-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Givens Hot Springs offers a lesson in history, family
Archive
Comments
Story
The immigrants who first visited Idaho were not interested in staying here. Most settlers were headed for the green and fertile valleys of Oregon or Washington, and were not interested in the dry and barren plains of Idaho that they traversed while on the Oregon Trail.
Major immigration into Idaho did not happen until gold was discovered in the 1860s, at which point the immigrants reversed direction and headed back into Idaho country. Unlike most pioneers, the Givens family found their piece of Idaho heaven while traveling the Oregon Trail and claimed it for their own.
The spot the family claimed had been a favored stop by the pioneers known as “Boiling Springs” on the South Alternate route for many years. It was reported by these pioneers that there were two springs that produce clean clear water, a rarity in the Idaho desert.
“Visited the springs. There we found water hot enough for cooking,” reported pioneer Lucia Loraine Williams, July 8, 1851. In 1879, the Givens family came to this spot and decided that the beautiful and abundant land of the Owyhees was a better choice than the continuation of their journey.
The elder Givens, Mattie and Milford, set about making a home on the Owyhee front. The couple eventually had a total of five children, a daughter and four boys. Sadly, the oldest child (the girl), died when she stepped on some bitterbrush and got an infection, (a common occurrence in those days) but the boys all lived to help their parents develop the springs.
With the family’s combined determination a bathhouse was completed in the early 1900s that included a public space and private soaking rooms. Life at the springs was good and it only got better. Business was booming and by 1903 a grand hotel was built to accommodate all the travelers. The hotel included an ice cream parlor, a restaurant and a lovely park area for picnicking. As if this wasn’t enough of an oasis, the family later added a barbershop and a post office.
Life continued to blossom, and by 1907 a school was built nearby to teach the Givens’ and the area ranchers’ children.
Life remained good for the Givens until New Year’s Day of 1939 when a fire destroyed the hotel. Only seven years later the Givens sold the property to the Jensen family. The hotel was never rebuilt.
The Jensen family rebuilt the pool house in 1952 and retained ownership for 37 years, until they sold the property back to the Givens family. Liz and Verg Cuff remained owners until they sold to another family member in 1991. The current owners Steve and Nadine Givens celebrated Givens Hot Springs’ 125th anniversary on Sept. 9, 2006.
“We just enjoy everything about working here,” they said. “We love the tradition, you know, families come in and tell us all the time, ‘I used to come here when I was a kid.’ Everyone from the 90-year old men to the young people. We love it all, the people, the challenges, the scenery and the history.”
Today, the pool house is much as it was when it was rebuilt in the 1950s.
Public swimming is available seven days a week. Private soaking rooms are also available, as well as camping and cabins.
Givens is a great family destination. It is about 30 miles from Boise, located on the Snake river, on Highway 78 about eight miles from Marsing.
The facility is clean and cared for and the water is warm and soothing. What makes this a great Idaho story isn’t the destination itself, but that history and tradition of the Givens family.
Thousands of Idaho families, over the years, have chosen Givens Hot Springs as a place to build that family history and tradition.
MICHELLE SELLS
Outdoor Writer
