Indian Houses

Lenore has been dug for highways twice. Idaho State University excavated the village here in the 1960s ahead of road work, and the site went on the National Register in November 1974. In 2004 a University of Idaho crew working ahead of a US-12 passing lane found a hunting camp more than 10,000 years old, back from the river and out of the floodplain. It held no trace of fishing; the excavator found no fish or fishing tools on the Clearwater before about 6,000 years ago, and grinding stones showing plant use by about 8,000.

What the plaque says

Indian Houses Indians have lived here next to this good fishing hole for 10,000 years. As long as 3,000 years ago, they had large oval houses, 28 feet long by 24 feet wide. To build these houses, they put a bark and mat covering over a frame of 50 or so house posts. Four or more families lived in a house this size. From their village here by the river, they went out to hunt deer or to dig camas. They had to travel widely in their constant search for food. 316 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spalding — 13 mi
  The Nimiipuu went to St. Louis asking about a book. What came back was a mission, a printing press and a museum.

More markers nearby

• Slaterville — steps away
• Lenore Tram — 0.6 mi
• St. Joseph's Mission — 12 mi
• Railroad Tunnels — 12 mi