>> Brian: Some parts of the Oregon and California Trail remain relatively quiet and undisturbed. At others much more has happened over the years.

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>> Bill: Sheep Rock, also known as Soda Point, towers 1200 feet above the waters of the Bear River.
It was a landmark to emigrants on the Oregon and California Trail, but there was a lot going on both before and after the emigrants passed through this area.

>> Bryce: The Bear River starts its course in the Uinta Mountains of Eastern Utah, but at Sheep Rock it makes a sudden U-turn and heads south to the Great Salt Lake.

>> Amy: Why the complete change in direction???

>> Bryce: Basaltic volcanic eruptions around 600,000 years ago blocked the Bear River from draining into the Snake River System and sent the river southward back to Utah.

>> Richard: Archaeological sites in the area show us that Native Americans traveled and camped in this region long before the emigrants ever got here.
Trappers and mountain men, in the early 1830s, told about a sizeable flock of bighorn mountain sheep that occupied Sheep Rock’s forested, rocky ridge throughout the year. 

>> Bill: Emigrants often mentioned Sheep Rock in their journals.
Sheep Rock marked the junction of the main route of the Oregon-California Trail and Hudspeth’s Cutoff, which was a shortcut less than a mile west of here.

>> Joyce: The Union Pacific Oregon Short Line Railroad was completed in this area around 1882 and trains they are still chugging down these tracks.
The Utah Power and Light Company built the Soda Dam in 1923.
This Dam is 105 feet high and forms the Alexander Reservoir.
The 3-story powerhouse was completed one year later in 1924 and has two generating units capable of producing 14,000 kilowatts of power.

>> Amy: Looks like no ones used this road in a while.

>> Joyce: In 1926, U.S. Highway 30 was constructed and followed portions of the Oregon and the California Trail.
This highway was re-aligned several times, but it 1948 it became the route still travelled by cars and trucks today. 

>> Brian: When driving down U.S. Highway 30 you can look out your window and see the same natural landmark viewed by so many before including all the emigrants who wrote about it in their journals.
Maybe you’ll write about it in your journal for yourself.
Or maybe instead you will blog or tweet about it, or post your special photo of it on your Facebook page.
If you happen to be in the area, stop at the Historic Byway site located on BLM managed land just off the highway, approximately 5 miles west of Soda Springs, Idaho.
Here you can read the interpretive signs and also get an up-close look at Sheep Rock and the Bear River.

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