Meriwether Lewis Makes Contact

Lewis's advance party entered the valley below in search of the Lemhi Shoshone, whose horses the Expedition would need to cross the mountains. The first Indians Lewis saw fled before he could reach them, but he soon came upon three women. When Lewis had won their confidence with gifts, they agreed to take the explorers to their camp. Alerted by the Lemhis who had seen Lewis earlier, sixty warriors galloped up, expecting to find enemy raiders. But when the women showed them the gifts they had received, alarm turned to joy and the explorers were welcomed as honored guests.

Idaho · United States