Thousands of years ago, immense flows of water from alpine glaciers and high levels of precipitation sent waters cascading over a broad area of the Snake River Canyon directly into the Snake River. Weak joints in the basalt walls gave way to these . . . — — Map (db m71547)
Fossil bones of zebras, beaver, otter, pelicans and other water birds are found in sediments left from a 3,400,000 year old pond on the bluff across the river. Lava flows, pouring out over the plains on this side, met and dammed up sedimentary . . . — — Map (db m31598) HM
Few places in Idaho or the United States show evidence of spring water more clearly than in Malad Gorge. These springs flow from the vast Snake River Aquifer through porous pillow basalts. On the opposite side of the canyon, where the river widens, . . . — — Map (db m71549)
Woody's Cove
This deep, basalt canyon was formed similar to Malad Gorge – by a retreating cataract, a huge waterfall. About four million years ago, local volcanoes spewed enormous amounts of lava over the area. Then, about one . . . — — Map (db m71593)
The canyon before you was once traversed by Native Americans making their way from camps on the bluffs where they prepared grass seeds for flour. At the Snake River's Salmon Falls, about one-half mile behind you, they fished with traps, hooks, and . . . — — Map (db m139607) HM
Idaho was a very different place during the Pliocene Epoch (three to four million years ago). Like much of the planet, this area was warmer and more humid, with annual rain fall of 20 inches. Studies of ancient pollen found in the sand and clay . . . — — Map (db m139552) HM
Can you find traces of the three ancient lakes that helped form Hagerman Valley and preserved the fossils found here? The first, known as Lake Idaho, covered most of present-day southwestern Idaho about three to eight million years ago. Over time, . . . — — Map (db m139556) HM
Two related panels are found at the monument:
Between the close of the Civil War and the end of World War I the sheep industry played a major role in southern Idaho history. During the Civil War, precious metals were discovered in the . . . — — Map (db m139615) HM
Malad History
If eating food somewhere made you sick, how would you warn others of the danger? Fur trappers and traders named the Malad River the Riviere Aux Malad, or “sickly river,” after becoming hill from eating beaver . . . — — Map (db m71603) HM
It is ... our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty." John L. O'Sullivan, columnist, New York Morning News, . . . — — Map (db m139613) HM
A trained eye, persistence - and a good deal of luck - often lead paleontologist to new fossil discoveries.
New fossil localities are discovered every year. Currently Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument monitors over 600 fossil bearing . . . — — Map (db m139609) HM
The rock layers in the bluff across the river are made of sediments - particles of sand, silt, and clay. These layers, called strata, were carried here by the ancient Snake River and were deposited as the river entered an ancient lake. This process . . . — — Map (db m139554) HM
Never in history had so many moved voluntarily over such a distance. Look at the wagon wheel ruts in front of you. During the Great Western Migration more than 400,000 people packed up their goods and dreams and headed out over wagon roads like . . . — — Map (db m139608) HM
The features before you testify to a fiery volcanic past. Distant hills, called buttes, are actually "shield" volcanoes. Named for their shape, these shield volcanoes formed when lava flowed from cracks, or vents, in the earth's crust. Over the past . . . — — Map (db m139611) HM
Step back in time, three to four million years, and imagine a place were zebra-like horses, ground sloths, mastodons, and other amazing creatures roamed. Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument is filled with fossil evidence of their existence in . . . — — Map (db m139551) HM
