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Up on top...
Just off the tram, I ungracefully maneuvered my way over some slick dirty snow and snapped this first photo.
A ten minute walk upwards brought me to this lovely vantage point.
Both surprised and delighted by lots of fresh snow...
A little further up, the view gets even better. Again, I am wondering how such a beautiful place is not on more people's radar.
Looking northeast at the Bitterroot mountains. Somewhere in there is Lolo pass which the half-starved Lewis and Clark expedition stumbled out of on their way to the Columbia river.
But that’s when Watkuweis spoke up and stopped her own warriors from killing the Lewis and Clark party. Her words were simple: “Do them no harm.” Why would Watkuweis care so much for a starving group of white explorers? It’s because she knew their generosity and compassion well. Like Sacagawea, she had also been captured as a youth, abused and traded among Indian tribes in Canada.
Eventually Watkuweis was purchased by a kind white fur trader who took her far away to the Great Lakes region. She was raised in a white community, learning white customs, manners and their Christianity. A white (Christian) family eventually helped her escape slavery and return to her Nez Perce home in the Rockies. Consequently, all her life, Watkuweis held a deep affection and gratitude for white people. For Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, this old Indian woman was their saving angel.
They would remain with the expedition in one way or another until 25 October 1805 where they said goodbye at Fort Rock at The Dalles. They would join once again on 23 April 1806 meeting a family of travelers at Rock Creek on the Columbia River. Their final day, 4 July 1806, was at present-day Missoula, Montana. The Nez Perce provided the expedition’s longest period of contact with any Native American Nation.
Wow, just wow...
A few steps later, I stumbled across these two lovers and just had to get a photo...
Clearly unimpressed with my interruption, I got the message and made my way back to the tram station.
On the way back down...
I took out my phone and filmed the following sequence:
My impression of the Wallowa Valley greatly exceeded all expectations. I will wrap up Day 9 by injecting Chief Joseph's famous and very sad speech here:
Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead; Ta Hool Hool Shute is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men [Olikut] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my Chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.
AND by suggesting an excellent book I picked up at the Lolo pass ranger station:
Just off the tram, I ungracefully maneuvered my way over some slick dirty snow and snapped this first photo.
A ten minute walk upwards brought me to this lovely vantage point.
Both surprised and delighted by lots of fresh snow...
Looking northeast at the Bitterroot mountains. Somewhere in there is Lolo pass which the half-starved Lewis and Clark expedition stumbled out of on their way to the Columbia river.
Her name was Watkuweis
She was an elderly Nez Perce woman who was present when the starving Lewis and Clark expedition stumbled down the backside of the Bitteroot mountains into the hands of her tribe. The entire expedition was nearly dead. Sick. Hungry. Weak. Desperate. The Nez Perce had never seen white men before and the younger braves wanted to kill them all. After all, the Corps were traveling with the latest in weaponry, plus caches of bullets, boxes of trading goods and other riches. A hostile takeover of the Corps’ goods would make the Nez Perce rich beyond measure.But that’s when Watkuweis spoke up and stopped her own warriors from killing the Lewis and Clark party. Her words were simple: “Do them no harm.” Why would Watkuweis care so much for a starving group of white explorers? It’s because she knew their generosity and compassion well. Like Sacagawea, she had also been captured as a youth, abused and traded among Indian tribes in Canada.
Eventually Watkuweis was purchased by a kind white fur trader who took her far away to the Great Lakes region. She was raised in a white community, learning white customs, manners and their Christianity. A white (Christian) family eventually helped her escape slavery and return to her Nez Perce home in the Rockies. Consequently, all her life, Watkuweis held a deep affection and gratitude for white people. For Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, this old Indian woman was their saving angel.
They would remain with the expedition in one way or another until 25 October 1805 where they said goodbye at Fort Rock at The Dalles. They would join once again on 23 April 1806 meeting a family of travelers at Rock Creek on the Columbia River. Their final day, 4 July 1806, was at present-day Missoula, Montana. The Nez Perce provided the expedition’s longest period of contact with any Native American Nation.
Wow, just wow...
A few steps later, I stumbled across these two lovers and just had to get a photo...
Clearly unimpressed with my interruption, I got the message and made my way back to the tram station.
On the way back down...
I took out my phone and filmed the following sequence:
My impression of the Wallowa Valley greatly exceeded all expectations. I will wrap up Day 9 by injecting Chief Joseph's famous and very sad speech here:
Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our Chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead; Ta Hool Hool Shute is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men [Olikut] is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my Chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.
AND by suggesting an excellent book I picked up at the Lolo pass ranger station:
