For thousands of years, bison sustained the Indians of the Plains and nearby regions. In what is now Montana, an ancient network of trails led the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and related tribes, whose territory once lay on both sides of the Continental Divide, into the prime bison country of the high plains in central and eastern Montana. The Nez Perce called this route through traditional Salish-Pend d'Oreille territory "Qoq'aalx 'Iskit!," meaning "Buffalo Road." The trail crossed the Continental Divide at a low pass the Salish called "Smitu Sxcucs.i," or Indian Fort Pass, where warriors sat in small stone structures to watch for approaching Blackfeet raiders. This landmark is known today as Lewis and Clark Pass. EuroAmerican invasion of the West led to the virtual extermination of the bison by 1883, bringing devastating impacts for many tribes, yet Indian people survived and still maintain an intimate relationship with these important cultural landscapes.