Cote's Defile

The sign credits Joseph Cote's contribution; the name may record his death. By one history of the Lost Rivers fur trade, Cote was killed in this Birch Creek valley in 1828, in a fight with Blackfeet (Niitsitapi) while trapping with a Rocky Mountain Fur Company party. Michel Bourdon, the partner the sign pairs him with, had died the same way five years earlier, killed on the upper Salmon with men of Finan McDonald's 1823 brigade. Before either, the valley was a road for Shoshone and Bannock people between summer country to the north and winter camps near Fort Hall.

What the plaque says

Cote's Defile A French Canadian who came to southern Idaho in 1818, Joseph Cote found this valley while trapping beaver. Though he was thousands of miles from his Canadian base in Montreal, he had years of experience in Pacific Northwest exploration. With Michel Bourdon, who also discovered valleys near here, he had joined David Thompson's 1811 Columbia river explorers. Early trappers knew this valley as Cote's Defile because of his contribution to regional fur trade. 429 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by the Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Charcoal Kilns — steps away
• Gilmore — 12 mi
• Prehistoric Man — 16 mi