Hell’s Canyon and Nez Perce Country
“You’re kidding? The beach used to be right here?” That’s the reaction from most people when they learn that the west coast of the North American continent was once right here along what is today the Idaho border. The scientific detectives that discovered the adding on or accretion of exotic terranes from the South Pacific over hundreds of millions of years through the action of plate tectonics changed the long accepted static continental view. And here we were, right in the middle of it, in Hell’s Canyon!
The magnificent geologic story continues with the formation of the world’s largest basalt flows that then got scoured by ice age glacial floods, creating much of the landscape seen hereabouts today. Unbelievable! But that is now the accepted scientific theory.
Even Lewis and Clarks’ Corps of Discovery would have marveled at these same landscape features when they arrived here in Nez Perce country 205 years ago this month. After considering whether to aid or raid the whites who came from the east, the Nez Perce decided to lend what turned out to be life and expedition saving assistance to the Corps. Their gracious selflessness, guiding Lewis and Clark down the Snake to the Columbia River, was rewarded badly in the years to come and their investment did not yield returns from the trade that the “great white father” Jefferson had promised by the word of his expedition leaders, Lewis and Clark.
Some of us explored Hell’s Canyon by jet boat. The high speed craft whisked them away from our dock at Clarkston, WA into the wilderness of the canyon carved by the river through steep walls of basalt and exotic terranes pushed up against the North American plate so long ago. On their way, in addition to spectacular scenery, they also observed some of the local wildlife including bighorn sheep, wild turkey, osprey, great blue heron and mule deer; and that most elusive of creatures: the salmon catching Homo sapiens. Both male and female of the species were observed; and although the fish were biting only intermittently today the boat- borne and wader-clad fisherpersons persisted!
The rest of us set off with Miguel Inzunza and Lin Laughy on the trail of the Corps of Discovery in Nez Perce country. Visiting several sites important to Lewis and Clark aficionados (such as Canoe Camp, Long Camp, Treaty Camp and what is today the town of Kamiah) meant standing in the very spots that members of the Corps once had. It is a fulfillment of a mission for our history buffs. Even for the neophytes, our very special local historical guides helped to bring this great American story of Lewis and Clark to life. And, an especially dramatic presentation of a native oral history was provided at a site called the Heart of the Monster.
The day concluded with everyone visiting the Nez Perce Historical Park where we viewed native artifacts from the Spaulding Collection. We are now truly travelling in the wake of the Corps of Discovery and look forward to our exploration of the territory they traversed on their way to the shores of Pacific Ocean, now nearly 425 miles to the west.
