Old Toby
Old Toby was a Lemhi Shoshone elder who served as the expedition's guide over the treacherous Bitterroot Mountains and the Lolo Trail in September 1805, one of the most physically demanding segments of the entire journey. He was hired through Cameahwait and guided the Corps across Lemhi Pass and through the mountain wilderness. At one point Old Toby took a wrong turn that cost the expedition a day of travel. He left the expedition abruptly when they reached the Nez Perce villages, departing without collecting his pay — possibly because he was afraid of the Nez Perce or simply eager to return home before winter.
Biography
“Old Toby” was the name given by the expedition to a Lemhi Shoshone elder who guided them from the Lemhi Valley over the Bitterroot Mountains. He and his son joined the expedition at the Shoshone camp and led them northward to the Lolo Trail.
Old Toby’s guidance was invaluable, though not infallible. At one point during the mountain crossing, he took a wrong turn that cost the expedition a day’s travel. The mistake led the party into particularly difficult terrain but was ultimately corrected.
Old Toby and his son left the expedition abruptly when they reached Nez Perce territory, departing without collecting the payment the captains had promised. Clark believed they were frightened by the Nez Perce, with whom the Shoshone had an uneasy relationship. The captains regretted not being able to compensate Old Toby for his services.
Related Locations
Tent of Many Voices (1)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss Old Toby — showing 7 of the most recent matches.
Old Toby: The Shoshone Guide Through the Bitterroots
Old Toby, the Shoshone guide hired by Lewis and Clark, led the Corps of Discovery across the most treacherous leg of their…
Five Canoes and a Camp of Sick Men: Divergent Views from the Clearwater
On the Clearwater River, Ordway, Gass, and Clark record the same day with strikingly different emphases — canoe-building labor, dietary illness, and…
Snow on the Lolo Trail: Two Sergeants, Two Mountains
On September 16, 1805, Sergeants John Ordway and Patrick Gass record the same brutal day in the Bitterroots — yet their journals…
Colt Killed Creek: Hunger and Hard Crossings on the Bitterroot Divide
Four narrators record the same brutal day on the Lolo Trail — empty meat bags, steep mountains, abandoned salmon weirs, and a…
Boiling Springs and a Lost Horse: Four Accounts from the Bitterroot Crossing
On a cloudy September day along the Lolo Trail, four expedition journalists record the same hot springs, the same lost horse, and…
Dismal Swamp: Four Voices on the Worst Road Ever Travelled
On September 2, 1805, the Corps of Discovery left the known trail and forced their horses up an untracked creek. Four narrators…
Two Camps, One Day: The Split Record of August 22, 1805
While Lewis bargained for horses at Camp Fortunate and Drouillard's robbery-turned-restitution unfolded in the Cove, Clark was twenty-odd miles downriver scrambling over…
