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Highway 12 from Montana through Idaho Home /
Lolo Motorway /
Highway 12 /
Kooskia/Kamiah Lolo Motorway (Powell, MT to Weippe, ID) In mid-September 1805, Lewis and Clark reached the Bitterroots in Montana. The weather was beginning to change and snow was beginning to appear on the mountains. William Clark and six hunters left Traveller's Rest near what is now Lolo, Montana on September 11, crossing the Bitterroot Divide to the mountains. On September 20, they found themselves in what is now the Weippe prairie in Idaho. If you want to get as close to the original Lewis and Clark Trail as you can possibly get - the Lolo Motorway is it. This is the most primitive portion of the Trail-left just the way nature intended. This is 100 miles of one-lane dirt road. Travel trailers and RVs are not recommend. Click here for more information
Highway 12 from Missoula to Kooskia
Captains Lewis and Clark and their expedition members spent three weeks in the Kamiah valley on the 1806 return trip from the Pacific Ocean while they waited for the snows to melt in the Bitterroots. Their campsite was across the river from the town of Kamiah near the railroad bridge. Here they traded with the Nez Perce Indians for much-needed food, hunted bear, deer and elk, and enjoyed horseracing and games with the Nez Perce youth. Much time was spent repairing equipment and readying the Corp. for the arduous trip ahead. A small group of the men traveled to the Snake River in hopes of procuring salmon to dry for the eastward journey only to find they had spoiled before they were able to get them back to the Kamiah valley. Kooskia, where the Middlefork Clearwater and Southfork Clearwater meet, gives access to the Elk City and Dixie area via Highway 13 and 14. The area is known for activity during the gold rush days and much evidence still exists of this historical period.
On the return journey, the expedition wintered in the area waiting for the snow to melt in the Bitterroots. In late may, the Weippe Prairie is blue with camas blooms. The camas bulb was a staple food for the Nez Perce.
Cottonwood/Grangeville Prairie The Camas Prairie on which the communities of Cottonwood, Craigmont, Nezperce and Grangeville lie, was described by Captain Meriwether Lewis in his journal of May 9, 1806. “I have no doubt but this tract of country if cultivated wold produce in great abundance every article essentially necessary to the comfort and subsistence of civilized man.” The expedition had left the Clearwater River near the current village of Peck, traveled up Canyon Creek, across the Prairie near Craigmont and Nezperce and down into Lawyers Canyon to the sight of their Longcamp at Kamiah. Later some of the men climbed back to the prairie, past the current location of Cottonwood and on to the Snake River to barter for salmon. The prairie is exceptionally beautiful in the spring and active when the grain harvest is underway. Each of the prairie communities offer a variety of tourist facilities. Lapwai, today’s headquarters for the Nez Perce Tribal executive and administrative offices, lies in a long fertile valley along Highway 95 east of Lewiston. The word Lapwai means “Place Where the Butterfly Dwells” in the Nez Perce language. It was the winter home of the Nez Perce people for many generations. Near here, the Rev. Henry Spalding established his home and missionary work on November 29, 1836 on Lapwai Creek near its confluence with the Clearwater River. Today Spalding is the site of the Nez Perce National Historical Museum and Park. On October 10, 1805, the Corps of Discovery entered what is now the state of Washington located on US Highway 12 at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. Of special interest at Clarkston is the 300-foot Lewis and Clark Timeline with highlights from the expedition and replicated drawings from its journals, located at the Hells Canyon Resort and Marina. For travelers who would like to explore a bit of southern Idaho follow Highway 95 from Central Idaho south to Whitebird and Riggins. At Riggins outfitters offer exciting water adventures with float and jet boat trips on the exciting Salmon River. Here too is the gateway to the Snake River, Brownlee Dam fishing, and the magnificent Seven Devils mountains. This highway will lead you into Boise, the state capital, and the rolling plains of South Idaho. Highway 93 From Southeastern Idaho into Montana The Lewis and Clark party first entered Idaho on August 13, 1805 when they met up with a band of Shoshone Indians and their Chief Cameahwait. Lewis was overjoyed, he wrote, “we wer all carresed and besmeared with their grease and paint till I was heartily tired of the national hug.” Happily here, Sacajawea was reunited with her people and her brother Chief Cameahwait. The Shoshone took them to their village near present day Salmon, Idaho. Lewis remained at the village trading for horses, while Clark and a small party of men scouted the Salmon River as a passage to the Columbia. They found the river impassable and so with their purchased horses and an Indian guide they headed north into Montana and then west for the arduous crossing of the Bitterroot Mountains. The community of Salmon, Idaho is just west of the Continental Divide on Highway 93 which connects the town with Missoula, MT to the north. For the fan of the Lewis and Clark Corp. of Discovery, the area around Salmon is an important segment of the expedition and of the early fur trading industry. Tourist accommodations offer restaurants, bed & breakfasts, motels, guest ranches, white water adventures, horseback riding, a museum and art gallery, tour bus and golf. |
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