The Riddle of Hungery Creek
Lewis and Clark Trail in Idaho
Contributed by Steve F. Russell
Fascination with the route and camping places of Lewis and Clark has remained strong for more than 100 years. With the approaching bicentennial of the Corps of Discovery, this interest is only intensifying. What is more, increasing numbers of people are interested in following the route themselves-not always a wise idea, as is certainly the case with the area described here.
This is the first in a series of articles that Steve Russell is preparing on his research of the route and camping sites as the Corps of Discovery crossed the mountains from the Missouri River basin to the Columbia River basin. Their passage through Hungery Creek and Fish Creek took them across what is now the Clearwater National Forest of north-central Idaho. They came through the area four times, once in 1805 and three times in 1806. The documentation of their various journals leaves us with a wealth of clues as to the route they followed, although William Clark’s maps for this area are of limited value because of their topographic distortion.
Idaho Yesterdays, The Journal of the Idaho State Historical Society, Volume 44 No. 1, Spring 2000, pages 19-31.