Travelers staying at our Montana bed and breakfast for the first time may be interested in our Trails and Tales Tour. This is a wonderful way to become acquainted with the area. After you’ve made yourself comfortable either in our Missoula Lodge or under trees in our forested picnic area, we’ll regale you with an oral history of the Bitterroot Valley and Missoula. We tell the tales through stories and songs.
The Missoula Valley has long been a natural travel corridor. Native Americans from the mountain ranges, the Columbia Plateau and the Pacific Slope all passed through here on their way to hunt buffalo on the plains. Indeed, the Bitterroot Valley takes its name from the bitterroot that grew so abundantly here and was harvested each year by the Salish, who used the roots both for medicine and food seasoning.
Lewis and Clark followed the trails long traveled by Native Americans. They passed through this area twice, stopping in what is now Traveler’s Rest State Park in September of 1805 and June/July, 1806. Lolo Hot Springs, Lolo Pass, and Packer Meadows were all explored by the expedition.
French trappers, explorers, and Catholic missionaries traveled the region widely from about 1815 on, and in the 1860s, European settlers began coming here to stay.
The history of Montana is rich and wonderful, and we can only scratch the surface of it with our Trails and Tales Tour. Our hope is to orient you to the region in a unique and pleasant way. After an hour learning about the region in comfort at our Missoula bed and breakfast, head out to explore, either on your own, with us, or with a locally established historian (advanced reservations are required).
