Lewis and Clark in Idaho
Rich journal entries of this famous exploration find enhancement in MacGregor’s slide show, featuring a map and various artists’ depictions of episodes along the Lewis and Clark Trail. MacGregor will explore the aspect of the journey that most interests your group: the expedition’s unique experiences in what would become Idaho; the ecology of the trail as the Bicentennial approaches; the biography of Sacagawea; the journey relating to encounters with Native Americans; the variety of journals that describe the journey.

Bonnie McCarroll, Idaho Bronc Rider
Bonnie McCarroll rode at the first Madison Square Garden rodeo to become saddle bronc champion of the United States in 1922. That was a long way from a small Idaho ranch where Bonnie Treadwell grew up helping her dad. She started riding rodeo locally at places like Weiser and Caldwell. After her marriage to rodeo bulldogger Frank McCarroll, Bonnie’s fame escalated, as did the earnings she used to build a sizable Spanish-style home on Crescent Rim Drive in Boise. Her last ride at the Pendleton Round-up brought about her death and a formulation of National Rodeo Association rules that would prevent women thereafter from competing with men to achieve the legacy that Bonnie McCarroll etched in rodeo history.

Myth Marries History in the West
Myth and history are often confused when people recall what happened, but in the West, stories have amplified and altered facts. Men and women of great courage became forgotten while those of less merit rose to ingrain themselves as public icons. MacGregor discusses the role of myth in western history, showing the whimsy of fame and the world’s need to ascribe to the West values that ignite the imagination.

Founding Community in Boise, Idaho, 1882-1910
Bypassed by the railroad and slow to develop the giant plan of the New York Canal, Boise burgeoned anyway after the mining camps it fed waned in the Boise Basin. The key to its growth lay in the energy and optimism of citizens who turned the region’s prosperity into causes that profited the isolated, multi-ethnic settlement. MacGregor’s slide show highlights the unique geothermal resource and electric railway that distinguished the town, and features the progressive schools and hospitals, the beautiful architecture, the exciting sports events and other activities of Boise’s earliest period of significant growth.

Shoshoni Pony
After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, tribes that raided the Pueblos began to trade horses northward. The Northern Shoshonis of Idaho obtained this animal from their Comanche relatives. It changed their lives in hunting, transporting camp, going to war, and securing safety. MacGregor’s slide show of Dick Lee’s excellent paintings depicts the significance of this change in the life of Idaho’s native Shoshonis.