Rescued by the Nez Perce at Weippe Prairie

After emerging from the Bitterroot Mountains half-starved, Clark’s advance party stumbled onto the Weippe Prairie, where they encountered the Nez Perce (Chopunnish) people. This meeting likely saved the expedition.

“The Plains appeared covered with Spectators viewing the white men.”

The Nez Perce, led by Chief Twisted Hair, provided food — dried salmon and camas roots — though the sudden change in diet made many of the men violently ill. Nez Perce oral tradition records that a woman named Watkuweis, who had previously been treated kindly by Euro-Americans, urged her people not to harm the strangers.

The Nez Perce would become some of the expedition’s most important allies, caring for their horses while the Corps descended the Columbia by canoe and welcoming them warmly on the return journey.