The Nez Perce were not the onlv ones who panicked at the news of the killings. In the nearby community, of Slate Creek, a stockade was hurriedly erected. Not a man could be spared to carry the news of the hostilities to the mining town of Florence, twenty miles southeast of Slate Creek in the mountains.

Tuiekats Chikchamit (Betting and Dealing Cards) volunteered to be the courier. English-speaking tongues, unable to wrap themselves around all those syliables, simply called her Tolo. A heroine the settlers named the lake after her.

Tolo, for whom Toto Lake is named, was a friend of people in Slate Creek. She rode from there to the mining community of Florence in the mountains to spread the news of murders committed by the Nez Perce raiding parties.


Timeline

Credits

The Nez Perce Flight to Canada - An Introduction

 How do I participate in the student Sketchbook Project?


Back to Our Heritage Home Page