Picturing history: Soda Springs, Idaho
By Kenneth Mays, Columnist Aug 30, 2017, 7:25am MDT
Located in Caribou County of southeastern Idaho, the little town of Soda Springs was an unusual but welcome stop on the Oregon Trail. Travelers enjoyed bathing in the natural mineral springs that bubble out of the earth there. The site became a landmark along the trail and a first destination to travelers in general.
This interpretive panel is near the site of Morristown, Idaho, a settlement established by Col. Patrick Connor that now lies under the waters of a reservoir. | Kenneth Mays
A state of Idaho interpretive panel near the town notes that Col. Patrick E. Connor (from Fort Douglas, Utah) established a settlement called Morristown, and adjacent army post near the mineral springs in 1863. In subsequent years, the population began to dwindle. In 1870, LDS Church President Brigham Young established what is present-day Soda Springs just east of Connor’s location.
