Travelers' Rest State Park: Storied location was former hub of western Montana

In 1999, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Montana’s Travelers’ Rest as one of the 11 most endangered historic places in the nation. In 2017, the National Trust released a list of “success stories” from the 30 years of the Endangered List; Travelers’ Rest is one of those successes. Now the heart of the area has been preserved. Travelers’ Rest State Park, located west of Highway 93 a short distance south of the town of Lolo and about three-quarters of a mile up Lolo Creek along Highway 12, is owned by the State of Montana. Since its founding in 2001, the park has grown from the original 15 acre-donation to more than 60 acres in size, complete with a park visitor center and museum to interpret not only the Lewis and Clark history of the site, but the periods before and after the famous explorers stopped at Travelers’ Rest.

Lewis's Journal entry of Sept. 9, 1805, reads, "Set out at 7 A M. this morning and proceeded down the Flathead (Bitterroot) river leaving it on our left, the country in the valley of the this river is generally a prairie and from five to 6 miles wide," continuing downriver and eventually crossing to the west side "encamped on a large creek (Lolo Creek) which falls in on the West as our guide informs us that we should leave the river at this place and the weather appearing settled and fair I determined to hault the next day to rest the horses and take some celestial Observations. We called this Creek 'Travellers rest'."

In the early 1960s, believing that Lewis and Clark's campsite was located at the confluence of the Bitterroot River and Lolo Creek, the National Park Service declared it a National Historic Landmark. In the mid-1990s, an independent researcher, Bob Bergantino of Montana Tech in Butte, made corrections to the astronomical readings of Lewis and pinpointed the current, farther west location. Recent findings, oral history, the journal entries and common sense are ample proof in favor of the creek site being their camp. The Corps had been traveling on horses and would have avoided the brush and rough surface of the river bottoms. Also, they were following a well-used Indian trail (through the Bitterroot Valley) that oral history maintains stayed up on the benches above the river channel. Clark’s map clearly shows the trail being about in the location of modern-day U.S. Highway 93.

Facts alone indicate they wouldn't have encountered the mix of Lolo Creek and the Bitterroot but rather the east-west orientation of Lolo Creek a bit up from where it meets the Bitterroot and most likely the intersection of the trail across the mountains.

A unique research project in 2001 and 2002 validated the campsite location. Since this was a military expedition, the camps were set up in keeping with a military manual of the time. Using this layout aided the search for physical evidence of Lewis and Clark’s use of the site. The explorer's central fire used for cooking, the making of ammunition and gunsmithing was identified along the banks of a former channel of Lolo Creek. And there were likely three cook fires. The investigation verified two, with a third fire hearth that was unable to be verified.

Cracked rocks show an intense fire had burned in this spot at one time; high heat would have been needed to prepare the lead. A spent lead ball, circa 200 years old, was found nearby and melted lead was uncovered inside the pit. Through a process of lead isotope analysis, the lead was determined to have likely come from the Olive Hill region of Kentucky, where lead was being mined in the late 18th century. Passages from Lewis’s journal show that gunsmithing took place at Travelers’ Rest during the stop in 1806. Also, charcoal from the fires was subjected to Carbon 14 analysis, and was found to come from the Lewis and Clark era. It is almost certain that the Corps had to manufacture more ammunition, especially in 1806, as they were about to split up.

About 100 yards away from the front line of the camp (in accordance with the military manual), the latrine trench was unearthed. Six inches into the trench, archeologists uncovered a length of gray organic matter. Mercury was found at the bottom of this layer and being an inert substance, would have settled to the bottom of the trench. The excavation went down 18 inches and under the organic material ordinary soil was in place. This is the most telling evidence of the expedition’s presence. Members of the expedition had been taking Dr. Rush's pills, an instant purgative containing 60% mercury. It is known from the journals that at least two expedition members were treated with Rush’s medication during the 1806 pause at Travelers' Rest, and at this point of the journey it would have been in the systems of the men who had been using the treatment prior to reaching this camp. After review by historians, scientists, military experts and others, the National Park Service moved the boundaries of the National Historic Landmark to the current park site in 2006. What is in position now, and what is planned for the future, will put this historic major trail crossroads into the full light it deserves. A Native American culture was flourishing here well before the Corps discovered the site for white society. Infrared testing has found numerous tipi rings near the junction of the Lolo and Bitterroot Valley trails.

Located in the homeland of the Bitterroot Salish (Selis), this area was a crossroads where the Salish welcomed many people, including their relatives the Pend d’Oreille (Qlispe) and their allies the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) and Shoshone.

And to the Salish, the Bitterroot is still a revered homeland. The Native’s side of the story, as well as the explorers' experiences, makes for a fascinating and integral part of Montana’s past. Montana State Parks and their nonprofit partner, Travelers’ Rest Connection, embrace that multi-cultural history, using Native voices to help tell the Native history of the area through exhibits, programming and consultation.

About 1850, "Travellers rest Creek" became known as Lolo Creek. According to retired manager Loren Flynn’s research, the creek on the east side of the mountains was known as the Lou-Lou Fork. The was also a creek on the west side named LoLo, whose origins is likely a word in the Chinook trade jargon. Speculation is that later the creeks were both named Lolo by someone who assumed that LoLo and Lou Lou were from the same origin.

And the onerous path the Corps was about to embark on, used for generations by Indians (principally the Nez Perce) on their way to hunt buffalo on the east side of the mountains, and said to be passable only with the knowledge of those who had been shown the way before, was first called the Nee Mee Poo (the Nez Perce's name for themselves) or Nez Perce Trail, then Lolo Trail.

Nez Perce would travel east on this trail to hunt bison. The Salish took the trail to the west for salmon. The Salish name for the trail west of Travelers’ Rest is Naptnišá, which translates as “Road to the Nez Perce”

Indeed, Travelers' Rest State Park interprets the times gone by of a region, once considered a hub of western Montana. An interpretive trail leads from the park visitor center across Lolo Creek to the historic campsite. Two nature trails passthrough a rich riparian area that is home to a variety of wildlife, including more than 130 species of birds documented on site. The visitor center adds to the experience, providing permanent and rotating exhibits related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the archeology of the site, and the life of the Salish people. A professional staff and a diverse cadre of knowledgeable volunteers collaborate with organizations like the Selis Qlispe Culture Committee and the Lewis & Clark Trail Alliance to provide in-depth information of the site and surrounding area.

Travelers’ Rest State Park welcomes more than 70,000 visitors each year, including 2,000 school children on field trips. Learn more about the park and its programs at travelersres.org.

Editor's note: The University of Montana's Office of Research & Creative Scholarship along with the Davidson Honors College have produced a series of stories called the "This Is Montana Community Vitality Program." In partnership with the program, Lee Newspapers will be regularly running their Treasure State treasure trove of stories.