Leadore Ranger District

The Leadore Ranger District has gone through many changes over the years, yet much of the area looks the way it did 100 years ago. While traveling the upper Lemhi Valley area it is easy to imagine the Indians hunting along the Lemhi River, or the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossing to the west of the "Great Divide", envision the freight wagons, heavy with supplies, slowly making their way to the mines of the area. This rural undeveloped area provides numerous opportunities to revisit and visualize the past.

Leadore Ranger District
176 North Railroad Street
P O Box 180
Leadore, Idaho 83464
Phone: 208-768-2500
FAX: 208-768-2502

Recreation

Continental Divide NST Trail - Leadore Segment

Nez Perce Ridge Trail

History

Sacajawea

Sacajawea is probably the most famous individual to come form Lemhi County. Without her presence, Lewis and Clark might never have accomplished their nearly impossible task of reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Sacajawea was a Lemhi Shoshone Indian, born around 1788, between Kenney Creek and Agency Creek, near Tendoy, Idaho. In the year 1800, the Lemhi Indians were camped near the three forks of the Missouri River in Montana. The Minnetaree Indians attacked them and several prisoners were taken, including Sacajawea. Between 1800 and 1804, the Minetaree Indian sold her and one other Lemhi Shoshone Indian to a French Canadian fur trader, Toussaint Charbonneau. In 1804, Charbonneau and his wife, Sacajawea, were hired by Lewis and Clark to guide and interpret on the expedition westward. Sacajawea gave birth to a son on February 11, 1805, and Charbonneau named him, Jean Baptiste. However, Sacajawea called him “Pomp” or “Pompy”. Her son held a loving spot in the heart of the members of the expedition and was a delight to them. Sacajawea proved invaluable to the explorers not only as an interpreter to the Shoshone, but for her knowledge of edible berries, roots and plants, which she collected and used for food and medicinal purposes for the benefit of the men on the expedition. Because of her presence, many Indian tribes befriended the expedition, as no woman and child ever accompanied a war party of Indians. Although much of the county covered by the group of explores was unfamiliar to Sacajawea, she was able to advise the captains about certain mountain passes in the Big Hole Divide and the Bridger Range. Lewis and Clark, and member of their party describe her as loyal, capable, patient and pleasant. In his journal, Captain Clark noted that she had been particularly useful among the Shoshone, and that she had borne the hardships of the long journey with admirable patience even though encumbered by an infant.

William Clark was very fond of Sacajawea's son, Jean Baptiste, and asked to take the child to raise him in a proper manner. It was agreed that after a year the boy would be old enough to leave his mother, and Charbonneau took “Pomp” to Captain Clark.

It was unclear what became of Sacajawea after the Lewis and Clark Expedition disbanded. John E. Rees claims that she lived in Wind River, Wyoming, until her death in 1884. However, statements by William Clark and trader John C. Letting make it clear that Sacajawea died on December 23, 1812, at Fort Manuel in South Dakota. Most scholars now accept Clark's notes on the cover of his “Cash Book”, and Luttig's note in his journal. “This evening the wife of Charbonneau died of putrid fever she was a good and the best woman on the fort, aged about 25 year. She left a fine infant girl.”

In the spring of 1813, the infant girl was taken to Captain Clark in T. Louis, after a massacre of white men at Fort Manuel. Clark believed that Charbonneau had been killed in the massacre and knew that Sacajawea was dead, so he legally adopted Jean Baptiste and the infant girl, Lisette. Historians believe that Lisette must have died soon after because no more was written about her. However, in 1816, Charbonneau did appear in St. Louis. He became a prominent guide for many westward expeditions. He died in 1843.

The Federal Government entered the Fort Manuel site into the National Register of Historic Places on February 8, 1978, in formal recognition of Sacajawea's death there.

