Wildfire reveals Oregon Trail leg

BOISE – A wildfire that destroyed nine homes and damaged 10 others in southeast Boise last month also revealed remnants of the Oregon Trail.

Members of the Idaho Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association plan to mark portions of the pioneer trail that are now visible following the Aug. 25 fire.

Before the blaze, two parallel pathways measuring about a half-mile altogether had been covered by tall sagebrush and cheatgrass. The paths, which are light depressions in the ground, stretch across a vacant field below a ridge where the homes were burned in the fire.

The pathways were discovered in satellite photographs taken days after the fire.

“We plan to mark it before the snow flies,” said association member Wally Meyer.

He said the last wagon through southeast Boise probably crossed the flat plain about 1890 on the property now owned by the Idaho Power Co., which is negotiating with the group to allow signs along the newly found pathways.

“We are happy to help with this historic effort,” said Idaho Power spokeswoman Anne Alenskis.

Investigators have concluded that an equipment failure on one of the company’s electricity lines ignited the fire.

The fire also revealed a ramp used by early pioneers that connects the plain with what is now Oregon Trail Heights, a subdivision where the homes were destroyed.

“The ramp that comes down over the hill looks good now,” said Jim McGill, a preservation officer with the Oregon Trail group.

He said the group would like to get markers on that portion of the trail “before the weeds grow back.”

Meyer said the ramp probably was dug by hand. He said that in the 1970s he unsuccessfully tried to save the section of the Oregon Trail where the subdivision was built.

During his 30-year career with the Bureau of Land Management, Meyer said he marked about 150 miles of emigrant trail remnants on public land between Hagerman and Parma.

Meyer said the recent discovery is not a major surprise given what’s known about the Oregon Trail’s route through Boise.

“Nobody’s ever really looked before,” he said. “I’ve always kind of wondered. But it didn’t pay to check these because there was pretty tall sagebrush and growth there. But the Oregon Trail is always easy to find after a fire.”