Kamiah Valley Historical Museum

06/16/2026

06/16/2026

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06/10/2026

06/09/2026

In honor of the 220th Anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery's Long Camp in the Kamiah Valley; join the Kamiah Valley Historical Society as they take us back in time. Listen to presenters talk about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and their trek over the Bitterroot Mountains into the Weippe Prairie and on into the Kamiah Valley

06/09/2026

220 Years Ago Today: “The road too bad and the snow too deep to cross; so we are obliged to remain where we are sometime longer”

On this day in history, Lewis and Clark were still at Long Camp in Kamiah. Their hunters continued to have good luck and “In the afternoon four hunters came in with the meat of five more deer, and a bear.” Their close relationship with the Nez Perce continued, with Clark providing continued medical care for Nez Perce Tribe leaders and members of the party trading for first foods at Kooskia.

The bulk of their journals, however, were filled with scientific observations of the unique plant specimens of the west. Lewis described rhizomatic species, types of grass, rye, and berries. He evaluated their use as forage for horses and seemed genuinely excited when he noted that one species “affords an excellent paterage for horses and appears to bear the frost and snow better than any grass in our country; I therefore regrete very much that the Seed will not be ripe before our probable departure. this is a fine Soft grass and would no doubt make excellent hay if cultivated.”

One interesting aspect of their party’s journals is the optimism Lewis expressed in seeing that “the river falls in course of the day and rises Some at night….this most probably is the melding of the Snows dureing the day.” Clearly he was thinking about how soon he could cross the Bitterroot Mountains. Yet his journal fails to note the testimony of Patrick Gass’s journal which mentioned that “An Indian came with [the hunters] who had been part of the way over the mountains; but found the road too bad and the snow too deep to cross; so we are obliged to remain where we are sometime longer.”

Did Lewis and Clark not know about this visitor? Or were they engaged in self-motivated thinking as they longed to return home after years on the road?

Stay tuned for more coverage of this historic moment in local and national history!

06/09/2026

220 Years Ago Today: “after dark we had the violin played and danced for the amusement of ourselves and the indians.”

By this point in their time in the Clearwater Valley, Lewis and Clark’s party had become increasingly reliant on the wisdom, skills, and talents of the Nez Perce Tribe. Their diaries for this day also demonstrate how much the Corps of Discovery enjoyed the company of their friends in the Tribe. The previous day’s journals mentioned that “Some of the natives again came to visit us, one of whom [8] gave a horse to one of our men, who is very fond of conversing with them and of learning their language” and other entries include Nez Perce vocabulary and personal opinions on favorite types of Nez Perce cuisine, suggesting an increasing level of respect and cultural sharing.

Over the course of the day, Clark continued the intensive medical cure he was providing to an unnamed paralyzed Nez Perce leader, which consisted of sweat baths, cold plunges, poultices, and medicine and which eventually improved his patient’s health. As the day progressed, “The Cutnose (the English translation of Nez Perce) visited us today with ten or twelve warriors…whom we have not previously seen.” Despite this prior familiarity the Corps of Discovery traded horses and tomahawks with their visitors and enlisted members of the Tribe “joined and got our canoe out which was sunk.”
Lewis and Clark also gathered intelligence from their visitors who told them “that we could not cross the mountains untill the full of the next moon, or about the 1st of July. if we attempted it Sooner our horses would be three days without eateing, on the top of the Mountns. this information is disagreeable to us, in as much as it admits of Some doubt, as to the time most proper for us to Set out. at all events we Shall Set out at or about the time which the indians Seem to be generally agreed would be the most proper.”

With the day’s work over, it was time for fun and games: “ several foot rarces were run this evening between the indians and our men. the indians are very active; one of them proved as fleet as 〈our best runner〉 Drewer and R. Fields, our swiftest runners. when the racing was over the men divided themselves into two parties and played prison base [a tag-like game which is our illustration for this post], by way of exercise.” When it got too dark for physical exercise: “ after dark the fiddle was played and the party amused themselves in danceing.”

Unfortunately, the good times would not continue forever, even in the Nez Perce homeland, because: “We, however, mean to remove a short distance to where the hunting is better” in the high country, where fewer Nez Perce people could be found.

Stay tuned for more history as it happened from 220 years ago on our forests!