Travelers Rest State Park

By Rich Aarstad, Montana State Historical Society Lewis and Clark Historian

Print

For the 33 members of the "Corps of Discovery," their camp Sept. 9, 1805 provided them a place to rest—a sanctuary along “ a fine bould clear running stream ” that Meriwether Lewis dubbed “Travellers rest.”   Here they left the valley and ascended the Bitterroot Mountains, the final range separating them from their ultimate goal—the Pacific Ocean.

            Not quite one year later, on June 30, 1806, they descended the Bitterroot Mountains and once again camped at the Travelers Rest site along the banks of Lolo Creek.   Lewis’s journal entry for that date calmly mentions the party’s descent from the mountains; that his horse slipped off the trail and his own fall 40 feet down the hillside. He also records his meeting “with a plant in blume which is sometimes called the lady’s slipper or mockerson flower; ” and reflections on the coming separation of the party to all hopefully meet again at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.

            William Clark’s journal entry is not as sanguine.   “Descended the mountain to Travellers rest leaving those tremendious mountanes behind us—in passing of which we have experiensed Cold and hunger of which I shall ever remember.”  

There is a vehemence in his words that resonates to this day.   The mountains were not a good memory for the members of the Corps of Discovery.

            Those who follow portions of the Lewis and Clark trail realize that Traveler’s Rest remains a place to stop to take a collective breath. This new State Park is a physical remnant of Lewis and Clark’s journey and marks the path of many ancient travelers before them.   It speaks to us of journey’s past and present.   It’s physical features reach down through the centuries to remind travelers today of the sweetness of much needed rest and refreshment; the life-sustaining nature of forage for trail-weary horses; and the promise of a journey nearing completion.  

            Traveler’s Rest State Park reminds all travelers there is a time in every journey to pause, rest, recuperate, and gather yourself for the next push.