Bown House Introduction

What is the Bown House? The Bown House is a very old sandstone house that the Bown family lived in. When it was built in 1879, it sat between the Oregon Trail and the Boise River. The Boise River is still there, but the Oregon Trail has been replaced by a Boise neighborhood.

Why do we care? The Bown House is one of the oldest stone houses in Idaho, and today it is a great place to take a field trip. It is now a living museum where you can see how people lived in the late 1800s. As you enter the house, a guide takes you into the Parlor, where you try on pioneer clothing, play with pioneer games and toys, listen to music, and even try your hand at quilting.

The dining room is now a Pioneer School Room, with desks, books, pictures, and exhibits from the 1800s. Here you can write on slates, do recitations, and practice calisthenics. The Kitchen is full of mysterious gadgets that were once used to prepare food. You can try to discover what these artifacts were used for.

	School Room Click on picture		Student desk, book, slate Click on picture
	Teacher's Desk Click on picture		Washing Machine Click on picture
	Kitchen sink, water pump, butter churn Click on picture		Kitchen stove, water boiler, iron Click on picture

Other rooms are the History News Room, the Farm Room, and the Geography Room. In the History News Room, you can track down stories and present them in the reporting style of the 1880s. The Farm Room is decorated with large farm animals painted on the walls, and you can do activities related to pioneer farming.

In the Geography room, you are invited to travel the Oregon Trail with Mr. and Mrs. Bown. On the walls are five panels about their journey west, and the panels help you understand how geography affected their journey on the Oregon Trail. Below are pictures that will help you understand more about the people and the geography during the times of Mr. and Mrs. Bown. Just click on each small picture for a full view.

	How did people travel west in those days? In many different ways.		Most people came west with a wagon and team of horses or oxen.
	People had to load their wagons with enough supplies for more than 1450 miles just to Boise.		Clothing was coarse and rugged for outdoor use. Notice the soap and toothbrushes.
	The journey was across prairies, mountains, rivers, and deserts. It was long and difficult.		When the first people came west to Idaho on the Oregon Trail, they were leaving the United States.
	Boise was a small city surrounded by farms in 1890.		This view from atop the Bown House once looked down upon the Oregon Trail.
	When the Bowns lived here, they could see the Boise River. This is what they would see now.		A short piece of the Oregon Trail still exists a few miles east of Boise. This is how it looks now.

There is much more to explore at the Bown House and many interesting things to do. To continue your exploration, click on the icons below.

	Click on the icon for a closer look at the Oregon Trail.
	Click on the icon to see more about farming in early Idaho.
	Click on the icon to find out more about early Idaho schools.
	Click on the icon to spend some time in a pioneer Idaho home.

The Idaho Compass
Copyright � 2002
by
Katherine A. Young and Virgil M. Young
Producers, Designers, Writers, and Websters
in cooperation with Boise State University