In the Time of Contact

In the Time of Contact. . , With the arrival of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805, the Columbia River Plateau became a region of national importance. In the vicinity of Crow Butte, the expedition encountered and documented densely populated winter villages along both shores of the Columbia and on its islands., The Corps made nearly daily visits to native villages and noted the salmon harvest underway, "large camps of Indians and Scaffels of abundance of sammon." On October 20th, they encountered a bad rapid near today's Crow Butte. They ate ducks for supper that night with barely enough fuel to cook them., While there, they attempted to count "souls" and recorded 44 lodges near present-day Crow Butte in October, 1805. Upon their return to this area in April, 1806, they counted 52 lodges and approximated "700 souls." This time, they identified the people as "Pish-quit-pahs," a possible rendering of the Sahaptin word, pšxúwitpa, meaning "at or near the sagebrush area." They noted lodges covered in tule mats woven with dogbane cordage. The seasonal round migration to the mountains likely accounted for the differing numbers they witnessed in the fall versus the following spring., Explorers who came after Lewis and Clark established the fort system and fur trade, creating a new economy on the landscape. Missionaries came as well, introducing new ideas of spirituality that were often adopted into tribal culture., A few decades later, the largest impact occurred with the arrival of the immigrants, who came in large numbers from the east to inhabit the tribal homelands or pass through to points west. They traveled mostly along the well-worn tribal trails that later became known as the Oregon Trail. At first, the immigrants often were guided by or traded with the native people, who helped them along their journey. Unfortunately, this contact introduced new diseases to the tribes and widespread death was the result. It was not long before the native people were competing for land and resources with these newcomers., Despite all this change, tribal peoples endured and continued to live as they had always, fishing and trading with neighboring tribes along Nčí Wána while adopting new elements into their culture, such as the English language and trade goods. They continued to live according to the laws of the land, the land that the Creator provided., (Photo captions) , This hand-drawn map by William Clark records the area around Crow Butte, noting the expedition's outbound and return campsites of October 20th, 1805 and April 25th, 1806 from William Clark's elkskin-bound journal (courtesy Missouri History Museum)., Jefferson peace and friendship medals and Washington season medals were distributed to tribal leaders encountered by Lewis and Clark on their 1805-1806 journey (courtesy Tamástslikt Cultural Institute)., Lewis' and Clark's Corps of Northwestern Discovery greets the native people in this 1897 painting by Charles M. Russell, "Captain William Clark Meeting with the Indians of the Northwest" (courtesy www.charlesmarionrussell.org).