref name="explorers"/> Mackenzie's goal was to bypass the arduous trek over the Blue Mountains. He wrote that "the passage by water is now proved to be safe and practicable for loaded boats, without one single carrying place or portage; therefore, the doubtful question is set at rest forever. Yet from the force of the current and the frequency of rapids, it may still be advisable, and perhaps preferable, to continue the land transport."<ref name="Williamson 1997"/>{{rp|19}}

Canadian fur trappers with the British [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC) reached the Snake River watershed in 1819.<ref name="EOI">{{cite web
|url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2411.htm
|title=Hudson's Bay Company
|publisher=University of Houston
|work=Engines of our Ingenuity
|last=Kaza
|first=Roger
|access-date=October 5, 2009
|archive-date=September 28, 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928053341/http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2411.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref> As American fur trappers kept coming to the region, the HBC ordered the Canadians to kill as many beavers as they could, under the rationale that "if there are no beavers, there will be no reason for the Yanks to come," and even if the Americans did ultimately gain control, the HBC would already have taken all the profit.<ref name="EOI"/> Focused primarily on the upper Snake River region, the "fur desert" policy was carried out in nine expeditions from about 1824–1831 and aimed to decrease the Americans' economic interest in the [[Oregon Country]], the vast region of the Pacific Northwest centering on modern-day British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. By the time the Americans annexed [[Oregon Territory]] in 1848, beaver were nearly extirpated across much of the Rocky Mountains.<ref name="EOI"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2828&context=etd|title=Clearing the Country: A History of the Hudson's Bay Company's Fur Desert Policy|author=Ott, Jennifer Susan|publisher=University of Montana|year=1997|accessdate=January 6, 2024}}</ref>

Starting in the 1840s, the Oregon Trail became well established, and thousands of settlers passed through the Snake River Plain on their way to the [[Willamette Valley]]. Coming from Wyoming, the Oregon Trail reached the Snake River at [[Fort Hall, Idaho]], and stayed south of the river until [[Three Island Crossing State Park|Three Island Crossing]] near modern-day [[Glenns Ferry, Idaho|Glenns Ferry]].<ref name="Idaho Parks Three Island Crossing">{{cite web|url=https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/three-island-crossing/history/|title=History of Three Island Crossing State Park|publisher=Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation|date=|accessdate=February 4, 2024}}</ref> Here the trail diverged, with the northern route fording the river to reach the HBC trading post at [[Fort Boise]] while the southern route continued into what is now the eastern Oregon desert. While the northern route passed through more favorable country, the Snake River posed a formidable barrier; during high water, many travelers were forced to take the hot, dry southern route, or risk drowning.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/oreg/planyourvisit/three-island-crossing.htm|title=Three Island Crossing State Park|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Oregon National Historic Trail|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> Travelers going via Fort Boise had to cross the river one more time to rejoin the trail heading west. A ferry existed at Fort Boise since at least 1843;<ref name="Snake River ferries">{{cite web|url=https://apps.itd.idaho.gov/apps/env/cultural/ENV_SnakeRiverFerries2017.pdf|title=Research Guide on Snake River Ferries|publisher=Idaho Transportation Department|date=Jan 2017|accessdate=January 6, 2024}}</ref> the Three Island crossing was also replaced by a ferry in 1869.<ref name="Idaho Parks Three Island Crossing"/> A new wave of travelers came in the 1860s with the [[Montana Trail]] providing access to gold strikes in Montana Territory. This crossed the Snake River by the Eagle Rock Ferry and later a bridge which the city of Idaho Falls would soon grow around.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/0033.pdf|title=Eagle Rock|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|work=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series|date=Jan 1993|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref>

