Meeting the Flathead Salish

In the Bitterroot Valley at a place called Ross’s Hole, the expedition encountered the Flathead Salish — a meeting that proved crucial for the difficult mountain crossing ahead.

“Those people received us friendly, threw white robes over our Shoulders and smoked in the pipes of peace.”

The Salish generously traded horses with the expedition and shared information about the route ahead through the Bitterroot Mountains. Private Joseph Whitehouse noted that their language contained sounds “as if they had an Impediment in their Speech or a brogue on their Tongue.”

The Salish oral tradition preserves their own account of this encounter — they had never before seen Euro-Americans and were fascinated by the strangers’ appearance and trade goods.