October 22,2OL8. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the 2018 Jerome County Comprehensive Plan It is an impressive compilation of information about the current status of our county with some ambitious ideas for its future. However, I am surprised to find that there is no mention that all of Jerome County is now designated with Twin Falls County as a Metropolitan Statistical Area as defined by the United States Census Bureau. This designation brings opportunities as well as challenges. lt may help prevent "silo" planning, where planning is done as if it involves or affects no other entities. One of its impacts will be planning for regional transportation mentioned in Chapter 8: Transportation. I have the following recommendations: Chapter 3: History and Special Sites lnclude information about the 1811 Wilson Price Hunt expedition sponsored by lohn Jacob Astor searching for a transportation route to Astoria, OR. This party was a very important in leading to the eventual development of the Western United States. They had hoped to float the Snake River, but were wrecked at Cauldron Linn, losing a member ofthe party and supplies. The party had to split up with Hunt leading one group North of the river. Among this group was pregnant Madame Marie Dorian and her two little boys. This site could be very important to historic tourism. I have attached information and references. I am gratified to see recognition of Lava Rock Structures. I was the initiator and researcher of this National Historic Places placement. lwould also mention the lava rock wall of the North Side Canal north of Eden. This over 100 year old structure prevents water from flowing down the old Bonneville Flood Channel. Monastery of the Ascension, in addition to the activities listed, hosts several week-long sessions each year for Road Scholar, an adult educational travel organization exposing our area to nationwide visitors. hft ps://www.roadscholar.org Chapter 4: Population Clarify that the designation races of Jerome County residents follow definitions of the federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau. Chapter 6: Housing Creative thinking will be needed to clarify rural housing regulation, especially employee provided housing, and family compound type housing. These issues do not apply only to Hispanic residents. Chapter 11: Tourism, Parks, and Recreation I foresee eventual development of historical tourism and agricultural tourism. This Southern ldaho area is considered the most successful ofthe Carey Act projects and its history, engineering feats and development should be shared with a wider public. Agricultural tourism could include rural Bed and Breakfasts along with farm ranch vacations along the lines of a "dude" ranch experience. These could provide economic benefits, but even more important, could promote understanding of and support for agricultural issues. Kiosks and reader boards explaining the crops and farming operations seen from the freeway could be established at interstate intersections, as an additional way to build understanding and support for our agricultural area. Thank you, Marian Posey 919 South Fir Street Jerome, lD 83338 Email: vinclothes@ onewest. net 208-324-3067 ,IEW YORX TIIUE 5 IEgTgELLER PETER STARK I I t istor ail Jeffcrton" Lott ?aci/tic Empirc A TALE OF AMDITION AND SURVIVAL ON THB EAN,LT AMBRIC^N FNONTIER Ta A gr.or... c'r'lobling rolo ol rrr,ivol. HigHy ro<orr.,ncoded." -NAtHANttr, PHr( EPrC( I I (- . EF'{E T rututr tot llrt ttl usl UImltY trrm I !l h I 'l-ale Astoria: Astor and.lefferson's [-ost Pacilrc Empire: A of Ambition and Sun ival on the Earh American lrrontier By Peter'Stark What happened after Lewis and Clark headed west? It was years before the Pacific Northwest became part ofAmprica. Thq region was sought by the Brits, Canadians, and enterprising Americans, 1fter including Thomas fefferson and lohn Jacpb Astor. fefferson had his sights on colonizing i! thus securing the far borders of the still-fledgling country in 1810. Astor was determined to expand his intemational trade and create a critical outpost for his enterprise. Author and journalist Peter Stark delivers this hscinating true adventure to us in Astoria, a journey put into motion by fefferson and Astor. Ifs the story of ambition, ego, bravery, madness, and humanity; of humans pushed to tleir Iimits both physicatly and emotionally, and of their survival. Beginning with fur trading, Astols humble yet ambitious initiation into intemational trade began with New York Canada and Europe. With fefferson's political backing, Astor funds an endeavor to settle along the Columbia River leading to the Pacific Ocean to promote trade with Russia and China, ultimately creating an international route, exporting goods amund the world. Astor embarks on two