===Conquest and conflict===
[[Image:Fort Boise showing exterior walls, Snake River near the mouth of the Boise River, Idaho, 1849 (AL+CA 1475).jpg|thumb|right|The first [[Fort Boise]] (illustration by Major Osborne Cross, c. 1849) was an key supply point on the Oregon Trail.|alt=Sketch of a square walled fort on a low hill above a waterway; in the foreground are a boat and a person fishing]] 
As the flow of settlers increased, the Nez Perce and their neighbors the [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]] and [[Walla Walla people|Walla Walla]] came under pressure to cede portions of their territory. Tensions flared in 1855 after tribes were coerced into relinquishing huge amounts of territory in the [[Treaty of Walla Walla]].<ref name="Treaty Period"/> In retaliation for [[Edward Steptoe|Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe]]'s defeat at the 1858 [[Battle of Pine Creek]], a force led by [[George Wright (general)|Col. George Wright]] entered the lower Snake River country in 1859 and constructed Fort Taylor at the confluence of the Tucannon River below present-day [[Starbuck, Washington]]. Over several months Wright fought the natives along the river, killing their horses and destroying stored food.<ref name="Petersen and Reed">{{cite web|url=https://damsense.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/CCC_aHistoryOf-LSRdevelopment_OCR.pdf|title=Controversy, Conflict and Compromise: A History of the Lower Snake River Development|publisher=DamSense|author=Petersen, Keith C. |author2=Reed, Mary E.|date=|accessdate=January 6, 2024}}</ref>{{rp|37}} The sternwheeler ''[[Colonel Wright (sternwheeler)|Colonel Wright]]'' was commissioned to haul supplies up the Snake River to Fort Taylor. Captained by veteran Oregon river pilot Len White, the ''Wright'' was the first steamboat to run on the Snake River and the Columbia above [[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]].<ref name="Williamson 1997"/>{{rp|75–76}}<ref name="Petersen and Reed"/>{{rp|37}}

Two years later, [[Elias D. Pierce]] discovered gold to the east on Nez Perce treaty land.<ref name="Petersen and Reed"/>{{rp|42–43}} As thousands of fortune seekers flocked to the area, the city of Lewiston was founded in 1861, in violation of the 1855 treaty. The US government sided with the settlers, and pressured some Nez Perce leaders into signing a second treaty which shrank their reservation by 90&nbsp;percent. Many Nez Perce including [[Chief Joseph]]'s band refused to leave, calling the new treaty the "thief treaty".<ref name="Treaty Period"/> In March 1863, the [[Idaho Territory]] was split from Oregon, and Lewiston became its capital. More than 60,000 prospectors and others entered the Lewiston Valley by 1863.<ref name="Petersen and Reed"/>{{rp|43}} Many new steamboats were pressed into service, including the ''Spray'', ''Cascadilla'', ''[[Tenino (sternwheeler)|Tenino]]'', ''Okanogan'', and ''[[Nez Perce Chief (sternwheeler)|Nez Perce Chief]]''. The river's rapids posed a major navigation hazard, and from November to April the river was generally too low for ships. Despite these challenges, the water transport of freight and passengers was greatly profitable.<ref name="Petersen and Reed"/>{{rp|43}}

Up river, the Shoshone and other tribes were also becoming increasingly wary of settlers; in 1854 a Shoshone war party attacked a wagon train in the Boise Valley, and the U.S. Army mounted a counterattack, the [[Winnas Expedition]]. The situation became so unstable that Fort Boise was abandoned, and the Army had to escort wagon trains through the area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=22328|title=The Ward Massacre|publisher=The Historical Marker Database|date=|accessdate=December 14, 2023}}</ref> While early settlers had simply passed through this area on their way to Oregon, gold strikes brought renewed interest in the 1860s. The Army rebuilt Fort Boise further east of the original site in 1863. A military detachment was stationed there to quell any further violence; however, tensions continued to increase, and more wagon trains and mining parties were attacked. Starting in 1864, the [[Snake War]] was fought across much of southern Idaho, with numerous battles between the U.S. Army and the Shoshone, Bannock and Paiute.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0236.pdf|title=The Snake War, 1864–1868|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|work=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series|year=1966|accessdate=December 14, 2023}}</ref> By 1868, exhausted after years of fighting, [[Pocatello (Shoshone leader)|Chief Pocatello]] and many others surrendered and relocated to the [[Fort Hall Indian Reservation]] on the Snake River in southeast Idaho.<ref>{{cite book|author=Treuer, Anton|title=Atlas of Indian Nations|publisher=National Geographic Books|isbn=9781426211607|year=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQbaCwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|226}}

