Ted. Just outside Missoula, the Bitterroot River empties into the Clark Fork River. Only about 80 miles long, the Bitterroot Valley has been a gathering place for indigenous tribes for centuries due to the abundance of bitterroot plants, which grow here. An important source of food back then, its humble blossom is now the state flower. Lewis & Clark travelled the length of the valley and dubbed a favorite campsite “Travelers Rest.” In 1841, a Jesuit priest arrived in the valley at the invitation of the local Salish Indians. The mission, which he named after St Mary, was the first permanent “white” settlement in Montana.
Nowadays, it is possible to fly south (up the valley) at 70 mph on US route 93 and in less than an hour reach Hamilton where Blodgett Creek enters the Bitterroot River. Yesterday, Judy and I chose to walk along the creek a little ways up into the Bitterroot Mountains to explore one of the canyons carved out by glaciers millennia ago.
We felt like we were in church. We don’t know what the Salish people called Blodgett Canyon but with these majestic 2,000 foot high cliffs it had to be considered a sacred place. As one picture is worth a thousand words, here are 10,000 words…
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