Lewis and Clark

The three Shoshoni were women, and they expected to die. On the morning of August 13 Lewis came on a young woman, an elderly woman and a girl out gathering food. The young woman ran; the other two sat and bowed their heads, as Lewis wrote, as if reconciled to die. He gave them beads, awls and mirrors and painted their cheeks with vermilion, which Sacagawea had told the captains meant peace. They led him toward their camp, and within two miles some sixty mounted warriors under Cameahwait rode up at full speed. Lewis handed the chief the flag.

What the plaque says

Lewis and Clark After crossing through Lemhi Pass, 12 miles east of here, Lewis unfurled the American flag for the first time west of the Rockies. Meriwether Lewis met with 3 Shoshoni Indians near here on August 13, 1805. "....leaving my pack and rifle I took the flag which I unfurled and advanced toward them", Lewis reported. The Warm Springs road leads to a marker at the site, about 8 miles from here. 325 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lemhi Pass — 9.7 mi
  Lewis walked up a Shoshone road looking for the Pacific and saw only more mountains.
• Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural and Educational Center — 18 mi
  In the valley where she was born, a center that spells her name the way many of her people say it.

More markers nearby

• Fort Lemhi — 1.7 mi
• MacDonald's Battle — 4.3 mi
• Lewis and Clark — 6.6 mi
• Sacajawea — 6.6 mi