Posts Tagged With: Travelers Rest State Park

Lewiston, Idaho, Sept. 7

Wednesday the journey was the destination with two historical bookends to highlight the time. After leaving the Fairfield Inn in Missoula, we drove half an hour to the Travelers Rest State Park in Lola Montana. This state park is the only proven campsite used by Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery in 1805 and 1806. They actually stopped here twice, both going out, and coming back.

At Traveler’s Rest, archaeologists have discovered items from that time, and core samples indicate three of the trees were here in 1805. This location was a well-known resting place and trail crossing for Native Americans. Lewis and Clark‘s people communicated with the local tribes and gained food and information before heading over the steep and forbidding Bitterroot Mountains.

Leaving Travelers Rest, for the next several hours we followed, at least pretty closely, the trail used both by Lewis and Clark, and by the Nez Perce in their efforts in 1877 to avoid the US Army.

We stopped at several overlooks, including one at Lolo Pass, marking the easiest crossing point for a portion of the Bitterroots. The Clearwater River follows US 12 and us most of the way. Another stop was the Forest Service Ranger station at Fenn Valley, a historic building constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. This building is in the Selway River Wild and Scenic River area.

The latter portion of our drive was through the Nez Perce reservation. The National Park Service staffs an official visitor center for the Nez Perce National Historical Park. We watched the video, examined displays and talked with the rangers here, We ended the day at our Hampton Inn and had a fancy meal out at Tomato Brothers.

We had not quite realized that Washington state is right across the border from Lewiston. This was driven home as we went to dinner at Tomato Brothers and drove across the Snake river into Washington state. We also had not realized, but the town in Washington is called Clarkston. So we have Lewiston Idaho named after Meriwether Lewis across the river from Clarkston, Washington named for William Clark.

This is the area where the Corps of Discovery transferred from the horses to canoes, and traveled down the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Pacific Ocean. It was only due to the assistance of the Native Americans that the Corps of Discovery was able to make it over the Bitterroots, survive other challenges, and make it on to the Pacific Ocean. We won’t go onto the entire story, you can look that up.

Today, Thursday, we drove up the Lewiston Hill, the 2,000 foot elevation gain across the Clearwater River, into the region called the Palouse. The geology is unique with fields of wheat, peas, and lentils. Our destination was Moscow, Idaho. In Moscow, we visited the Appaloosa Museum. I thought this museum dedicated to the Appaloosa horse would be interesting and a worthwhile trip. It was only so-so.

Returning to the Lewiston area, we went to Hells Gate State Park. The park is located along the Snake River, and had more displays about the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Nez Perce Indians. We had lunch here along the river, took a 2 mile hike, and visited the Jack O’Connor Hunting Heritage and Education Center.

Ed and Chris, Lewiston Sept. 7