 After gold was discovered in the Salmon River area of Idaho , a group of emigrants persuaded an Illinois @-@ born trapper and trader named Tim Goodale to lead them through the cutoff . A large wagon train left in July 1862 and met up with more wagons at Craters of the Moon Lava Field . Numbering 795 men and 300 women and children , the unusually large group was relatively unmolested during its journey and named the cutoff for their guide . Improvements to the cutoff such as adding a ferry to cross the Snake River made it into a popular alternative route of the Oregon Trail . 
