Page 42 - Flathead Beacon // 6.25.14

42 | JUNE 25, 2014
REAL ESTATE
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LANDMARKS
Coram, Montana
The Coram Rock By JAIX CHAIX
their way to the Flathead Valley some 60 years before Lewis and Clark. And the “Hershman Grave,” found in the 1970s just north of Polson, bears the date of 1717 – which pre-dates the Lewis and Clark expedition by al- most a century.
Incidentally, the Coram Rock, the Herron Rock, and the Hershman Grave also do not seem related to the typical patterns of trappers or fur-traders. And some cursory inquiries suggest that these burial mark- ers have little, if nothing, to do with early explorers or employees of the Hudson Bay Company or the North West Company. So perhaps J. Smith and his predeces- sor Hershman could have been in Northwest Montana for other reasons, maybe exploring for their own sake or pursuing some religious mission.
Although the Coram Rock has been moved, it re- mains in proximity to its original location and it bears just as heavily upon the history of Montana as we know it.
We have J. Smith (whoever he or she may be) to thank for evidencing that at least two non-natives were at Coram – long before what most history books have to tell us.
Jaix Chaix is a writer who appreciates history and architecture. You can share ideas and historical facts with him at [email protected] or at facebook.com/flatheadvalleylandmarks. He is also the author of “Death in the Valley: Odd Tragedies in the Flathead Valley, Montana 1887-1917” available at DeathInTheValley.com.
Off the beaten path in Coram, just into the woods, lies a rock. But it’s not just any plain old rock. It’s a bit of a well-known secret – and proof that even just a seem- ingly ordinary rock can be a landmark of immense his- torical significance.
The “Coram Rock” bears the inscription: “J. Smith Died July 17, 1801.” If the inscription proves to be au- thentic (and it most likely is) it would re-write the mod- ern history of Montana.
The most common historical narrative holds that while Native Americans inhabited the area for thou- sands of years, the Lewis and Clark Expedition brought the first non-natives (European-Americans) into the northwestern region of Montana in 1805-06.
The inscription on the Coram Rock would shatter that claim. If the inscription was made in 1801, then some person named “Smith” – and at least one other person who likely made the inscription – were in this area of Montana three years before Lewis and Clark.
In fact, J. Smith and his rock-chiseling companion would have been in the area at least two years before President Thomas Jefferson even commissioned Lewis and Clark’s famous Corps of Discovery sojourn.
“J. Smith” and partner would have been in the area even before the land was a territory of the United States of America, which didn’t happen until the land was ac- quired as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
The “Coram Rock” was discovered in 1959 by John Bras. Bras was an Air Force captain who recently re- turned home and was clearing land with a bulldozer.
PHOTO BY JAIX CHAIX
His children were playing on the rock when they discovered the letters of the inscription filled with green lichen.
Bras then contacted historians and other experts, and so began the re-thinking of recent Montana his- tory – one that pre-dates Lewis and Clark meeting the Blackfeet, or the “first look” upon the Marias River.
While the Coram Rock would predicate some re- writing of at least a few history books, it also corrobo- rates a few other historical monuments in what is now the Flathead Valley.
For instance, the “Herron Rock” found in the area just west of what is now Kalispell, bears the date of 1744, which suggests that other non-natives found
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