campaigns to reach the Northwest from New York - an overland e>gedition to closely follow the path of Lewis and Clark, and another by sea on the Tonquin, which rounded Cape Horn. These advance parties were to establish a settlement and pave the way for others to follow. Ovef the course oI three yeals, llris rncredible lourney is filled \r/ith violence and hardships, The overland I)arty rncour)tel's lrostrle rrtiiaIl tril)es, hirsh terrain and weather, and frequent sidetracks. The expc.clitiorr bv sea b.r|ely su|vives stor[)s, attacks, and a tyrannical captairl. Stark delves into the pcrsonalrtrt's ol kcy plrrycrs rrrthrr each expedrtron, ns well as the race to th€ Colunlllia River not only by lhe Arnunci,rrr experlilrorrs, bIt by con]peting traders in Canada, and a hostile B]'itish fleet. ,Astorla is an amazing view into our history and man's determination to conquer and succeed. Stark is adept in conveying this tale, making it both fully engrossing and in building the reader's anticipation, even though we already know the ultimate outcome. Not only is it a thrilling tale, ifs a great read. Published: 2015 Publisher: Ecco/Harper Collins Tender Ties Historical Series about Madame Dorian's life by Jane Kirkpatrick, 2OO2-2OO4 1. A Name of Her Own 2. Every Fixed Star 3. Hold Tight the Thread I Astoria byWashington Irving S.Zg . F ti rlir !i .11,,;t.,. I rr lt.i:,, .,: 1rr r1..,..r ,.v.. I In 18u a group of American traders built a fort at the mouth of the Columbia River, named Fort Astoria in honor of its financier John Jacob Astor. Envisioned as the spur of a fur-trading empire, by r8r3 the project was a business failure and the fort was surrendered to the British. But in its short Iife Astoria rendered incalculable benefits to public understanding of ttre Great Northwest. The exploration of trade routes, the description of various Indian tribes and their customs, and an American claim on the Northwest coast were among many of its legacies. Astor never relinquished his pride in the enterprise and insisted that the West would one day be a dominating factor in national politics. To drive his point home he asked Washington lrving, the country's most renowned and respected author, to transform the papers of Fort Astoria into a unified and readable history. Irving accepted the offer and published Astoria in 1836. From its first appearance- -when it was hailed by no less a reviewer than Edgar Allan Poe- -to the present day, Astoria has been read as a vivid and fascinating history, comparable indeed to the finest of romances, but rooted in the rough and hardy life of trapping, hunting, and exploratio". lf 1C. 10/19/18,3:20 PM ,n,nn*,rori ,rnt's Astorians west - True west Magazine "; Trailing Wilson Price Hunt's Astorians WeSt From Dubois, Wyoming, toAstoria, oregon. ocToBER 1, 2OO5 byCilfIDV MOUTTOX GrrrPS://TRT EWXSTMAGAZTNE.COM/AUTEOR/CANDY-MOUIION^ Soon after forming the Pacific Fur Company, New Yorker Wilson Price Hunt developed a plan to begin fur trade exploitation in the pacific Northwest. He organized two ventures: one involved an ocean expedition of the Tonquin, which would sail around the tip of South America to Astoria, Oregon. The other, which he would leafl, involved an overland expedition. With Donald Mackenzie, Hunt first traveled to Canada to hire French-Canadian voyageurs and trappers, including Ramsey Crooks, who signed on as a ::ll partner. From there, Hunt made his way down a series of rivers to St. Louis before following the Missouri River to a wintering point on the Nodaway River, some 15 miles upstream from St. Joseph, Missouri. Additional men joined the Hunt party there, including Robert McClellan, John Day, Joseph Miller, interpreter Pierre Dorian, Jr. with his wife Marie and two little boys, Jean Baptiste, age flve, and Jean, age two, and two naturalists, John Bradbury and Thomas Nuttall, who would eventually become a curator of the botanical gardens at Harvard University. John Hoback, Edward Robinson and Jacob Rezner, who had wintered with Andrew Henry of rttps://truewestmagazine,com/trailing-n,ilson-paice-hunts-astorians-west/ Page 2 ol 14 Traitinq wilson Price Hunt's Astorians west - True west Magazine tdlz,iie, z,..pu. the Missouri Fur Company on Henry's Fork of Snake River in Idaho, also joined Hunt's party. Their presence changed the course of the trip because they were familiar with a route over Wyoming's Wind River Mountains, Togwotee Pass. This region would become known as Jackson's Hole. Although Hunt had intended to follow the route Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had taken in 1804-06, he opted for a more southerly route across Wyoming and south-central ldaho. The overland parfy,of 56 men, Marie Dorian and her two children, and 82 horses embarked from the Missouri headed toward Astoria in July 1811.