In the Land of the Nez Perce
William Clark’s journal, September 20, 1805: “I set out early . . . descended the mountain to a leavel pine Countrey[.] proceeded on through a beautiful Countrey . . . to a Small Plain [in] which I found maney Indian lodges. . . a man Came out to meet me & Conducted me to a large Spacious Lodge. . . those people gave us a Small piece of Buffalow meat, Some dried Salmon[,] berries & roots”
Today we had the privilege of visiting the land of the Nez Perce, which the Expedition entered exactly 204 years ago. We were faced with the difficult choice of seeing the Clearwater Valley by bus or Hell’s Canyon of the Snake River by jet boat.
On the trip through Clearwater Country, our guides were local historians Lin Laughy and Miguel Inzunza, who read from the journals of Lewis and Clark and explained the interactions between the Corps of Discovery and the Nez Perce. We gained a deeper appreciation of the warm relations between these two groups when we stood on the exact spots where they interacted in a rich cultural exchange. We stopped at Saddle Cache Camp, where Lewis and Clark stored their saddles while going to and from the coast; at a spot on the bank of the river across from the Expedition’s Long Camp; at Treaty Council Camp; at Chief Broken Arm’s lodge on Lawyer Creek; in Kamiah for a delightful café lunch; at the Heart of the Monster, the legendary site of the origin of the Nez Perce, where Lee Hamilton taught us to make rope and start a fire; and at Canoe Camp, where the Corps made dugouts from ponderosa pines.
Those travelling up Hell’s Canyon had views of the deep canyon inhabited for centuries by the Nez Perce during the winter. We marveled at the immense basalt cliffs towering above the water and enjoyed a snack break at Cash Creek and lunch at Heller’s Bar. We spotted an amazing total of 19 bighorn sheep, a muskrat swimming under the dock, and 21 species of birds. The pictographs and petroglyphs just above water level at Buffalo Eddy helped us imagine the canyon’s inhabitants of long ago.
Both groups ended the day at the headquarters of the Nez Perce National Historic Park in Spaulding where we viewed the museum exhibits and heard the story of the Nez Perce. We came away with a deeper understanding the Nez Perce people, their culture, their land, and the great hospitality shown to the Corps of Discovery.
