The Nez Perce are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region has been occupied for at least 11,500 years.
The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About 1,080 miles (1,740 km) long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Beginning in Yellowstone National Park, western Wyoming, it flows across the arid Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, the rugged Hells Canyon on the borders of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and finally the rolling Palouse Hills of southeast Washington. It joins the Columbia River just downstream from the Tri-Cities, Washington, in the southern Columbia Basin.
Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's north central region. It is the third-largest city in the northern Idaho region, behind Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene, and the twelfth-largest in the state. Lewiston is the principal city of the Lewiston, ID-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Nez Perce County and Asotin County, Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lewiston was 34,203, up from 31,894 in 2010.
Whitman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,973. The county seat is Colfax, and its largest city is Pullman.
The Walla Walla River is a tributary of the Columbia River, joining the Columbia just above Wallula Gap in southeastern Washington in the United States. The river flows through Umatilla County, Oregon, and Walla Walla County, Washington. Its drainage basin is 1,758 square miles (4,550 km2) in area.
The Grande Ronde River is a 210-mile (340 km) long tributary of the Snake River, flowing through northeast Oregon and southeast Washington in the United States. Its watershed is situated in the eastern Columbia Plateau, bounded by the Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains to the west of Hells Canyon. The river flows generally northeast from its forested headwaters west of La Grande, Oregon, through the agricultural Grande Ronde Valley in its middle course, and through rugged canyons cut from ancient basalt lava flows in its lower course. While it joins the Snake River upstream of Asotin, Washington, more than 90 percent of the river's watershed is in Oregon.
The Wallowa Mountains are a mountain range located in the Columbia Plateau of northeastern Oregon in the United States. The range runs approximately 40 miles (64 km) northwest to southeast in southwestern Wallowa County and eastern Union County between the Blue Mountains to the west and the Snake River to the east. The range is sometimes considered to be an eastern spur of the Blue Mountains, and it is known as the "Alps of Oregon". Much of the range is designated as the Eagle Cap Wilderness, part of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest.
The Palouse are a Sahaptin tribe recognized in the Treaty of 1855 with the United States along with the Yakama. It was negotiated at the 1855 Walla Walla Council. A variant spelling is Palus. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and some are also represented by the Colville Confederated Tribes, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Nez Perce Tribe.
Pataha is a small, unincorporated community in Garfield County, Washington, United States. It located about 4 miles east of Pomeroy, the Garfield County seat. Pataha is home to the historic Houser Mill, a working water-powered flour mill originally built in 1879.
The Touchet River is a 65-mile (105 km) tributary of the Walla Walla River in southeastern Washington in the United States. The Touchet River drains an area of about 752 square miles (1,950 km2) in Columbia County and Walla Walla County.
The Tucannon River is a tributary of the Snake River in the U.S. state of Washington. It flows generally northwest from headwaters in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington to meet the Snake 4 miles (6 km) upstream from Lyons Ferry Park and the mouth of the Palouse River. The Tucannon is about 62 miles (100 km) long. Part of the upper river flows through the Wenaha–Tucannon Wilderness.
Wallowa Lake is a ribbon lake 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Joseph, Oregon, United States, at an elevation of 4,372 ft (1,333 m). Impounded by high moraines, it was formed by a series of Pleistocene glaciers. On the south end of the lake is a small community made up of vacation homes, lodging, restaurants, as well as other small businesses. Wallowa Lake has been used for recreation since at least 1880. The Wallowa Lake State Park is at the southern tip of the lake.
Joseph Canyon is a 2,000-foot (610 m)-deep basalt canyon in northern Wallowa County, Oregon, and southern Asotin County, Washington, United States.
State Route 193 (SR 193) is a 2.58-mile (4.15 km) long state highway that serves the Port of Wilma in Whitman County, located in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway parallels the Snake River from an intersection with SR 128 north of Clarkston to the Port of Wilma. The current road is a short segment of the former route that extended from U.S. Route 12 (US 12) in Clarkston to US 195 west of Colton that was added to the highway system in 1969 as Secondary State Highway 3G (SSH 3G) in 1969 and removed in 1992.
The Clearwater River is in the northwestern United States, in north central Idaho. Its length is 74.8 miles (120.4 km), it flows westward from the Bitterroot Mountains along the Idaho-Montana border, and joins the Snake River at Lewiston. In October 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition descended the Clearwater River in dugout canoes, putting in at "Canoe Camp," five miles (8 km) downstream from Orofino; they reached the Columbia Bar and the Pacific Ocean about six weeks later.
John Bayless Tabor "J.B." was a 49er who crossed the plains to California shortly after the discovery of gold. He later settled in the Washington Territory and was one of the founders of Whitman County where he served as a County Commissioner. He had large holdings of fruit orchards and wheat ranches. Congressman William La Follette was his son-in-law.
Almota is a ghost town in Whitman County, in the U.S. state of Washington. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place.
Silcott is an unincorporated community and ghost town in Asotin County, in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located on the south bank of the Snake River. U.S. Route 12 passes through the community. Much of the townsite was inundated when Lower Granite Lake filled on the Snake River behind Lower Granite Dam in 1975.
The Southway Bridge is a highway bridge spanning the Snake River between Clarkston, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho. It connects Fleshman Way in Clarkston with Bryden Canyon Road in Lewiston, and provides residents of the Lewiston Orchards with access to State Route 129, as well as providing Clarkston residents with access to the Lewiston–Nez Perce County Airport. The bridge was opened to traffic on August 3, 1982, at a cost of $21 million, after several delays due to repairs. The Bryden County Road project linking the bridge to the Lewiston Orchards was completed in 1999.
Asotin Creek is a tributary of the Snake River in Asotin County, southeastern Washington. The creek's main stem is 15.5 miles (24.9 km) long, and measured to the head of its longest tributary its length is 33.7 miles (54.2 km). It flows into the Snake River at the town of Asotin, about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Lewiston–Clarkston. Asotin Creek drains about 325 square miles (840 km2) of mostly semi-arid plateau country on the northeastern flank of the Blue Mountains.
