FREE Summer Lecture Series featuring
Hiking Idaho's Historic Trails
by Roger Williams
from the Idaho Humanities Council

This lecture and slide show are based on two long backpacking trips through Idaho's backcountry. The first, 250 miles from Oregon to Montana; the second, longitudinally 1,200 miles from Nevada to British Columbia. These expeditions intersected trails used by early native Americans, Lewis & Clark, trappers during the fur trade era, Oregon immigrants, homesteaders, miners and military campaigns.

Roger “Beaver” Williams retired from a three-decade career with the Idaho Fish and Game Department in assignments from wildlife research biologist (where he acquired the “Beaver” nickname) to administrator. Along with professional work, his avocation became backpacking and photographing Idaho’s wild places. He and his late wife also developed a small Christmas tree farm near Meridian, which financed wider travels to scenic and historic places throughout the country, including the highest point of elevation in each state. All of the lecture material is from a collection of slide shows Programs from Paunsaugunt. The latter Piute word means “home of the beaver.” Roger has a B.S. in Forestry from Penn State University and an M.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Idaho.

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