Bitterroot Valley, Western Montana
The Bitterroot Valley, approximately 96 miles long and 20 miles
wide at mid-valley, was the ancestral home of the Salish
(Flathead) Indian tribe long before the white man ever set foot
in the valley. The Indians gathered and ate the starchy root of
the succulent Bitterroot plant. The small pink blossoms of this
plant prompted the naming of the Bitterroot River and
surrounding mountains and earned further prominence by becoming
the Montana State Flower. The first white men came to the valley
on September 4, 1805 when the Lewis & Clark expedition entered
the valley near Lost Trail Pass. Approaching the present day
location of Sula, the expedition met a party of Salish Indians.
Captain Clark wrote "These people received us friendly. I was
the first white man on the water of this river." The expedition
camped at Traveler's Rest at the mouth of Lolo Creek before
venturing over the Bitterroot Mountain Range on their way to the
Pacific.
In 1824 the Hudson Bay Company sent a party under the command of
Alexander Ross into the valley.
In 1842 Father Pierre, Jean DeSmet and 5 associates entered the
valley at the request of the Salish Indians. The St. Mary's
Mission and the first church in Montana were built in
Stevensville in 1845. Father Ravalli came to the Mission in
1845. He was the first doctor in the area and the county bears
his name today. Fort Owen, the first white settlement in Montana
was established at Stevensville in 1850. The Catholic priests
called the river "St. Mary's". However, the valley, river and
mountain range are now named after Montana's state flower, the
Bitterroot. The flower has a fleshy root and provided a steady
food supply for the Indians long ago.
Chief Joseph, 250-400 Nez Perce warriors and their families
passed through the valley in their futile flight to freedom in
Canada, in what is known as the Nez Perce Indian War of 1877.
Their attempt to maintain their freedom and avoid the
reservation was the only time the Nez Perce fought the whites.
Marcus Daly, one of Montana's famous copper kings, came to the
Bitterroot in 1888, lured by timber needed for his Butte mines
and our mild climate. He purchased 22,000 acres, established the
Bitterroot Stock Farm, and built the now famous Daly Mansion
east of Hamilton. In 1890 Daly brought James Hamilton & Robert
O'Hara from Minnesota to develop a planned community. The town
was named after Hamilton & O'Hara was the first mayor. Hamilton
was incorporated about 1894.
In 1891 Chief Charlo and the Salish Indians, who had befriended
the white settlers for 86 years now, were forced from their
ancestral home. They were one of the few tribes to never do
battle with the white man. In October of 1891, the Salish tribe
traveled 66 miles north of Stevensville and were settled on the
Flathead Reservation in the Jocko Valley north of Missoula. The
valley now belonged solely to the white settlers. The Salish
people still come to the valley on a religious pilgrimage to
visit the "Medicine Tree", an important religious symbol for
their people located along Hwy 93 south of Conner.