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Rotating views of
Lemhi Pass
Photos courtesy of Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest
and National Historic Landmarks collection
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In mid-August 1805, Lewis and three other members of the Corps
of Discovery had left the main group behind in search of native
inhabitants of the area, heading toward Beaverhead
Rock. On August 12, this small group came to Lemhi Pass, a
two-mile span stretching across the present-day border between
Montana and Idaho. Nestled among these mountains and bridging
the gap between the ranges of the Rockies, Lemhi Pass maintains
its unobtrusive, yet momentous, place in our nation's history.
As they ventured westward, the party came across some of the most
imposing landscapes that they had ever encountered--peaks upon
jagged peaks as far as the eye could see. The crossing of this
pass--the Continental Divide, a ridge extending North and South
along the Rocky Mountains' Beaverhead Range--would prove one of
the greatest achievements of Lewis and Clark's expedition to the
West Coast. The first Americans to do so, the crew officially
left United States territory, journeyed into disputed lands claimed
by various European powers and reaffirmed their desire to reach
the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and his men also came to the westernmost
reaches of the now less than mighty Missouri River. Writing in
his journal that day, Lewis recorded the significance of the area
and the event:
A
source of the Missouri River as discovered by Lewis and Clark
National Park Service photo, courtesy of the Jefferson
National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site |
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. . . the road took us to the most distant fountain of the
waters of the Mighty Missouri in surch of which we have spent
so many toilsome days and wristless nights. thus far I had accomplished
one of those great objects on which my mind has been unalterably
fixed for many years, judge then of the pleasure I felt in all[a]ying
my thirst with this pure and ice-cold water . here I halted a
few minutes and rested myself. two miles below McNeal had exultingly
stood with a foot on each side of this rivulet and thanked his
god that he had lived to bestride the mighty & heretofore deemed
endless Missouri. after refreshing ourselves we proceeded on to
the top of the dividing ridge from which I discovered immence
ranges of high mountains still to the West of us with their tops
partially covered with snow . . . here I first tasted the water
of the great Columbia river . . . (DeVoto 1997, 188-189)
The two groups of explorers reunited shortly after, camping
briefly at Traveler's Rest before continuing
on their westward journey.
Lemhi Pass, a National Historic Landmark, is located 12
miles east of Tendoy off ID 28, in Beaverhead and Salmon National
Forests, and marks the boundary between Idaho and Montana. The
Forest Service has signs at Lemhi Pass during the summer months,
to help tell the story of the pass. Please call 406-683-3900
or 208-768-2500, or visit the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest's website
for further information. You can also download
(in pdf) the Lemhi Pass National Historic Landmark nomination.
Lemhi Pass is the subject
of an online-lesson
plan produced by Teaching with Historic Places, a National
Register program that offers classroom-ready lesson plans on
properties listed in the National Register. To learn more, visit
the Teaching with Historic
Places home page.
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