Bitterroot plant, valley namesake, under threat?

by John Dowd

With his health failing him, John Stroud, lifelong Bitterroot Valley resident and champion of the bitterroot flower, is reaching out to the community to give one of his famous talks about the namesake of the area. Feeling he has only two years left at best, Stroud will be holding a talk at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 6. It will be held at the Stevensville Public Library.

Born at Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula on December 4, 1944, Stroud grew up in the Bitterroot Valley. He has authored two books, though he has dyslexia, and built his house with his own two hands. The house looks over the valley, is home to numerous of his precious bitterroot flowers. 

Filled with stories of the past, attendees of his talk can look forward to a wealth of knowledge on the area’s history and the flower. His books reflect that knowledge. The first one is called “Twice a Mail Order Bride,” which talks about his grandmother moving to and homesteading in and around the Stevensville area. His second book was called “For the Love of the Bitterroot,” which is partly an auto-biography and partly about his three loves: the Bitterroot Valley, the bitterroot flower and the people of the area. “They are the kindest sweetest people in the world,” said Stroud about the latter of the trio. For Stroud, his life wouldn’t have been complete without the kindness of his fellow Bitterrooters.

The second of his loves is the flower for which the valley is named. Stroud can talk for hours about this humble plant. According to Stroud, nearly all of the tribes of the West considered this plant sacred, especially the local tribes of the Bitterroot Valley. Stroud explained that the plant had numerous uses including a spice, a soup thickening agent, a vegetable, a medicinal herb and much more. Lewis and Clark’s great expedition even tried to consume some when they came into the valley. However, they got sick from the bitterness and lack of understanding of how to process the plant. 

Stroud is concerned about the future of the bitterroot plant as a native species. He explained that, as the area becomes overdeveloped and many people overgraze their animals, the habitat of the bitterroot is becoming threatened. He also believes that the diminishing presence of predators like foxes and coyotes is leading to higher populations of pest animals like moles and ground squirrels. Unimpeded, these animals, which eat the bitterroot, are decimating its numbers. 

The bitterroot is a shallow growing plant that resembles a succulent when not in bloom. Stroud said it tends to grow protected under tall grass and sagebrush, which is also disappearing from the area as land is cleared for development and agriculture. All of these issues, according to Stroud, threaten the plant’s existence in the valley. He believes it could disappear completely in the Bitterroot valley within only a few generations. “I’m hoping that people will help save the bitterroot,” said Stroud about why he is doing this talk. 

Stroud is working to educate people about the importance of the bitterroot, not only in the valley, but in all of the West where the plant grows native. He is so involved with it that many have given him the moniker, “Johnny Bitterroot Seed.”

For more information on the bitterroot, the valley or the talk, interested parties can reach out to Stroud at (406) 777-5054.