On July 3, 1890, Idaho was admitted as America’s 43rd state. Experts believe American Indians lived in the Idaho region more than 10,000 years ago. Idaho tribes included the Coeur d’Alene, Pend d’Oreille, Kutenai, Paiute, and Bannock. However, the largest tribes were the Nez Percé and Shoshone. In 1805, members of an expedition, led by the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, became the first Europeans to reach Idaho. They crossed the Bitterroot Mountains, where they met Shoshone and Nez Percé Indians. The Indians helped the explorers build canoes, which they floated down the Clearwater and Snake rivers into the Columbia River.