In 1949 LIFE magazine took its readers on an extreme river adventure in a story headlined “Shooting the Salmon.” The headline referred to the Salmon River, which cuts through central Idaho.
The magazine opened its story breathlessly:
The most thrilling ride in the U.S. is in a 12-foot rubber boat down 55 miles of the middle fork of the Salmon River in Lemhi County, Idaho. For years the river with its boiling rapids and so-called Impassible Gorge with its 3,000-foot walls was thought so dangerous that only two dozen of the most daring white-water boatmen in the U.S. had ever tackled it.
But in 1949 some river guides had mastered the Middle Fork to the point that they began leading expeditions, and LIFE photographer Loomis Dean rode with one group. The trek down river took nine days, with people often camping near winter snow that had yet to melt. Some nights the temperatures dipped to 25 degrees. During those nine days the trekkers also caught—and ate—an estimated 200 pounds of trout. (If you are wondering, you can also catch salmon in the Salmon River) .
After finishing their trip the adventures concluded that, having survived the Salmon River, “the only thing left was Niagara Falls in a barrel.”
Today the Salmon River remains an esteemed destination, and one that is not easy to gain access to. The Middle Fork is now federally protected and adventure-seekers must enter a lottery for the right to travel its class III and IV+ rapids.
A Salmon River adventure in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Men horseback riding along the Salmon River.
Guide Hank Hastings scanned the wild rapids ahead on the Salmon River, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Adventurers shot the rapids on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Adventurers shot the rapids on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Adventurers rode the rapids on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Helen and Peter Brooks explored an ice cone in Impassable Gorge during their nine-day trek down the Salmon River, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Helen and Peter Brooks explored an ice cone in Impassable Gorge during their nine-day trek down the Salmon River, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The adventurers set up camp during a nine-day trek down the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The trekkers caught and dined on trout during their expedition down the Salmon River, Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Helen Brooks held a string of trouts caught during a nine-day expedition down the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Helen Brooks washing dishes in the Salmon River, Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shuttertstock
One of the trekkers took a bath in frigid waters during a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shuttertstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Men horseback riding along the Salmon River.
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from a nine-day adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, 1949.
Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shuttertstock
