Treeline along the edge
of Weippe Prairie
National Park Service photo, courtesy of the Jefferson
National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site
Stumbling down from the Bitterroots, the Corps of Discovery
reached the western terminus of Lolo Trail
by late September 1805 and ventured out onto Weippe Prairie.
Clark and seven of the men had pressed ahead arriving September
20th, shortly ahead of the rest of the group that made it to
the prairie by the 22nd. Spanning several thousand acres, the
open flatland was a welcome sight after the crew's brutal trek
through the Rockies. Even more welcome were the friendly faces
of the local Indian nation, the Nez Perce. On September 20 Clark
. . . Proceeded on through a butifull countrey for
three miles to a small plain in which I found main Indian lodges.
Those people gave us a small piece of buffalow meat, some dried
salmon berries & roots . . . They also gave us the bread made
of this root, all of ehich we eate hartily . . . They call themselves
Cho pun-nish or Pierced noses. I find myself very unwell all
the evening from eateing the fish & roots too freely . . . (Jones
Establishing contact with this group for the first time, Lewis
and Clark communicated via sign language with one of the Nez
Perce leaders, Chief Twisted Hair. Over the following two and
a half weeks, the Corps stayed with the Nez Perce, specifically
within their two villages located at the southern end of Weippe
Prairie. There, the Americans rested, recuperated, and learned
much from the Nez Perce, namely the existence of a navigable
water route to the West Coast. Furthermore, they learned why
the Nez Perce chose to reside in the shadow of the Bitterroots.
Unbeknownst to the pioneers, Weippe Prairie, also known as the
"Quawmash flats," was an area rich in the camas plant/root,
providing the Nez Perce with a consistent and healthy food source.
Aside from giving the expedition their fill of camas, the Nez
Perce provided for the pioneers in other ways. Twisted Hair
accompanied the Corps to a canoe camp, where the expedition
members immediately set to constructing canoes in preparation
for their journey down Clearwater River and beyond. The explorers
were finally ready to set out for the Pacific by mid-October
1805, by way of the Columbia River.
On their return journey in the spring of 1806, the Corps again stayed with the hospitable Nez Perce of the Weippe Praire. Waiting until the snow melted and Lolo Trail again became passable, the pioneers resided on the "Quawmash flats" for over a month. There they built a temporary structure, of which there are no present-day remains. The crew developed considerable respect for the Nez Perce during their stay, both for the genteel nature of the Indians and the quality of their horses, the Nez Perce-bred Appaloosa.
Weippe Prairie, a National Historic Landmark administered
by the National Park Service, is part of the Nez Perce National
Historical Park. There are two main Visitor Centers, one at
Park Headquarters in Spalding, Idaho, 11 miles east of Lewiston
and the other at Big Hole National Battlefield, 10 miles west
of Wisdom, Montana. The Visitor Center at Spalding, Idaho is
open in the winter months from 8:00am to 4:30pm and until 5:30pm
in the summer. The Visitor Center at Big Hole National Battlefield
near Wisdom, Montana is open in the winter from 9:00am to 5:00pm
and in the summer from 8:30am to 6:00pm. Please call 208-843-2261,
or visit the park's website
for further information. You can also download
(in pdf) the Weippe Prairie National Historic Landmark nomination.