Aided by six Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) guides, the Lewis and Clark Expedition moved quickly across the Lolo Trail in June 1806 despite snow nearly seven feet deep on most of the trail. Smoking Place was an important part of the mountain route to the Nimigpuu, and the mountains were sacred to the Tittokan, who had long used them as places to pray, reflect, and feel closer to the Creator. The guides' request to stop and smoke a pipe with Lewis and Clark showed the significance of this elevated point. On June 27, 1806, William Clark wrote that the party halted at the guides' request on an elevated point where Native people had raised a conic mound of stones six to eight feet high and erected a pine pole fifteen feet long, and from there they saw an extensive view of stupendous mountains, principally covered with snow, surrounding them on every side. Clark doubted that without the assistance of their guides they could have found their way to Travelers Rest, praising those Indians as admirable pilots who found the road where the snow had disappeared even for only a few paces. In September 2001, this Nimigpuu sacred site was desecrated by the removal of three rock cairns, and its protection remained an urgent need.