Lewis and Clark

The village Clark walked into was nearly empty of men. By signs, the man who led him in explained that the lodge's great chief had left three days earlier with the warriors to make war to the southwest; the few men left were old, and the women who gathered around Clark were afraid. The next day one man drew him a chart of the river and the nations below it, with a falls beyond which white men lived. The roots and salmon went back with Reubin Field and one Nimiipuu man, and reached Lewis's party on September 22.

What the plaque says

Lewis and Clark Journeying toward the Clearwater, 6 men under Clark met the Nez Perce Indians not far from here, September 20, 1805. Clark first saw 3 frightened Indian boys, who hid in the grass. Finding two, he reassured them with small presents: and "Sent them forward to the village." The Indian people, though naturally somewhat nervous in greeting the first whites to reach their land, fed Clark's men. The next day, Clark "collected a horse load of roots & 3 Sammon" to send back to the main expedition. Quotations from the original journals of Lewis and Clark. 261 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Weippe Prairie — 2.2 mi
  Where the Nimiipuu decided what to do with Clark's starving men, and fed them camas until they were sick.
• Heart of the Monster — 12 mi
  Where the Nimiipuu say their story begins: Coyote, a monster, and the heart he tore loose, still on the Clearwater's bank.

More markers nearby

• Chinese Hanging — 9.2 mi
• Oro Fino City — 10 mi
• Gold Rush Ferry — 11 mi
• Pierce Courthouse — 11 mi