Bitterroot Valley - Homeland of the Selis - Montana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Since Coyote first prepared this place for human beings, the Bitterroot Valley has been the homeland of the Salish-speaking peoples of western Montana - the Qlispe (Kalispel or Pend d'Orielle) and their close relations and allies, the Selis (Bitterroot Salish or "Flathead"). Their tribal ways of life helped maintain the great abundances of this region for thousands of years. The Lolo area - called Tsmsmti, or No Salmon - has always been a favorite deer-hunting area. Bitterroot and camas were plentiful.

Tribal elders say that long ago, the Selis consisted of at least five large bands spread between here and the Yellowstone. Smallpox epidemics and war with rifle-armed Plains tribes led the Selis to concentrate within the Bitterroot. They continued bi-annual buffalo hunts east of the mountains.

In 1855, Tribal leaders and US officials signed the Hellgate Treaty, which designated the valley south of Lolo as a :Conditional" reservation. Elders still recall with bitterness and grief their forced removal to the Flathead Indian Reservation in 1891. Today, the Bitterroot Valley remains of great spiritual and material importance to the Selis, who continue to revisit and utilize their cherished homeland, the resting place of countless ancestors.

Describe the area and history: Bitterroot Valley

Visit Instructions:
Please describe your visit- The good, the bad & the ugly. :)

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/25/2023 Benchmark Blasterz visited it 08/31/2012 The_Simpsons visited it 10/08/2010 Volcanoguy visited it

View all visits/logs