Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument

This is the Year of the Fire Horse! In Chinese traditions, horses are admired for their wild spirit and desire for freedom. Horses are the most recurring animal in the Chinese world.  

Come learn about Lunar New Year the most important holiday in China and Chinese communities around the world.

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a virtual presentation by David Lei as he shares his in-depth knowledge. 

This is the Year of the Fire Horse! In Chinese traditions, horses are admired for their wild spirit and desire for freedom. Horses are the most recurring animal in the Chinese world.  

Come learn about Lunar New Year the most important holiday in China and Chinese communities around the world.

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a virtual presentation by David Lei as he shares his in-depth knowledge. 

Recent archaeological surveys have revealed new information about the Snake River Canyon’s Chinese gold mining camps, illuminating a part of Idaho history overlooked by traditional historical accounts.  Ron James's presentation reexamines the contributions made by Chinese immigrants to southern Idaho’s history and shares the new evidence indicating that the Chinese gold mining sites ca. 1870-early 1880s were far more extensive and complex than previously understood. 

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a presentation by Ron James as he shares his in-depth knowledge. 

Recent archaeological surveys have revealed new information about the Snake River Canyon’s Chinese gold mining camps, illuminating a part of Idaho history overlooked by traditional historical accounts.  Ron James's presentation reexamines the contributions made by Chinese immigrants to southern Idaho’s history and shares the new evidence indicating that the Chinese gold mining sites ca. 1870-early 1880s were far more extensive and complex than previously understood. 

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a presentation by Ron James as he shares his in-depth knowledge. 

Horses are diverse animals. Learn how horses evolved overtime to what we know of them today. The Hagerman Horse is one of the earliest and most prominent North American species of Equus. Take a look into ancient Idaho to see why horses and other megafauna thrived. Find out the possible reason why horses and many other megafauna went extinct. 

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a presentation by Jay Hauser as he shares his in-depth knowledge of the Hagerman Horse. 

Horses are diverse animals. Learn how horses evolved overtime to what we know of them today. The Hagerman Horse is one of the earliest and most prominent North American species of Equus. Take a look into ancient Idaho to see why horses and other megafauna thrived. Find out the possible reason why horses and many other megafauna went extinct. 

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a presentation by Jay Hauser as he shares his in-depth knowledge of the Hagerman Horse. 

Chinese immigrants composed over 75 percent of the Transcontinental Railroad workforce between 1865 and 1869, numbering more than 11,000 by its completion. These Chinese laborers, mostly young men ages 15-25, left their families and homes in China to seek new economic opportunities. The contributions of these Chinese railroad workers to Utah and the United States are slowly becoming better known.  During construction of the 1,776-mile railroad, about 500 people lived in Terrace, Utah. Today, a sign marking the spot where the town once stood and scattered bricks and debris are almost all that’s left of it aboveground. The project at Terrace, Utah began in the Fall of 2020 and discovered, according to Merritt, “the first fully excavated Chinese home on the transcontinental railroad regardless of state. A pretty exciting data point. It really helps us understand the technology they were using to build it with, the materials and also the style.”    Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a presentation by Dr. Chris Merritt as he shares his in-depth knowledge.

Chinese immigrants composed over 75 percent of the Transcontinental Railroad workforce between 1865 and 1869, numbering more than 11,000 by its completion. These Chinese laborers, mostly young men ages 15-25, left their families and homes in China to seek new economic opportunities. The contributions of these Chinese railroad workers to Utah and the United States are slowly becoming better known.  During construction of the 1,776-mile railroad, about 500 people lived in Terrace, Utah. Today, a sign marking the spot where the town once stood and scattered bricks and debris are almost all that’s left of it aboveground. The project at Terrace, Utah began in the Fall of 2020 and discovered, according to Merritt, “the first fully excavated Chinese home on the transcontinental railroad regardless of state. A pretty exciting data point. It really helps us understand the technology they were using to build it with, the materials and also the style.”    Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a presentation by Dr. Chris Merritt as he shares his in-depth knowledge.

As America marks its 250th anniversary, Hagerman Fossil Beds and the Northern Rockies reflect on a connection between people and horses that goes back much further than a quarter-millennium. From their first evolution to the lifeways of ancient hunters of North America, horses are deeply embedded in the earliest chapters of the human story in Idaho and beyond. New discoveries point to an early and important role for the region in the early spread of domestic horses into the American West - after which they shaped the lives and dynamics of both Native nations and colonial settlers, from warfare to mining, railroads, and city life. Today, the role of horses continues to grow and shift along with a changing landscape - but horses are still at the heart of life for many in the northern Rockies.

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a virtual presentation by Dr. William Taylor as he shares his in-depth knowledge. 

As America marks its 250th anniversary, Hagerman Fossil Beds and the Northern Rockies reflect on a connection between people and horses that goes back much further than a quarter-millennium. From their first evolution to the lifeways of ancient hunters of North America, horses are deeply embedded in the earliest chapters of the human story in Idaho and beyond. New discoveries point to an early and important role for the region in the early spread of domestic horses into the American West - after which they shaped the lives and dynamics of both Native nations and colonial settlers, from warfare to mining, railroads, and city life. Today, the role of horses continues to grow and shift along with a changing landscape - but horses are still at the heart of life for many in the northern Rockies.

Visit the Thousand Springs Visitor Center for a virtual presentation by Dr. William Taylor as he shares his in-depth knowledge.