11,000 Years of Indian Occupation

The sign's eleven thousand years end with names. The Weiser valley lay at the far northwest of Northern Shoshone country, the Newe, and the upper Weiser and Payette were home to Mountain Shoshone bands. Each year the Nez Perce, Cayuse and Umatilla came to a trading market on the Weiser River, and some villages here were mixed Nez Perce and Shoshone. Under settlement the Weiser people withdrew into the Salmon River mountains or were moved to reservations; a local history counts only eleven Native families left on the lower river, with thirty more upstream.

What the plaque says

11,000 Years of Indian Occupation The Weiser Valley provided an abundant environment for early hunters and food gatherers. Archaeological excavation along Monroe Creek in conjunction with US-95 realignment yielded one of the most significant prehistoric sites in the region. Spear and arrow points and radiocarbon dates suggest the site was occupied for 11,000 years. Inhabitants hunted deer, mountain goat, and rabbit and gathered salmon, roots, berries, and seeds. Artifacts were found ten feet below the ground surface. 487 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Weiser — 0.9 mi
  Every June the fiddlers come to a farm town on the Snake, and the campground plays all night.

More markers nearby

• Francois Payette — 13 mi
• Farewell Bend — 14 mi
• An Early Industry — 15 mi
• Snake River — 18 mi