...the story continues

Clark (portrayed by his direct descendant, Bud Clark) met with the elders at the village and attempted with the language differences to explain what his party was doing and ask if the Nez Perce (Niimiipuu) knew of a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

Food was shared with the hungry explorers. Dried salmon and camas was taken back to the remainder of the party. Unfortunately, the men were not used to this kind of food and many were sick after eating it. Knowles said part of the problem was that they did not know to only eat a few camas rather than a lot at a time.

One of the elders knew the route to the falls of the Columbia and drew a map on a hide with charcoal.

As a show of friendship Clark gave the tribe a flag which the party found flying on a pole when they returned to area next year.

The Nez Perce smoked the pipe with the explorers as a sign of friendship. The Indians fed the explorers and taught them to make canoes for the remainder of their trip to the Pacific. Knowles said the Nez Perce and the white people were good friends until the war of 1877.

Bob Anderson (left) of Raymond, Ohio, portrays his ancestor, George Shannon. On the right is Gary Bush portraying Toussaint Charbonneau who acted as one of the guides for the Lewis and Clark party.

Gary Bush, Lewiston, (left) portraying Toussaint Charbonneau. He took time to talk with Jeff Sayre from U.S. Senator Larry Craig's staff.