History

• The Bitterroot Mountains in Montanamountains image by Sergey Shabanov from Fotolia.com
  
  When Lewis and Clark ascended into the Bitterroot Mountain Range, located in southwest Montana, they were cold, starving and lacking any sustainable provisions. In the Bitterroot valley, the men encountered the Flathead Salish people. Realizing that these men were hungry, the Salish offered them bitterroot to eat. According to Barbara Fifer's book, "Going Along With Lewis and Clark," the men had been introduced to and ate bitterroot with the Shoshone Indians, and though they "didn't like the bitter taste," they ate it "heartily." Lewis and Clark, like later settlers, had difficulty identifying and cultivating the plant, and so acquired it through trade.
  
  

Facts

• Bitterroot had medicinal properties and an edible root.pink flower illustration image by robert mobley from Fotolia.com
  
  The bitterroot plant is called a succulent because of its physical composition, which consists of a root that holds in moisture. This moisture retention allows the plant to thrive for over a year without water. Though not technically a desert plant, it grows best in semi-arid regions. During the spring, native people dug up the starchy root. They cleaned, boiled and pounded it into a flat patty then mixed it together with any number of ingredients ranging from deer fat, berries and sundry meats.
  
  

Medicinal Value

• The indigenous people of Montana knew the value of bitterroot.Too Many Chiefs 2 image by Lee O"Dell from Fotolia.com
  
  When early settlers saw the beauty of the flowering bitterroot, they did not know its edible and medicinal uses. They learned this information from the Salish, the Upper Pend d' Oreille and the Kootenai people. All of these tribes worked together to harvest the root. They also derived myriad medicines from the plant. According to herbalist Jim McDonald, bitterroot helped relieve symptoms of the common cold, soothed sore throats, coughs and clogged sinuses.
  
  

Honoring the Bitterroot

• In 1893, through the efforts of a woman named Mary Alderson who was a suffragette, the bitterroot was given the honor of being named the state flower. Alderson nominated the bitterroot and faced competition from 32 other proposed state flowers.
  
  

Present Circumstances

• Bitterroot is still used by the Indian nations of Montana not only as a traditional food, but also for religious purposes and as part of their creation stories. The plant is a testament to their survival. The bitterroot is a historical link to Montana's past, especially because of its organic way of having bridged two cultures.