hooper-springs-national-archives-17-0138a-blogThirsty travelers on the Oregon Trail had to have fallen down on their knees and thanked the Lord above when they reached the naturally carbonated springs near what is today Soda Springs, Idaho. American Indians and fur trappers were well acquainted with the life-giving springs, but it wasn’t until Salt Lake City, Utah, banking entrepreneur W. H. Hooper built a summer home near the springs—and the arrival of the railroad in 1882—that Hooper’s spring—and the refreshing soda water became nationally known. Visitors to Soda Springs can still go to Hooper Springs Park, two miles from downtown, and enjoy free, refreshing spring soda water, just like the thirsty, grateful pioneers enjoyed 175 years ago.

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