Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-07-18
HOW SOME STATE
HISTORIC RIVERS
DERIVED NAMES
BEAvERHEAD AND sTTNKIN G
WATER so CHRIsTENED
FOR A REASON

river they came to the forks Of that
stream which they found to be three.
The middle fork they deemed the
principal one and this they continued
to call Jefferson or Main Missouri.
The one coming in from the right or
southwest they called the Wisdom and
the one from the left or southeast
which Lewis described as handsome
little river" they called the Philan-
thropy.
These names, Wisdom and Philan-
Ehropy, were given In honor OF Presi-
dent Jefferson, the explorers deeming
wisdom and philanthropy two OF his
cardinal characteristics.
Neither Of the three rivers retain
the names given by Lewis and Clark.
The jefferson, above its junction with
the Wisdom, became the BeaVerhead.
When the Lewis and Clark party were
In the vicinity OF where the thriving
town of Twin Bridges now is, they
saw in the southwest prominent and
very striking landmark This SAGA
jawea told them was the Beavers
head. AS a girl she knew wei the
country from the Three Forks OF the
Missouri by way Of the Jefferson 70
the junction Of Red Rock and Horse
Prairie creeks, and thence into the
Big Hole basin; her tribe had followed
that trail many q time, and into tine
Big Hole basin fled her brother,
Cameahwait, with what was left OF the
village of the chief, her father, after
the attack by the Minnetarees (Gros
Ventres), during which Sacajawea was
captured and taken down the river
by the victors.
The Beavers head became Beaver
head rock and has marked the boun-
Diary line between Beaverhead and
Madison counties for over go years. It
gave its name to the river which flows
beneath its tall cliff long before the
territory of Montana was created.
Became the Big Hole
The wisdom river became the Big
Hole. It took this name from the great
basin in which it originates. The cir
clllar valleys in the mountains the
trappers called "holes." So came to be
named Pierre's Hole, around which so
much early history centers, now called
the Teton basin; Jackson's Hole, ROSS
Hole, Fire Hole, and because OF It's
wide extent. Big Hole. 1t Is Of inter-
est to Montanans to know that ROSS
or the easterly fork Of the Bitter Root
river has its sources In Ross Hole.
The Fire Hole river, or main stream
of the Madison, comes from what the
trappers called the Fire Hole. 1t Is
the stream Of which Jim Bridger Is
said to have told the story that sin
the Businesses Of the mountains, there
Is q spring gushing from the rocks
near the top OF the mountain. The
water when il issues forth is cold as
Ice, but 1t runs down over the smooth
rocks so far and so fast, that it Is
hot at the bottom" DANES Bridger,
by J. Cecil Alter) Nathaniel p. Lang |
ford relates that when the WashbuHn
party was near the banks Of the Fire
Hole river, this on Sept. 10, 1870, he
and Cornelius Hedges forded the river
a short distance below their camp. |
when reached the middle Of the
stream / paused moment and turned
around to speak to Mr.. Hedges who
was about to enter the stream, when
I discovered from the sensation Of
the warmth under my feet that was
standing upon an incrustation formed
over a hot spring that had its vent
IN the bed of the stream. exclaimed
10 Hedges, Here is the river Bridger
said was hot at the bottom.
While the name Lewis and Clark
sought to give the Big Hole river did
not remain with it, the name Wisdom
S perpetuated in the principal town
within the great basin.
But it was in the name Of the river
which Lewis and Clark called the
which is the principal
subject of this sketch, that time has
'ung its many changes.
The name Philanthropy did not
tick; it was lost as soon as given.
The next name of the river should
rave been retained; it was "Passa-
mari" pronounced 'Pah-Sam-er-ri,"
meaning in the Shoshonean language
The Water of the Cottonwood
Groves"
Granville Stuart said the name was
,iven the river by the Snake Indians;
nut the fact Is that several bands Of
he Shoshone were called Snakes err
The Snake Indians, a
,ranch of the Shoshone family, be-
onged in eastern Oregon. The Ban
Jacks, who claimed as their ancestral
ands that portion of the country now
omprised within Madison and Gala
In counties as well as large portion
f Idaho, were also branch of the
Teat Shoshone family and essentially
hey spoke the Shoshonean language.
{ Is more reasonable to believe that
he name Passamari was given the
liver by the Bannacks who claimed
he territory through which it runs,
han by the Snakes who did not live
here and who had no business there.
The name Passamari was used by
be early settlers to a considerable
xtent and was early adopted by the
ffice Of the United States surveyor
eneral AS early as 1859 John L. Cor I
EFT, deputy surveyor under III. ID.
VashbuHn, United States surveyor |
eneral for Montana, established the I
'assamari guide meridian. This me- s
Idian is IS miles in length and runs s
through townships 8. z, 8, and 10 :
ia RaIleva distress fran M1MTHLM