15/09/2024
September 15 was day 1 of our Commemorative Trek, retracing the exact route as the Lewis and Clark Expedition on the exact dates. Those trips had challenges, rain, snow, cold temperatures, lots of downed trees - an adventure that not only retraced their path but allowed us to experience first hand the discomfort and rewards of accompaniments. Who’s in for 2025?
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219 Years Ago Today: Lewis and Clark Camp at Future Site of Powell Ranger Station
On this day in 1805, the Lewis and Clark struggled through the Lochsa-Powell District of our forests. This was one of the most arduous parts of their trip, as they struggled across rugged terrain, were short on provisions, and tried to make their way across unfamiliar with terrain with little guidance. A week later, they encountered members of the Nez Perce Tribe who provided them with food, friendship, canoes, and guidance that would get them to the Pacific Ocean and attain their long-sought goal. By the end of the day, Clark reported that: “our men and horses [are] much fatigued.”
As the day began at Packer Meadows, near the Idaho-Montana border the party “ate the last of our meat” and began to climb up and down two mountains. Though the day was cloudy, Private Joseph Whitehouse reported “a most delightful prospect of the hills and vallies (sic) which lay before us.” As they traveled, the threat of winter’s cold and arduous conditions loomed, with Clark reporting “it rained and hailed, on top of the mountains Some Snow Fell” and multiple members of the party describing “snow-capped mountains” in the distance. What food the party found was unfortunately inedible, with Patrick Gass recording “service-berry bushes hanging full of fruit; but not yet ripe owing to the coldness of the climate on these mountains” as well as “a number of other shrubs, which bear fruit, but for which I know not names.”
The hunters working for the party tried to alleviate their hunger but were only able to shoot “2 or 3 pheasants,” which were supplemented by “portable soup” a dehydrated ancestor of bouillon, carried as an emergency ration by the party. This food left many hungry and unsatisfied and Gass reported that: “Some of the men did not relish this soup, and agreed to kill a c**t; which they immediately did, and set about roasting it; and which appeared to me to be good eating.” That occurred at Colt-Killed Creek, which is how it got its name.
Throughout their trip, the party reported regularly encountering evidence of the Nez Perce Tribe and their ability to attain food in this area. Whitehouse was impressed by a seasonal Nez Perce fishing camp on the Lochsa River: “ the Natives had here made places across this fork of the Creek, in the form of Weirs to catch fish in, which we found in 2 different parts of this fork, it was worked in with willows very ingeniously & strong, the current running very rapid at where these Weirs were set.— We crossed below this place at where the Creek forked, and proceeded on down the creek and passed several Indian encampments, which the Natives had lately left. Our guide informed us, that the Natives catch great Quantities of Salmon at this place.”
After miles of travel, they reached: “a Small Island at the mouth of a branch on the right side of the river which is at this place 80 yads wide,” where they camped for the night. That place is now where our Powell Ranger Station stands.
Stay tuned for more stories of Lewis and Clark’s time on our forest 219 years ago today.
