On Saturday August 16, 1845, James Field wrote of passing hot springs near the foot of a range, where the water was nearly at a boiling temperature, so hot that one could not hold a finger in it, and where a dog that carelessly stepped into it ran off yelping and whining. The Oregon Trail descended a small hill to these hot springs, which were noted by nearly every diarist. Several hot springs were interspersed with cold-water streams, and the water was hot enough to boil eggs or cook meat. Many emigrants and their animals were surprised by the hot water. Around 1900 a wooden bathhouse was built there, and a few years later it was replaced by a rock bathhouse. Mountain Home residents visited the area for holiday picnics, but an attempt to sell stock in a hot springs resort failed. Irrigation wells in the area eventually caused the springs to go dry, leaving only the red-colored channels where the hot springs once flowed.