The Mountain Shoshone or Sheepeater Indians

The Mountain Shoshone (Sheepeater Indians) are considered the first residents of the upper Lemhi Valley, dating back 8000 years or more. Some authorities believe the Shoshone were among the first Indians to have horses. They probably traded for them from their relatives the Comanches, about 1700. Horses gave the Indians mobility. They also afforded the Indians greater strength when hunting the bison and greater protection from their enemies. Archaeological research indicates that buffalo, when present, were hunted throughout the 8000 years of Indian occupancy of the Lemhi Valley.

The Mountain Shoshone were also great fishermen. It was their practice to build weirs and dams to catch the salmon. They shared their Salmon River fishing grounds with their neighbors, the Nez Perce from the north and the west, and the Flathead Indians from the Bitterroot Valley to the north. The Nez Perce and the Flathead Indians often came to the valley to fish and trade with the Shoshone. It is also believed that the Shoshone, Flathead and Nez Perce may have united, from time to time, to strengthen their hunting endeavors and to give themselves more protection against the Blood (Blackfeet) and other Plains tribes who considered their territory invaded by the Shoshone, Nez Perce and Flathead from the west.

By 1805 the Shoshone had about 700 horses, including some mules. Some of the mules had Spanish Brands, and Meriwether Lewis observed stirrups and other articles of Spanish tack (horse gear). The Shoshone told Lewis that they could reach the Spanish settlements in 10 days if they followed the Yellowstone River. However, the Shoshone complained that while the Spaniards let them have horses they would not give them guns. The lack of firearms left them at the mercy of the Plains Indians who had guns. The Lemhi Shoshone of 1805 fought on horseback and commonly used the bow and arrow, shield, lance and poggamoggon (a weapon with a leather-covered wood handle and a thong at one end tied to a 2-pound leather-covered round stone).

The Flathead and Nez Perce Indians were very well supplied with horses. Parker states, every man, woman and child are mounted on horseback, and all their possessions are packed upon horses. Small children, not more than three years old, are mounted alone, and generally upon colts. They are lashed upon the saddle to keep them from falling when they sleep, which they often do when they become fatigued. Then they recline upon the horses shoulders; and when they awake, lay hold of their whip, which is fastened to the wrist of their right hand, and apply it smartly to their horses; and it is astonishing to see how these little creatures will guide and run them.

In 1875, a reservation was established for a mixed band of about 700 Shoshone, Sheepeater, and Bannock Indians under the leadership of Chief Tendoy, a Lemhi Shoshone. The reservation consisted of approximately 160 square miles, of roughly the width of the Lemhi Valley from ridge to ridge from present day Tendoy, Idaho, south to a line near the Lemhi, Idaho, post office. The reservation proved to be impractical and in 1906, 474 Indians moved from the Lemhi Reservation to the Fort Hall Reservation.

Many of Chief Tendoy's group did not want to leave the Lemhi Valley and moved to Salmon. In May 1907, Chief Tendoy died. A funeral was held at the Indian burial ground on a bench near Tendoy, Idaho. Indian and white man alike revere Chief Tendoy as a capable leader and good friend. A monument was erected at his burial site and can be visited today.

Wildlife

The location of the Salmon-Challis National Forest as the northernmost Forest of the USDA-Forest Service's Intermountain Region places it within a unique wildlife area. Due to its location, it is a transition forest between the high desert and shrub/steppe habitats to the south and the coniferous forest habitats to the north. In such a geographic location, the District is home to wildlife species from both of these habitats.
 

 

 

 

Some of the wildlife species that call the Leadore District home include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big game animals:
elk, moose, white-tailed and mule deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, and pronghorn antelope

Mammalian predator species:
gray wolf, wolverine, American marten, Canada lynx, bobcat, and several species of bats

Game birds:
blue and spruce grouse, turkey, ring-necked pheasant, and sage grouse

Predator bird species:
bald eagle, goshawk, rough-legged hawk, and great gray owl

Neotropical migratory bird species:
mountain bluebird, vesper and Brewer's sparrow, pileated woodpecker, and yellow warbler

Reptiles:
rattlesnakes (are found only on portions of the District.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Idaho Trails Interactive Map - Idaho's Recreation Trail System