OCTA Calendar
All IOCTA sponsored events, outings, and activities have no cost and are open to everyone. Please join us!
Upcoming 2024 Events
April 27: Annual byway tour
Click here for the flyer, and RSVP to Jerry Eichhorst at
May 16-17: Annual City of Rocks activities
More information coming soon.
May 18: Spring chapter meeting
Burley, ID
July 21-27: National Convention
2024 National Convention, Pendleton, OR. More information coming soon.
Recent 2024 Events
March 13-17: Fall chapter meeting
2024 National Symposium in El Paso, TX.
February-March: Community education classes
Boise, ID. More information is available at BoiseLearns.org
Recent 2023 Events
October 14: Fall chapter meeting
The fall chapter meeting will be held at 11:15 am at the Idaho Pizza Company restaurant at Overland and Orchard in Boise. The guest speaker will be John Hiler, Mountain Home area historian.
September 30: Lander Road outing
We will follow the Lander Road on Forest Service and other roads from the Wyoming border to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. This is a trek that the chapter might not have done before. It will likely require spending Friday night in Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Soda Springs, or Star Valley, Wyoming, in order to start early in the morning (about 9:00 am). The details and meeting location have not been finalized at this time.
September 25: BSU OSHER Class
Jerry Eichhorst will be teaching a class on the Oregon Trail in Idaho for the BSU OSHER program. If you are a member of OSHER you may have seen this course in their catalog. Contact BSU OSHER for more information. These classes usually sell out within a few days.
August 27: Byway Video outing
The OCTA video master, Richard Hunt, and Jerry Eichhorst will be filming a video of the Main Oregon Trail Back Country Byway. Other members are welcome to follow along if you want to see the entire byway or observe the video creation process.
August 26: Ground penetrating radar outing
A month ago, two cadaver dogs showed strong positive indications of human burials on a small knoll beside the location of a suspected massacre of a wagon train. GPR will be used to scan the top of the knoll to determine if something is indeed buried there.
2023 Convention: Gehring, NE
May 18-20: City of Rocks activities and spring chapter meeting
The annual spring outings with City of Rocks are tentatively scheduled for Thursday and Friday, May 18 and 19, with the spring chapter meeting on Saturday, May 20. Additional details will be available soon. We will be trying to get a reduced rate at the Fairfield Inn in Burley.
April 15: Annual spring byway tour with potluck lunch at Springbriar Winery
We will meet at 8:45am between the McDonalds and the Albertsons at Federal Way and Gowen Road. Then we'll caravan from east of Mountain Home to Boise along the Oregon Trail. Lunch at Sweetbrair Winery - $5 per person for burgers and brats. For the potluck, bring a side dish and/or dessert to share. Also bring your own water and drinks, a camera, warm clothing, etc. To RSVP, please sign up with Jerry at Boise Community Education courses, or
March 1, 8, 15: Boise Community Education courses on the Oregon Trail in Idaho
More information is available here.
Cadaver Video
Check out the video from last May when we had a cadaver dog outing to verify some suspected emigrant graves near Durkee, Oregon.