20. Lolo Pass
Updated: August 7, 2020
This Indian trail across the Bitterroot Mountains was used by western Indians to reach the eastern plains buffalo hunting grounds for centuries before Lewis and Clark arrived. The expedition found the trail through the cold, high ground difficult, rocky and steep. One of their horses fell 300 feet down a mountainside.
As the Indians had told them, there was no game. They were forced to eat candles, bear oil, horsemeat, and packaged "portable" soup they'd brought from the east. Almost the entire group became ill. In fact, they very nearly starved to death. After emerging from Lolo Pass, they began to construct canoes on September 27, after getting food from another native band.Updated: August 7, 2020