Dead Indian Summit Altitude 8,000 Feet
Chief Joseph Scenic Highway about 13 miles west of junction with
State Highway 120

This pass is the summit of Dead Indian Hill. Through this portal great herds of wild game seasonally migrated from the mountains to the plains. This high pass was the gate way for countless indian hunting and war parties, and through this portal Chief Joseph, in 1877, led his Nez Perce Indians in a strategic and defensive retreat, persued by U.S. Army soldiers. Over this one and only opening of the valleys to the west traveled a vast army of miners to seek wealth of cooke city, and down this steep hill the early settlers of Sunlight Basin braved its dangers. the first road improvement was made possible in 1909, by dwellers of Sunlight Valley whose names are here inscribed. Adophus J. Beam, William V. Campbell, Siras J. Davis, Oliver Whitney, Hervey g. Marvin, Samual Thompson, Mary E. Painter, Wm. T. Painter, Marguerita M. Painter, Wade M. McClung, Augustus A. Lafond, John R. Painter, Evelyn T. Painter, John K. Rollinson, Willard D. Ruscher.