[[Image:American Falls, Idaho with view of Union Pacific Railroad, between 1910 and 1920 (AL+CA 1499).jpg|thumb|left|280px|A train crosses the Snake River at American Falls, c. 1915. Railroads first reached the Snake River Plain in the 1880s.|alt=A painted postcard shows a train crossing a bridge above a wide waterfall and turbulent river.]]
Tribal resistance would continue for years to come. In 1877 the US government attempted to force the remaining Nez Perce onto their reservation, at which point Chief Joseph's band and several others opted to seek refuge elsewhere. After a treacherous crossing of the Snake at [[Dug Bar]], Hells Canyon on May 31,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nepe/planyourvisit/visit-dug-bar.htm|title=Visit Dug Bar|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|work=Nez Perce National Historic Park|date=|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> the Nez Perce were pursued by the Army for over {{convert|1000|mi|km}} east, through Yellowstone before turning north through Montana, fighting several battles along the way. On October 5, 1877, Chief Joseph surrendered to US forces. thus ending the [[Nez Perce War]]. The survivors were distributed to various reservations across the western US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usgs.gov/index.php/observatories/yvo/news/flight-nez-perce|title=The Flight of the Nez Perce|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|date=July 18, 2022|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref> In 1878, an uprising occurred in response to overcrowding and food shortages at the Fort Hall Reservation, leading to the [[Bannock War]]. The US army defeated the Bannock and their Paiute allies and proceeded to restrict travel in and out of the reservation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/412|title=1878 Bannock War and Chief Buffalo Horn|publisher=Intermountain Histories|author=Richardson, Camilla|accessdate=December 11, 2023}}</ref>

While Lewiston was now well connected by river, travel to Boise and other points upstream on the Snake River remained difficult due to the formidable obstacle of Hells Canyon. In 1865, Thomas Stump attempted to pilot the ''Colonel Wright'' up Hells Canyon, making it {{convert|80|mi|km}} upriver before hitting rocks in a rapid, forcing their retreat.<ref name="Petersen and Reed"/>{{rp|45}} On the Snake River above Hells Canyon, several steamboats were built at great expense (as manufactured parts such as engines had to be hauled in overland), the first being the ''[[Shoshone (Snake River sternwheeler)|Shoshone]]'' in 1866. However, running the upper Snake proved unprofitable, due to lack of demand. The owners of ''Shoshone'' decided to move her to the lower Snake River, and in April 1870, they made the first successful river descent of Hells Canyon, a harrowing ride that skirted disaster several times.<ref name="Williamson 1997"/>{{rp|85–88}} In 1895 the steamboat ''Norma'', which had been built to haul copper ore on the Snake River above Hells Canyon, also made the run under similar circumstances.<ref name="USFS Hells Canyon"/><ref name="Williamson 1997"/>{{rp|167–172}}

In the 1870s, Boise (to which Idaho's capital was moved in 1866) expanded rapidly as growth slowed in Lewiston. Gold drew more than 25,000 prospectors to the Boise Valley, and a new city quickly grew around the U.S. Army post at Fort Boise.<ref name="Long 2021">{{cite web|url=https://www.historylink.org/file/10443|title=Salmon in the Pacific Northwest|author=Long, Priscilla|publisher=HistoryLink|date=January 7, 2021|accessdate=December 12, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Idaho irrigation"/> With Hells Canyon impractical for river navigation, interest grew in connecting the area by rail. By 1884, the [[Oregon Railroad & Navigation Company]] (later integrated into [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]]) had connected [[Portland, Oregon]], to the Union Pacific line at [[Granger, Wyoming]], via [[Huntington, Oregon|Huntington]] and [[Pocatello, Idaho|Pocatello]]. Boise, initially bypassed due to a steep grade, was connected three years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://utahrails.net/pdf/UP-Idaho-Division_1871-1981.pdf|title=A Brief History of Union Pacific Railroad's Idaho Division|publisher=Utah Rails|date=|accessdate=December 12, 2023}}</ref> In addition to commerce, the railroad also opened the Snake River region – which just a few years ago had been seen as a remote, rough frontier – to recreation. The Union Pacific heavily promoted tourism in places like Shoshone Falls, [[Payette Lake]] and [[Soda Springs, Idaho]]. Countering the reputation of southern Idaho as a wasteland, a brochure described Shoshone Falls: "Shoshone differs from every other waterfall in this or the old country. It is its lonely grandeur that impresses one so deeply; all of the other historic places have the adjuncts of civilization, and one is almost overshadowed by a city while in their presence."<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tourists in Wonderland: Early Railroad Tourism in the Pacific Northwest|journal=Columbia Magazine|volume=7|number=4|year=1994|author=Schwantes, Carlos A.|url=https://www.washingtonhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/tourists-in-wonderland.pdf|accessdate=December 12, 2023}}</ref>