The and Agaidikas and Tukudikas are considered the first residents of the upper Lemhi Valley, dating back 10,000 years or more. Archaeological research indicates that buffalo, when present were hunted throughout the 10,000 years of Indian occupancy of the Lemhi Valley.

•The Agaidika and Tukudikas (Lemhi - Shoshone) were also great fishermen. It was their practice to build weirs and dams to catch the salmon. They shared their Salmon River fishing grounds with their neighbors, the Nez Perce from the north and the west, and the Flathead Indians from the Bitterroot Valley to the north. The Nez Perce and the Flathead Indians often came to the valley to fish and trade with the Lemhi-Shoshone. It is also believed that the Shoshone, Flathead and Nez Perce may have united, from time to time, to strengthen their hunting endeavors and to give themselves more protection against the Blood (Blackfeet) and other Plains tribes who considered their territory invaded by the Shoshone, Nez Perce and Flathead from the west.

•By 1805 the Shoshone had about 700 (barb)horses, including some mules. Some of the mules had Spanish Brands, and Meriwether Lewis observed stirrups and other articles of Spanish tack (horse gear). The Shoshone told Lewis that they could reach the Spanish settlements in 10 days if they followed the Yellowstone River. However, the Shoshone complained that while the Spaniards let them have horses they would not give them guns. The lack of firearms left them at the mercy of the Plains Indians who had guns. The Lemhi Shoshone of 1805 fought on horseback and commonly used the bow and arrow, shield, lance and poggamoggon (a weapon with a leather-covered wood handle and a thong at one end tied to a 2-pound leather-covered round stone).

•The Flathead and Nez Perce Indians were very well supplied with horses. Parker states, every man, woman and child are mounted on horseback, and all their possessions are packed upon horses. Small children, not more than three years old, are mounted alone, and generally upon colts. They are lashed upon the saddle to keep them from falling when they sleep, which they often do when they become fatigued. Then they recline upon the horses shoulders; and when they awake, lay hold of their whip, which is fastened to the wrist of their right hand, and apply it smartly to their horses; and it is astonishing to see how these little creatures will guide and run them.

John Rees, former Indian Agent on the Lemhi Reservation, helps to give some perspective about the coalescing of these different groups through the 19th century:

"At the time Lewis and Clark visited the Lemhi country in 1805 there were about 500 (Lemhi) Shoshonis then occupying the land under Chief Cameahwait. In 1855 the Mormons found the country still inhabited by Shoshonis under Chief Snagg together with some roving (Northern)Bannacks, but the gold miners of 1866 found a mixed tribe which was composed of Agaidikas (Salmon eater) Shoshones, Tukuarikis Shoshones (Sheepeater) and Northern Bannocks who had gathered into one congregation and had selected Tendoy as their chief, and as they did not constitute a separate tribe, they became known as "Tendoy"s Band." After becoming settled on the Lemhi Reservation in Lemhi Valley in 1875 where they intermarried, they soon coalesced in to a tribe now called the "Lemhis", and so extensively did they intermarry that in 1900, excepting some old people, there were no full blooded Shoshonis, Tukuarikas or Bannacks among them, so they were enumerated in the census, as a single tribe. In 1905 they "gave up" the Lemhi reserve and were later removed to Ft. Hall numbering at the time 474 Souls" (Rees: 1992).

Salmon Eaters, Agaidika

The following excerpts are from Ake Hultkrantz's research report produced and submitted to the Indian Claims Commission in the 1950's.

Agaidika (salmon eaters) along the Lemhi River, Idaho. "Agaidikas called themselves "pia agaidika," "big salmon eaters" - "because we caught big salmon," an old man told me.

"The Agaidikas still remember the time when they had no horses and lived on wild grass, berries, fruits, pinyon nuts, fish (salmon and trout) and some big game which existed in the neighborhood: antelopes and deer and sheep in the mountain. Although fishing played a very important role and among other things, demanded collective effort, it was not dominating; but it put its stamp on the daily lives of the Shoshone culture, a culture which showed many different economic activities" (Hultkrantz: 1974).

Lifeling Learning Online the Lewis & Clark Rediscovery Project - Explore the Past & Present
The website content was developed at the University of Montana in Missoula.

On these pages you will be introduced to the world of the various bands of the Northern Shoshone and Bannock tribes, with a focus on those groups who now live on the Fort Hall Reservation and an emphasis on the peoples who came to be known as the Lemhi - Shoshone, have focused, instead, on the people whose ancestors and relations met Lewis and Clark in the summer of 1805. BEGIN HERE >>

Old Toby
Cameahwait had suggested that an old member of his tribe would be able to guide the Corps over the Bitterroot Mountains, the other side of the Rockies. Lewis and Clark called the man Old Toby.

Recuperating
A recurrent theme of the expedition was the help Lewis and Clark received from Natives when the Corps was most in need. Meeting the Nez Perce in the Weippe Prairie was no exception. Lewis ragged troop was starved, sick, and near exhaustion when they descended the Rockies.

Lemhi Reservation and Loss
The consolidated groups of Agaidukas (Salmon Eaters), Tukadukas (Sheep Eaters), and Northern Bannocks are collectively referred to as Lemhi - Shoshones. They occupied the Lemhi River Valley and Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho and Montana. No reservation was provided until February 2, 1875, when the Lemhi Valley Indian Reservation was created by executive order. The one-hundred-square-mile reserve was shared by about seven hundred Indians. The description of the reservation boundaries is as follows:>>> (Excellent photographs)

Lifelong Learning Online the Lewis & Clark Rediscovery Project - Explore the Past & Present

"Lemhi Pass" - "Lemhi Reservation" - Read the Virginia City Treaty - "The last Lemhi buffalo hunt" - "Who's Who?"