Marie Dorion

She was Ioway, the "Iowa Indian" of the sign, the only woman on Hunt's overland journey, and she had already buried a child on it: on December 30, 1811, near present-day North Powder, Oregon, she gave birth to a third baby, who died nine days later. Her husband, Pierre Dorion Jr., was among the men killed in 1814. She married twice more, was among the first settlers of Oregon's French Prairie in 1841, and died at St. Louis, Oregon, in 1850. Buried inside the log church there, her grave was forgotten until its French records were translated.

What the plaque says

Marie Dorion An Iowa Indian who came through here with Wilson Price Hunt's fur trappers in 1811, Marie Dorion spent an incredible winter in this region in 1814. She and her two infant children were sole survivors of a mid-January Bannock Indian clash at John Reid's fur trade post 6 miles west of here. So they had to set out with two horses on a 200-mile retreat through deep mountain snow. Finally a Columbia River band of Walla Walla Indians rescued them in April. 78 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Old Fort Boise — steps away
• Lower Boise — 7.7 mi
• Emigrant Crossing — 14 mi
• New Plymouth — 14 mi