Editing Bitterroot Range (section)

== History ==
1805, the [[Corps of Discovery]], led by [[Meriwether Lewis]] and [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]] and aided by [[Sacajawea]] of the [[Shoshone]] 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 (Idaho)|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 (Idaho-Montana)|Lolo Pass]] to the west. In June 1806 the Corps of Discovery was then lead by 5 members of the [[Nez Perce|Nez Percé]] back across the Bitterroot Range, from west to east. The Bitterroots also presented a massive problem for the expedition, ending their hope of finding an all water Northwest Passage.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hallock |first=Thomas |date=1997 |title=Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/wal.1997.0020 |journal=Western American Literature |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=403–404 |doi=10.1353/wal.1997.0020 |issn=1948-7142|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The mountains were crossed by the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad]] (the "Milwaukee Road").<ref>Wood, Charles R. and Wood, Dorothy M., "Milwaukee Road West," (1972, Superior Publishing Co.).</ref>