A Vast Network of Indigenous Trails.

A Vast Network of Indigenous Trails.. . For millennia, the Blackfoot River corridor has been part of the homeland of the Salish and Pend d'Oreille people. They and visiting members of other tribes used a vast network of trails to criss-cross this region of great abundance -- rich in game, fish, roots and bulbs, berries, medicinal plants, paint, and countless other resources. , Long before the advent of modern highways, the Clearwater Junction area -- known in Salish as Čćnpá (pronounced Ch-tsin-pah -- the name of a prominent warrior) -- was also a junction in the Salish-Pend d'Oreille transportation system, From here, trails reached to the four directions. , To the east, the trail continued past the Ovando area, called Sntntnmsqá (Sin-tin-tin-im-skah -- Place Where A Person Tightens a Horse's Reins). From here, people crossed the Continental Divide via several passes to reach the buffalo-rich prairies of the Dearborn, Sun, and Missouri Rivers. , To the south trails traversed the hills to the Clark Fork River. , To the west, the trail continued down the confluence with the Clark Fork, called N?aycčstm (Jn-aye-ts-ch-sten -- Place of the Big Bull Trout), and places beyond. , And to the north, trails lead toward Placid Lake, called Čtáll?e (Chithl-qul-il-eh -- Referring to Dry Land Exposed when the Lake Recedes in Fall) and Seeley Lake, called Ept Ćixwćwt (Epthl Tsiwh-tsuwht -- Has Ospresy). , From the Seeley-Swan, trails led east to the Bob Marshall Wilderness, west toward the Jocko and Mission Valleys, and north to the mouth of the Swan River at Bigfork, called Nqeytkwm ( Jn-qeythl-kwum, Referring to the Sound of Falling Water). , These ancient trails and placenames and hundreds of others, continue to hold great importance to the Salish and Pend d'Oreille people today.