Twisted Hair
Twisted Hair was an elderly Nez Perce chief who provided critical assistance to the Lewis and Clark Expedition in September 1805 after the Corps emerged starving and exhausted from their crossing of the Bitterroot Mountains via the Lolo Trail. He helped the expedition build dugout canoes for their descent of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers to the Columbia, drew maps of the route ahead, and agreed to care for the expedition's horses during the winter. His hospitality exemplified the generous reception the Corps received from the Nez Perce people.
Biography
Twisted Hair was a chief of the Nez Perce (Chopunnish) who befriended the Corps of Discovery when they emerged, starving and exhausted, from the Bitterroot Mountains in September 1805.
Twisted Hair provided crucial assistance: he helped the expedition build canoes from ponderosa pine logs for the descent of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers, drew maps of the river system ahead, and agreed to care for the expedition’s horse herd during their absence — a commitment of months.
When the expedition returned in May 1806, they found their horses had been well cared for, though some had been dispersed among different Nez Perce bands. Twisted Hair’s reliability in this matter demonstrated the trust that had developed between the expedition and the Nez Perce — a relationship that would have significant consequences in the decades ahead.
The Nez Perce’s generosity to the Lewis and Clark Expedition was remembered by both peoples. When the Nez Perce were forced onto a reservation in 1877, some leaders cited their long friendship with Americans dating back to Lewis and Clark.
Related Locations
Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 8 months (Sep 20, 1805 → May 4, 1806). Twisted Hair may have been present in the corps during that span but is not named in the journals.
Journal Entries (22)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss Twisted Hair — showing 8 of the most recent matches.
Four Pens at Long Camp: Botany, Bears, and a Blocked Mountain Road
On a single waiting day at Camp Chopunnish, Lewis catalogues grasses, Clark copies him almost verbatim, Ordway preserves the story of an…
A Broken Voyage, a White Bear Skin, and a Missing Sergeant: Four Voices at Camp Chopunnish
On June 1, 1806, four expedition narrators record a single day at Camp Chopunnish from strikingly different vantages — from Lewis's botanical…
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…
Twenty-One Horses and a Settler’s Eye: Reunion at the Twisted Hair’s Lodge
On May 9, 1806, the expedition reunited with cached saddles, powder, and most of their horses at the Twisted Hair's lodge. Four…
Hunger’s Evidence: Pine Bark, Fish Traps, and Diplomatic Strain on the Kooskooskee
On May 8, 1806, three expedition journals converge on a single Nez Perce camp where evidence of winter starvation, an ingenious willow…
Honest Returns and Mosquito Creek: Three Voices on the Kooskooske Crossing
On May 7, 1806, Lewis, Clark, and Ordway each record the recovery of buried powder canisters and a march into the Nez…
Sickness on the Clearwater: Three Voices from a Hard Descent
On September 24, 1805, three expedition journals describe the same day on the Clearwater in strikingly different registers — Clark catalogues illness,…
The Nez Perce (Chopunnish): Allies of the Bitterroot and Kooskooske
Saviors at Weippe Prairie, keepers of the expedition's horses, and gracious hosts during the long spring wait of 1806, the Nez Perce…
From Heacock's Writings
2 mirrored articles by Robert Heacock that mention Twisted Hair.
