Weird Idaho

Those traveling through Owyhee County can take comfort in knowing they are not alone.  Owyhee County, which consists of the southwest corner of the state, is home to many unique legends, not the least of which are the spectral horses said to appear in times of need. Acording to legend, if you ever find yourself lost and alone in the wilds of Owyhee you should look to the sky.  There it is said a white stallion, with a mane of wispy clouds and hooves like thunder, will part the clouds and descend to the horizon, followed by a surging herd of ghostly pale horses.  The stallion will lead the herd across the sky, and the traveler need only follow to be led back to safety.

Massacre Rock outside Pocatello, Idaho is the home of many myths and legends, not the least of which are the water babies, who lurk below the surface of the river, waiting for the unwary traveler. Before this patch of land was a stop on the Oregon Trail it was native land, and the legend goes that one year the native tribe was facing a horrible famine, and there was not enough food to go around.  Starving and unable to nurse, new mothers were told to go drown their babies in the river so they would not starve to death.  This terrible attempt at kindness backfired, as the babies, still starving in death and furious at their fate, lingered at the river.  It is said that if you sit in stillness at the banks of the river you will hear the faint sound of babies crying and bawling for food.  Those who go to investigate those sounds find themselves on the menu, as the babies pull them under the water and feast on their remains.

In the beautiful Owyhee Mountains of southern Idaho are rumored to live the Nirumbees, a terrifying race of tiny people who inhabit the mountain caves and eat human flesh.  First reported by the Crow and Shoshone tribes, the Nirumbee are eighteen inches tall with long pointed tails they curl around themselves for protection.  They are reported to be extremely strong and to shoot poison tipped arrows so fine they cannot be seen.  The Nrumbee possess many fairy like traits, and are thought to kidnap and eat children, replacing the missing child with one of their own, who will slowly drain the mother of life as it nurses.  They are thought to eat the hearts of wild stallions.  Generally assumed to be an native american legend, Nirumbees have nontheless been sighted within this century, and have been implicated in animal mutilations.