In 1875, nineteen year old Iowan Charlie Walgamott arrived by stagecoach at the Rock Creek Station, east of present day Twin Falls. A few miles downriver from there, the Snake River drop more than 200 feet over a horseshoe-shaped rim of basalt boulders nearly a thousand feet wide. Once described anonymously as "a cataract of snow with an avalanche of jewels amid solemn portals of lave," Shoshone Falls was the endgame for thousands of salmon that swam upstream from the Pacific each year to spawn.

Convinced it would make an excellent tourist attraction, Walgamott laid claim to the land on both sides of the river. He built a small cabin for himself on the north bank, and began offering trips to visit this natural wonder. When gold was discovered in the Wood River Valley, Charlie opened a supply house in Hailey and guided quite a number of miners on trips to the falls.

The Oregon Shortline Railroad began to roll across the plain in 1882, and when a station was built at Shoshone, Charlie bought an old stagecoach and shuttled customers twenty-five rugged miles to the falls each day. He sold the south bank in 1883, and the new owners spent an estimated $50,000 on a lavish, fifteen room hotel. Charlie continued to transport such distinguish visitors as Teddy Roosevelt, Andrew Mellon, William Jennings Bryan, and Idaho Governor Mason Brayman. The food was reported to be as good as on any railroad dining car of the day.

-from the third chapter, "Snake River Plain — Solemn Beauty"