Salmon

You've hazed over there at the NFR.

Now you're in Salmon, Idaho, Cody.

And you and your wife, Emily, have been really involved with the Salmon Rodeo.

Dustin and I have actually brought this rodeo up a lot of times because I think it is the gold standard for how a rodeo can get to the next level and is so good for contestants.

So this is something I'm pretty excited to have you on.

Also, one more thing I did want to add.

You guys also produce the Bones and Birdies Rope and Stroke in Salmon, Idaho.

I can personally say I have watched you drive the ball over 300 yards with a driver that is at least 30 years old.

They dig for silver and for gold and leave the empty holes.

Down south in the Everglades Where the black water rolls and the sawgrass waves The eagles fly and the otters play In the land of the Seminole So blow, blow, Seminole wind Blow like you're never gonna blow again I'm calling to you like a long lost friend But I know who you are Blow, blow from the Okeechobee All the way up to Micanopy Blow across the home of the Seminole The alligators and the guards Progress came and took its toll And in the name of flood control They made their plans and they drained the land Now their glades are going dry And the last time I walked in the swamp I stood up on an old cypress stump I listened close and I heard the ghost of Osceola cry So blow, blow, Salmon Owen, blow like you're never gonna blow again.

I'm calling to you like a long-lost friend, but I know who you are.

Blow, blow from the Okeechobee all the way up to Meckinope.

I think maybe the state legislator could have probably spoken to maybe a few more knowledgeable gun guys.

I think there's a great list of firearms on there.

Two of them are already in use with other states, but I think we missed a great opportunity in having a firearm that was actually developed right here in Idaho, up in Salmon, Idaho, by a great old cowboy by the name of Albert Keith, the .44 Magnum of Dirty Harry fame.

Oh,

Experts are discussing the 1804 expedition and Sacagawea, if I don't mispronounce it, the Native American guide who was crucial to its success.

A cultural center is now being dedicated to her in Salmon, like Salmon, in Salmon, Idaho.

I have been looking into her.

Everybody is going backward because they don't have anything decent forward.

Police in Pocatello investigating $10,000 worth of damage to a school band program being housed by a local church.

And a fourth grader from Salmon has been chosen to light the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree and read her winning essay this December.

Those details in a moment.

Our top story today, Juliet Sharon, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare director, is stepping down.

The district is now forecasting it will have $3.5 million less revenue next school year.

Foudy previously announced he was retiring in June.

An Idaho fourth grader from Salmon has been chosen as the winner of the 2026 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Youth Tree Letter Essay Contest.

Here's Lauren Patterson to introduce us.

You know, I, I didn't awaken to, say, a bear trying to come into my house and have to fight it with my bare hands.

You read the story out of Salmon? Yeah, you know, you move out to the, the sticks...

Sorry, people in Salmon, it's the sticks.

Uh, you move out to the, you know, more rural areas or mountainous areas, you might have to deal with bears.

And, uh, this story's pretty wild.

So, uh, just be bear aware.

Um, due to the drought conditions and things like that, they're coming down into areas they might not normally, trying to find some food and things like that.

So yeah, if you're out in Salmon or Driggs, Victor, any of those areas, um, [laughs] well, keep at, at least bear spray around if not yourself a, a firearm, 'cause, you know, even black bears, man, they can mess you up pretty good.

And as always, we'll talk about how you can follow in her footsteps today, from the Missouri River breaks to the mountain passes of the Shoshone.

The woman we know as Sacagawea was born around 1788 into the Akai-dika, the Salmon Eaters clan of the Shoshone people.

To understand her story, we have to understand the geography of her childhood.

Her people's homeland was in the high mountain valleys of the Lemhi River in what are now the states of Idaho and Montana in the northwestern United States.

The Lolo Trail follows a traditional Nez Perce route and stretches roughly 100 miles from the Lolo Hot Springs, Montana into Idaho.

Now, this is where the expedition nearly starved to death in the snow, but hopefully your experience will be a little bit less dramatic.

If you're interested in learning more about Sacagawea's Shoshone heritage, also make time for the Sacagawea Interpretive, Cultural, and Education Center, which is in Salmon, Idaho.

It's near the Lemhi Valley, where she was born, and it's run by the Shoshone Nation and focuses on their perspective.

I mean, that is the wisdom of nature.

And I had the privilege r- recently this summer to be, uh, out on the Salmon, Salmon they say, the Salmon River in Idaho.

And, uh, I mean, my complete nervous system was rewired, rejuvenated, and we were invited to go really deep and observe nature like we've never observed it before.

So really encouraged to not chat and, you know, you know, do any small talk, or just really be with each other and be with, with nature.