Shoshone
The broader Shoshone nation encompassed multiple groups of Numic-speaking peoples spread across a vast territory from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Basin, including the Wind River Shoshone (Eastern) and various Northern Shoshone bands in present-day Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Lewis and Clark's planning relied heavily on the expectation that the Shoshone would possess the horses needed to cross the Continental Divide, a calculation that proved correct when they reached the Lemhi band in August 1805. The Shoshone had once ranged freely onto the northern Plains for bison hunting but had been pushed westward into the mountains by Blackfeet and Hidatsa raiders who possessed firearms obtained through the Canadian fur trade. The expedition's journals document Shoshone material culture, subsistence strategies in a challenging mountain environment, and the acute military disadvantage faced by peoples without access to Euro-American weaponry.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons via Lewis and Clark Reach Shoshone Camp
Most Mentioned in Shoshone-tagged Entries
People
- Drouillard (48)
- Capt. Lewis (44)
- Capt. Clark (31)
- Charbonneau (16)
- Nathaniel Pryor (14)
- Joseph Field (13)
- Colter (12)
- Shields (11)
- Cameahwait (10)
- Shannon (10)
Places
- Missouri River (48)
- Columbia River (33)
- Rocky Mountains (31)
- Snake River (23)
- Bitterroot River (9)
- Clearwater River (8)
- Fort Mandan (7)
- Jefferson River (7)
- St. Louis (6)
- Fort Clatsop (6)
Biography
The Shoshone (also known as the Snake Indians) occupied territory in the northern Rocky Mountains and the Snake River plains. The expedition’s encounter with the Lemhi Shoshone band in August 1805 was one of the journey’s most consequential events.
The captains knew they needed Shoshone horses to cross the Rocky Mountains — this was one reason they valued Sacagawea’s linguistic abilities. When Lewis finally made contact with Cameahwait’s band and Sacagawea discovered the chief was her brother, the diplomatic breakthrough ensured the expedition received the horses and guides they desperately needed.
The Shoshone were a horse-rich but gun-poor people, frequently raided by the better-armed Blackfeet and Hidatsa. They eagerly sought the trade relationship the expedition promised, though the hoped-for American trading posts were slow to materialize.
Territory & Encounter Locations
Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 5 months (Nov 11, 1804 → Apr 8, 1805). No journal entries during that window were explicitly tagged with this nation.
Treaties (10)
Tent of Many Voices (11)
41:55
62:42
38:39
49:59
46:09
32:09
45:11
51:15
3:17
48:15
49:52
Journal Entries (166)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss Shoshone — showing 24 of the most recent matches.
Four Rivers, Four Pens: The Divided Expedition Writes Itself
On a single July day in 1806, the split expedition produced four strikingly different journal entries. Lewis surveys distant peaks on the…
Two Camps, Two Worlds: Caching at the Falls While Clark Swamps Among Beaver Dams
On a single July day in 1806, the divided Corps of Discovery produces strikingly different journals: Lewis and Gass secure baggage against…
Frost, Mire, and Two Parties Diverging on the Jefferson
On a frost-stiffened July morning, the Corps split into water and land parties along the Jefferson and Medicine rivers. Four narrators capture…
Across the Divide: Two Parties, Two Stories on the Continental Crest
On July 7, 1806, the expedition's split parties produced strikingly different journal entries. Lewis traverses the Continental Divide in measured compass bearings…
Two Trails Diverge: The Expedition Splits and the Journals Follow Suit
On July 5, 1806, the Corps of Discovery's two detachments pushed deeper into separate country. The journals of Lewis, Clark, Gass, and…
Fir Trees Aflame: Four Accounts of a Single Day on Hungry Creek
On June 25, 1806, four expedition journalists recorded the same day's march toward Hungry Creek, but only two captured the Nez Perce…
Securing Guides at Weippe: Four Voices on a Pivotal Decision
On the eve of recrossing the Bitterroots, the captains scramble to secure Nez Perce guides while a small detachment hurries ahead to…
Diplomacy, Roots, and a Yankee Phrase: Four Voices at Camp Chopunnish
On June 6, 1806, four expedition journalists record the same day at Camp Chopunnish with strikingly different scope. Clark conducts diplomacy with…
Two Registers at Long Camp: Diplomacy and Deer on the Clearwater
On June 4, 1806, four expedition journalists record the same day at Camp Chopunnish in strikingly different keys — Lewis and Clark…
Two Bears, Two Pens: Naming Hoh-host and Yack-kah at Camp Chopunnish
On May 31, 1806, Lewis and Clark produce nearly identical entries debating whether the Nez Perce are right that two bear species…
The Shawnee Nation in the Lewis & Clark Record
Though the Corps of Discovery did not encounter the Shawnee homeland during their westward journey, the Shawnee people occupied a notable place…
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…
The Sweat Hole at Camp Chopunnish: Four Voices on Frontier Medicine
On a warm May day at Camp Chopunnish, four expedition journalists record the same medical drama from sharply different vantages — an…
Eye-Water, Laudanum, and Cowse Roots: Four Pens at Camp Chopunnish
On a damp May morning at Long Camp, four expedition journalists record the same trading expedition, horse recovery, and impromptu medical clinic…
One Bear, Many Colors: Naturalist Inquiry and Camp Life at the Long Camp
At Camp Chopunnish, four narrators record the same May day in strikingly different registers — Lewis the naturalist, Clark the ethnographer, Ordway…
Four Pens, One Council: Diplomacy and Doctoring Among the Chopunnish
On a crowded May day in 1806, four expedition narrators recorded the same Nez Perce council from strikingly different vantages — Lewis…
The Puppy and the Physician: Three Voices on a Day Among the Chopunnish
On May 5, 1806, three expedition journals record the same Nez Perce encounter — a gifted gray mare, a hurled puppy, and…
Lean Dogs and Lost Horses on Lewis’s River
Four narrators describe the same hungry Sunday along Lewis's River, where the Corps bought meager provisions, learned of stolen horses, and crossed…
A Kettle Refused, a Sword Accepted: Four Voices at Yelleppit’s Camp
On the Walla Walla, Chief Yelleppit's gift of a white horse and his insistence the Corps stay to dance produced four distinct…
Stolen Tomahawks and Gambled Horses: Frustration at the Eneeshur Villages
On a frost-bitten April morning above the Falls of the Columbia, four expedition narrators record a single fraying day — pilfered tomahawks,…
Four Pens at the Long Narrows: Horse-Trading and a Game of Bones
On April 18, 1806, four expedition journalists record the same difficult day at the Long Narrows of the Columbia—but each man fixes…
Two Camps, Two Rivers: Discovery and Hunger on the Columbia
On April 3, 1806, the expedition's narrators record divergent experiences: Clark returns triumphant from charting a great southern river, while Lewis observes…
Three Pens at Fort Clatsop: Weather, Gratitude, and an Ethnographic Set Piece
On a hail-lashed March day at Fort Clatsop, Ordway logs the storm in a single line while Lewis and Clark produce nearly…
One Month Elapsed: Ethnography and Tedium at Fort Clatsop
On a damp Sunday at Fort Clatsop, the captains mark a milestone in their winter confinement by turning to ethnographic description of…
From Heacock's Writings
5 mirrored articles by Robert Heacock that mention Shoshone.
