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
Analyses that cite or discuss Twisted Hair — showing 8 of the most recent matches.
Twenty-One Horses and a Settler’s Eye: Reunion at the Twisted Hair’s Lodge
The reunion at the Twisted Hair's lodge on May 9, 1806, was a logistical milestone for the returning expedition: twenty-one horses recovered,…
A Broken Voyage, a White Bear Skin, and a Missing Sergeant: Four Voices at Camp Chopunnish
The journal entries dated June 1, 1806 offer an unusual structural puzzle for readers of the expedition record. Three of the four…
Four Pens at Long Camp: Botany, Bears, and a Blocked Mountain Road
June 5, 1806 finds the Corps of Discovery still pinned at Camp Chopunnish on the Clearwater (Kooskee), waiting for the Bitterroot snows…
Four Pens, One Council: Diplomacy and Doctoring Among the Chopunnish
The 11th of May 1806 finds the Corps of Discovery encamped among the Chopunnish (Nez Perce), reclaiming horses left the previous autumn…
Honest Returns and Mosquito Creek: Three Voices on the Kooskooske Crossing
The entries of May 7, 1806 capture the Corps reuniting with their horses, crossing the Kooskooske (Clearwater) River, and ascending into the…
Hunger’s Evidence: Pine Bark, Fish Traps, and Diplomatic Strain on the Kooskooskee
The entries of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and John Ordway for May 8, 1806, document the same morning of hunting and the…
Sickness on the Clearwater: Three Voices from a Hard Descent
The journal entries for September 24, 1805 capture the Corps of Discovery in a moment of acute physical crisis as it descended…
The Nez Perce (Chopunnish): Allies of the Bitterroot and Kooskooske
First Encounter at Weippe PrairieWhen Clark's advance party stumbled out of the Bitterroot Mountains in late September 1805 — half-starved, exhausted, and…
From the Heacock Memorial Archive
2 lewis-clark.org articles that mention Twisted Hair, preserved here for Robert Heacock’s photography. The articles were written by that site’s contributing authors.
Researcher or educator?
Get help using the archive in your work, suggest sources we should include, or talk with us about collaboration and classroom use.
