Beginning in the 1850s, armed skirmishes between Shoshone Indians and emigrants traveling west by wagon train led many pioneers to seek new paths through Idaho that avoided the Snake River, where they were most vulnerable to attack. Most travelers chose Goodale's Cutoff, named for early guide Tim Goodale. In this area, the route ran along the base of the Pioneer Mountains about a mile north of here. To avoid crossing the lava fields, emigrants funneled through a narrow passage between treacherous lava flows and the steep mountains. One driver recalled, "When some steep point or bluff would run out into the rock, we would expect to see our wagons smashed." Most emigrants, however, passed through unharmed. Portions of the trail are now covered by the modern highway, but remnants remain visible in many locations. Julius Caesar Merrill in 1864 called it a desolate, dismal scenery and likened the volcanic landscape to a mass of black vomit poured forth.