Native Travelers at Tmsmli
You are standing at the heart of a well-used campsite and gathering place used by people for thousands of years. Traveling along time-worn trails from the four directions, families, hunters and explorers came to rest here at the place the Salish people called Tmsmli, (the place of no salmon).
On these plains at the base of the Bitterroot Mountains, people camped, traded and strengthened important alliances with other tribes. Over the years, people from the Salish, Pend d'Oreille and Nez Perce Tribes came to appreciate Tmsmli for its plentiful game, edible and medicinal plants and as a place of sanctuary and friendship.
From here, people traveling west followed tree blazes and rock piles called cairns which were part of the well-worn trail the Salish call Naptnsisa, or the Road to the Nez Perce. Today this ancient route is known as the Nez Perce or Lolo Trail. Rock cairns continued east of here, marking the route known by the Nez Perce as the K'useyneisskit or the Road to the Buffalo.
Led by a Shoshone guide, the Expedition came to rest here on September 9, 1805. As they prepared to cross the Bitterroot Mountains, Meriwether Lewis name this place "Travellers (sic) rest. On June 30, 1806, the Corps of Discovery returned to this
important campsite and it was here the captains separated on July 3rd.
Comments 0 comments