Lolo Pass,

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

, is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

, in the

Bitterroot Range The Bitterroot Range is a mountain range and a subrange of the Rocky Mountains that runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States. The range spans an area of and is named after the bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva' ...

of the northern

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 in ...

. It is on the border between the states 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 Columbi ...

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 Wyom ...

, approximately west-southwest of

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

, Montana. The pass is the highest point of the historic Lolo Trail, between the

Bitterroot Valley The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana, along the Bitterroot River between the Bitterroot Range and Sapphire Mountains, in the Northwestern United States. Geography The valley extends approximately from Lost Trail Pass in Id ...

in Montana and the

Weippe Prairie Weippe Prairie is a "beautiful upland prairie field of about nine by twenty miles of open farmland bordered by pine forests" at 3,000 feet elevation in Clearwater County, Idaho, at Weippe, Idaho. Camas flowers grow well there, and attracted ...

in Idaho. The trail, known as naptnišaqs, or "Nez Perce Trail" in

Salish Salish () may refer to: * Salish peoples, a group of First Nations/Native Americans ** Coast Salish peoples, several First Nations/Native American groups in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest ** Interior Salish peoples, several First Nat ...

, was used by

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

in the 18th century, and by the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

, guided by Old Toby of the

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

, on their westward snowbound journey in September 1805. After a winter at

Fort Clatsop Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805–1806. Located along the Lewis and Clark River at the north end of the Clatsop Plains approxim ...

in present-day northwestern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, the Corps of Discovery returned the following June. The Lolo Trail is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

, designated for its importance to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and its role in the 1877

Nez Perce War The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict in 1877 in the Western United States that pitted several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the ''Palus people, Palo ...

. The name of the pass is sometimes said to have been Salish version of the French name ''Laurence'' or ''Laurent'', but was probably a regular French nickname. The name Lolo was not used by Lewis and Clark. Its first known mention is in the 1810 journal of David Thompson, who described three fur trappers, probably of French descent, named Michael, Lolo, and Gregoire. The pass was also used in 1877 during the

as some of the Nez Perce under

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...

tried to escape the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. Shortly after crossing the pass, the two sides clashed at the

Battle of the Big Hole The Battle of the Big Hole was fought in Montana Territory, August 9–10, 1877, between the United States Army and the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans during the Nez Perce War. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Nez Perce withd ...

in Montana. U.S. Highway 12, belatedly completed in 1962, crosses the pass. At the August dedication ceremony at Lolo Pass attended by thousands, the states' governors, Bob Smylie of Idaho and

Tim Babcock Timothy Milford Babcock (October 27, 1919 – April 7, 2015) was an American politician, the 16th Governor of the state of Montana, from 1962 to 1969. Early life Babcock was born in Littlefork, Minnesota, the son of Olive (Rinehart) and Er ...

of Montana, cut through a ceremonial

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

log with a two-man

crosscut saw A crosscut saw (thwart saw) is any saw designed for cutting wood perpendicular to (across) the wood grain. Crosscut saws may be small or large, with small teeth close together for fine work like woodworking or large for coarse work like log b ...

. Lolo Hot Springs is east of the pass in Montana. The first limited services in Idaho are in Powell, to the west of the pass, then another to Lowell, at the confluence of the Lochsa and

Selway River Selway may refer to: *Selway (surname) *Selway National Forest, established in Idaho in 1911 from parts of Clearwater National Forest and Nez Perce National Forest *Selway River Selway may refer to: *Selway (surname) *Selway National Forest Selway ...

s to form the Middle Fork of the

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

. The primary city in Idaho served by U.S. 12 is Lewiston, west of the pass at the border with

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 ...

, where the Clearwater meets the

Snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

. On March 1, 2014, the

Idaho Department of Fish and Game The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is the Idaho state department which is responsible for preserving and managing Idaho's wildlife, including mammals, fish, birds, plants, and invertebrates. History The Idaho Department of Fish and Ga ...

announced that 23 wolves had been killed in the Lolo Pass area, in order to boost elk populations. File:Lolo Pass Apr 2008.jpg, Lolo Pass, Montana side, approaching summit, westbound Winter Road Montana.jpg, Entering Montana from Lolo Pass File:Lolo Pass Visitor's Center.jpg, Lolo Pass visitor center File:FEMA - 8293 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 08-18-2003 in Montana.jpg, Forest fire near Lolo Pass, 2003 File:Lochsa River.jpg,

's Lochsa River, west of Lolo Pass File:PackerMeadowscamas.JPG, Camas blooming at Packer Meadows, near Lolo Pass, Idaho

References

External links

National Park Service: Lolo Pass Visitor Center and Rest AreaIdaho Transportation Dept.
- webcam - Lolo Pass
Idaho Transportation Dept.
- roadside historical marker - Lolo Summit
Lolo Pass Visitor Information Center

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lolo Pass (Idaho-Montana) Landforms of Idaho County, Idaho Landforms of Missoula County, Montana Mountain passes of Idaho Mountain passes of Montana National Historic Landmarks in Idaho National Historic Landmarks in Montana Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Borders of Idaho Borders of Montana Mountains Ranges and Peaks in Missoula County, Montana Transportation in Missoula County, Montana Transportation in Idaho County, Idaho Clearwater National Forest National Register of Historic Places in Idaho County, Idaho National Register of Historic Places in Missoula County, Montana U.S. Route 12 Trails and roads in the American Old West Bitterroot Range

See also

References

External links