Low mounds and depression in the ground here give only the faintest impression of villages that stood on both banks of the river. These are the remains of pit houses, built 1,500 to 2,000 years ago. Imagine the scene then: people spearing fish, women drying salmon on wooden racks, and hunters returning with fresh game.
For thousands of years ancestors of today's Nez Perce lived a life of bounty here. Winters in the canyon were relatively mild, and the vegetation attracted elk, deer, black bear, and grouse. At the time of the 1803-1806 Lewis and Clark expedition, the Nez Perce were living in lodges made from hides or tule mats. The expedition saw remains of abandoned pit houses.
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