First Contact Between Two Cultures

After Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery emerged half starved from the Bitterroot Mountains, the first people they saw here on the prairie were three Nez Perce boys. The children were terrified because they had never seen white men. In the nearby village, the Nez Perce fed the expedition, guided them to the Clearwater River, and provided some assistance while they built canoes for the journey to the Pacific. The encounter was significant to both groups. From Lewis and Clark's journals, the world would learn that the Nez Perce were a friendly, resourceful people. For the Nez Perce, this was their first experience of a culture that would soon arrive in waves.

Idaho · United States