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With the falls of the Missouri River behind them, Lewis and Clark searched for Sacagawea’s people, the Shoshones — their best hope in crossing the Rocky Mountains. As they approached the mountains in what is now the state of Montana, Lewis noticed how the land’s ecology changed, making special note of the many berries that flourished this time of the year.
Movement along the river was slow. With the men now out of whiskey and unable to locate Shoshones, things didn’t look good. So, when Sacagawea recognized their path as part of her people’s summer lands, the men were heartened. They pressed on. At Three Forks, where the headwaters of the Missouri River come together, she recognized the Corps’ campsite as the very place where raiding Hidatsas once made her a prisoner. Still, it would be weeks before they would meet any Shoshones.
In that time, Lewis would catch his first glimpse of present-day Idaho and the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Mountains. He rejoiced in their beauty. Their staggering height — higher than anything he’d ever seen — dwarfed the Appalachians. It must have looked daunting.
Lewis and a small party met a few Shoshones mid-August that took them to Cameahwait, their leader. Surprisingly, Cameahwait was Sacagawea’s brother. How fortunate for Lewis and Clark! Cameahwait offered to help and told them of the Nez Percés, a tribe that often traveled over the mountains.
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In Their Own Words... |
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"The road was excessively dangerous … being a generally rocky path on the side of a steep precipice, from which in many places if either man or horse was precipitated they would inevitably be dashed in pieces."
~ Lewis, describing the route
over the Bitterroots | | People east knew nothing of the Shoshones, so Lewis wrote a lot about them. In fact, his writings are considered groundbreaking ethnography. He described their elaborate, often colorful clothing, the role of women and the importance they placed on bravery.
It was now September. With time slipping away, and winter on the way, the Corps set off across the Bitterroot Mountains with a Nez Percés guide named Old Toby. It was rough going. Old Toby once missed the trail, forcing the men to backtrack up steep slopes and sacrifice a colt for much-needed food. Hunger would pervade this leg of the journey. Eventually, Lewis and Clark split up, with Clark and a few men forging ahead in search of food.
In the end, the Corps of Discovery made it through the snowy Bitteroots, exhausted and hungry, to a Nez Percés village. Surely, they thought they were close to reaching the Pacific Ocean.
Next: To The Pacific Ocean | 
