On the hillside just down the trail from the pictographs you’ll find a railroad beam that may have come from a survey or washed downstream. Watch out for poison ivy. Because lots of groups stop here, not a good lunch spot.
The Northern Pacific Railroad surveyed the canyon in 1872. In the 1890s, other surveys were conducted along the river and near Salmon in the hope of bringing a railroad and wealth to the region. The Gilmore & Pittsburg Railroad arrived in Salmon City in 1910 but “prosperity failed to purchase a ticket”. The G & P (known as “Get out and Push”) was subsequently acquired by Northern Pacific and operated until 1938. (The “prosperity” quote is from I’d Do It Again In a Minute, by Michael Crosby)