After Lewis and Clark, Then Who

While it is accepted history that Lewis and Clark were among the first white men to travel overland from the Eastern states to the Pacific, they were by no means the only group to do so in the early 1800's. Some of the others left hard evidence of their journeys as well.


The "Cauldron Linn" near Burley, Idaho.

Why Burley Idaho

Why is the National Pioneer Hall of Fame located in Burley, Idaho? Burley, Cassia County, Idaho has more miles of pioneer trails than any other place in the U.S. Click on the "Why Burley Idaho" link above to see all of the pioneer trails in America.

Robert Goddard .... American Space Pioneer

The father of modern rocket propulsion is the American, Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard. Along with Konstantin Eduordovich Tsiolkovsky of Russia and Hermann Oberth of Germany, Goddard envisioned the exploration of space. A physicist of great insight, Goddard also had an unique genius for invention.

By 1926, Goddard had constructed and tested successfully the first rocket using liquid fuel. Indeed, the flight of Goddard's rocket on March 16,1926, at Auburn, Massachusetts, was a feat as epochal in history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Yet, it was one of Goddard's "firsts" in the now booming significance of rocket propulsion in the fields of military missilery and the scientific exploration of space.

National Pioneer Hall of Fame Has Perhaps the LAST ONE

Possibly the last true Mormon Handcart is presently located in the NPHF. Drop by and see it on the corner of 8th and Overland in Burley, Idaho.

The handcart has been donated to the Hall of Fame by Tony Clapier, one of the NPHF directors.

Brigham Young, an American Moses

For Brigham Young, building the kingdom of God in a semi-arid region was a matter of cooperation, not competition. Brigham wanted self-sufficient communities occupied by self-reliant families. Sharing scarce provisions and resources, Brigham organized cooperative efforts to dig canals, construct roads, build telegraph lines, gristmills and tanneries. The Saints similarly established new industries: cotton and woolen mills, iron foundries, a sugar beet factory, and eventually the railroad. Historian and biographer Leonard Arrington notes: "All such enterprises were financed by voluntary tithes, which meant that each man and his team labored for the Church one day in ten and contributed one-tenth of his crops, one-tenth of the increase in livestock, and one-tenth of the produce and other home productions . . . to support laborers on public works."

Click on Headline Above for Complete Story...

Here's an Article about an Idaho Pioneer

Statesman, entrepreneur, athlete, farmer…the University of Idaho College of Agriculture could have picked no better ambassador during its infancy than Gainford P. “Gub” Mix. The college’s first graduate—its only graduate of 1901—came by his multi-dimensional personality quite naturally. He was the fourth son and seventh child of Franklin E. Mix, a Moscow-area homesteader, nurseryman, and cabinetmaker.

For his part, Gainford cut a wide swath, literally and figuratively, through Idaho’s early history. His first visibility came as a pitcher on Moscow’s community baseball team, and later as a skilled quarterback on his school’s football team that defeated Washington, Lewiston State Normal (Lewiston) and Washington Agricultural College (now WSU).

Swift of mind as well as feet, he once dashed 500 yards to deposit game receipts at a local bank before controversy erupted on the field over eligibility of one of Idaho’s players. The Washington ag school refused to play and forfeited the game. Angry fans also forfeited their admission costs because Gainford reasoned it would take more signatures than he could muster to reclaim money from the bank.

Click on headline above for complete story....

First Post

This site is designed to discuss and post information about pioneers.... All kinds of pioneers. Of course, the families, groups, and individuals that settled the American Frontier, but those who were the first in their fields of technology, medicine, aeronautics, science, or any field of human endeavor.