The Bitterroot Range is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

and a subrange of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

that runs along the border of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in the northwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The range spans an area of and is named after the

bitterroot Bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva'') is a small perennial herb in the family Montiaceae. Its specific epithet ("revived, reborn") refers to its ability to regenerate from dry and seemingly dead roots. The genus '' Lewisia'' was moved in 2009 fro ...

(''Lewisia rediviva''), a small pink flower that is the state flower of Montana.

History

In 1805, the Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis and

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...

and aided by Sacajawea of the Shoshone Native American tribe, crossed the Bitterroot Range several times. Lewis first crossed the mountains at Lemhi Pass on August 12, then returned across the pass to meet Clark. The entire expedition then crossed the pass to the Salmon River valley, and the next month entered the Bitterroot Valley from the south via either Lost Trail Pass or Chief Joseph Pass. It then crossed Lolo Pass to the west. The mountains were crossed by the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

(the "Milwaukee Road").

Ranges

According to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the Bitterroot Range runs from Pend Oreille Lake (near

Sandpoint, Idaho Sandpoint (Kutenai language: kamanqukuⱡ) is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho. Its population was 8,639 at the 2020 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, ...

) to

Monida Pass Monida Pass is a high mountain pass in the northern Rocky Mountains of the western United States, at an elevation of above sea level on Interstate 15, and on the Union Pacific Railroad. On the Continental Divide in the Bitterroot Range, it ...

,. It is sometimes considered to extend east of the Monida Pass to include the

Centennial Mountains The Centennial Mountains are the southernmost sub-range of the Bitterroot Range in the U.S. states of Idaho and Montana. The Centennial Mountains include the Western and Eastern Centennial Mountains. The range extends east from Monida Pass along ...

. The range comprises the following subranges (from north to south):

Coeur d'Alène Mountains

The Coeur d'Alène Mountains are the northwesternmost portion of the Bitterroot Range and encompass an area of . The mountain range's two highest peaks are the 7,352 foot (2,241 m)

Cherry Peak A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

and the 6,837 foot (2,084 m) Patricks Knob.

Saint Joe Mountains

The Saint Joe Mountains, the smallest named portion of the Bitterroot Range, encompass an area of 698 square miles (1,808 km²). They lie between the St. Joe River on the south, the

Coeur d'Alene River The Coeur d'Alene River flows from the Silver Valley into Lake Coeur d'Alene in the U.S. state of Idaho. The stream continues out of Lake Coeur d'Alene as the Spokane River. Before the Bunker Hill Smelter in the Kellogg area, which mined lead a ...

on the north, the Slate Creek saddle on the east and the plateau of the Moscow, Idaho/ Pullman, Washington area on the Idaho/

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

border.

Bitterroot Mountains

The Bitterroot Mountains, comprising the Northern and Central Bitterroot Ranges, are the largest portion of the Bitterroot Range and encompass an area of 4,862 square miles (12,593 km²). The mountains are bordered on the north by Lolo Creek, on the south by the Salmon River, on the east by the Bitterroot River and Valley, and on the west by the Selway and Lochsa Rivers. Its highest summit is Trapper Peak, at 10,157 feet (3,096 m).

Beaverhead Mountains

The Beaverhead Mountains encompass an area of 4,532 square miles (11,738 km²). They lie to the east of the Bitterroot Mountains and lie to the west of the Big Hole Basin and the Pioneer Mountains. Passes in the mountains include Lemhi Pass, Bannock Pass, Big Hole Pass, Big Hole Pass II, Junction Pass and

. The Beaverheads are further subdivided into the West Big Hole Mountains, the Big Hole Divide, the Tendoy Mountains, the Italian Peaks, and the Garfield Peaks.

Centennial Mountains

The Centennial Mountains encompass an area of 2,064 square miles (5,346 km²). The Centennials are home to

Brower's Spring Brower's Spring is a spring in the Centennial Mountains of Beaverhead County, Montana that was marked by a surveyor in 1888 as the ultimate headwaters of the Missouri River and thus the fourth longest river in the world, the Mississippi-Missour ...

, discovered in 1888 by Jacob V. Brower, which is believed to be the furthest point on the Missouri River. Brower published his finding in 1896 in "The Missouri: Its Utmost Source." The site of Brower's Spring is at about 8,800 feet (2,680 m) in elevation in the Centennials. The site is now commemorated by a rock cairn at the source of Hellroaring Creek, which flows into Red Rock River and then into Clark canyon reservoir, where it joins the

Beaverhead River The Beaverhead River is an approximately tributary of the Jefferson River in southwest Montana (east of the Continental Divide). It drains an area of roughly . The river's original headwaters, formed by the confluence of the Red Rock River and H ...

and then the

Big Hole River The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately long, in Beaverhead County, in southwestern Montana, United States. It is the last habitat in the contiguous United States for native fluvial Arctic grayling and is ...

, before ultimately joining with the

Jefferson River The Jefferson River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Montana. The Jefferson River and the Madison River form the official beginning of the Missouri at Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three F ...

Early history

The Bitterroot Mountains presented an unexpected, formidable obstacle to Lewis and Clark during their expedition westward, and ended their expectation of finding a "Northwest Passage" giving an easy connection from the Atlantic watershed to that of the Pacific.

In popular culture

* The Bitterroot Range is featured in the 2004 alternate history novel, '' Dies the Fire'', by S.M. Stirling.

References

External links

Perspective aerial image of the Bitterroot Range and the Bitterroot Valley
{{Authority control Ranges of the Rocky Mountains Mountain ranges of Idaho Mountain ranges of Montana Landforms of Mineral County, Montana