Land of the Shoshone and Teton Valley Idaho

Departure from Pocatello this morning in the sun (!), but the car windows were covered with ice. We drove a couple of miles to Fort Hall, where we were supposed to meet Randy'L, public affairs officer for the Shoshoe-Bannock tribe at 9 am. First, we visited the museum, which was not very large, but had some beautiful indian artwork.

Then we went on a little driving tour with Randy'L. Large piece of land the tribe owns, in a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains, but to date tourism isn't existing and Randy'L wants to change that. The tribe owns a buffalo herd (pic), there are mustangs roaming freely and the tribe operates a casino and a new hotel with a great giftshop. It's all tribal artwork they are selling, especially beautiful beadwork and mocassins (left pic taken in the shop, right in the museum).


Randy'L herself was the model for the famous Sacagawea coin (see pics). Sacagawea was the Lemhi Shoshone woman who helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804-1806 to establish contacts with other tribes and she was the one who arranged that the Shoshone agreed to barter horses to the group, and to provide guides to lead them over the Rocky Mountains.


We wished, we would have had more time here, since Randy'L's dad has horses and is a successful relay racer. The Indian Relay races are a part of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes culture and originated on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation over a 100 years ago. An Indian Relay teams consist of three horses and four team members (1 rider, 1 catcher and 2 holders). The rider must complete a lap with each horse riding bareback and dismount without any help from their team mates and without losing control of the horse.
Hope to be back in the near future and spend more time with Randy'L and her family to learn more about the Shoshone-Bannocks.

On to Blackfoot and the Idaho Potatoe Museum in a former railroad depot building. A little out-dated, this museum tells the story of the importance, the origins, cultivation, harvesting and proceeding of potatoes in Idaho. Rigby - on our way - was the boyhood home of the inventor of TV, Philo T. Farnsworth, and signs at the city limits proclaim it "The Birthplace of Television."

"Yellowstone Bear World", a private attraction near Rexburg was still closed for the season and most bears (with the exception of three cubbies) were still in hibernation. Therefore, we couldn't do the self-driving tour through the bears' habitats, but got an idea about how large the area is, where about 60 bears (mostly blackbears, some grizzlys), moose, wolves, bison and a couple of other species live.

The drive on Teton Scenic Byway from Ashton to Victor was very pitturesque. The route "rolled" through sparsely populated land, a still snow-covered high plateau, surrounded by mountains. There was some cattle, but mostly fields (as we heard later used for peas, grain and potatoes), some big grain elevators and "potatoe cellars" and partridges (Wachteln) crossing the street. The west side of the Teton mountain range (and sometimes even the three peaks of the Tetons, see pic) formed a majestic background.

Among a few tiny little villages on the way, Driggs was larger and more attractive, with nice shops and restaurants along the main street. Main attraction is the Teton GeoTourism Center, opened in 2014. It roots in National Geographic's 'Geographical Tourism Program", defining geotourism as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place. Two exhibitons called "summer" and "winter" with videos and exhibitions inform about tourism in the Teton Valley. E.g. we didn't know that the oldest dogsled race (since 1917) takes place here.

We arrived in Victor, another vilage on the scenic byway at 5 pm and were very pleased that we got a large suite with a cozy living room (with balcony and fireplace), fully-equipped kitchen, two bathrooms and bedroom in the Teton Springs Lodge & Spa, a resort on the west slope of the Tetons. There is the main lodge building and several cabins spread out on the grounds. The lodge offers a spa, golf and fly fishing, heli-skiing, with a large pool (still snow-covered), tennis courts, fitness center and much more and is conveniently situated just 30 minutes from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We didn't want to go out for dinner anymore, so we just sat on the balcony at sunset and enjoyed the gorgeous mountain view and our reheated left-over pizza.