The Salish Indians have a long and storied history in this valley. The area where you are standing was once used by the Salish to harvest bitterroot, a dietary staple for Indian tribes in the region. Every spring, the Salish, who inhabited the Bitterroot Valley south of here, would camp for several weeks in locations around the Missoula valley. Some of these places included: the entrance to Hellgate Canyon and at the base of Mount Jumbo; the area that is now the Missoula Fairgrounds; the South Hills; and much of the west side of Missoula, including Fort Missoula, the Reserve Street area, and sites along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers. The Missoula Valley was also important to the Salish for fishing, and it was along their route to areas east of the mountains to hunt buffalo. Sections of this well-worn Indian trail became part of the Mullan Road.

With the influx of non-Indians settlers in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys by the 1850s, the U.S. government negotiated a treaty with the Salish, Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai Indians. The Hellgate Treaty of 1855 at Council Grove, about 10 miles west of Missoula, created the Flathead Reservation and a second “conditional” reservation in the Bitterroot Valley. It was one of several “Stevens” treaties negotiated at about the same time in the Pacific Northwest.

For decades after the 1855 treaty, the Salish, under the leadership of Chief Charlo, continued living in the Bitterroot. But in 1871 under pressure from non-Indian settlers in the area, the United States began efforts to remove the Indians to the Flathead Reservation. That year, James Garfield negotiated an agreement with the Salish to cede their Bitterroot lands, but Chief Charlo claimed his “mark” had been forged on the document. Charlo and his followers remained in the Bitterroot Valley for some time, but gradually more and more Salish moved to the Flathead Reservation. Finally, in 1891, the last remnants of the Bitterroot Salish were removed from the Bitterroot Valley. Their trek took them through Missoula, over the Higgins Avenue Bridge.

By the turn of the twentieth century, Missoula was an established city, yet for decades, the Salish continued making their annual trek to Missoula to harvest bitterroot. According to tribal elders, some Salish rode streetcars between the camps and digging grounds. But, by the 1950s, development had paved or built over much of their prime digging areas, effectively ending this traditional spring ritual in the Missoula Valley.

Constructed in 1908, the Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Paul Railroad’s rail yard sat on what is now John H. Toole Park. The rail yard was active for nearly 80 years until the railroad went bankrupt and the facilities were demolished.  The area now serves the community as a public park whose facilities and amenities include running and bicycling trails, athletic fields, and the Clark Fork Native Prairie

Credits and Sources:

The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Lincoln: Bison Books, 2008.

Koelbel, Lenora. Missoula the Way It Was: "a Portrait of an Early Western Town" 5th Print. ed. Missoula, Mont.: Pictorial Histories Pub., 1987.

Mathews, Allan James. A Guide to Historic Missoula. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 2002.