Many trails crossed this area and were used by the ancestors of the Shoshone and Bannock people. Some connected hunting and gathering grounds, while others marked traditional ceremonial lands of the various Shoshone and Bannock bands. Among them was the Great Medicine Road, a major crossroads for travel north and south through areas that would eventually be called Idaho and Utah. It served as a meeting place where people from the Shoshone and Bannock bands would gather, and the area around and between Soda Springs and Pocatello, Idaho, was also widely used as a meeting place and roadway for all Shoshone and Bannock bands as well as by the Ute people. Part of the Great Medicine Road was later followed by the Oregon Trail, a major route for white settlers moving west. Along the Great Medicine Road, many hot pools, or thermal springs, were used by the Shoshone and Bannock people for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, a practice that continues today. Plants and minerals, especially red and white rocks and soils, were collected here for medicinal practices, and women played an important role in collecting and administering these medicinal items. The Great Medicine Road also provided access to life-sustaining resources including a variety of plants and animals, chalks and paints, willows and other materials used in craft and art, and materials for hunting and fishing. The waters of the area are central to both subsistence practices and cultural identity.