NATIVE AMERICANS

Prior to the arrival of Lewis & Clark in 1805, the Shoshone Indians inhabited the country near the present-day city of Salmon, Idaho. It was a band of Lemhi-Shoshoni that met Lewis & Clark when they crossed the continental divide at Lemhi Pass. Sacagawea had been a member of this tribe. She was kidnapped by the Hidatsa and sold to the French trapper Charbonneau. Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau in present day North Dakota, and he brought his wife along with him. That's why Sacagawea was able to help guide the Expedition as they got closer to the Salmon River country.

Archeological excavations suggest that prehistoric ancestors of the Shoshone and Nez Perce lived in the Salmon River canyon 9000 years ago.