The Shoshone Falls are named for the Lemhi Shoshone or Agaidika ("Salmon eaters") people, who depended on the Snake River's immense salmon runs as their primary food source, though they also supplemented their diet with various roots, nuts and large game such as buffalo.
Because the falls are the upstream limit of salmon migration in the Snake River, they served as a central food source and trading center for the native peoples, who fished with willow spears tipped with elk horn.
The Bannock people also traveled to Shoshone Falls each summer to gather salmon.

Although the Lewis and Clark Expedition encountered the Shoshone Indians in 1805-06 they did not pass through the Shoshone Falls area.
The 1811 Wilson Price Hunt Expedition, whose goal was to scout routes for the growing fur trade, traveled down the Snake River as far as Caldron Linn, a wild rapids located near present-day Murtaugh, Idaho.
There, where the river drops into the precipitous Snake River Canyon, a canoe capsized and one of Hunt’s Canadian boatmen was drowned.
Although the party explored the canyon for several miles downstream, Hunt’s journal does not mention any waterfalls as large as Shoshone Falls.
Hunt then split the group to make foraging easier and they basically walked out of Idaho.
The routes they pioneered would become part of the Oregon Trail, which would later bring many emigrants from the eastern United States to the Shoshone Falls area.

Over the next thirty years, American and British-Canadian fur trappers hunted throughout south-central Idaho and are believed to have observed Shoshone Falls.
However, none of those who kept journals mentioned the feature.

John C. Frémont passed through the Shoshone Falls area during his 1843 expedition, which aimed to map the country through which passed the western half of the Oregon Trail.
None of his party observed the falls, however, because they left the river canyon (probably near Murtaugh) and cut southwest across a sandy plain to reach Rock Creek.
They returned to the canyon rim where Rock Creek enters the Snake.
There, he observed the Thousands Springs, which he described as “a subterranean river [that] bursts out directly from the face of the escarpment.”

They descended into the canyon with some difficulty, made some river measurements, and continued downstream.
They camped about a mile below what Frémont called "Fishing Falls": "a series of cataracts with very inclined planes, which are probably so named because they form a barrier to the ascent of the salmon; and the great fisheries from which the inhabitants of this barren region almost entirely derive a subsistence commence at this place."
He observed that the salmon were "so abundant that they [the Shoshone] merely throw in their spears at random, certain of bringing out fish."
This stretch of the river is now known as Salmon Falls.
Early encounters between Europeans and Native Americans were generally friendly, but eventually brutal conflicts broke out over land ownership.
After the Snake War, some twenty years later, the Shoshone were confined on reservations elsewhere.

Pioneer traffic along the Oregon Trail through Idaho increased steadily from 1843 on, with a spurt after Frémont’s journal was published and distributed.
In 1847, some 4,000 emigrants passed through on their way to Oregon.
One of the parties that year included Roman Catholic Bishop Augustin-Magloire Blanchet, who had been appointed to lead the new Diocese of Walla Walla.
Traveling along the north side of the river, the group made a detour, perhaps guided by a former trapper who was familiar with the area.
Blanchett then made the first known written record of seeing Shoshone Falls.
Being from Quebec, Canada, he called the feature “Canadian Falls.”

That designation did not last very long, however.
In August, 1849, a column of U. S. Army “Mounted Rifles” marched by, headed for Oregon.
They took a route somewhat closer to the canyon and could actually hear the thunder of the falls.
A local Indian had told their guide about the feature, so the guide led Lieutenant Andrew Lindsay
The Shoshone Falls are named for the Lemhi Shoshone or Agaidika ("Salmon eaters") people, who depended on the Snake River's immense salmon runs as their primary food source, though they also supplemented their diet with various roots, nuts and large game such as buffalo. Because the falls are the upstream limit of salmon migration in the Snake River, they served as a central food source and trading center for the native peoples, who fished with willow spears tipped with elk horn. The Bannock people also traveled to Shoshone Falls each summer to gather salmon.
Although the Lewis and Clark Expedition encountered the Shoshone Indians in 1805-06 they did not pass through the Shoshone Falls area. The 1811 Wilson Price Hunt Expedition, whose goal was to scout routes for the growing fur trade, traveled down the Snake River as far as Caldron Linn, a wild rapids located near present-day Murtaugh, Idaho. There, where the river drops into the precipitous Snake River Canyon, a canoe capsized and one of Hunt’s Canadian boatmen was drowned. Although the party explored the canyon for several miles downstream, Hunt’s journal does not mention any waterfalls as large as Shoshone Falls. Hunt then split the group to make foraging easier and they basically walked out of Idaho. The routes they pioneered would become part of the Oregon Trail, which would later bring many emigrants from the eastern United States to the Shoshone Falls area.
Over the next thirty years, American and British-Canadian fur trappers hunted throughout south-central Idaho and are believed to have observed Shoshone Falls. However, none of those who kept journals mentioned the feature.
John C. Frémont passed through the Shoshone Falls area during his 1843 expedition, which aimed to map the country through which passed the western half of the Oregon Trail. None of his party observed the falls, however, because they left the river canyon (probably near Murtaugh) and cut southwest across a sandy plain to reach Rock Creek. They returned to the canyon rim where Rock Creek enters the Snake. There, he observed the Thousands Springs, which he described as “a subterranean river [that] bursts out directly from the face of the escarpment.” 
They descended into the canyon with some difficulty, made some river measurements, and continued downstream. They camped about a mile below what Frémont called "Fishing Falls": "a series of cataracts with very inclined planes, which are probably so named because they form a barrier to the ascent of the salmon; and the great fisheries from which the inhabitants of this barren region almost entirely derive a subsistence commence at this place." He observed that the salmon were "so abundant that they [the Shoshone] merely throw in their spears at random, certain of bringing out fish." This stretch of the river is now known as Salmon Falls. Early encounters between Europeans and Native Americans were generally friendly, but eventually brutal conflicts broke out over land ownership. After the Snake War, some twenty years later, the Shoshone were confined on reservations elsewhere.
Pioneer traffic along the Oregon Trail through Idaho increased steadily from 1843 on, with a spurt after Frémont’s journal was published and distributed. In 1847, some 4,000 emigrants passed through on their way to Oregon. One of the parties that year included Roman Catholic Bishop Augustin-Magloire Blanchet, who had been appointed to lead the new Diocese of Walla Walla. Traveling along the north side of the river, the group made a detour, perhaps guided by a former trapper who was familiar with the area. Blanchett then made the first known written record of seeing Shoshone Falls. Being from Quebec, Canada, he called the feature “Canadian Falls.”
That designation did not last very long, however. In August, 1849, a column of U. S. Army “Mounted Rifles” marched by, headed for Oregon. They took a route somewhat closer to the canyon and could actually hear the thunder of the falls. A local Indian had told their guide about the feature, so the guide led Lieutenant Andrew Lindsay 
Shoshone Falls