Along the Clearwater River
History came alive for us today as we challenged our fellow travelers to see who could be the first to start a fire. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here so let’s start at the beginning of our day of travel in Idaho. We boarded two motor coaches that met us dockside in Clarkston, Washington this morning and with the flowing narrative provided by Lin Laughy, Ray Blossom and Dr. Andrew Gulliford, the perspective with which we looked upon the Clearwater River changed.
We focused on the rocks exposed in the shallow waters, recognizing them as the dangerous obstacles, which one hundred and ninety eight years ago nearly sunk one of the Corps of Discovery’s newly hewn canoes, as well as sending several of the parties members into the cold, fast moving waters. The few sandy beaches, as mentioned in the journals, were temporary refuges to patch the damage to the canoes and dry out for the umpteenth time the perpetually soaked provisions. The ponderosa pines along the river where the material at hand for making the five canoes, as well as a source of pitch, for the canoes subsequent repairs.
We stopped at Long Camp, this site is shown in the top photo, a beautiful place along the river where we could easily imagine the five canoes coming around the bend and floating by.
From the clearing of Treaty Camp we could see the ridge where Clark would have accessed the Camp. We were also treated to a clear view of a Great-blue heron flying over us followed by a sighting of a Golden Eagle soaring along the basaltic cliffs. Cottonwood trees in the background gave evidence of a spring that was mentioned in the journals to exist at this site.
After a delightful lunch we visited the “Heart of the Monster.” At this site we listened with rapt attention to the telling of the tale of Coyote and his role in the creation of the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce people.
We visited an overlook where a number of items were laid out for our examination including hand made twine and a variety implements for fire starting. Our demonstrators, Jim and Carol, assisted us in making our own cordage using cattail fibers. We worked as partners, following instructions to twist to the right and wrap to the left. Some of our rather professional looking results are shown in the lower photo. This is also where the art of fire starting was demonstrated. Using a stone, char cloth, a striking steel and a ball of moss, three of our fellow travelers were challenged to see who could be the first to ignite their ball of moss into flames, where it would then burn a string in half that was stretched above the safety net of a metal pan. Amongst cheers and encouragement from the rest of us, our temporary survivalists all ignited their moss bundles.
Our next riverside visit was to Canoe Camp. The five dugout canoes were cut and built along this stretch of river. The journals attest to the gastronomic discomfort the men experienced as they labored to ready the canoes while suffering from the effects of a diet of dried salmon and camas roots.
Our final visit was to the Nez Perce National Historical Park. Here we took a narrated walk in the moccasins of a Nez Perce child as Judy, our interpretive ranger, guided us through a collection of artifacts of daily living as well as special occasion finery including dresses adorned with intricate beadwork, shirts with fine quilling and colorful woven basketry.
It was a full day and a productive day in gaining a broader perspective of the history, the people and the land along the Clearwater Valley.
