Few features of the far west are more widely known, or more characteristic than the prairie schooner. In parts of South Africa the same pioneer conditions exist that prevailed in our western states until a few years ago. The climate and nature of the country are much the same. It is interesting to notice that the same conditions, ten thousand miles away, and untouched by American western influence, have produced the same prairie schooner that we see winding the dusty trails of Bannock county today. It is probably safe to say that were two bodies of men sent from Paris--one five thousand miles east and the other five thousand miles west--to new countries of like conditions, the two parties would be found after several generations to have evolved the same habits of dress, custom and life. Yet not the men, but Nature, the great mother of us all, would have decided these things for them. CHAPTER V. FORT HALL. There are many historical spots in the United States unmarked by a monument, but there are probably few cases on record of a monument searching for a vanished site. Such is the case of the stone pillar purchased by subscription to mark the original site of Fort Hall. In 1906 Ezra Meeker traveled along the old Oregon trail and raised money with which to mark the historical points along the route. One monument stands in the High School grounds at Pocatello. Another was purchased for erection on the Fort Hall site. A teamster was directed to carry it to its destination on the banks of the Snake river, twelve miles to the west of Pocatello, and this man deposited the monument at the dobies, that were once a stage station. Those in charge of placing the monument, being unable to certainly determine the original site of the fort decided to leave the pillar where it lay, until the old fort had been indisputably located. And there it still rests, and probably will remain for some time to come. It is unfortunate that the most historical point in Bannock county and one of the most historical in the state of Idaho, should have been lost sight of. No effort will be made in this chapter to decide the question, because such an attempt would be little more than a guess. It seems not unlikely, indeed, that the original site has completely vanished. Fort Hall was established in 1834 as a fur trading station by Captain Nathaniel Wyeth. The captain found himself unable to compete successfully with the Hudson Bay company, which at that time operated in these parts, and in 1835 sold his interests to his rivals and returned to the east.